Father, sometimes your word talks about things that we don't want to talk about and we don't want to think about.
And sometimes your word says things that just about everything within us disagrees with.
And sometimes your word says things that we might agree with,
but we don't think anybody around us that we know at work or in our neighborhood or maybe in our family would agree with.
And Father, we confess before you that it's very easy for us in these situations to not want to hear your word at all,
to skip over it, to think about something that pleases us or chooses, that pleases us.
But Father, you are God, the true and living God, the creator of all things, the sustainer of all things,
and you are a God who speaks.
And you have spoken to us and you speak to us.
We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would gently but deeply come into our minds and come into our hearts
and come into our wills, come into our bodies, come into who we are,
that your Holy Spirit would fall upon us with gentle power,
that we might hear your word and receive your word,
and that your word would enter into us to the end that we would bear much fruit in our daily lives for your glory.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
Amen.
So, some sort of strong texts.
Here's the first thing.
So I'll, if you're a guest here, by the way, first of all, if you're a guest here this morning,
we always have some Bibles at the front.
If you forgot your Bible, you're welcome to come and borrow a Bible or actually take it as a gift.
You don't have to bring it back.
You can take it home with you if you want.
And we're going to look at those Bible texts.
And what we do at this church is we preach through books of the Bible.
So it wasn't as if, George, you know, that's my name's George if you're a guest.
It's not as if I thought one day, what could I do to really sort of just lay a big guilt bomb on a whole pile of people?
So why do I pick this text?
Because that will really, you know, thin the congregation, thin the herd or something like that.
No, we preach through the Bible.
We preach through books of the Bible.
And this was the next text.
And so we're going to look at it.
And here's the thing, which if you don't get anything else, and I apologize that event after event after event happened that I wasn't able to get my points to Andrew.
So if you go on the webpage tomorrow in the afternoon, hopefully, if you need help with the points, they'll be up there on the computer or webpage.
But here's the thing that struck me as I'm trying to wrestle with these texts.
And it's as if the Holy Spirit spoke to me about a fundamental heart issue that only maybe I'm not always aware of, but it's a fundamental heart issue in terms of how I approach the Bible.
And maybe I'm vastly more wicked than you, but I think it's a common heart problem.
Maybe it's always been a common problem, but I think it's especially a problem in an affluent, well-educated city like Ottawa.
And here's the heart issue.
The true God who truly speaks is not a puzzle to solve so that I can be safe and flourish.
I'll say that again.
It's too bad I don't have it up on the screen unless Andrew sort of types it while I speak, which would be sort of funny.
The true God who truly speaks is not a puzzle to solve so that I can be safe and flourish.
And you might say, George, why on earth would you say something like that?
Like, that's not a very Christian thing to say.
You know, we're just supposed to believe God at his word.
We're just sort of to take it and all that.
But, you know, if I think about it, when I was sort of wrestling with this text, studying different commentaries,
not only commentaries that have been written relatively recently,
but commentaries that have been written other centuries where there were other types of perspectives on it.
And, you know, it's very easy for us to try to turn these passages into something that will be safe for us.
As if it's a type of puzzle.
And if we can just sort of solve the puzzle, then, okay, then we can live with the text.
And we can be safe with the text.
And we can be safe with God.
And we can flourish because we're safe.
And, but you know what?
That's not who God is.
And it's not who we are.
In fact, texts like this reveal how we have a God project at work in our own lives.
And that this God project that's at work in our own lives means that we sort of want to set the terms of what God will be like.
And we want to set the terms for what he's going to speak.
And the terms about what he can and cannot tell us.
And we want to set the terms.
We want to have a type of negotiation with God to set these terms up.
And so that once we know the terms of the deal and the terms of the arrangement,
then we can go and we can do the different things that we want to do.
And in fact, that's often what religion does.
Even Christianity, which has been in a sense hijacked by religion.
It creates, you know, like maybe in some churches, there's a whole pile of rituals and rules around Sunday morning,
which means that you have virtually no rules for the rest of the week.
That's very, very handy.
You know, we've worked out some rules with God.
And we agree with these rules with God.
Okay, God, those are good rules.
We agree with them.
And now that we've agreed to these rules, I can go, whoa, okay, God is sort of, now we have God sort of settled.
You know, like an awkward guest who comes to a dinner party.
We have him or her settled.
This is the awkward guest, not God.
We have God settled.
And now we can get on with, and it's not going to be too disruptive to us having a good dinner party, us having a good life.
And often religion functions like that.
And, in fact, people, and I don't mean to insult anybody.
I'm Canadian, so I don't want to insult anybody.
But often when we say that we're spiritual, not religious, that's often sort of what we mean.
We have a different type of negotiation with God so that we can have God sort of be a certain type of way so that now that he, if we're spiritual, not religious,
we might not know if God's a he or she or an it.
But I'm not saying that to make fun, but it's just a different type of language.
And now he or she or it is sort of settled, and it's all part of our, in fact, now God is actually part of our adornment,
how in our project to flourish and to be safe.
And texts like this that we just read a few moments ago that we're going to read again in a couple of seconds,
it challenges our project at determining how we are safe and how we will flourish,
how I will be safe, how I will flourish, and where I begin and where I end,
and how God is going to fit in with who I am and the choices I want to make and the choices I have made.
And so I want to have God safe.
And so when I come to a text like this, I approach it, you approach it like a puzzle.
And it's a puzzle that if we just click it and shape it the right way,
God's safe.
I can be safe. I can flourish.
Now, I know some religious and spiritual people will use texts like this as a club to bang other people over the head with
and to try to belittle people.
And that's another, that's a separate problem.
That's probably not as much of a problem with most of the people who are here.
Most of us are probably not looking for a Bible text to run into a crowd,
being able to whack people with to make them uncomfortable.
That's probably not our temptation.
I don't know you all.
Maybe some of you will hear that is your temptation.
You need to repent.
It's a different problem.
But for most of us, God is a puzzle.
How did I put it?
The true God who truly speaks is not a puzzle to solve so that I can be safe and flourish.
That's not what God is.
God is, and we're going to see this in a moment,
that God is the creator, he's the sustainer, he's the end of our longings,
he's the end of our yearnings, because he's our helper,
he's the one who redeems us through the death of Jesus upon the cross,
that we can appropriate what he's done purely by faith, not weighing our merits.
That everything about God speaking and all of his words are all designed so that we will come to Jesus.
And when we come to Jesus in faith to trust him as our savior,
and we now receive him as our king,
and we start to learn to live in his kingdom,
that when we start to learn to do that,
we reclaim the authentic humanity that God has intended for us for,
whereby we can be free.
No longer battered by idols and myths and demons,
false gods,
false utopias,
everything in God's word is to funnel us to Jesus,
to realize that we need to accept him as our savior and our Lord,
and that once we give our lives to him as our savior,
that once we start to follow him,
even God's hardest teachings are for us to understand what it means to truly be human,
to truly be a creature in the presence of the living God,
who desires to live with us and be with us,
so that we will go from one degree of glory to another for all eternity.
The God who speaks is the end of our longings and the end of our yearnings.
He's not a puzzle to be solved so we can be safe and flourish.
If you get nothing else out of the sermon, I hope you get that.
Let's look at the text.
George had made some bold claims.
Let's look at the text.
So if you get your Bible out, it's Luke chapter 16,
verses 16 to the end.
We're going to read the whole bit that I read before.
We'll read that all before I'm finished.
At different times, we'll stop and sort of look at the text
and try to draw out from it what the Bible is saying.
But remember, Luke 16, verses 16 to 31,
remember throughout all of it is that in our heart,
because this is one of the things about Jesus,
religion and spirituality, we'll talk about all sorts of things,
but Jesus always attacks the heart.
He always speaks into the heart,
and the Bible understands the heart to be the center of who we are.
Underneath all of our masks, all of our pretensions,
all of our longings, all of our yearnings, all of our fears,
the good, the bad, the ugly, everything in between,
the very center of who we are,
Jesus always goes right to the heart in the context of the living God,
and that's what he's talking about here.
So the text begins like this, verse 16 of chapter 16.
Jesus says,
The law and the prophets were until John.
That's John the Baptist.
Since then, the good news of the kingdom of God is preached,
and everyone forces his way into it.
A better translation would be,
many of your versions would have sort of little notes underneath about it.
It might be better to say,
and everyone is forcefully urged into it.
In other words, we urge with the best of our reason,
the best of our winsomeness,
the best of our analogies,
the best of our prayers,
the best of what we can do,
that we try to spare nothing at talking about the good news.
Every analogy we can think of.
That's what Jesus is talking about.
Then verse 17.
But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away
than for one dot, one stroke of the law.
And here he's referring to what we now call the Old Testament,
to become void.
So here's the first thing.
With Jesus in his kingdom,
I will learn to listen to the living God.
That's what this text is.
Underneath this text,
we want to try to get a positive lesson from it.
What does it mean?
We're going to talk about this more in a few minutes.
But what does it mean when we come to Jesus
and accept him as our Savior
and we desire to follow him as our Lord?
Well, one of the things it means
is that we accept him as our Savior
and we now just don't have a one-on-one relationship with him.
We do have a personal relationship with Jesus,
but it's a communal relationship as well.
It's communal because he calls us into his kingdom
and he's the king.
And what's one of the things that will happen to us
in his kingdom?
Well, as we draw closer to Jesus,
we will learn, he will teach us,
we will learn, the Holy Spirit will teach us
to desire to listen to the living God
and to learn to listen to the living God
who actually speaks.
You know, one of the things in our culture,
many people in our culture are very terrified
with this idea that God speaks.
They think, one of the persons I talk to regularly
in coffee shops, he says,
you know, George, George, George, George,
you know, how on earth can you possibly think
that something that was written 2,500 years ago
or 2,000 years ago,
that that can just continue to speak into our lives?
How on earth can you possibly believe that?
You know, science continues, philosophy continues,
literature, poetry, art continues, technology continues,
everything continues and develops.
Isn't it wiser to get the most recent thing?
And isn't the most recent thing
just going to have to be better?
And it's one of the things he says to me.
And one of the things I try to say to him is,
what if there is a God who really does exist
who actually speaks to us?
Like, what if it is that there is a God
who's created all things and sustains all things,
and this God actually speaks in words
that can be translated into the heart language
of every people group?
Because that's ultimately the claim of the Bible.
See, why am I saying that?
Look at the game.
When Jesus says, verse 16,
the law and the prophets were until John,
but since then the good news of the kingdom is preached
and everyone is talked about it.
And then he says,
it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away
than for one dot of the law to become void.
What Jesus is saying here is that God has spoken
through the law and he's spoken through the prophets.
And because he is the one who ultimately speaks
through the law and speaks through the prophets,
then the words that have come out
are the words that he wants to have there.
And he stands behind these words
as their guarantor, so to speak.
And because they continue to always
and perpetually be his words,
that he chose to speak to our human race
in a public manner that all who can read
or all who can hear can come to hear and understand.
It's why it's because God is the ultimate author
and the guarantor of these words,
that these words have their potential power in our lives,
that they can speak into our lives,
that they can speak to our heart,
the center of who we are.
They can speak to our heart and our heart's longing
for things of the culture and things of our heart
and things of the world
and even maybe potentially things of the devil,
as well as good things that we long and yearn for.
But that these words are words that speak into our heart
about things that are true.
And that's why Jesus says that the word void
can also be translated as fail,
that these words will continue on and on and on and on.
And we're going to see in a couple of weeks
when we go to Luke chapter 21,
that Jesus says his own words will have that type of power.
And only if it's ultimately God who is the speaker
behind and in the words can something like this be true.
And that's what Jesus is teaching us.
And so the words of God aren't words
that are now going to limit our freedom,
but in a sense unleash freedom and propel freedom.
They're words that will start to form our desires,
our longings, our yearnings, our understandings,
the categories by which we think
as we think about everything else.
Because God made human beings to think
and to write poetry and to compose music
and to develop laws
and to speak to children
and to speak to wives and husbands
and mothers and fathers and neighbors.
And he designed us to be curious and ask questions.
And so God reveals this true truth,
not that we will then somehow only read the words of this book
and completely ignore science
and completely ignore poetry
and art and creativity,
but to help us to understand
that we are creatures,
fallen creatures in a fallen world,
that God still exists.
And his words come into our life
to start to help us to orient ourselves
and ground ourselves
so that we can think
in a more completely fully human way
and think and be curious.
And, you know, maybe your thing isn't poetry,
maybe it's physics,
or maybe it's engineering,
or maybe it's math,
but to pursue that
and always day by day
coming back to the God who speaks
and speaks preeminently through his word,
but will speak into our lives.
And that's what's behind this teaching of Jesus,
that with Jesus in his kingdom,
I will learn to listen to the living God.
And as I learn to listen,
as you learn to listen,
as we learn to listen together to the living God,
that he can form and reform our minds
and our hearts and our wills and our souls.
And as our minds and hearts and wills are reformed,
it doesn't mean that our mind stops thinking
and our will stops willing
and our heart stops longing,
but our mind can start to think
in a less fallen way.
And our hearts can long for beauty
in a less fallen way.
And our wills can will goodness
in our lives
and in the lives of our culture
in a less fallen way.
But we are redeemed
to be creatures
created by our creator,
who we were meant to know
and to love and to serve.
And we were meant to do that
not just by ourselves,
but with others.
And this text,
just one other thing about it
before I sort of go on,
it's a profound refutation
of Islam as well.
And it's very important to catch this
because many Christians
think about the Bible
the way Muslims think about the Koran.
And if Christians think about the Bible
the way Muslims think about the Koran,
then Christians aren't thinking
about the Bible truly.
You see, in the Koran,
the Islamic belief,
and I hope I'm getting this accurate,
if you're a Muslim
who's come here this morning,
my understanding is that
God, Allah,
speaks to Gabriel the angel.
And Gabriel the angel
remembers what God says,
and then Gabriel speaks to Muhammad.
And Muhammad remembers
what the angel says,
and Muhammad speaks.
And other people,
because Muhammad was illiterate,
other people write down
what Muhammad spoke.
But it's all dictation.
Gabriel takes dictation from God,
Muhammad takes dictation from Gabriel,
and the other writers
take dictation from Muhammad.
And it's like water through a pipe.
It's just a conduit.
And you'll notice here,
and it's going to come up
all the way through this text,
that Jesus keeps referring
to the law and the prophets.
And he refers to Moses.
And so he refers to the fact
that there are many books in the Bible,
that there are many human authors,
that the books have
different literary genres.
And that the key of all the scriptures
focusing on Jesus.
But you see,
it's very, very radically different
for him to,
for Jesus to say,
you know,
I know the fact that,
you know,
in his case,
that there would be 39 books.
He knew that there would be more books,
as we'll see in a few weeks
when we look at Luke chapter 21.
And that there,
and he even calls them
different genres,
prophetic literature,
and laws,
instruction.
So he recognizes different genres,
that God chose,
and God,
the Bible,
Jesus doesn't say
this is the psychology
that was going on
in these different people.
All he says
is that Moses wrote
and prophets wrote
and they wrote
in different genres
and they wrote
in different times
and they wrote
in different contexts
and they wrote
the way they were going to write.
But at the end of the day,
what stands behind the words
is God
who ultimately
gets the words
that he wanted
to be written
in the different genres,
in the different times,
by the different authors,
with different agendas,
and different senses
of literary technique
and form.
And God uses
all of these human things,
respecting the freedom
of the human authors,
and without at all
transgressing the freedom
of the human authors,
by the time
the process is finished,
the result is
what God desired
to have there.
And so we,
reading the Bible,
now we read law like law,
we read prophecy
like prophecy,
we read poetry
like poetry,
we read historical narrative
like historical narrative,
and we read it all
within the context
of Jesus
who marks
the change
of an age.
A few weeks ago,
if you go back
and listen to the sermons
I did on John chapter 1,
you'll see that
in the final sermon
I did just,
I think,
two weeks ago,
is that the Bible
teaches that Jesus
is the exegesis
of God.
He's the interpreter
of God.
And all of God's word
points to Jesus
and is interpreted
by Jesus.
And not just Jesus
in general,
but in particular,
the reason and the purpose
that Jesus came,
which is to help us
by dying upon the cross
to redeem us.
And that's
what scripture teaches us.
I never turned on
my stopwatch.
I can press it now
and I can speak
for another 40 minutes.
No, just joking.
So that's what's
happening in these words.
So you say,
okay, George,
that's all very,
very, very interesting.
It's very,
very interesting
that you've stopped
and you've spent
a long time now
on verses 16 and 17,
you clever fellow,
leaving you no time
to talk about divorce.
Just keep in mind
the first thing, right?
The first thing
is that as we read
the Bible,
we have to realize
about a heart issue.
And the heart issue
is that we treat God
like a puzzle
to be managed
or solved.
And once it's managed
or solved,
I can continue on
in my life
safe and flourishing.
And that's
the God
who really speaks
and really exists
isn't like that at all.
Right?
The God,
the true God
who truly speaks
is not a puzzle
to solve
so that I can be
safe and flourish.
So let's listen
to this next text
which sort of
jumps out at us.
Probably if we were reading,
if we went back
in a time machine
and read this text
in 1954,
people would just say,
oh, the really interesting
thing is the next text.
In fact, actually,
for most of us,
the next text
should be more important.
Last time I checked,
so I'm using 2012 data,
less than 20%
of Canadians,
less than 20%
of Canadians
give enough money
to charity
to ask for an income tax,
like to be able
to ask,
to put a line item
that they've given
money to charity.
I think it's only $100,
$150.
Less than 20%
of Canadians
give even that amount
of money to charity.
The next text
should be far more shocking
to us
than the divorce text.
Let's look at the divorce text.
Let's listen to it again.
Verse 18.
Everyone who divorces
his wife
and marries another
commits adultery.
And he who marries
a woman
divorced from her husband
commits adultery.
I'm married to Louise
for 33 years.
Neither of us
are divorced.
My hope
and my prayer
is that if
Jesus tarries
that I'll have
another 33 years
with Louise
and that we'll only
grow closer
as the years
go on.
That's my hope.
That's what I pray.
That God will give us
a long life together.
That he will regularly
incline my heart
towards her
and incline her heart
to me.
And that Jesus
will be the savior
of my marriage.
The Lord of my marriage.
And that's what I pray.
And that's what I hope
will happen.
So can I just say
well,
it sucks to be other people.
I'm fine with this text.
No,
there's,
here's the thing
behind this text.
Um,
with Jesus
in his kingdom,
I will learn
to be sexually
whole
and free.
With Jesus
in his kingdom,
I will learn
to be sexually
whole
and free.
Um,
if we don't sort of
understand that
behind
and
overall
and underneath
and at the end
of all of the different
scriptural texts
around sexuality
and around marriage,
if we don't understand
that,
then all of these texts
will become very,
very complicated
and hard for us.
And if we're honest,
texts like this
are very hard
in our culture
because on one hand
we agree with this text
but on another hand
we don't agree with it.
On one hand
we agree with this text
because,
um,
we,
um,
those of us
who enter into marriage
don't want to have
the marriage end
in divorce.
And,
um,
if anything,
um,
for those of us
who are in a marriage
and,
and we want to have
the marriage
continue to,
to have our hearts
inclined to our spouse
and to grow into it
and all,
um,
we don't want
our spouse
to think that
for frivolous reasons
they can break up
the marriage
because,
uh,
you know,
frankly now I'm
33 years older
and,
and Louise is,
uh,
very attractive
and she could find
a younger model
and a more attractive model
or a richer model
or a more handy model,
uh,
or a whole pile
of other types of things
and,
and so on one hand
our culture agrees
and understands
that marriages
shouldn't just break up
that,
um,
we might want to say
that in our understanding
of our culture
we should be able
to have a variety
of sexual relationships
and then at some point
in time we decide
to marry
but when we marry
on one hand
we go into the marriage
in our culture
worried that our marriage
will end in a divorce
and the other hand
hoping that it doesn't
end on a divorce
and,
and partially because
of,
of what's going on
in our culture
we have a lot
of ambivalence
and longings
and yearnings
around marriage
and so in the midst
of all of that
the Bible teaches
that God's intent
is that,
um,
God calls,
we are,
some men and women
are called
to,
uh,
to marriage
uh,
of a man
to a woman
or a woman
to a man
and,
um,
and that when God
calls us to a marriage
of a man
to a woman
it's to be the intent
of a lifelong union
and that outside
of that
uh,
we are called
to abstain
from sexual knowing
and that,
and that in fact
while it's counterintuitive
to our culture
it wouldn't have been
counterintuitive
to our culture
in 1954
or other times
but in our culture
right now
that's a very
counterintuitive
statement
that it's human
flourishing
happens within the
context
of either a
lifelong marriage
of a man
to a woman
where sexual
knowing
uh,
where sexual
knowing
takes place
and is part
of it
where sexual
abstinence
sexual knowing
being abstaining
from that
in singleness
and that human
flourishing
can be accomplished
in both
and that's the
consistent
overarching teaching
of the Bible
so what's this
thing about divorce
uh,
you'll notice
in the bulletin
uh,
now that the
Christmas holidays
are over
every week
I put in
something called
going deeper
and uh,
going deeper
I also have
something called
growing in grace
and going in deeper
I usually have
some extra
Bible verses
that people can
look at
by themselves
or with others
to go deeper
into the topic
and I've placed
in there
the six other
primary texts
about divorce
and remarriage
in the Old
and New Testament
here's what I'm
going to say
about the text
remember I said
to you
that um
one of the things
that Jesus teaches
is he says
that uh
that ultimately
God is the one
responsible for the law
the prophets
and when we see
in a few weeks
Luke chapter 21
that God is the one
responsible
ultimately
for the writing
of the New Testament
he stands behind
the word
he gives it
its power
so if Luke
chapter 16
verse 18
was the absolutely
only text
in all of the Bible
that talked about
divorce and remarriage
then we would have
to take that
as having no
other type
of context
and it would mean
exactly what it says
but given
that God
is the author
of all of scripture
a very fundamental
principle of interpreting
the Bible
is that we read
the Bible
every particular
verse of the Bible
within the context
of the larger Bible
that that's one of the things
that you can pray for me
it's one of the things
for our ministry interns
is that as they have
experience
preaching different
parts of the Bible
that they are also
trying to learn
the whole sweep
of the Bible
and so that
and part of my mentoring
with them
is that they don't
interpret one part
of the Bible
in such a way
that it makes
other parts of the Bible
be contradicted
or look foolish
or look ridiculous
and that's part of the task
of everything
so in this particular case
there's no other case
in Luke's gospel
where Jesus talks about this
we're going to talk about
the context in a moment
but if you
it's very puzzling
on one hand
that Jesus says this
immediately after
he said that nothing
in the law
will ever go away
and Deuteronomy 24
when you look at it
later on in going deeper
you'll see that
Deuteronomy chapter 24
allows remarriage
after divorce
and when you look
at some of the other texts
you'll see that
in Matthew chapter 5
and Matthew 19
a different book
but Jesus allows
remarriage after divorce
when there has been
pornea
in the marriage
pornea to the extent
that it causes
a break in the marriage
and the wronged party
does not believe
the marriage can be healed
and pornea
it's a Greek word
is any type of sexual knowing
or sexual stimulation
outside of the marriage
of a man to a woman
or the woman to the man
and Jesus says
that pornea
can cause a break
in a marriage
in such a way
that the wronged person
can desire to remarry
and in 1 Corinthians 7
there is a second case
where in the case
of basically desertion
or abandonment
or a massive rejection
by the non-Christian
of the Christian
the marriage is broken
and by implication
a person can remarry
so what is Jesus
saying here
I would take it
that we have to
interpret these words
in a way that doesn't
contradict those other words
and so I think
it's referring to
two particular types
of things
and remember how I said
that what we often do
in our understanding
of the Bible
is that we want to try
to solve the riddle
of God
and the riddle
of his word
in such a way
that it allows us
on our terms
to flourish
and on our terms
to be safe
I meet somebody
different than Louise
and I decide
that I want to spend time
with that person
who's different
than Louise
and I don't want to
violate the biblical command
against adultery
so I divorce Louise
so that I can
marry this new person
and God cuts
right through that
Jesus cuts
right through that
and says
what you've just done
is adultery
don't play fast
and loose
with the Bible
and don't play
fast and loose
with religious rules
and being able
to manipulate
religious rules
don't claim
that you didn't
fully intend
everything in your marriage
and a full sense of it
and therefore
there's some type
of an exemption
from it
what you've just done
is adultery
in fact
obviously
in our culture
with prenuptial agreements
and other things
like that
there is a great fear
of many people
in our culture
that people will enter
into a marriage
with the intention
of divorce
not most people
most people
especially those
who are victims
of desertion
abandonment
violence
which is a
particular
heinous form
of rejection
of the other person
people who
enter into
extramarital affairs
but the wronged
person
in these things
who really did
desire
to love
and cherish
and draw close
to the other person
then all that's
happened
is a great
violation
and a great
wounding
but some people
use laws
and exceptions
and wealth
and personal interest
and personal desires
for projects
to cast away
their promises
and their commitments
so they can move on
to the next stage
of their project
in life
and if some of you
are here
feeling wronged
and picked on
because I've said that
all I'm trying to explain
is what the Bible teaches
and your quarrel
is ultimately
with Jesus
not with me
and I'm not trying
to bang you
over the head
in Islam
although I think
in most cultures
it's not really
practiced very much
but in Islam
in there are
I've been told
there are some places
where
you can
a man can sleep
with a prostitute
and
to get around
the problem
of adultery
within Islam
they marry
the prostitute
sleep with a prostitute
and then divorce
the prostitute
and therefore
they have not
committed adultery
texts like this
would speak
in a very powerful
sense of rejection
that would be
an extreme case
of using religion
to avoid
the clear intent
of God
that God
intends
marriage
and he intends
it
as something
that will last
forever
until Jesus
comes
or until
death
of one
or both
of the
partners
and that's
his intention
but the Bible
recognizing
that it's
sinful human
beings
who enter
into the
holy estate
of matrimony
provides
some cases
whereby
due to
sin
the marriage
comes to
an end
and the wronged
person can enter
into a new
marriage
and I think
there's great
wisdom in the
Bible
a wisdom
that our
culture needs
and a wisdom
for which we
should not be
ashamed
because the
Bible is
wise
I only have
a few minutes
to talk about
the last text
George
what about
the rich man
I'm going to
say two
things
maybe I'll
say three
things relatively
quick
because I'm
very conscious
of the
time
the first
thing
is that
with Jesus
in his
kingdom
I will
learn to
open my
eyes and be
generous
okay
as we're
going to
read through
this
parable
because
the time
consists
I'm going to
sort of
give you
the two
points
I'll be
online
if you
want to
write
them
down
okay
one of
the
things
about
this
parable
that we
come to
that's
very
shocking
is that
the rich
man in
the
parable
he's
not
said
that
he did
a single
thing
wrong
in terms
of doing
something
wrong
it's not
wrong
to have
a party
it's not
wrong
to have
a feast
it's not
wrong
to have
somebody
take you
to an
expensive
restaurant
and because
they just
want to
honor you
and love
you
they buy
you
a really
expensive
meal
that's
not a
sin
if we
think
those
things
are
sins
it's
not
because
of
the
Bible
but
because
of
a
type
of
religion
or
spirituality
which
emphasizes
asceticism
and
denigrates
and puts
aside
the body
it's
not
a
sin
to
sit
down
and
enjoy
a
big
steak
with
sorry
Baptists
with a
nice glass
of red
wine
and mashed
potatoes
with lots
and lots
of gravy
it is
not a
sin
to do
that
and for
vegetarians
it's not
a sin
to have
a really
nice
big piece
of tofu
deep
fried
with a
cheesy
sauce
and
quinoa
okay
and I
also know
I'm married
to a
vegetarian
those of
us who
had
the steak
we're
going to
be in
heaven
to see
Jesus
quicker
than
the
people
who
had
the
tofu
and
the
quinoa
okay
so you
have to
temper it
but it's
not a
sin
okay
and here's
the terrible
thing
the shocking
thing about
this parable
what
damns
the man
is not
a sin
of
commission
but a
sin
of
omission
it's
not
that
he had
lots
of
great
food
it is
that he
knew
Lazarus
by name
and he
knew
Lazarus
his
poverty
and he
didn't
do
anything
it is
the sin
of
omission
that
damns
him
not a
sin
of
commission
and so
part of
the
positive
lesson
of the
text
is that
with
Jesus
in his
kingdom
I will
learn to
open my
eyes
and be
generous
and the
other thing
that we'll
see
is with
Jesus
in his
kingdom
I will
learn
good
helplessness
in the
context
of the
helper
this is a
very very
frightening
idea for
those of
us who
want to
see God
as a
problem
to be
solved
a riddle
to be
solved
that we
manage
and solve
it so
that we
can be
safe and
flourish
on our
own
terms
but the
Bible
is
constantly
trying to
undercut
our
sense
of
self
dependence
to say
there's a
type of
helplessness
which is
good for
us
and the
type of
helplessness
is always
in the
context
of the
presentation
of help
it's like
going to
some of
these
leadership
and
management
things
where they
do
things
like
ask you
to fall
backwards
and trust
that your
co-workers
will catch
you
that one
of the
things
that drives
people
into the
ground
is the
sense
that they
have to
be in
control
all of
the time
and not
trust
that people
will
help
them
the
Bible
is wise
let's
listen to
the
parable
there was
a rich
man
who was
clothed
in purple
and fine
linen
and who
feasted
sumptuously
every day
and at his
gate was
laid a poor
man named
Lazarus
covered with
sores
who desired
to be fed
with what fell
from the rich
man's table
this is
verse
now we're up
to verse
21
where over
even the
dogs came
and licked
his sores
just pause
there
do not
think Walt
Disney
do not
think
Cinderella
singing a
song
while the
birds come
and help
with the
dishes
I think it was
Cinderella
where that
happened or
was it the
seven dwarves
I can't
remember
anyway don't
think Disney
the original
the word
for dogs
here is
wild dog
not pet
but wild
and it's
portraying
Lazarus as
being so
helpless
that he
can't
stop
a wild
dog
from
violating
his
person
giving him
even more
infection
while they
lick his
sores
that's the
image
massive
helplessness
and unclean
massively
helpless
verse 22
the poor
man died
and was
carried by
the angels
to Abraham's
side
the rich
man also
died and
was buried
and in
Hades
being in
torment
he lifted
up his
eyes
and saw
Abraham
afar off
with
Lazarus
at his
side
they called
out
father
Abraham
have mercy
on me
and send
Lazarus
see
I'm going to
tell you in a
moment but
this is very
the only
parable of
all of
Jesus's
parables
where anybody
has a
name is
this
parable
only
parable
everybody
else
says man
was going
down to
Jerusalem
there was
a father
with two
sons
there was
a woman
who lost
a coin
it's always
just
something
this is
the only
parable
where
somebody's
named
and it
has several
reasons
for it
and one
of them
is here
that now
it reveals
the rich
man doesn't
say
Abraham
you have
a whole
pile of
former
street
people
up there
could you
pick one
of those
street
people
and just
you know
help me
out here
a bit
okay
all those
days he
was feasting
he knew
who the
guy was
did
nothing
his
omission
is
revealed
his
omission
is
revealed
verse
25
but
Abraham
said
child
remember
that
you
in
your
lifetime
received
your
good
things
and
Lazarus
and
like
man
are
bad
things
but
now
he
is
comforted
here
and
you
are
in
anguish
and
besides
all
this
between
us
and
you
a
great
chasm
has
been
fixed
in
order
that
those
who
had
passed
from
here
to
you
may
not
be
able
and
none
may
cross
from
there
to
us
and
the
rich
man
the
formerly
rich
man
said
then
I
beg
you
father
to
send
him
to
my
father's
house
for
I
have
five
brothers
so
that
he
may
warn
them
lest
they
also
come
into
this
place
of
torment
just
as a
second
here
how
do
you
think
it
would
actually
work
if
the
rich
guy
had
five
brothers
and
somebody
came
to him
and
said
I've
just
come
and
your
brothers
in
hell
I
don't
think
that
conversation
would
actually
be
highly
successful
but
Abraham
said
they
have
Moses
and
the
prophets
let
them
hear
them
in
other
words
Moses
and
the
prophets
are
all
we
need
to
know
about
our
need
for
Jesus
and
to
learn
to
follow
him
and
live
in
his
kingdom
and
the
rich
man
said
no
father
Abraham
but
if
someone
goes
to
them
from
the
dead
they
will
repent
and
Abraham
said
if
they
do
not
hear
Moses
and
the
prophets
neither
will
they
be
convinced
if
someone
should
rise
from
the
dead
and
those
of
you
who
have
been
here
other
weeks
know
that
at
a
literary
level
how
Luke's
gospel
is
written
is
that
in
Luke
chapter
9
Jesus
announces
to
his
disciples
that
he's
going
to
Jerusalem
to
die
and
he
will
rise
again
that
he's
going
to
Jerusalem
to
die
and
when
he
dies
he
will
rise
again
it's
a
reminder
to us
as a
reader
by the
time we
get to
the end
of Luke's
gospel
and
Jesus
is
risen
from
the
dead
that
if
we
don't
listen
to
Moses
and
the
prophets
we
won't
listen
to
one
who
rises
from
the
dead
here's
the
final
significance
about
the
text
the
name
Lazarus
the
name
Lazarus
is
but
the
main
thing
about
it
is
that
its
name
means
and
the
name
has
to
mean
something
because
it's
the
only
time
anybody's
named
in a
parable
and
it
means
God
helps
God
helps
that's
what
it
means
Lazarus
is
completely
and utterly
helpless
in
every
sense
of
the
word
physically
he
can't
move
physically
he is
completely
and utterly
having
his
space
violated
he
has
no
financial
resources
he is
completely
and utterly
helpless
and the
only thing
that gets
him into
heaven
is that
God
helps
so here's
the final
thing about
this text
and we're
going to
stand in a
moment
and close
in prayer
conversion
happens
when we
say to
the
father
all my
life I
have thought
of myself
as a
rich
man
and I
have never
realized
I
am
Lazarus
if we
approach
the Bible
thinking that
we are
the rich
man
we will
never
understand
the Bible
if we
approach
religion
and
spirituality
and Jesus
himself
as the
rich
man
we will
never
understand
Jesus
we will
never
understand
the Bible
we will
never
understand
God
Jesus
is inviting
me
and you
to
understand
I
spend
my
days
as
the rich
man
but I
am
Lazarus
who needs
God's
help
and not
only is
conversion
when we go
and say
God I
never realized
how much
all I
wanted
to do
was
control
and manage
you
and I
am
Lazarus
change
me
from
the rich
man
to
Lazarus
that
is going
to require
humility
of you
and me
change
me
from
the rich
man
project
I
am
Lazarus
help
me
and not
only is
that how
we get
converted
it's how
we grow
as followers
of Jesus
that day
by day
I say
to him
father
I've
spent
my
entire
week
wishing
that I
was
the rich
man
and I
have not
realized
that I
am
Lazarus
and that
I
am
helpless
and you
reveal my
helplessness
in the
context
of the
great
helper
the great
deliverer
who loved
me so
much
he died
upon
the cross
for me
I
am
Lazarus
Jesus
is the
helper
help
me
please
stand
bow our
heads
in
prayer
father
ask
that your
holy
spirit
would
move
and work
deeply
in our
hearts
and our
minds
that
you would
reveal to
us
father
gently
but
persistently
reveal to
us
how much
of our
lives
are lived
in terms
of being
the rich
man
and refusing
to acknowledge
that we
are Lazarus
and that you
have provided
that great
help
that fits
us
to know
Jesus
and to
live in
his
kingdom
both on
this side
of the
grave
and for
all
eternity
we ask
father
that your
holy
spirit
would
convict
us
that
convict
me
convict
each
one
to
turn
from the
rich
man
project
and accept
and embrace
that I
am
Lazarus
and that
Jesus
is my
great
helper
father
help me
to live
my life
conscious
of this
make me
a disciple
gripped
by the
gospel
who now
lives
for your
glory
and all
this I
ask in
the name
of Jesus
your
son
and our
savior
amen
please take
a posture
of prayer
as we enter
into a time
of intercession
as we enter
this time
of prayer
please feel
free to take
whatever posture
helps you to
communicate
with God
our father
heavenly father
as we enter
this new year
help us both
individually
and corporately
to seek your
will both
for ourselves
and