WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:03.140 This is our second week in this space. 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:12.500 You may not know it or be able to tell, but there are many people running around and scrambling and sweating and putting out fires, mostly metaphorical fires. 00:00:13.500 --> 00:00:16.160 And I just want to take a moment to give thanks for them. 00:00:16.580 --> 00:00:17.019 Thank you. 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:23.440 Swapping out mics, laying cable. 00:00:24.060 --> 00:00:25.400 I mean, it's amazing. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:27.100 It's amazing, you know. 00:00:28.100 --> 00:00:28.620 Yeah. 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:33.880 I could go on and on and on, but praise God for the people in this church. 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:39.340 Growing up, many of you know my story. 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:43.299 I didn't really come to faith until I was about 22 years old. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:45.799 But I grew up in a kind of semi-Christian home. 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:48.480 Half of the household was Christian. 00:00:49.219 --> 00:00:52.400 But my impression of Christianity growing up was basically this. 00:00:52.680 --> 00:00:55.520 That Christianity was about getting a ticket to heaven. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.120 It was really just about getting saved. 00:00:58.619 --> 00:01:00.619 And it was a pretty clear formula. 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:01.879 It was very transactional. 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:05.659 You believe in Jesus, and then you get, like, the Jesus ticket. 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:08.280 And then you just kind of hold on to that ticket. 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:13.679 And then when you die and you get to the gates of heaven, then you present your Jesus ticket, and they let you in. 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:15.200 And it was often presented that way. 00:01:15.259 --> 00:01:17.599 Don't you want them to let you in when you get there? 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:19.539 And I would say, you know, yeah. 00:01:19.679 --> 00:01:23.119 But I was, like, you know, seven, and it just seemed like a long way away. 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:27.919 And I would, you know, sometimes ask, well, what does it mean to be a Christian now? 00:01:28.500 --> 00:01:33.439 And really the sense was, well, you know, just be a decent, relatively conservative traditional person. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:36.939 And just kind of live a decent life. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.560 But then when you die, you're set, you know. 00:01:39.579 --> 00:01:42.519 And it sounded a lot like the American vision of retirement, you know. 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:47.659 Work hard, and then you're going to enjoy those last few years, you know. 00:01:47.659 --> 00:01:52.359 And so it was an easy thing to not think much about. 00:01:53.420 --> 00:02:03.620 Frankly, it was so uncompelling and seemed so totally irrelevant to the world that I lived in that it was very easy to walk away from that. 00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:07.359 And I did, and I really didn't look back until I was in my early 20s. 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:20.479 And now that I have begun to read and to study Scripture, I've realized that so much of what I thought as a child Christianity was about has nothing to do with it. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:23.620 And, in fact, it's interesting. 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:29.639 I think that there are many people today who grew up with that sense of what Christianity is about, who have since walked away, 00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:37.899 who never had an opportunity to realize that that has very little to do with the faith of Scripture, the faith of Jesus Christ, 00:02:38.019 --> 00:02:41.659 the faith that's been revealed to the world. 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:47.619 And so when we've been looking at this book called Revelation, the last book in the Bible, 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:51.319 Revelation just blasts that whole idea of Christianity apart. 00:02:52.279 --> 00:02:57.099 And it uses these rich images, most of them drawn straight from the Old Testament, 00:02:57.099 --> 00:03:02.739 to expand our imaginations, to help us begin to grasp what God is actually doing in the world. 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:05.500 And so this week we're looking at Revelation 19. 00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:15.500 And Revelation 19 gives us two images that describe for us Christian salvation and life. 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:19.219 And they don't seem to fit together at all. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:23.579 When you look at the whole chapter, Revelation 19, the first half of the chapter, 00:03:23.580 --> 00:03:28.960 we see all of the saints of God gathering together with Jesus, who is a bridegroom. 00:03:29.180 --> 00:03:30.800 And it's a great wedding feast. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:34.120 And you say, well, that's a wonderful image of the Christian life. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.060 But the chapter doesn't end at verse 10. 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:36.900 It keeps going. 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:41.000 And all of a sudden, with no break at all, we get a different image. 00:03:41.220 --> 00:03:42.280 The scene shifts. 00:03:43.340 --> 00:03:45.100 And we see a very different reality. 00:03:45.099 --> 00:03:51.900 We see the saints gathering not around a wedding feast, but they're preparing for war. 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:57.500 And they're preparing to charge into battle behind Jesus, the warrior. 00:03:58.299 --> 00:04:02.000 And at first, both of these images seem totally incompatible. 00:04:02.079 --> 00:04:04.099 A wedding and a war. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.840 And yet what we're going to see is they actually are meant to be held together. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:11.620 They actually need each other. 00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:15.039 The Christian life is both a wedding and a war. 00:04:15.699 --> 00:04:18.519 It is both feasting and fighting. 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:20.300 And so that's what we're going to look at. 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:23.800 The Christian life is feasting, and the Christian life is fighting. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:25.120 And then we're going to look at what that means. 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:28.240 Now, it sounds like I'm talking about Vikings or something, but hang with me. 00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:32.500 And we're going to unpack that it's not the kind of feasting we normally think of, 00:04:32.819 --> 00:04:35.740 and it's definitely not the kind of fighting that we normally think of. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:36.279 Let's pray. 00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:39.399 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:46.379 And we thank you that we can come to your word with openness and excitement and interest. 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:54.239 Or we can come to your word so distracted and so pulled in so many directions that we can barely focus. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:59.920 That we can come with an attitude of trust and openness and ready to receive. 00:04:59.980 --> 00:05:01.900 Or we can come with an enormous amount of skepticism. 00:05:01.899 --> 00:05:08.199 But at the end of the day, all of this depends on your ability and power and willingness to speak. 00:05:09.419 --> 00:05:10.560 And that you can speak. 00:05:11.539 --> 00:05:12.620 And that you do speak. 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:15.899 And so we pray that you would speak to us this morning through your word. 00:05:16.359 --> 00:05:19.560 And that we would come face to face with your living word, Jesus Christ. 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:21.199 It's in his name that we pray. 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:21.779 Amen. 00:05:21.779 --> 00:05:21.899 Amen. 00:05:23.239 --> 00:05:26.779 So first of all, the Christian life is about feasting. 00:05:27.579 --> 00:05:28.939 A kind of feasting. 00:05:29.459 --> 00:05:37.479 You know if you've been with us in the study of Revelation that we have just seen in chapter 18 God's judgment fall on Babylon. 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:42.639 And Babylon represents all of the world and all of life apart from God. 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:46.919 All that which lives in rebellion against God. 00:05:47.019 --> 00:05:50.639 The judgment has come on that way of life, that way of being. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:53.560 And now all the heavens break out in song. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:56.599 And there's this song of praise. 00:05:56.759 --> 00:05:58.419 And beginning in verse 6 it says, 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:03.439 Alleluia, for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. 00:06:03.719 --> 00:06:06.399 Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory. 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:11.899 For the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:14.479 And we recognize that this is not just a feast. 00:06:14.699 --> 00:06:16.240 It's a wedding celebration. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:20.780 And this is, I think, the most striking thing about this image. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:26.340 That God's people are like a bride to God. 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:28.720 They are like his bride. 00:06:28.819 --> 00:06:30.259 And he is the bridegroom. 00:06:30.579 --> 00:06:38.040 And you see all through the Bible, this is not a new idea that just springs out of John's imagination as he's writing these words. 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:41.280 It actually is deeply rooted all throughout Scripture. 00:06:41.460 --> 00:06:44.580 Places like Isaiah 62 or Ezekiel 16. 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:48.840 God talks about himself as the bridegroom of his people. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:52.439 And what I want you to see is how utterly unique that is. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:55.580 You know, people say, well, all religions are the same. 00:06:55.640 --> 00:06:57.640 Well, I don't think you're going to see this in any other religion. 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:06.399 No religion other than Christianity would have the audacity to say that God sees his people like his spouse. 00:07:08.139 --> 00:07:12.579 Master, servant, you know, king, subjects, even father, children. 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:14.159 You might find that other places. 00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:25.699 But the kind of intimacy and vulnerability and openness, the mutual indwelling, the delight that one spouse has in the other. 00:07:25.699 --> 00:07:27.120 That's unique to Christianity. 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:31.879 The idea that God would see his people that way is mind-blowing. 00:07:32.899 --> 00:07:38.259 And what this begins to show us right away is that the Christian life is not just about getting a ticket to heaven. 00:07:38.379 --> 00:07:45.599 It's about having a relationship with God that is a lot like a marriage with all of the intimacy and the joy and the vulnerability. 00:07:45.599 --> 00:07:54.159 Not just God fully knowing and loving us, but that we would be invited to fully know and fully love God. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:57.500 It's amazing. 00:07:57.500 --> 00:08:02.300 And, you know, I heard a preacher put it like this one time. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:04.339 Imagine that you're married. 00:08:04.779 --> 00:08:19.600 And imagine your spouse goes out and spends the day hanging out with another person, sharing their hopes and fears and dreams and talking about life with other people. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:23.020 Goes out on dates at night with other people. 00:08:23.020 --> 00:08:25.780 Maybe even shares their bed with other people. 00:08:25.860 --> 00:08:30.560 And imagine they go and do that for a while and then they come back home and you're waiting for them. 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:33.139 And when they walk in the door, you confront them and say, what are you doing? 00:08:33.139 --> 00:08:39.600 And imagine they say, what's the big deal? 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:43.000 I mean, we got married. 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:44.220 We're still married. 00:08:44.899 --> 00:08:46.720 I got this ring on my finger. 00:08:47.419 --> 00:08:49.439 We still share a bank account. 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:51.519 We still have the same last name. 00:08:51.980 --> 00:08:52.679 What more do you want? 00:08:54.059 --> 00:08:54.879 And what would you say? 00:08:58.120 --> 00:08:59.559 I want your heart. 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:03.679 I want you to look at me like you used to. 00:09:03.719 --> 00:09:04.879 I want you to delight in me. 00:09:07.119 --> 00:09:08.799 I don't want you to just check the boxes. 00:09:10.039 --> 00:09:11.039 I want your affection. 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:13.819 Why are you giving it away, right? 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:24.019 And in a similar kind of way, I think there are a lot of people who if you ask them on a census report, what's your religion? 00:09:24.119 --> 00:09:25.219 They would say, well, I'm a Christian. 00:09:25.220 --> 00:09:32.379 And if you ask them about that, they'd say, well, yeah, yeah, I mean, I prayed the prayer, believe in Jesus. 00:09:33.220 --> 00:09:34.420 You know, I got baptized. 00:09:35.220 --> 00:09:36.720 You know, I go to church whenever I can. 00:09:36.759 --> 00:09:37.340 I travel a lot. 00:09:37.379 --> 00:09:38.040 My job's crazy. 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:39.100 But I go to church when I can. 00:09:39.779 --> 00:09:41.639 You know, what more does God want from me? 00:09:43.980 --> 00:09:45.040 God wants your heart. 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:48.139 He wants your affection. 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:55.960 God wants us to love and delight in him as much as he already loves and delights in us, even as we sit here. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:01.659 He wants our devotion because it's about a marriage. 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:04.580 It's not just subjects following out of fear. 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:07.299 We're the bride of Christ. 00:10:09.179 --> 00:10:11.480 So this is a very powerful image. 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:15.799 You know, God wants our full heart, our full affection. 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:19.079 And so the Christian life is partly about that. 00:10:19.179 --> 00:10:23.959 It's partly about feasting on the presence of God. 00:10:24.539 --> 00:10:28.719 It's about going, as C.S. Lewis loved to say, further up and further in. 00:10:28.819 --> 00:10:35.979 It's about learning how to delight in and experience the love and the joy and the affection of God in our daily lives. 00:10:36.059 --> 00:10:38.539 That's a huge piece of what it means to be a Christian. 00:10:39.839 --> 00:10:41.419 But it doesn't stop there. 00:10:41.419 --> 00:10:51.019 As I said, you know, as many places in the Bible do, Revelation marches relentlessly on into a very different kind of image. 00:10:51.159 --> 00:11:04.319 We have this wedding feast and then all the heavens are opened and John sees this magnificent vision where the bridegroom is reintroduced to us as a warrior on a war horse. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.660 And all of the saints are no longer feasting. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:09.280 They're armed for battle. 00:11:09.640 --> 00:11:11.980 But instead of armor, they're wearing white linen. 00:11:13.020 --> 00:11:18.860 And we see that the Christian life is not just about feasting, but it's also about joining in the fight. 00:11:18.860 --> 00:11:25.039 And the thing that we need to see right away is that this is not a typical military battle. 00:11:25.139 --> 00:11:33.480 A lot of people over the years who are more or less biblically illiterate have taken passages like this and used it to justify all kinds of military action. 00:11:33.580 --> 00:11:34.960 That's not what we're talking about here. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.759 It's a very different kind of battle, a couple of very key differences. 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:42.060 Number one, this is not a military battle. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:43.480 This is a spiritual war. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:45.940 It's a spiritual war. 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:52.460 Revelation uses images like this all throughout to show us spiritual realities. 00:11:53.180 --> 00:11:53.260 Right? 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:55.560 That's what apocalyptic literature is. 00:11:55.640 --> 00:11:58.200 That means that we are pulling back the veil. 00:11:58.920 --> 00:12:05.760 And we're getting a window into the deeper spiritual dynamics that drive this world. 00:12:05.820 --> 00:12:08.560 So we're pulling back the veil and we're seeing there's a war going on. 00:12:09.660 --> 00:12:13.160 And we have the true enemies being depicted again and again and again. 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:18.259 And the dragon and the two beasts that were created in the image of the dragon. 00:12:19.860 --> 00:12:22.159 And then all of their followers. 00:12:23.079 --> 00:12:26.339 All that stands opposed to God in the world. 00:12:26.539 --> 00:12:30.259 And as Paul says in Ephesians 6.12, very well-known passage. 00:12:30.259 --> 00:12:39.840 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness. 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:44.039 Against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 00:12:44.179 --> 00:12:47.679 You know, some people hear that and they think that's just, that's such superstition. 00:12:48.439 --> 00:12:50.860 You know, does anybody actually believe that anymore? 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:54.200 Or, and then you read the news about a shooting in Dayton. 00:12:55.300 --> 00:12:56.659 You know, or El Paso. 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:00.060 You know, one racially motivated. 00:13:00.379 --> 00:13:03.539 One seemingly almost sort of demonically motivated. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:06.539 And you look at something like that. 00:13:06.620 --> 00:13:08.000 Somebody's mowing people down. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:10.960 Brutal, brutal murder. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:14.620 And you say, you really think that gun control is going to solve this? 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:17.720 I mean, it may help a whole lot. 00:13:18.560 --> 00:13:21.560 But do you think that that's really where the problem is sourced? 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:22.800 Right? 00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:28.000 Do you think if we figure out how to reach out to young white men a little more, identify the kind of warning signs? 00:13:28.139 --> 00:13:29.460 Yeah, maybe we can cut down on it. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:34.080 But no reasonable person can read about something like that or experience that. 00:13:34.139 --> 00:13:37.860 And not at least question whether or not there is true evil in the world. 00:13:37.860 --> 00:13:42.879 And what Revelation shows us is, you pull back the veil and it's not just about sociology. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:44.600 It's not just about legislation. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:52.159 There are dark forces of evil at work in the world. 00:13:53.800 --> 00:13:56.120 So it's a spiritual war that we're seeing. 00:13:56.560 --> 00:13:59.960 And number two, the way this fighting is different than most of what we might think, 00:14:00.259 --> 00:14:03.560 is that because it's a spiritual war, it uses spiritual weapons. 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:08.439 You know, this is not a war that's fought with swords or guns or bombs. 00:14:09.259 --> 00:14:13.799 It says in verse 15, from his mouth comes a sharp sword. 00:14:13.859 --> 00:14:15.479 And of course, that's not talking about a real sword. 00:14:15.939 --> 00:14:19.839 It's a metaphor that the Bible uses, especially in Revelation, to talk about the word of God. 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:25.219 From his mouth, he wields the word like a sword. 00:14:25.339 --> 00:14:26.699 It's the only weapon he uses. 00:14:26.700 --> 00:14:30.000 And you say, well, he just talks? 00:14:30.420 --> 00:14:31.480 Is that what you're saying? 00:14:31.620 --> 00:14:37.740 And well, and then we read the Gospels and we see the effects of this sword when Jesus wields it. 00:14:38.259 --> 00:14:38.400 Right? 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:39.820 Jesus gives sight to the blind. 00:14:40.860 --> 00:14:41.700 Jesus heals leprosy. 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:44.460 Jesus makes the lame walk. 00:14:44.640 --> 00:14:46.300 Jesus raises the dead. 00:14:46.379 --> 00:14:50.600 And more miraculous than anything, he declares God's forgiveness for sin. 00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:55.580 And in all of these things, what we need to see is he is wielding his word like a sword. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:58.279 That's what happened when Jesus uses his word. 00:14:58.860 --> 00:15:01.779 It's not just talk like it is with human beings. 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:05.480 The world changes when Jesus speaks. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:07.860 Captives are liberated. 00:15:09.060 --> 00:15:09.159 Right? 00:15:09.300 --> 00:15:10.200 Death is overcome. 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:13.040 Those in bondage are set free. 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:14.960 Those in oppression are lifted up. 00:15:15.500 --> 00:15:19.139 This is the impact of God's word wielded by Jesus. 00:15:19.139 --> 00:15:23.059 And in all these ways, Jesus is fighting the battle. 00:15:23.220 --> 00:15:23.319 Right? 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:25.220 He's waging war against the enemy. 00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:27.740 He is reclaiming territory. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:29.379 He's liberating captives. 00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:31.679 He's driving back the darkness and the chaos. 00:15:33.580 --> 00:15:39.740 And so this is an image not just for us to reflect on, but we can't miss the fact that the saints are there with him. 00:15:40.500 --> 00:15:41.759 They're not just feasting at the table. 00:15:41.939 --> 00:15:43.299 They're fighting at his side. 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:44.759 To his right and to his left. 00:15:44.980 --> 00:15:46.200 They're following him into battle. 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:50.400 Well, this, my friends, is what salvation is for. 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:55.780 You don't just put the ticket in your back pocket, live a decent life, and wait to die. 00:15:56.560 --> 00:15:57.660 Wait for retirement to come. 00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:02.680 There's a war going on. 00:16:04.420 --> 00:16:07.379 The safest place in this world is on the battlefield. 00:16:08.340 --> 00:16:08.900 You want to know why? 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:10.759 Because that's where Jesus is. 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:18.659 If you think you can sit on the sidelines and watch, you're in terrible, terrible danger. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:22.679 Jesus is in the fight. 00:16:23.059 --> 00:16:25.600 We're called to go fight alongside him. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:36.500 And so this means speaking God's word into the darkness and the chaos and the confusion of this world with boldness. 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:40.460 It also means liberating captives. 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:42.600 It means freeing the oppressed. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:46.100 It means fighting against injustice and racism. 00:16:46.540 --> 00:16:48.180 It means caring for the poor. 00:16:48.340 --> 00:16:50.360 It means giving food to the hungry. 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:53.040 In all of these ways, we push back the darkness. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:54.039 Right? 00:16:55.240 --> 00:17:00.019 So all of the ministries of this church are engaged in this battle. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:00.379 Right? 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:05.720 When we preach and teach and live out God's word in our lives, we are pushing back the darkness. 00:17:06.379 --> 00:17:12.379 Those of you, the many of you who provide safe homes for children who need foster care. 00:17:13.059 --> 00:17:22.859 For those of you who work to support families that are trying to rebuild themselves and be made whole again so that those kids can go back to their moms and dads. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:25.139 You're pushing back the darkness. 00:17:25.879 --> 00:17:34.420 For those of you who work in caring for resettled refugees and making sure that they have what they need and they're adjusting to life here. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:35.700 You are pushing back the darkness. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:36.899 Right? 00:17:36.940 --> 00:17:42.779 Those of you who work and go and do the work of international development in the developing world. 00:17:42.879 --> 00:17:44.839 You are pushing back the darkness. 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:47.839 But it doesn't just have to be these major endeavors. 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:50.139 Although those are amazing. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:50.619 Right? 00:17:50.980 --> 00:17:52.839 The simple acts of Christian faithfulness. 00:17:55.879 --> 00:17:58.000 You know, choosing to forgive somebody. 00:17:59.159 --> 00:18:00.699 Instead of harboring resentment. 00:18:00.959 --> 00:18:01.019 Right? 00:18:01.179 --> 00:18:02.799 Choosing to show hospitality. 00:18:03.539 --> 00:18:05.799 Especially to somebody who may not be like you. 00:18:05.859 --> 00:18:08.399 Somebody you wouldn't normally interact with. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:10.279 Choosing to be generous. 00:18:11.419 --> 00:18:12.559 Choosing to show kindness. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:13.000 Darkness. 00:18:13.299 --> 00:18:15.639 You know, all of these are ways that we push back the darkness. 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.259 And don't let anyone tell you, even your own voice, that, oh, it's not that big a deal. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.799 Oh, we just had some people over for dinner. 00:18:23.879 --> 00:18:24.679 It's not that big a deal. 00:18:24.859 --> 00:18:25.960 Don't let anybody tell you that. 00:18:26.419 --> 00:18:27.679 We've pulled back the veil. 00:18:27.819 --> 00:18:30.000 We've seen the reality of what's actually going on. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:34.000 And you're in the fight when you're doing that. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:39.279 So these two images, I think, show us what the Christian life is all about. 00:18:39.380 --> 00:18:40.539 It's a life of feasting. 00:18:41.980 --> 00:18:43.420 It's a life of fighting. 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:45.700 Or you might rephrase it this way. 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:47.640 It's a life of contemplation. 00:18:48.539 --> 00:18:50.519 And a life of activism. 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:51.799 Right? 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:52.700 Or you might put it this way. 00:18:52.740 --> 00:18:54.759 It's a life of intimacy. 00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:58.200 And it's a life of engagement. 00:18:59.140 --> 00:18:59.539 Right? 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:00.420 It's both and. 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:01.680 And they need each other. 00:19:01.819 --> 00:19:02.539 We need both. 00:19:03.140 --> 00:19:05.160 And we need to come back to this from time to time. 00:19:05.220 --> 00:19:08.480 Because I do think that some of us, we love to worship. 00:19:08.940 --> 00:19:10.660 And we love to study scripture. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:12.900 And we love to learn theology. 00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:19.400 We love to muse about all of the various, you know, sort of debates throughout church history. 00:19:19.540 --> 00:19:22.440 We love to reflect on the lives of the saints. 00:19:22.580 --> 00:19:28.320 We love to, you know, some of us, the real geeky ones, love to read the church fathers and to see what they were saying about things. 00:19:28.360 --> 00:19:29.500 And all of that is well and good. 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:36.980 But if you're not in the fight, if you're not out there in the fight, then you're missing out. 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:39.460 You've forgotten what all this is for. 00:19:42.900 --> 00:19:44.240 And I believe Jesus is in the fight. 00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:46.019 And that's where we need to be. 00:19:48.820 --> 00:19:50.800 We're neglecting the role that God has given us. 00:19:50.860 --> 00:19:53.440 And we've misunderstood the purpose of the gifts that we have. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:59.140 And what will happen over time if you're only focusing on that personal relationship with God, 00:19:59.140 --> 00:20:02.560 but you're not really thinking about what this means for the world, 00:20:02.820 --> 00:20:04.860 your faith will become stagnant. 00:20:05.380 --> 00:20:08.940 And it will become abstract and disconnected from reality. 00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:09.220 Right? 00:20:09.220 --> 00:20:13.180 That phrase, you know, so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good. 00:20:14.579 --> 00:20:14.900 Right? 00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:19.200 You sort of drift into the ether of Christian speculation. 00:20:20.279 --> 00:20:26.620 On the other hand, I think we have a lot of people in our church who tend more to be on the other side, to be activists. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:28.100 Right? 00:20:28.180 --> 00:20:29.759 So, you know, it's all well and good to preach. 00:20:29.860 --> 00:20:32.680 I know theology matters for, you know, for you guys. 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:36.420 And I know I should be reading the Bible, but what it's really about is being engaged. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:38.560 And there are a lot of real problems in the world. 00:20:38.660 --> 00:20:42.960 And Christians would do well just to kind of get over all of their debates and all of their disagreements. 00:20:43.060 --> 00:20:43.960 None of that really matters. 00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:45.720 God just wants us to love our neighbors. 00:20:45.820 --> 00:20:46.740 We just need to get out there. 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:48.820 We need to end all forms of injustice. 00:20:49.100 --> 00:20:49.299 Right? 00:20:49.580 --> 00:20:52.240 And so a lot of people just say, well, just, okay, that's good. 00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:53.500 But we just need to be out here fighting. 00:20:55.220 --> 00:20:56.460 And we need to change the world. 00:20:56.980 --> 00:20:59.420 And a lot of people come to D.C. because we want to change the world. 00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:00.380 We want to do it right now. 00:21:00.380 --> 00:21:10.400 But if you have not given your heart to God, if you've checked the boxes and you're kind of checking in every now and then, but most of the time you're out there. 00:21:11.940 --> 00:21:16.560 If you're not anchored by and nourished by God's word. 00:21:17.860 --> 00:21:25.040 If you're not having times where you are delighting simply in who God is for his own sake. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:39.519 If you're not spending time in quiet solitude, remembering how to listen, you know, I often have to remember that the main thing I need to do as a pastor is to shut up and listen. 00:21:41.180 --> 00:21:42.359 I need to listen to God. 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:47.839 And if we're not doing that, then over time you become rootless. 00:21:48.919 --> 00:21:52.559 And you're not going to have what you need to fight a spiritual fight. 00:21:53.099 --> 00:21:55.579 You can fight a fight in the legislature. 00:21:55.979 --> 00:21:58.000 You know, you can fight a sociological fight. 00:21:58.699 --> 00:22:00.139 You can fight a financial fight. 00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:04.459 But you're not going to have the resources you need to fight a spiritual fight. 00:22:04.679 --> 00:22:06.079 You're going to be seriously outgunned. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:14.599 The good news is that Jesus has given us a way to hold both together, the feasting and the fighting. 00:22:14.879 --> 00:22:21.879 This is a way to experience intimacy and nourishment from God so that we can go out and have the strength to fight. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:27.019 And this is the meal that we call the Eucharist that we share every week. 00:22:27.019 --> 00:22:34.199 We heard in Luke 22, Jesus desires to have one final feast with his disciples before what? 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:36.600 He goes into the ultimate fight. 00:22:38.220 --> 00:22:38.620 Right? 00:22:38.740 --> 00:22:42.920 Where he wins the decisive victory on the cross. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:48.200 Which means as hopeless as it may be in our fight, we know the victory is already secure. 00:22:49.620 --> 00:22:52.940 And he institutes this meal and says, I'm going to go into the fight. 00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:55.039 One day you're going to be there with me. 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:56.740 I want you to have this meal. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:03.740 And I want you to share this meal because this will nourish you and give you the intimacy that you need to go out there and fight the good fight. 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:05.539 At my side. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:14.100 And so, you know, this is a way of thinking about the Eucharist is, it's like the rehearsal dinner before the wedding supper of the Lamb. 00:23:14.900 --> 00:23:15.100 Right? 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:21.660 So every time you're invited to come down the aisle, you are like the bride of Christ coming down to meet the groom. 00:23:21.660 --> 00:23:30.620 And so we are enacting and reenacting and reenacting this feast that will one day come. 00:23:31.220 --> 00:23:33.340 And the feast prepares us for the fight outside. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:37.560 And every aspect of this feast is radically countercultural. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:39.040 Radically countercultural. 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:42.720 And I'll just give you a few examples. 00:23:43.819 --> 00:23:48.740 In an individualistic culture, it shows us that we need each other. 00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:51.599 Because we all come together. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:54.019 And we all eat together. 00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:56.379 This is why we don't do private communion. 00:23:57.299 --> 00:23:59.539 It's a meal meant to be shared by everyone. 00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:03.960 And so we eat together reminding us that it's not good for any human being to be alone. 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:04.460 Right? 00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:11.420 In a divided culture, deeply divided culture, it reminds us that we're all in one in Christ. 00:24:12.600 --> 00:24:15.340 Because we eat the same bread and we drink the same wine. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:22.980 In a culture of celebrity and self-promotion, it's profoundly humbling. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:26.579 Because nobody's entitled to eat at this table. 00:24:27.819 --> 00:24:31.319 We're only able to come because God's eternal nature is to have mercy. 00:24:31.319 --> 00:24:32.319 Right? 00:24:33.579 --> 00:24:40.879 In a culture of workaholism, it reminds us that human beings need Sabbath rest. 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:44.079 We were made for Sabbath rest and worship. 00:24:45.159 --> 00:24:52.279 In a culture of ambition and careerism, it reminds us of the purpose of all human vocation. 00:24:52.919 --> 00:24:59.480 You know, when you bring the offering down the aisle when the bread and the wine and the money that you give comes down the aisle, 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:01.460 that is the fruit of vocation. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:04.579 That is the church saying, here's what all this was for. 00:25:04.740 --> 00:25:05.839 For your glory, Lord. 00:25:07.120 --> 00:25:08.559 Purpose of all human vocation. 00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:10.319 We're going to go more into that in a couple of weeks. 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:11.880 Right? 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:16.660 In a culture of insiders and outsiders, it's a picture of true hospitality. 00:25:18.120 --> 00:25:18.559 Right? 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:22.980 Because this meal and the people we share it with, we have no say in that matter. 00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:27.619 The people who come to this table are not the people that we might have invited. 00:25:27.940 --> 00:25:29.980 They're the people that Jesus Christ has invited. 00:25:30.779 --> 00:25:31.859 It says in verse 9, 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:36.519 Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. 00:25:36.659 --> 00:25:38.440 You don't get to choose your family. 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:39.419 God chooses it. 00:25:39.720 --> 00:25:40.960 And praise the Lord for that. 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:50.960 In an outrage culture, this meal calls us to forgive and to be reconciled to one another before we eat. 00:25:51.740 --> 00:26:02.840 What that means is that every week we are re-knitting the social fabric of our society bit by bit, thread by thread, relationship by relationship. 00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:13.779 And perhaps the most challenging thing of all, I think, for people in D.C. is this meal reminds us of our fundamental inadequacy. 00:26:14.740 --> 00:26:18.079 It reminds us that we are not enough. 00:26:18.199 --> 00:26:23.480 I think maybe one of the most significant liturgical acts that we do together as a church is this. 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:29.539 When you come to receive the bread, you hold out your hands like this. 00:26:29.539 --> 00:26:37.420 You're saying to God, with all of my education, all of my credentials, all of my intelligence, all of my competency, 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:40.500 I've realized it's not enough. 00:26:42.180 --> 00:26:43.720 I can't fix this world. 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:47.259 I can't even fix myself. 00:26:47.899 --> 00:26:49.359 I can't fix my marriage. 00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:52.519 I need you to give me what I don't have. 00:26:52.879 --> 00:26:55.940 I need you to be God in a way that I can't be God. 00:26:55.940 --> 00:26:59.640 I need you to nourish me and fill up parts of me that I cannot fill. 00:27:00.140 --> 00:27:05.640 I need you to answer and solve questions and problems and address brokenness that I simply can't handle. 00:27:05.980 --> 00:27:06.820 I'm not enough. 00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:08.000 I need you to be God. 00:27:08.740 --> 00:27:09.720 I'm not God. 00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:11.519 And I've realized that. 00:27:13.340 --> 00:27:16.220 When we hold out our hands like this, this is what we're saying to God. 00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:17.700 And you know what God says in response? 00:27:18.460 --> 00:27:19.539 He doesn't give us answers. 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:21.980 He doesn't give us explanations or justifications. 00:27:21.980 --> 00:27:24.860 He gives us the life of his son. 00:27:26.420 --> 00:27:28.360 And he says, this is what you really need. 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:32.059 And you can have as much as you want. 00:27:33.319 --> 00:27:34.140 Come and eat. 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:41.299 So in this meal, we are nourished by the life of Christ. 00:27:41.940 --> 00:27:42.680 And then guess what? 00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:46.120 At the end of our time together, there's the dismissal. 00:27:47.019 --> 00:27:48.299 That's the call to arms. 00:27:49.019 --> 00:27:53.779 That's the reminder that we're not just going to go out and have lunch, although that's a nice thing to do after a service. 00:27:55.539 --> 00:27:57.399 But we're going out there to join in the fight. 00:27:59.799 --> 00:28:00.859 To join in the fight. 00:28:01.460 --> 00:28:07.379 To push back the darkness and the confusion and the chaos and the injustice that has torn this world apart. 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:12.960 By proclaiming and by living out and being the presence of Christ in the world. 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:23.860 And Christianity holds these two things together and reminds us that this just isn't about getting a ticket to heaven. 00:28:23.859 --> 00:28:25.939 We're actually building a new society. 00:28:26.179 --> 00:28:28.199 What you might call a new creation society. 00:28:28.459 --> 00:28:30.759 What you might call a Eucharistic society. 00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:35.119 A truer, better way of being human together. 00:28:36.059 --> 00:28:40.959 We are the bride making herself ready for the wedding feast of the new creation. 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:49.920 And so every week when we gather, as we will in a little while, we will share this meal that reminds us who we are and why we're here. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:51.059 Let's pray. 00:28:52.819 --> 00:28:54.519 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:28:55.180 --> 00:28:56.720 We thank you for this meal. 00:28:57.819 --> 00:29:03.500 Lord, in a little while when we confess, Lord, you may have stirred up all kinds of things in our hearts. 00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:09.920 Lord, I pray that this would be a time of powerful experience of your presence. 00:29:11.099 --> 00:29:13.500 That you and only you would minister to your people. 00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:18.380 And that when we hold out our hands, with whatever sense of need we have, 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:23.619 Lord, that you would respond with the grace that you've always responded in. 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:27.839 That you would give us your life, give us your son, give us your love. 00:29:28.519 --> 00:29:30.599 And remind us that we're sons and daughters of the kingdom. 00:29:31.619 --> 00:29:33.119 We pray this in your son's holy name. 00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:33.759 Amen.