WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:29.980 Thank you. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:59.980 Thank you. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.000 Thank you. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:32.000 Thank you. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.000 Thank you. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:32.000 Thank you. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:07.439 Thank you, Tommy. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:08.860 Thank you all. 00:03:08.939 --> 00:03:10.800 It's a tremendous privilege to be here. 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:16.319 I'm only sorry to break into Tommy and Laura's first Sunday back. 00:03:16.420 --> 00:03:18.719 I'm sure you're raring to hear them. 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:21.699 And I'm breaking into that and very aware of it. 00:03:21.699 --> 00:03:23.419 But you'll have them next Sunday, I imagine. 00:03:23.699 --> 00:03:25.679 But it's a real privilege for Jenny and me. 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:28.979 Before we open the word, let's pray. 00:03:28.979 --> 00:03:39.839 Lord, open your word to our hearts and our hearts to your word. 00:03:40.399 --> 00:03:42.439 We ask in Jesus' name. 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:43.639 Amen. 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:43.779 Amen. 00:03:47.279 --> 00:03:52.319 I'm sure many of you, if not most of you, have been to the Korean War Memorial. 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:56.739 And the most striking words there are well known. 00:03:57.500 --> 00:03:59.359 Freedom is not free. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:05.439 Brief, memorable, moving if you think about it. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:16.740 It obviously speaks to that, what Lincoln called the last full measure of devotion that a citizen can give to his country in giving his life. 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:30.340 But what America needs to ponder today is not that, although it's still relevant, but the paradox of freedom, which is not so inspiring. 00:04:31.660 --> 00:04:34.199 The paradox of freedom is very simply this. 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:39.579 The greatest enemy of freedom is freedom. 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:42.340 Freedom never lasts. 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:44.840 It never has in any country. 00:04:44.839 --> 00:05:14.819 Freedom never lasts. 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:15.839 pages of history. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.439 And it's ones that Americans need to wrestle with today. 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:30.259 But, of course, we know that the greatest textbook and the longest running tutorial on freedom is the biblical understanding. 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:54.480 And at a time when America is abandoning the American Revolution, which was decisively biblical in its origins through the Reformation, and going back to ideas that essentially come from the Enlightenment and the French Revolution and its heirs, very different ideas of freedom, many of them insubstantial and many of them dangerous and disastrous. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:06:04.480 We, as followers of Jesus, we, as followers of Jesus, need to be people who think through and stand for deep and realistic views of freedom. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:11.480 And I want to open up just one tiny part of that from Exodus this morning. 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:21.879 The Bible, I think, gives us the highest and most balanced humanism in all history. 00:06:22.080 --> 00:06:26.700 In other words, the highest view of humanity, but the most realistic in its balance. 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:40.539 So humans are exceptional in their freedom made in the image of God, but they are consequential because they can always act in freedom for either good or for ill, and those choices have consequences. 00:06:40.540 --> 00:06:47.319 So let me raise three questions of the passage we read or was read to us. 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:53.920 First, very simply, where does freedom come in the story? 00:06:55.040 --> 00:07:00.000 Now, one way that's terribly obvious, but another way it's not actually that obvious. 00:07:01.080 --> 00:07:07.580 Exodus is the story of the freeing of Israel from captivity in Egypt, yes. 00:07:07.579 --> 00:07:13.000 But there's much, much more behind that that goes all the way back to Genesis. 00:07:13.919 --> 00:07:17.839 And in contrast to all the nations around Israel. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:22.279 In the ancient world, people were not free. 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:25.199 They were ruled by their stars. 00:07:26.659 --> 00:07:31.379 If we go back to the Greeks, for all their stress on a certain type of freedom in the public square, 00:07:32.339 --> 00:07:35.919 behind everything was fate, moira, destiny. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:42.480 And if we read our secularist friends today, for example, most recently, Sam Harris, 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:45.939 freedom is a fiction. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:52.319 The same simple fact is you cannot use naturalistic science, 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:57.759 which is the grounding of many of their worldviews, to justify freedom. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:04.319 We are the greatest champions of freedom, along with our Jewish friends. 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:06.599 And it goes back to the Torah. 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:11.639 Many Christians say, well, where is freedom apart from the freeing of the slaves? 00:08:13.300 --> 00:08:16.279 Christians love the word, the sovereignty of God. 00:08:16.459 --> 00:08:18.180 What that means is freedom. 00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:25.720 God's freedom to exert his will against any interference or resistance. 00:08:25.980 --> 00:08:26.720 He is sovereign. 00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:27.819 He is free. 00:08:28.379 --> 00:08:29.720 I am who I am. 00:08:30.460 --> 00:08:32.659 And as the Jews put it, the alternative translation, 00:08:33.100 --> 00:08:35.360 I will be who I will be. 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:37.480 God is supremely free. 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:38.480 God is sovereign. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:43.519 And we men in his image are not sovereign as he is, but we are significant. 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:46.460 So yes, we're part of nature. 00:08:47.539 --> 00:08:49.440 And the laws of nature operate. 00:08:49.860 --> 00:08:52.399 And there's a certain cyclical element to human life. 00:08:52.580 --> 00:08:54.820 We're born, we grow, we decline, we die. 00:08:54.820 --> 00:09:03.200 But at the same time, with the breath of life, we are the only form of life that has that freedom. 00:09:04.580 --> 00:09:06.500 And you can see that coming out. 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:12.440 And in Exodus, God is calling for a free people to worship him freely, 00:09:12.740 --> 00:09:15.740 and so he rescues them from their captivity. 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:20.420 But let's ask a second question. 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:22.720 Or put it another way. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:26.759 The issue in that first one is lordship. 00:09:27.920 --> 00:09:28.360 Lordship. 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:31.180 Again and again in Exodus, I am the Lord. 00:09:31.540 --> 00:09:33.440 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:35.100 You will know that I am the Lord. 00:09:35.160 --> 00:09:35.440 When? 00:09:36.340 --> 00:09:39.480 When he frees his people from captivity. 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:43.440 Now interestingly, the word serve here, 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:48.519 there's one word in Hebrew used for slavery, 00:09:49.779 --> 00:09:52.460 used for service of the Lord, 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:55.060 and used for worship. 00:09:55.700 --> 00:09:56.860 It's the same word. 00:09:56.860 --> 00:10:03.300 Slavery to Pharaoh is the same word for the service and worship of the Lord, 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:05.639 but of course, it's a freedom, 00:10:05.779 --> 00:10:07.960 and as our wonderful Anglican prayer book puts it, 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:11.620 whose service is perfect freedom. 00:10:11.620 --> 00:10:15.360 But let's raise the second question, 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:19.639 because I think we need to explore the way freedom comes in so strongly. 00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:24.320 But secondly, was God fair? 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:26.740 You heard in the reading, 00:10:28.500 --> 00:10:29.779 Pharaoh will resist you, 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:32.720 and I will harden his heart. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:36.480 And many people are puzzled over that. 00:10:37.680 --> 00:10:40.720 Is Pharaoh just God's plaything? 00:10:41.500 --> 00:10:44.800 A puppet for him to push aside to free his people, 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:45.800 the Israelites, 00:10:46.040 --> 00:10:48.540 and the great supreme act of favoritism? 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:52.519 And if Pharaoh was not responsible, 00:10:52.959 --> 00:10:54.919 why is he judged in that way? 00:10:56.299 --> 00:10:56.879 In other words, 00:10:56.959 --> 00:11:00.019 behind that is the issue of justice for Pharaoh, 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:05.879 but behind that for us is the issue of justice in the universe. 00:11:07.259 --> 00:11:08.360 As Abraham says, 00:11:08.360 --> 00:11:12.200 Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:16.000 We want to fight for justice in our world today, 00:11:16.060 --> 00:11:17.180 in all sorts of fronts, 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:18.620 but how can we, 00:11:19.259 --> 00:11:22.379 if justice is capricious and selective? 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:26.360 And you have here an example of what is really injustice, 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:29.419 as God is hardening Pharaoh's heart, 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:31.940 and Pharaoh has nothing to do with it. 00:11:33.980 --> 00:11:36.100 Actually, if you follow the story carefully, 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:37.560 you can see the answer to that. 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:41.860 Partly in the mounting challenge of the ten plagues, 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:43.419 which we have no time to look at, 00:11:44.180 --> 00:11:47.379 but you can see that it's not Moses against Pharaoh, 00:11:47.639 --> 00:11:51.680 it's God against Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. 00:11:52.980 --> 00:11:56.019 And each of the plague addresses the people of Egypt 00:11:56.019 --> 00:11:57.259 and Pharaoh behind them, 00:11:57.580 --> 00:12:01.700 and the gods of Egypt behind them again. 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:05.740 But the real answer to the question of God's justice 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:09.320 comes in the wording of the ten plagues. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:11.680 Because if you read it carefully, 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:13.120 and many people don't notice it, 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.100 in the first five plagues, 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:17.700 it explicitly says, 00:12:17.700 --> 00:12:25.660 it is only in the second five plagues, 00:12:25.800 --> 00:12:26.780 six to ten, 00:12:27.259 --> 00:12:31.480 that it says the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:33.019 Now, of course, 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:34.700 the question is, 00:12:35.159 --> 00:12:37.379 what on earth does that mean? 00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:42.740 And the rabbis and the sages and Christian commentators 00:12:42.740 --> 00:12:44.180 have puzzled over it. 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:47.840 Some have said it's a form of punishment, 00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:50.519 God's hardening his heart, 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:53.000 for the first five hardenings. 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:54.799 Maimonides, 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:57.019 the great Jewish rabbi in the 12th century, 00:12:57.100 --> 00:13:00.360 he said it's a way of God's withholding 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:02.000 the possibility of repentance 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:04.419 and hardening Pharaoh's heart. 00:13:05.700 --> 00:13:08.779 Some have argued that it's actually God's stiffening 00:13:08.779 --> 00:13:10.580 of Pharaoh's resolve. 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:12.919 Because halfway through, 00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:15.679 even his own courtiers and counselors 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:17.639 urge him to let them go. 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:20.100 In other words, 00:13:20.139 --> 00:13:21.220 he could give in easily 00:13:21.220 --> 00:13:24.039 to the groupthink and the pressures around him, 00:13:24.500 --> 00:13:25.879 and certain rabbis have said, 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:28.240 no, God sees his freedom, 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:29.799 and that's his resolve, 00:13:30.019 --> 00:13:31.759 and God is hardening his heart 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:33.419 and stiffening his resolve 00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:35.480 to be what he chooses to be. 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:39.000 But I think the simplest explanation 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.659 is by far the best 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:43.319 and the most profound. 00:13:44.860 --> 00:13:46.700 The story of the plagues 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:49.480 is the story of Pharaoh 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:53.500 perverting and corrupting his freedom. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:55.720 In other words, 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:57.920 as you see with evil always, 00:13:58.800 --> 00:14:01.460 choice leads to habit, 00:14:02.620 --> 00:14:04.520 habit leads to character, 00:14:05.280 --> 00:14:08.360 and character eventually becomes compulsion. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:10.460 In other words, 00:14:10.800 --> 00:14:11.960 judgment in the scripture 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:14.280 is not a drone strike. 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:16.819 God's zapping people 00:14:16.819 --> 00:14:17.759 from the heavens 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:19.279 with a lightning bolt or whatever. 00:14:19.459 --> 00:14:20.639 Sometimes it's that. 00:14:21.740 --> 00:14:22.419 More often, 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:24.579 it's God's leaving people 00:14:24.579 --> 00:14:27.240 or driving people 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:28.679 to the logic 00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:30.959 of their own settled choices. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:33.759 So, free people 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:34.539 who can choose 00:14:34.539 --> 00:14:35.779 either good or ill 00:14:35.779 --> 00:14:37.019 can make choices 00:14:37.019 --> 00:14:38.339 which become habits, 00:14:38.340 --> 00:14:40.639 and Tocqueville's famous word, 00:14:40.740 --> 00:14:41.700 the habits of the heart, 00:14:41.899 --> 00:14:43.680 we think of as positive, 00:14:43.899 --> 00:14:44.519 and it is. 00:14:45.259 --> 00:14:46.139 Habits of the heart 00:14:46.139 --> 00:14:47.300 which are virtue 00:14:47.300 --> 00:14:48.879 and all those various good things, 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:50.420 but the habits of the heart 00:14:50.420 --> 00:14:51.680 can be negative. 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:55.620 And choices made negatively 00:14:55.620 --> 00:14:58.379 become habits of the heart 00:14:58.379 --> 00:14:59.759 that are character 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:01.740 and eventually compulsion. 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:05.279 So, a third question 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:06.000 we might ask 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:07.019 of this little passage, 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:10.399 who was really free? 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:13.419 Now, you might look 00:15:13.419 --> 00:15:13.899 at the passage, 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:15.100 so Moses 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:17.139 is the leader 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:19.000 of a slave community. 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:21.080 Yes, he was brought up 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:22.440 as a prince of Egypt, 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:23.340 but he'd spent 00:15:23.340 --> 00:15:24.919 40 years on the run, 00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:26.500 and he's now back 00:15:26.500 --> 00:15:28.419 as a leader of slaves, 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:29.600 and he has to make 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:30.279 the requests. 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:32.539 He's the supplicant. 00:15:34.179 --> 00:15:35.759 Pharaoh stands before him, 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:38.500 the most powerful man 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:39.220 on the earth 00:15:39.220 --> 00:15:40.399 in his day, 00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:40.959 and therefore, 00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:42.279 with such power, 00:15:42.419 --> 00:15:44.120 the most free man 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:45.079 on the earth 00:15:45.079 --> 00:15:45.779 in his day. 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:48.459 Any of you been to Cairo 00:15:48.459 --> 00:15:49.659 or to Egypt as a whole 00:15:49.659 --> 00:15:51.600 and seen the incredible 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:52.819 Giza pyramid 00:15:52.819 --> 00:15:53.439 and others, 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.120 it was a statement, 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:57.959 a sermon almost in stone. 00:15:57.960 --> 00:15:59.980 The widest part 00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:00.460 at the bottom, 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:01.220 the people. 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:02.820 And slowly, 00:16:02.980 --> 00:16:04.160 you come up to the apex, 00:16:04.280 --> 00:16:05.139 and at the very top, 00:16:05.860 --> 00:16:07.080 one stone, 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:08.259 one man, 00:16:08.660 --> 00:16:09.000 Pharaoh, 00:16:09.700 --> 00:16:11.259 the incarnate representation 00:16:11.259 --> 00:16:13.440 of the sun god. 00:16:13.980 --> 00:16:15.340 He was the most powerful. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:17.100 He was the most free. 00:16:18.259 --> 00:16:18.860 But you see, 00:16:18.940 --> 00:16:20.080 as the story goes on, 00:16:20.180 --> 00:16:20.800 halfway through, 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:21.400 as I said, 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.320 his courteous come to him, 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:24.879 let the people go. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:27.299 Don't you realize, 00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:28.200 they say to Pharaoh, 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:30.320 Egypt is ruined. 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:33.200 But still, 00:16:34.059 --> 00:16:35.259 he hardens his heart 00:16:35.259 --> 00:16:37.580 and refuses to let them go. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:39.019 Now, 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:40.179 you can see behind that 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:41.059 and behind the biblical 00:16:41.059 --> 00:16:42.220 understanding of freedom 00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:42.799 and power, 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:44.720 the various things 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:45.519 we need to learn 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:46.460 about both power 00:16:46.460 --> 00:16:47.179 and freedom. 00:16:48.860 --> 00:16:50.799 Power is essential 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:51.360 to freedom. 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:54.019 But in our world, 00:16:54.100 --> 00:16:55.740 which is a postmodern world 00:16:55.740 --> 00:16:56.879 and there's no truth, 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:00.840 freedom is only power. 00:17:01.800 --> 00:17:02.899 And we need to learn 00:17:02.899 --> 00:17:04.000 the lessons of the Bible. 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:04.539 And you remember, 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:05.640 the most famous statement 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:06.579 on this was by 00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:07.759 a Christian 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:09.000 in the 19th century, 00:17:09.120 --> 00:17:09.740 Lord Acton, 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:11.200 all power 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:12.620 tends to corrupt. 00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:14.200 Absolute power 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:15.079 corrupts absolutely. 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:15.720 In other words, 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:17.539 power does three things. 00:17:17.539 --> 00:17:19.720 Most obviously, 00:17:19.940 --> 00:17:21.799 power oppresses the weak. 00:17:23.159 --> 00:17:24.159 And we need to address 00:17:24.159 --> 00:17:25.039 truth to power 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:25.980 as the prophets did. 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:28.500 Less obviously, 00:17:28.980 --> 00:17:31.659 power corrupts the powerful. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:34.240 But also, 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:36.399 power creates anxiety 00:17:36.399 --> 00:17:38.440 because the powerful 00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:39.119 are worried 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:39.879 that their power 00:17:39.879 --> 00:17:40.680 may slip away 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:41.940 and a rival may take it. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:44.059 And power needs to be 00:17:44.059 --> 00:17:44.920 well watched carefully. 00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:45.799 Think of what's called 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:47.319 the suicidities trap. 00:17:47.539 --> 00:17:50.180 When a ruling power 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:50.779 is challenged 00:17:50.779 --> 00:17:51.879 by a rising power, 00:17:52.159 --> 00:17:53.720 say America and China, 00:17:54.579 --> 00:17:55.279 you have the most 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:56.379 serious challenges 00:17:56.379 --> 00:17:57.220 coming. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:17:58.599 But the biblical view 00:17:58.599 --> 00:17:59.159 of power 00:17:59.159 --> 00:18:01.440 is profoundly realistic. 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:03.119 But not just power. 00:18:04.220 --> 00:18:04.579 Freedom. 00:18:06.139 --> 00:18:07.339 As the rabbis, 00:18:07.460 --> 00:18:07.940 the sages, 00:18:08.099 --> 00:18:09.259 the Christian commentators 00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:09.779 have said, 00:18:10.579 --> 00:18:11.139 freedom 00:18:11.139 --> 00:18:13.000 in a negative form 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:14.039 when it becomes evil 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:15.299 has always 00:18:15.299 --> 00:18:16.279 two faces. 00:18:17.539 --> 00:18:19.220 One face is outward, 00:18:19.460 --> 00:18:20.359 what evil does 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:21.740 to the victim. 00:18:22.940 --> 00:18:24.480 But the other face 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:25.460 is inward, 00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:27.899 what evil does 00:18:27.899 --> 00:18:29.319 to the perpetrator. 00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:31.799 He or she gets away 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:32.240 with it, 00:18:32.940 --> 00:18:33.779 but actually, 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:34.879 through the choices 00:18:34.879 --> 00:18:37.099 that become negative 00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:38.079 habits of heart, 00:18:38.159 --> 00:18:39.139 that become character, 00:18:40.019 --> 00:18:40.940 they are slowly 00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:42.779 trapped by their choices 00:18:42.779 --> 00:18:43.659 and eventually 00:18:43.659 --> 00:18:44.960 becomes compulsion. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:45.079 obsession. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:47.360 And you can see 00:18:47.360 --> 00:18:48.319 that ideas 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:49.480 that are compelled 00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:51.660 become obsessions. 00:18:52.700 --> 00:18:54.039 And behavior 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:55.460 that is compelled 00:18:55.460 --> 00:18:57.740 becomes addictions. 00:18:59.299 --> 00:18:59.660 And so, 00:18:59.779 --> 00:19:00.960 by the end of the story, 00:19:01.120 --> 00:19:02.100 you see that Pharaoh, 00:19:02.299 --> 00:19:03.180 the most powerful 00:19:03.180 --> 00:19:03.960 free man 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:05.019 in the world, 00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:07.759 is actually on a course 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:09.100 for self-destruction 00:19:09.099 --> 00:19:11.719 because he hardened 00:19:11.719 --> 00:19:12.299 his heart. 00:19:13.339 --> 00:19:14.159 God leads him 00:19:14.159 --> 00:19:14.959 and drives him 00:19:14.959 --> 00:19:15.559 to the logic 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:16.319 of his choice 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:17.459 of a hardened heart 00:19:17.459 --> 00:19:18.859 and it proves 00:19:18.859 --> 00:19:19.879 in the end of the day 00:19:19.879 --> 00:19:21.539 self-destructive. 00:19:22.699 --> 00:19:23.059 Again, 00:19:23.139 --> 00:19:24.079 as the sages say, 00:19:24.459 --> 00:19:25.919 who is really mighty? 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:28.159 Not the one 00:19:28.159 --> 00:19:28.799 who conquers 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:29.419 his enemies, 00:19:30.419 --> 00:19:31.740 but the one 00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:32.719 who can conquer 00:19:32.719 --> 00:19:33.099 himself. 00:19:33.099 --> 00:19:33.740 himself. 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:37.620 One last question. 00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:38.779 What are the lessons 00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:39.779 that we can learn 00:19:39.779 --> 00:19:40.740 from this passage 00:19:40.740 --> 00:19:42.940 and wider still 00:19:42.940 --> 00:19:43.599 from Exodus 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:44.339 as a whole? 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:45.500 With a short time, 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:46.200 I'll just mention 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:47.140 them all rather briefly. 00:19:49.339 --> 00:19:49.940 First, 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:51.579 liberty 00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:54.059 is God's goal 00:19:54.059 --> 00:19:54.980 for humanity. 00:19:57.700 --> 00:19:58.460 Put it in 00:19:58.460 --> 00:19:59.660 New Testament terms. 00:20:00.819 --> 00:20:02.120 It was for freedom 00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:03.479 Christ set us free. 00:20:04.979 --> 00:20:05.559 For the words 00:20:05.559 --> 00:20:06.099 of our Lord, 00:20:06.199 --> 00:20:06.559 you will know 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:07.119 the truth 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:07.699 and the truth 00:20:07.699 --> 00:20:08.479 will set you 00:20:08.479 --> 00:20:09.459 free. 00:20:10.659 --> 00:20:11.519 As Paul says 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:12.359 in chapter 5 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:13.119 of Galatians, 00:20:13.719 --> 00:20:14.819 you were called 00:20:14.819 --> 00:20:15.919 to freedom. 00:20:18.299 --> 00:20:18.819 Sadly, 00:20:18.939 --> 00:20:19.379 at a time 00:20:19.379 --> 00:20:20.059 when freedom 00:20:20.059 --> 00:20:21.599 is in crisis today, 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:22.819 Christians are not 00:20:22.819 --> 00:20:23.839 known for being 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:25.059 the greatest champions 00:20:25.059 --> 00:20:25.939 and guardians 00:20:25.939 --> 00:20:26.699 of freedom. 00:20:27.939 --> 00:20:28.739 And we need 00:20:28.739 --> 00:20:29.879 to think this through 00:20:29.879 --> 00:20:30.899 and live it out 00:20:30.899 --> 00:20:31.939 and speak it out 00:20:31.940 --> 00:20:33.380 and show a way 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:34.700 to a more robust 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:35.640 and nuanced 00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:36.920 realistic freedom 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:38.660 that truly points 00:20:38.660 --> 00:20:39.440 the way forward 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:40.580 for genuine 00:20:40.580 --> 00:20:41.660 human shalom 00:20:41.660 --> 00:20:42.920 and flourishing. 00:20:45.220 --> 00:20:46.660 Second obvious question 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:48.059 from lesson 00:20:48.059 --> 00:20:49.019 from Exodus. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:50.860 Liberty 00:20:50.860 --> 00:20:52.779 is always 00:20:52.779 --> 00:20:53.660 more 00:20:53.660 --> 00:20:55.200 than liberation. 00:20:57.299 --> 00:20:58.120 Liberation 00:20:58.120 --> 00:20:58.980 is only the negative. 00:20:59.299 --> 00:20:59.640 Freed 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:00.800 from Egypt. 00:21:01.900 --> 00:21:02.420 Liberty 00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:03.340 must be a way 00:21:03.340 --> 00:21:03.940 of life 00:21:03.940 --> 00:21:05.340 that goes on 00:21:05.340 --> 00:21:06.100 from generation 00:21:06.100 --> 00:21:07.020 to generation. 00:21:08.320 --> 00:21:08.759 Or again, 00:21:08.840 --> 00:21:09.420 as the rabbis 00:21:09.420 --> 00:21:09.820 put it, 00:21:10.140 --> 00:21:10.780 it took the Lord 00:21:10.780 --> 00:21:11.600 one day 00:21:11.600 --> 00:21:12.300 to get Israel 00:21:12.300 --> 00:21:13.100 out of Egypt. 00:21:14.200 --> 00:21:15.259 But it took them 00:21:15.259 --> 00:21:16.320 more than 40 years 00:21:16.320 --> 00:21:16.880 and counting 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:18.160 to get Egypt 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:19.240 out of Israel. 00:21:20.700 --> 00:21:21.680 They were free, 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:23.460 but they still 00:21:23.460 --> 00:21:24.900 weren't really free. 00:21:24.900 --> 00:21:26.840 And I think 00:21:26.840 --> 00:21:27.519 that's part of our 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:28.360 lesson again today 00:21:28.360 --> 00:21:29.000 in the church. 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:29.660 Take, say, 00:21:29.740 --> 00:21:31.160 the born again movement. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:33.540 It puts such an emphasis 00:21:33.540 --> 00:21:34.580 on born again, 00:21:34.860 --> 00:21:35.500 testimonies, 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:36.200 what the Lord 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:37.380 has saved us from, 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:38.460 and not on 00:21:38.460 --> 00:21:39.800 discipleship, 00:21:40.340 --> 00:21:42.240 and living lives 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:42.820 of freedom 00:21:42.820 --> 00:21:43.740 and communities 00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:44.480 of freedom. 00:21:45.100 --> 00:21:46.180 And we need to see 00:21:46.180 --> 00:21:47.259 that it's that second, 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:47.900 the first, 00:21:48.019 --> 00:21:48.300 of course, 00:21:48.360 --> 00:21:48.800 essential. 00:21:49.800 --> 00:21:50.980 It has to be there. 00:21:50.980 --> 00:21:52.700 But the second, 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:53.819 the one that really 00:21:53.819 --> 00:21:54.940 needs to go on. 00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:57.220 Much American freedom 00:21:57.220 --> 00:21:58.740 today is a libertarian 00:21:58.740 --> 00:21:59.180 freedom, 00:21:59.700 --> 00:22:00.500 which will just 00:22:00.500 --> 00:22:01.480 dig its own grave 00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:02.559 and already is, 00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:04.140 and very different 00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:05.099 from the founder's 00:22:05.099 --> 00:22:05.420 freedom, 00:22:05.640 --> 00:22:06.539 and certainly from 00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:08.000 the Reformation freedom, 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:09.240 and behind that, 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:10.860 from the biblical freedom. 00:22:12.740 --> 00:22:13.180 Thirdly, 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:14.200 what you see in Exodus, 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:16.019 liberty is not 00:22:16.019 --> 00:22:17.400 either or. 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:19.700 It's always more 00:22:19.700 --> 00:22:20.480 or less. 00:22:21.980 --> 00:22:22.319 In other words, 00:22:22.380 --> 00:22:23.240 it's not you're free 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:24.200 or not free. 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:26.400 But rather, 00:22:26.539 --> 00:22:27.259 are we growing 00:22:27.259 --> 00:22:27.940 in freedom? 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:29.420 Are we exercising 00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:29.980 freedom? 00:22:30.120 --> 00:22:30.700 Think of the 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:32.099 10,000 hours principle, 00:22:32.279 --> 00:22:33.680 say, of piano playing 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:35.000 or ballet dancing. 00:22:35.099 --> 00:22:35.720 The same is true 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:36.160 of freedom. 00:22:37.660 --> 00:22:38.779 It's not just a matter 00:22:38.779 --> 00:22:39.819 of freeing people 00:22:39.819 --> 00:22:40.920 from whatever it is, 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:41.940 but of their 00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:43.420 exercising freedom 00:22:43.420 --> 00:22:44.660 and making freedom 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:45.900 a genuine habit 00:22:45.900 --> 00:22:46.519 of the heart 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:47.380 and a growth 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:48.120 in character 00:22:48.120 --> 00:22:49.299 and so on. 00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:50.339 And we need 00:22:50.339 --> 00:22:51.139 to stress that 00:22:51.139 --> 00:22:52.139 in our world today, 00:22:52.179 --> 00:22:52.679 which has got 00:22:52.679 --> 00:22:53.599 a very lopsided 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:54.359 view of freedom. 00:22:56.159 --> 00:22:56.859 But surely, 00:22:56.959 --> 00:22:57.980 this particular passage 00:22:57.980 --> 00:22:59.000 points to a fourth 00:22:59.000 --> 00:22:59.839 simple lesson. 00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:02.720 The freest people 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:04.019 become slaves 00:23:04.019 --> 00:23:05.939 when they rule 00:23:05.939 --> 00:23:06.519 everyone 00:23:06.519 --> 00:23:08.199 except themselves. 00:23:08.200 --> 00:23:11.539 I'm a visitor 00:23:11.539 --> 00:23:12.279 to your country. 00:23:13.259 --> 00:23:14.299 It's a strikingly 00:23:14.299 --> 00:23:14.980 obvious thing. 00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:15.880 You call yourselves 00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:16.840 the land of the free. 00:23:18.019 --> 00:23:18.799 No country 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:19.600 in the world 00:23:19.600 --> 00:23:20.340 has a greater 00:23:20.340 --> 00:23:22.279 amount of addictions, 00:23:23.360 --> 00:23:24.259 recovery groups, 00:23:24.420 --> 00:23:25.500 and so on today. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:28.620 Americans are far 00:23:28.620 --> 00:23:29.420 from free. 00:23:30.420 --> 00:23:31.380 And you can see 00:23:31.380 --> 00:23:32.840 that the unrealism 00:23:32.840 --> 00:23:33.840 of modern American 00:23:33.840 --> 00:23:35.440 freedom is a long way 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:36.720 from the early American, 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:38.120 let alone 00:23:38.120 --> 00:23:39.180 the Reformation 00:23:39.180 --> 00:23:40.160 and the biblical. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:41.940 We need to put 00:23:41.940 --> 00:23:42.460 our stress 00:23:42.460 --> 00:23:43.140 on the habits 00:23:43.140 --> 00:23:43.840 of the heart 00:23:43.840 --> 00:23:45.059 and really think 00:23:45.059 --> 00:23:45.940 it through carefully. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:47.860 One last lesson, 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:48.059 though, 00:23:48.100 --> 00:23:48.600 from Exodus 00:23:48.600 --> 00:23:49.519 and in this passage, 00:23:49.660 --> 00:23:49.880 too. 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:52.220 According to Exodus, 00:23:52.500 --> 00:23:53.660 where is God 00:23:53.660 --> 00:23:54.360 to be found? 00:23:55.740 --> 00:23:57.080 I love apologetics. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:57.880 I don't understand 00:23:57.880 --> 00:23:58.940 what I'm about to say. 00:24:00.220 --> 00:24:01.160 But if you say, 00:24:01.620 --> 00:24:02.200 where is God 00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:02.860 to be found 00:24:02.859 --> 00:24:03.859 and how can I get 00:24:03.859 --> 00:24:04.979 to know God today, 00:24:05.939 --> 00:24:06.699 most Christians 00:24:06.699 --> 00:24:07.259 will immediately 00:24:07.259 --> 00:24:08.039 give you something 00:24:08.039 --> 00:24:08.779 along the lines 00:24:08.779 --> 00:24:11.299 of the theistic proofs 00:24:11.299 --> 00:24:13.500 or a powerful case 00:24:13.500 --> 00:24:14.479 for the proof 00:24:14.479 --> 00:24:15.159 of the resurrection. 00:24:16.619 --> 00:24:18.039 That isn't actually 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:19.039 the biblical way. 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:21.099 In other words, 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:22.899 our Western church 00:24:22.899 --> 00:24:24.319 is much more Greek 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:25.399 than we realize. 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:28.039 The Greeks did think 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:29.119 of philosophy, 00:24:30.159 --> 00:24:30.719 logic, 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:32.880 how you can tell things 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:33.420 from the course 00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:34.299 of nature. 00:24:36.100 --> 00:24:37.279 But while the Greeks 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:38.519 talked of philosophy, 00:24:38.779 --> 00:24:39.960 the Bible talks 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:41.420 of history. 00:24:42.579 --> 00:24:43.019 History. 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:45.420 And you can see it 00:24:45.420 --> 00:24:46.279 very clearly here. 00:24:47.620 --> 00:24:48.640 You shall know 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:49.920 that I am the Lord 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:51.299 when I bring you 00:24:51.299 --> 00:24:51.920 out of Egypt. 00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:53.860 You can think 00:24:53.860 --> 00:24:54.960 of the Ten Commandments. 00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:58.180 As the Jews point out, 00:24:58.259 --> 00:24:59.259 what's the introduction 00:24:59.259 --> 00:25:00.480 to the Ten Commandments? 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:02.220 You might have expected, 00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:04.660 I am the Lord your God 00:25:04.660 --> 00:25:05.680 who created heaven 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:06.200 and earth, 00:25:06.700 --> 00:25:07.019 therefore, 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:09.259 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 00:25:09.299 --> 00:25:09.940 8, 9, 10. 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:12.500 What you actually have is, 00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:15.180 I am the Lord your God 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:16.620 who brought you 00:25:16.620 --> 00:25:17.940 out of Egypt, 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:19.700 and therefore, 00:25:20.579 --> 00:25:21.000 etc. 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:22.119 in other words, 00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:24.039 where is God? 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:24.079 God, 00:25:24.420 --> 00:25:25.099 biblically? 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:28.000 The key is history 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:30.500 more than philosophy 00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:31.779 and theory 00:25:31.779 --> 00:25:32.779 by itself. 00:25:32.980 --> 00:25:33.839 Not that we reject 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:34.259 the other, 00:25:35.140 --> 00:25:36.339 but we know where God 00:25:36.339 --> 00:25:37.279 is profoundly 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:38.339 to be seen, 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:40.359 and we need to see God 00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:40.940 today 00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:42.119 in history, 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:44.039 acting in our lives 00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:45.640 in powerful ways. 00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:48.080 So I'd urge you 00:25:48.080 --> 00:25:48.720 as Americans 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:49.980 and Christian Americans 00:25:49.980 --> 00:25:50.440 here, 00:25:51.300 --> 00:25:52.400 very easy to consider 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:52.980 freedom 00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:54.860 over against tyranny. 00:25:55.060 --> 00:25:55.900 We are free 00:25:55.900 --> 00:25:57.080 compared with 00:25:57.080 --> 00:25:58.140 George III, 00:25:59.140 --> 00:25:59.500 Hitler, 00:26:00.259 --> 00:26:00.780 Stalin, 00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:01.680 Pol Pot, 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:02.580 you name them. 00:26:03.700 --> 00:26:04.640 And certainly, 00:26:04.780 --> 00:26:05.180 the scriptures 00:26:05.180 --> 00:26:06.620 have a lot of warnings 00:26:06.620 --> 00:26:07.660 for tyrants, 00:26:08.660 --> 00:26:10.060 the complacency of power, 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:11.860 triumphalism, 00:26:12.619 --> 00:26:13.119 hubris, 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:14.579 and the way God 00:26:14.579 --> 00:26:15.699 brings down the arrogant. 00:26:17.319 --> 00:26:18.179 But surely, 00:26:18.299 --> 00:26:18.799 the challenge 00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:19.879 for us 00:26:19.879 --> 00:26:21.659 in a very free society 00:26:21.659 --> 00:26:23.119 is to wrestle 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:25.039 with the subtleties 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:26.199 and the paradoxes 00:26:26.199 --> 00:26:26.659 of freedom. 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:29.299 You know the old saying, 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:30.740 the worst 00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:32.179 is often 00:26:32.179 --> 00:26:32.899 the corruption 00:26:32.899 --> 00:26:34.519 of the best. 00:26:36.459 --> 00:26:38.240 Our German friends 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:39.719 have to wrestle 00:26:39.719 --> 00:26:41.119 with the awful fact 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:42.899 that their country 00:26:42.899 --> 00:26:45.119 was the most educated, 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:46.879 the best 00:26:46.879 --> 00:26:49.599 in civilization 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:50.939 and culture. 00:26:51.939 --> 00:26:53.259 And it was out of that 00:26:53.259 --> 00:26:54.539 that came 00:26:54.539 --> 00:26:55.439 Hitler 00:26:55.439 --> 00:26:56.599 and Himmler 00:26:56.599 --> 00:26:57.839 and Heydrich. 00:26:59.199 --> 00:27:00.679 So we can't just say 00:27:00.679 --> 00:27:01.459 this is the land 00:27:01.459 --> 00:27:01.959 of the free. 00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:03.639 Freedom 00:27:03.639 --> 00:27:05.019 never lasts. 00:27:05.979 --> 00:27:06.579 And the Bible 00:27:06.579 --> 00:27:07.219 gives us 00:27:07.219 --> 00:27:08.299 all the warnings 00:27:08.299 --> 00:27:08.879 of this. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:11.220 Now I don't want 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:11.460 to end 00:27:11.460 --> 00:27:12.740 in a negative note. 00:27:15.900 --> 00:27:16.600 To me, 00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:17.720 one of the great things 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:18.140 I think 00:27:18.140 --> 00:27:18.700 in addressing 00:27:18.700 --> 00:27:19.980 the present moment 00:27:19.980 --> 00:27:22.200 is the biblical 00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:23.820 notion 00:27:23.820 --> 00:27:25.280 that the end 00:27:25.280 --> 00:27:27.240 is not the end. 00:27:28.520 --> 00:27:29.540 I'll put it differently. 00:27:30.100 --> 00:27:30.980 In the Bible, 00:27:31.100 --> 00:27:32.500 there are two ends. 00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:34.720 There is an end 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:35.740 as an ending 00:27:35.740 --> 00:27:36.600 and a conclusion. 00:27:37.740 --> 00:27:38.559 The Latin word 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:39.339 finis, 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:40.000 ending. 00:27:41.600 --> 00:27:43.039 And there is an end 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:44.240 as the Greek word 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:44.980 telos, 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:47.000 the end, 00:27:47.240 --> 00:27:47.940 the purpose, 00:27:48.100 --> 00:27:48.640 the goal, 00:27:48.819 --> 00:27:49.440 the climax, 00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:50.480 the culmination. 00:27:52.220 --> 00:27:52.880 So you take 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:53.600 our great brother 00:27:53.600 --> 00:27:54.480 St. Augustine. 00:27:55.539 --> 00:27:56.559 While many Christians 00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:57.400 were lamenting 00:27:57.400 --> 00:27:58.660 the collapse of Rome, 00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:00.200 his vision 00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:01.319 of the city of God 00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:02.759 within the city of man 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:04.759 looked to God's end 00:28:04.759 --> 00:28:05.980 even in the ending 00:28:05.980 --> 00:28:06.720 of Rome. 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:08.240 And his vision 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:09.519 gave the church 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:10.039 strength 00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:10.740 to go through 00:28:10.740 --> 00:28:11.319 what became 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:12.180 the dark ages. 00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:14.220 I'm not saying 00:28:14.220 --> 00:28:15.200 this is the ending. 00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:16.920 Certainly we're seeing 00:28:16.920 --> 00:28:17.519 the decline 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:18.160 of the West 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:18.859 and America 00:28:18.859 --> 00:28:19.680 suffering its 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:20.460 gravest crisis 00:28:20.460 --> 00:28:21.680 since the Civil War. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:22.680 But whatever 00:28:22.680 --> 00:28:23.840 endings you see 00:28:23.840 --> 00:28:24.660 in that sense 00:28:24.660 --> 00:28:25.460 of finis, 00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:28.000 we know 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:28.560 as followers 00:28:28.560 --> 00:28:29.220 of Jesus 00:28:29.220 --> 00:28:30.220 there is always 00:28:30.220 --> 00:28:31.039 an end, 00:28:31.860 --> 00:28:32.500 a goal, 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:33.120 a purpose, 00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:33.880 a climax, 00:28:33.980 --> 00:28:34.820 a culmination 00:28:34.820 --> 00:28:36.460 and God is working 00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:37.840 those purposes out 00:28:37.840 --> 00:28:38.940 even through 00:28:38.940 --> 00:28:39.980 the other type 00:28:39.980 --> 00:28:40.420 of ending. 00:28:40.580 --> 00:28:41.600 So this is no time 00:28:41.600 --> 00:28:42.960 to be dispirited 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:43.820 or downhearted 00:28:43.820 --> 00:28:44.920 or demoralized 00:28:44.920 --> 00:28:46.200 but rather 00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:47.080 to explore 00:28:47.080 --> 00:28:48.580 the full richness 00:28:48.580 --> 00:28:49.420 of what it means 00:28:49.420 --> 00:28:50.500 to follow Jesus. 00:28:50.500 --> 00:28:53.099 and understand 00:28:53.099 --> 00:28:54.180 the freedom 00:28:54.180 --> 00:28:56.220 that he gives us. 00:28:56.900 --> 00:28:57.720 The dignity 00:28:57.720 --> 00:28:58.579 of humanity 00:28:58.579 --> 00:28:59.660 that he shows us. 00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:01.380 What justice means, 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:02.420 what peace means, 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:03.740 what equality means 00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:05.079 and in a world 00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:06.380 dying for the lack 00:29:06.380 --> 00:29:07.460 of these deep things 00:29:07.460 --> 00:29:08.839 to go out 00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:10.119 and to be the people, 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:12.440 be the community 00:29:12.440 --> 00:29:14.200 which demonstrates 00:29:14.200 --> 00:29:15.799 those to our world 00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:17.180 and shows 00:29:17.180 --> 00:29:18.619 the glory of the gospel. 00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:20.059 We of all people 00:29:20.059 --> 00:29:22.759 should be the champions 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:24.240 and the guardians 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:25.359 of freedom 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:27.899 at this extraordinary moment. 00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:29.639 The Lord be with you. 00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:35.900 This is a midst Quest 00:29:36.980 --> 00:29:37.400 and a friend 00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:37.920 and unattended 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:38.440 to be the reason 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:39.340 and on not 00:29:39.340 --> 00:29:39.960 the extent 00:29:39.960 --> 00:29:40.680 of the gold 00:29:40.680 --> 00:29:41.120 to be the wicked 00:29:41.120 --> 00:29:42.560 and the power 00:29:42.560 --> 00:29:42.960 ofShoxia 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:44.020 and the council 00:29:44.380 --> 00:29:44.940 oforious 00:29:48.259 --> 00:29:48.380 to be the 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:49.700 and peace 00:29:49.800 --> 00:29:50.420 to be the 00:29:51.660 --> 00:29:52.220 and the inscription 00:29:53.220 --> 00:29:53.560 ofpex 00:29:53.560 --> 00:29:54.100 America 00:29:54.540 --> 00:29:55.100 has already 00:29:55.100 --> 00:29:55.740 mentioned 00:29:56.360 --> 00:29:56.759 that 00:29:56.980 --> 00:29:57.240 and