WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.340 So we're talking about love. 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:04.839 Now, we're on this Christian Atheist series. 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:10.500 And the question I am working with is, well, it's a statement, really. 00:00:10.700 --> 00:00:15.099 I believe in God, but I'm not sure he loves me. 00:00:16.379 --> 00:00:19.379 I believe in God, but I'm not sure he loves me. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:22.179 Have a little think. 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:26.980 What makes us have that sort of thought? 00:00:26.980 --> 00:00:31.679 What makes us think that God doesn't love us? 00:00:33.539 --> 00:00:37.539 So I think if we're honest, we've all had that thought. 00:00:39.299 --> 00:00:44.820 Maybe the reason we sometimes think like this is life is just not what we thought it would be. 00:00:46.179 --> 00:00:47.480 Maybe life is hard. 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:48.840 Life is painful. 00:00:50.120 --> 00:00:51.359 Life is a daily struggle. 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:57.479 Wasn't the promise of the preacher that if I followed Jesus, I would have the best life? 00:00:58.659 --> 00:00:59.500 Where is it? 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:03.079 Isn't that the way the world works? 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:10.799 We look around and see so many beautiful people living beautiful lives on our streets, on our TVs. 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:14.700 If you're a bit more technologically savvy, on our phones. 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:18.900 We think they're the ones that God loves. 00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:22.180 They're living the dream life. 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:26.120 And I'm just trying to keep my head above the water. 00:01:28.859 --> 00:01:32.840 Maybe for you right now, life is full of troubles and hardships. 00:01:34.579 --> 00:01:37.680 Maybe life is just not what you thought it would be. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:41.580 And so that question comes into your mind. 00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:44.700 I'm not sure it loves me. 00:01:47.080 --> 00:01:50.020 If that's true, keep with me. 00:01:50.740 --> 00:01:52.340 Our passage has some good news for you. 00:01:54.160 --> 00:01:59.040 Maybe another reason we sometimes think like this, that God does not love us, 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:01.860 is that we know ourselves pretty well. 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:04.940 We know what we've done. 00:02:04.939 --> 00:02:07.000 We know how we treat others. 00:02:07.859 --> 00:02:11.180 Even if we don't act it, we know how we think about others. 00:02:12.859 --> 00:02:17.439 And even when we think that we're pretty good, there's always someone better. 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:21.360 Maybe we are just not good enough. 00:02:22.500 --> 00:02:23.979 Just not worth it. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:27.439 Just not worthy of God's love. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:33.259 I mean, why would the God of the Bible waste his time on me? 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:39.460 Maybe right now, that's how you feel about yourself. 00:02:40.579 --> 00:02:42.699 Why would God waste his time on me? 00:02:43.079 --> 00:02:45.579 Why would he love me? 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:52.560 In our passage today, Paul writes to the Roman church, 00:02:52.640 --> 00:02:55.140 who must have been asking a similar question of themselves. 00:02:56.460 --> 00:02:58.560 In fact, if you spend any time in the epistles, 00:02:59.140 --> 00:03:01.100 Paul amongst the New Testament writers, 00:03:01.600 --> 00:03:04.580 need to regularly encourage the church under fire, 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:09.300 reminding them that the hardships and the struggle is part of the deal. 00:03:09.300 --> 00:03:14.520 In fact, it's a good sign that God is with you. 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:18.400 And not that he is not. 00:03:20.420 --> 00:03:24.460 And let's just look at the church that Paul is specifically talking to here, 00:03:24.540 --> 00:03:25.660 the Roman church. 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:28.820 To be a Christian in first century Rome 00:03:28.820 --> 00:03:32.860 was to be rejected by the society you had to live in. 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:37.460 It meant standing up for your faith and being persecuted for it. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:42.000 To follow Jesus was a rejection of Roman life, 00:03:42.380 --> 00:03:44.500 its political gods and even commerce. 00:03:45.740 --> 00:03:48.880 Going to the marketplace became a theological statement. 00:03:50.660 --> 00:03:54.600 The church of Rome, as with the whole story of Israel and scripture, 00:03:54.740 --> 00:03:58.560 is a narrative whereby God's people rarely get the good stuff. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:02.520 I want to tell you, 00:04:02.580 --> 00:04:05.479 the love of God has little to do with the good life. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:10.340 And the idea that God only loves the worthy 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:12.159 is a contradiction of the cross. 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:17.939 Jesus uses a great image in Matthew 13 00:04:17.939 --> 00:04:20.240 to highlight how God's kingdom grows 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.040 amongst not isolated from challenge. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:25.560 Amongst the seeds of the kingdom, 00:04:26.220 --> 00:04:28.500 of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:31.220 his death and resurrection for the sin of the world, 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:33.800 weeds have also grown. 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:38.980 And one of these weeds is the lie that your status is measured, 00:04:40.339 --> 00:04:42.720 your status with God is measured 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.319 by human standards of living. 00:04:46.899 --> 00:04:48.420 That God's love and blessing 00:04:48.420 --> 00:04:51.180 comes based on your ability to be good enough. 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:54.500 And proof is a successful life. 00:04:54.500 --> 00:05:00.160 Sometimes called the prosperity gospel. 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:05.420 Sometimes called the curly-whirly gospel. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:09.180 Now, do you know what a curly-whirly is? 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:10.839 Yes? 00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:13.779 Good, because this next story will be wasted on you. 00:05:13.779 --> 00:05:18.159 Jesus warned us about the weeds, 00:05:18.239 --> 00:05:19.199 and yet at some point, 00:05:19.479 --> 00:05:20.459 the gospel of Jesus, 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:23.199 truly good news for all people, 00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:26.159 has gotten confused with the gospel, 00:05:26.939 --> 00:05:27.879 the weedy gospel, 00:05:28.579 --> 00:05:29.639 of the curly-whirly. 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:32.759 And we are all getting tangled up in it. 00:05:34.939 --> 00:05:36.519 I want to tell you a story. 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:38.120 Now, the disclaimer is, 00:05:38.159 --> 00:05:39.300 it's not my own story. 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:41.000 Okay? 00:05:41.300 --> 00:05:42.939 I'm not plagiarizing. 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:45.459 I've got a footnote. 00:05:45.919 --> 00:05:46.959 Back at college, 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:48.519 remembering it's really important 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:50.419 to have your footnotes. 00:05:51.939 --> 00:05:52.879 Really important. 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:55.259 But let me tell you this story. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:56.319 There are two guys 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:58.279 who both died. 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:00.659 Great start to a story, right? 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:02.399 One named John, 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:03.959 and another named Bob. 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:06.639 A lot of thought put into the character development here. 00:06:07.339 --> 00:06:09.360 John is down to earth, 00:06:10.060 --> 00:06:11.079 can get a bit grumpy, 00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:13.000 and has plenty of memories 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.519 where his anger got the best of him. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:16.379 And he'd shout down the house. 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:18.899 But John was good to his friends. 00:06:19.899 --> 00:06:21.199 He was good to his kids. 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:23.819 The best husband he could be. 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:26.279 Sure, he left the seat up a lot, 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:27.360 and if he washed up, 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:29.019 would always forget the pots. 00:06:32.180 --> 00:06:33.899 Mostly, someone else's story. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:39.500 But he more than made up for it 00:06:39.500 --> 00:06:40.759 with a weekly bottle of wine 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:41.579 and a bar of chocolate. 00:06:43.379 --> 00:06:44.399 When John was a kid, 00:06:44.419 --> 00:06:45.459 he used to get into trouble. 00:06:45.919 --> 00:06:47.159 Nothing more than the usual. 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:49.879 But he had to confess to his kids once 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:52.000 that he stole a Mars bar from the corner shop. 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:55.319 When he got to the pearly gates, 00:06:55.659 --> 00:06:57.639 he got through by the skin of his teeth. 00:06:58.300 --> 00:06:59.379 But he made it. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:01.560 Into glory he plodded. 00:07:03.719 --> 00:07:04.620 Then there was Bob. 00:07:06.219 --> 00:07:08.240 His life panned out much like John's. 00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:09.959 He too got grumpy. 00:07:10.219 --> 00:07:10.920 He knew anger. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:13.259 But too, John was a good friend, 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:14.879 a good dad and husband. 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:17.839 He too was terrible at washing up. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:20.040 But he knew the power of chocolate 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:21.019 and Sauvignon Blanc. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:23.560 Like John, 00:07:23.699 --> 00:07:25.519 Bob too had a fun childhood 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:27.120 and occasionally got into mischief. 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:29.800 He too borrowed a Mars bar 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:30.779 on a long-term loan. 00:07:32.339 --> 00:07:34.180 But he also took a curly-whirly. 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:38.560 Bob approached the pearly gates 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:39.639 just behind John. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:40.540 Hey, John. 00:07:41.159 --> 00:07:41.680 Hey, Bob. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:43.379 You coming in? 00:07:43.379 --> 00:07:44.459 I think so. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:47.839 And Bob began to walk in 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.439 when St. Michael looked at him 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:51.500 and said, 00:07:51.980 --> 00:07:52.740 Sorry, son. 00:07:53.899 --> 00:07:55.939 That curly-whirly you took as a kid 00:07:55.939 --> 00:07:56.860 took the scales 00:07:56.860 --> 00:07:59.199 and you can't come in. 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:01.240 You're not good enough. 00:08:02.339 --> 00:08:03.379 You are not the beloved. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:08.120 The story shows 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:09.540 how illogical it is 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:10.759 to measure God's love 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:11.439 and salvation 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:12.500 by an earthly scale. 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:15.560 Sure, it's easy to differentiate 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:16.839 between Mother Teresa 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:17.399 and Hitler 00:08:17.399 --> 00:08:20.579 and make a reasonable judgment 00:08:20.579 --> 00:08:22.240 based on their lives 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:23.980 the way that they were probably going. 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:26.860 But that logic doesn't work 00:08:26.860 --> 00:08:27.579 with Bob and John. 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:29.699 It doesn't work with us. 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:32.439 God's love is not so fickle 00:08:32.439 --> 00:08:34.759 that we could put him off. 00:08:36.439 --> 00:08:37.720 One too many sins 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:39.399 will never tip over the cross. 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:43.659 The truth of the gospel is this. 00:08:44.079 --> 00:08:44.959 As Paul writes, 00:08:45.059 --> 00:08:46.360 If you believe in God, 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:50.220 you can trust that God demonstrated 00:08:50.220 --> 00:08:52.259 his own love for us in this. 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:54.000 While we were still sinners, 00:08:54.819 --> 00:08:56.000 Christ died for us. 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:00.340 Whether you are struggling to keep afloat, 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:02.579 whether you are super successful, 00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:04.779 the nicest person you know, 00:09:04.779 --> 00:09:06.339 or the most, 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.819 that love is a permanent reality for you. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:13.980 Paul declares, 00:09:14.620 --> 00:09:16.459 Who shall separate us 00:09:16.459 --> 00:09:17.799 from the love of God? 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:19.639 Shall trouble, 00:09:19.799 --> 00:09:20.279 or hardship, 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:21.279 or persecution, 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:21.980 or famine, 00:09:22.299 --> 00:09:23.279 or nakedness, 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:24.360 I always wonder what that meant, 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:25.159 or danger, 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:25.980 or swords? 00:09:27.899 --> 00:09:28.919 No, in all these things, 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:30.339 we are more than conquerors 00:09:30.340 --> 00:09:32.019 through him who loved us. 00:09:32.860 --> 00:09:34.160 For I am convinced, 00:09:35.680 --> 00:09:36.280 emphatic, 00:09:36.580 --> 00:09:38.960 convinced that neither death nor life, 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:40.860 neither angels nor demons, 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:42.680 neither present nor future, 00:09:42.800 --> 00:09:43.840 nor any power, 00:09:45.139 --> 00:09:46.820 neither height nor depth, 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:49.360 neither anything else in all creation, 00:09:49.860 --> 00:09:50.080 it's like, 00:09:50.139 --> 00:09:51.780 are you getting the point, church? 00:09:52.500 --> 00:09:54.500 We'll be able to separate us 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:55.680 from the love of God 00:09:55.680 --> 00:09:57.480 that is in Christ Jesus, 00:09:57.740 --> 00:09:58.340 our Lord. 00:09:58.340 --> 00:10:03.000 God's love for you 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:04.759 cannot be taken from you. 00:10:06.780 --> 00:10:08.540 It is not measured by you. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.019 It is not dependent on you. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:14.800 It is not based on your goodness 00:10:14.800 --> 00:10:16.080 or your evil, 00:10:16.800 --> 00:10:18.320 which is a good thing 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:19.340 because like Bob, 00:10:19.420 --> 00:10:21.160 we've all done one too many things wrong. 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:25.300 God's love is not something 00:10:25.300 --> 00:10:26.660 that you can lose. 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:30.039 Nor is it something you can earn. 00:10:32.079 --> 00:10:33.719 From the beginning of time, 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:35.039 scripture tells us, 00:10:35.339 --> 00:10:36.899 God chose to love you. 00:10:38.219 --> 00:10:39.500 That's God's prerogative. 00:10:41.079 --> 00:10:42.299 Just look at your Bible. 00:10:42.740 --> 00:10:44.519 He chose to cover Adam and Eve 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:46.600 even when they were the ones who sinned. 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:50.100 An act of love. 00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:52.100 He chose to make a nation 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:53.279 out of Abraham's seed 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:54.399 and from this nobody 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:55.340 he made a people 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:56.379 who he could love 00:10:56.379 --> 00:10:57.860 and through whom 00:10:57.860 --> 00:10:59.440 the world could see true love. 00:11:03.259 --> 00:11:04.560 That people, Israel, 00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:06.740 though regularly betrayed God 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:08.500 and lived in and out of exile, 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:10.960 remained the beloved of God. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:13.460 And finally, 00:11:13.580 --> 00:11:14.080 through Jesus 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:15.560 and the redemptive work 00:11:15.560 --> 00:11:16.200 of the cross, 00:11:16.340 --> 00:11:17.180 we have received 00:11:17.180 --> 00:11:18.019 all the proof 00:11:18.019 --> 00:11:19.139 we will ever need 00:11:19.139 --> 00:11:21.460 that you who believe in God 00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:22.879 are loved. 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:26.440 And in that cross 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:27.340 we can trust. 00:11:29.560 --> 00:11:30.720 God is the God 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:31.700 whose love 00:11:31.700 --> 00:11:32.940 and who loves. 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:35.100 And his love 00:11:35.100 --> 00:11:36.240 can never be stopped. 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:39.820 So what? 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:42.200 We, the church, 00:11:42.259 --> 00:11:43.000 now need to live 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:43.879 in that reality, 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:45.120 in the reality 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:46.100 of God's love. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:49.039 That's the message 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:50.240 to the Roman church 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:52.259 that nothing can separate them 00:11:52.259 --> 00:11:53.159 from the love of God. 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:54.299 That goodness, 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:55.680 although a sign of God 00:11:55.680 --> 00:11:56.360 in their life, 00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:57.539 is not the measure 00:11:57.539 --> 00:11:58.759 of God's love to them. 00:12:00.100 --> 00:12:01.720 The same is true for us. 00:12:02.419 --> 00:12:03.560 Will we believe the lie 00:12:03.560 --> 00:12:05.680 that God only loves the worthy? 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:08.639 Those who seem to have it all. 00:12:10.220 --> 00:12:11.240 Or will we trust 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.139 that the God we believe in 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:14.019 truly, 00:12:14.560 --> 00:12:15.480 unconditionally 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:16.940 loves us? 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:19.840 And that God's love 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:20.919 is the reality 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:22.639 we as believers 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:23.399 must live in. 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:26.399 The reality 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:27.259 where what matters 00:12:27.259 --> 00:12:28.480 is not who we are, 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:30.379 but whose 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:31.720 we are. 00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:35.399 In living 00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:36.360 in the love of God, 00:12:36.439 --> 00:12:36.879 the troubles 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:37.879 of our own failures 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:39.039 are put into perspective. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:41.279 That no matter 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:42.439 what's going on, 00:12:42.899 --> 00:12:43.939 we are the one 00:12:43.939 --> 00:12:44.840 whom God loves. 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:47.759 And in that love, 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:50.000 like the Roman church, 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:52.939 we can lift 00:12:52.939 --> 00:12:53.799 our heads up 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:56.779 and keep moving on. 00:12:56.779 --> 00:12:59.620 because we walk 00:12:59.620 --> 00:13:00.519 in God's love 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:03.159 and what can never 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:03.860 stop us. 00:13:05.819 --> 00:13:06.319 Amen.