Sunday December 22nd Service_transcript.txt

[0.00 --> 17.98]  well if you've been traveling with us through advent you'll know that we've been looking at
[17.98 --> 23.30]  these words of waiting words of hope of joy of peace and this morning we're looking at that big
[23.30 --> 28.60]  word of love and we're going to read from the old and the new testament so if you have your bible
[28.60 --> 33.36]  turn with me to exodus 34 we're going to read a portion of that and then we're going to go over
[33.36 --> 39.60]  to one of the small john books at the back first john 3 and read the new testament teaching on love
[39.60 --> 49.96]  this first part in exodus is after moses receives the the 10 commandments a second time from the lord
[49.96 --> 58.08]  so moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up mount sinai early in the
[58.08 --> 62.84]  morning as the lord had commanded him and he carried this two stone tablets in his hand
[62.84 --> 68.66]  then the lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name the lord
[68.66 --> 76.60]  and he passed in front of moses proclaiming the lord the lord the compassionate and gracious god
[76.60 --> 84.86]  slow to anger abounding in love and faithfulness maintaining love to thousands and forgiving
[84.86 --> 91.22]  wickedness rebellion and sin and it does not leave the guilty unpunished he punishes the children and
[91.22 --> 97.48]  their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation now over to first john
[97.48 --> 109.16]  this is how we know what love is jesus christ laid down his life for us
[109.16 --> 115.22]  and we ought to lay down our lives for one another if any one of you has material possessions and sees
[115.22 --> 122.16]  a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them how can the love of god be in you dear children
[122.16 --> 129.56]  let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth this is god's word
[129.56 --> 138.10]  well in the video at the beginning of the service it was mentioned that love is a very hard word to define
[138.10 --> 144.68]  because we use it so broadly right we love pizza we love our pets and we love our spouse
[144.68 --> 150.46]  but you can't love all three of those in the same way and if you do we have a marriage course coming
[150.46 --> 156.40]  up on january 6 and you are very strongly encouraged to attend and do not bring your pet to that
[156.40 --> 162.00]  if you've been around the church long enough you'll know that love is one of those big christian words
[162.00 --> 169.26]  right we talk about how god is love how we are commanded to love god and love neighbor but we
[169.26 --> 175.76]  want to be clear about what we mean when we say to love and part of why this matters is because we live
[175.76 --> 180.84]  in a context in the western society where we have a certain imagination around the word love and i would
[180.84 --> 185.20]  i would suggest that the first thing that comes to your in my mind when we say love is a feeling
[185.20 --> 190.64]  i was going to give some illustrations with words and lyrics and music but jonathan totally stole
[190.64 --> 194.82]  that last week so i'm not going to do that but i think you'll agree with me that most of the ways
[194.82 --> 200.88]  that we sing and hear media depict love is a feeling and we're going to see this morning that biblical
[200.88 --> 207.90]  love is much bigger and deeper and stronger than feelings and we're going to start by looking at
[207.90 --> 214.40]  exodus the time that we encounter god speaking about his love first and perhaps most prominently
[214.40 --> 220.20]  is an exodus an exodus is a very important book of the bible very important book of the old testament
[220.20 --> 225.20]  actually sets the stage really for the rest of the old testament story it's a book where god doesn't
[225.20 --> 232.64]  mind his own business he hears the oppression of his people israel as they are enslaved by the world empire
[232.64 --> 241.44]  of the day under pharaoh and god literally shows up in this world power and he shows how much power he has
[241.44 --> 248.28]  exercises plagues over egypt so that he can rescue this tiny little powerless slave nation and bring
[248.28 --> 253.84]  them to himself and it's after he begins to teach them and instruct them because they have no idea who
[253.84 --> 260.92]  god is they've been in oppression for 400 years and as he shares who he is we read exodus 34 and before
[260.92 --> 265.14]  i read this passage a second time i want to say two things about this passage number one
[265.14 --> 273.38]  this is the most quoted verse in the bible by the bible that is to say exodus 34 these verses are
[273.38 --> 278.28]  repeated over and over again in the psalms and the prophets and the new testament you might say
[278.28 --> 286.42]  that these words are the anthem of the bible secondly this is god talking about himself
[286.42 --> 293.50]  these are not just words that moses is writing about god this is god saying to moses this is who i am
[293.50 --> 299.14]  okay so in light of that i want to read again what we read god saying about himself in exodus 34
[299.14 --> 307.72]  and he passed that's the lord passed in front of moses proclaiming the lord the lord the compassionate
[307.72 --> 315.88]  and gracious god slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness maintaining love to thousands
[315.88 --> 322.36]  and forgiving wickedness rebellion and sin yet he does not leave guilty unpunished he punishes the
[322.36 --> 327.34]  children and their children for the sin of the parents of the third and fourth generation i want
[327.34 --> 332.12]  to touch on that last part but i do not have time but i want to highlight how even the justice of god
[332.12 --> 337.42]  is found within his mercy and love and i'm hoping actually that we come back to a sermon series on this
[337.42 --> 344.88]  next year but for today i'm going to focus on that one line where god says he is slow to anger
[344.88 --> 354.14]  and abounding in love and faithfulness you should know that the hebrew word for love there is hesed
[354.14 --> 358.44]  and if you happen to be with us earlier when we preach through the book of ruth you'll know that hesed
[358.44 --> 363.98]  is a very important word translated in a variety of ways and ruth it's kindness but here's three main
[363.98 --> 368.14]  ways we need to understand the love of god in the old testament from the hebrew the first is
[368.14 --> 377.76]  it is loyal unfailing love secondly it's promise keeping love and thirdly it's covenant faithfulness
[377.76 --> 382.04]  and the image i gave in the 9 a.m service will say it again it's almost as if god is standing at the
[382.04 --> 389.00]  altar with his world and his people and he makes promises to do something very good for the world and
[389.00 --> 397.42]  for them and no matter what comes he will be loyal to his vow it's a covenant faithfulness love
[397.42 --> 409.76]  and this is god saying that is who i am i am slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness
[409.76 --> 415.18]  and i think just like the israelites if we're honest it takes us a while to believe this
[415.18 --> 419.58]  especially as we go through struggle and conflict and we look around the world at the mess and we
[419.58 --> 424.40]  think okay how is this true and it takes time for us to move from just having in our heads that god is
[424.40 --> 429.28]  love to it being part of our hearts and our bodies that we truly believe in the core of our being
[429.28 --> 437.28]  that god is for you he's not petty and vindictive he is not retributive and quick to pounce on you for
[437.28 --> 443.36]  all your wrongdoings he is slow to anger and abounding in love do you believe this
[443.36 --> 449.36]  next year starting in january we're going to do a series that actually works the way through the old
[449.36 --> 456.88]  testament and we're going to see how in real time in concrete normal life god shows up in his said love
[456.88 --> 464.04]  how he constantly works out his good purposes and his character even when he's rejected by his people
[464.04 --> 469.96]  right now my kids are reading through different portions of the bible and i'm learning that what
[469.96 --> 474.36]  every christian parent learns is that you really want your kids to read the bible but there's certain
[474.36 --> 481.54]  books of the bible when they start reading through you're like here we go one of those books is
[481.54 --> 485.62]  judges i don't know if you've read through that book lately but that's not a kid-friendly book of
[485.62 --> 489.88]  the bible and you're reading along with your kids and you're sort of making sense of it and talking
[489.88 --> 497.96]  through it and i asked to myself at certain points why is this in the bible it is so violent
[497.96 --> 505.92]  it is so rebellious and it is so vile where god's people they basically receive his instruction he
[505.92 --> 510.68]  leads them he promises all these good things to him and then they turn to him they say no thanks
[510.68 --> 517.66]  we don't want you we don't need you we would rather have kings like the other nations than be under your
[517.66 --> 527.00]  rule and there is just painful violent brutal rejection of god and even there god is faithful
[527.00 --> 534.08]  even there god does not give up on his love and his promise and his goodness to his people it's
[534.08 --> 539.68]  staggering and i think when we start to forget the reality and the brutality of the old testament story
[539.68 --> 544.24]  and we sort of think of god's love as sort of this ethereal thing that's disconnected from concrete
[544.24 --> 550.82]  living we forget just how powerful and real god's love is
[550.82 --> 561.74]  and of course now we get to understanding why jesus himself came god does not give up on his world
[561.74 --> 566.98]  and he does not give up on his people and before i read our reading from the new testament i want to
[566.98 --> 572.62]  give us a section from a statement called the contemporary testimony this is a sort of articulation
[572.62 --> 577.04]  that comes from our denomination on the character of god and also the story of the bible and this is a
[577.04 --> 585.46]  summary of god's character in the old testament and i love it we read while justly angry god did not
[585.46 --> 596.10]  turn away from a world bent on destruction but turned to face it in love with patience and tender care
[596.10 --> 604.96]  the lord set out on a long road of redemption to reclaim the lost as his people and the world as his
[604.96 --> 611.24]  kingdom like a husband at the altar even when he's facing unfaithfulness god says i will not forgive
[611.24 --> 617.18]  or give up on my promises the promise i made in genesis 3 to crush the head of the serpent the promise
[617.18 --> 622.40]  i made in genesis 12 to bring blessing where there is curse in the world the promise i made to david in
[622.40 --> 628.94]  second samuel 7 to put a king on the throne of the world who would truly rule with justice and peace
[628.94 --> 637.10]  and with mercy god will make his way and he will be good on those promises and the reason we're here
[637.10 --> 646.50]  is because he did god shows up in love and faithfulness even in the brokenness of the world
[646.50 --> 652.40]  and that's precisely when jesus came by the way he came into a world that was violent and brutal and
[652.40 --> 657.84]  rejected him there was already a price on his head to be murdered by herod before he was born
[657.84 --> 666.24]  that's the world jesus was coming into and that's why he was sent god reveals the fullness of his
[666.24 --> 673.36]  plan in jesus and he reveals the fullness of his loving character in jesus to be seen to be heard to be
[673.36 --> 679.56]  held to be eaten meals with jesus is a visible portrayal of the fullness of god's love
[679.56 --> 685.62]  some of you may have heard this illustration before but i'll share it again it's from phil bianci
[685.62 --> 692.26]  and he talks about um owning an aquarium any fish owners here talks about how no matter what he did
[692.26 --> 697.88]  with this aquarium these fish were afraid of him and so i'm going to just read how he summarizes this
[697.88 --> 705.28]  experience of owning an aquarium he writes i ran a portable chemical laboratory to monitor the nitrate
[705.28 --> 712.12]  levels and ammonia content i pumped vitamins and antibiotics sulfa drugs enough to make a rock grow
[712.12 --> 717.56]  i filtered the water and exposed it to ultraviolet light you would think that my fish would be
[717.56 --> 724.48]  grateful not so every time my shadow loomed above the tank they swam for cover to the nearest shell
[724.48 --> 732.20]  they showed one emotion only fear although i opened the lid and dropped in food regularly they responded
[732.20 --> 739.32]  to each visit as a sure sign that i was going to torture them they thought i was not for them i could
[739.32 --> 746.04]  not convince my fish that i was good i was too large for them my actions too incomprehensible
[746.04 --> 751.08]  my acts of mercy they saw as cruelty my attempts at healing they viewed as destruction
[751.08 --> 758.44]  to change their perceptions i began to see that what was required was a form of incarnation
[758.44 --> 766.60]  i would have to become a fish and speak to them in their language so they could see that i was good
[768.28 --> 777.00]  that is the story of the incarnation jesus coming into a world that did not understand him that actually
[777.00 --> 782.84]  chose to reject him and because of sin could not actually take into their hearts and their minds the
[782.84 --> 792.28]  goodness and the love of god and so god comes in their form as flesh so they could see and hear and
[792.28 --> 797.88]  experience the love of the father in human form
[800.68 --> 807.32]  i think of those words those famous words in john 3 16 you probably know 16 but i want to read 17 as
[807.32 --> 815.48]  well where we read for god so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in
[815.48 --> 823.08]  him shall not perish but have eternal life for god did not send his son in the world to condemn the world
[823.08 --> 830.12]  but to save the world through him and now i'm going to read our passage again from first john 3
[830.76 --> 833.96]  a beautiful maybe one of my favorite descriptions of love in the new testament
[833.96 --> 842.60]  first john reads this is how we know what love is jesus christ laid down his love for us and we ought
[842.60 --> 847.96]  to lay down our lives for our brothers and our sisters if anyone has material possessions and sees a
[847.96 --> 854.92]  brother or sister in need but has no pity on them how can the love of god be in that person dear children
[854.92 --> 860.44]  let us not love with words and for our culture of words this is such an important line let us not love
[860.44 --> 870.92]  with words or speech but with actions and in truth this is how we know what love is over and against
[870.92 --> 877.00]  whatever cultural perceptions and whatever media depictions of what love is god reveals what love is
[877.00 --> 885.24]  through jesus and he says the greatest act of love ever seen in the world in all of history is jesus
[885.24 --> 895.40]  coming fully god fully man and voluntarily laying down his life for his world for his people and for
[895.40 --> 901.00]  his enemies and i don't want this to be missed by any one of us the world in the old testament story had
[901.00 --> 907.32]  said no thank you to god we don't want you and then god's people who were set aside from him joined the
[907.32 --> 913.24]  world and said to god no thank you we don't want you we want to be like the world and even leading up to
[913.24 --> 922.28]  his crucifixion god's own people were chanting with the rest crucify jesus and instead of retaliating
[922.28 --> 929.48]  against his world instead of judging his people what does jesus do he voluntarily lays down his life
[930.36 --> 938.60]  for the world for you and me and for his enemies praise the lord that is god's love
[938.60 --> 947.64]  that is agape sacrificial love and the reason we're here this morning don't let this be missed by any
[947.64 --> 955.16]  one of us is in some way god's love melted your heart and mine in such a way that we move from enemy
[955.80 --> 961.40]  to child in fact after the 9 a.m service someone came up to me and they said that's such a such a simple
[961.40 --> 965.88]  sermon but you know what that's how i became a christian my mom invited me to church and out of
[965.88 --> 970.60]  obligation to my mom i came to church i heard a message about how god is love and god worked in my
[970.60 --> 977.96]  life and if that's your story pursue this because what i'm saying is not just words it's god's love
[977.96 --> 983.16]  in reality through the person of jesus christ who has given everything for you and for me
[984.76 --> 991.00]  dale brunner a favorite commentator of mine he summarizes the love of jesus in this way and i just
[991.00 --> 997.64]  think this says it really well he says in god's single greatest act of self-disclosure ever greater
[997.64 --> 1005.56]  even than his continuous acts of creation god loved his enemy world so much that he gave his own son
[1006.44 --> 1017.00]  god the cross teaches us supremely is the greatest enemy lover of all time that's why we sing every
[1017.00 --> 1025.24]  sunday that's why we worship that's why we gather as the church god's love is has said it is gritty
[1025.24 --> 1033.32]  sacrificial committed faithful love even in the face of faithlessness and rejection and it shows up in
[1033.32 --> 1039.64]  and through the mighty power of jesus and the question i want to ask for the rest of our time together
[1039.64 --> 1047.16]  is what does our love look like we may know and have heard that this is the way god shows his love
[1047.16 --> 1053.16]  what does our love look like what's our love look like in the concrete realities of our families
[1053.16 --> 1060.84]  our friendships our co-workers and our neighbors does it look like god's love does it look like has said
[1060.84 --> 1067.64]  does it look like the sacrificial agape love of jesus i want to come back to quote dale brunner again
[1067.64 --> 1073.40]  where he says it this way and this gets at the second half of john first john 3 where he talks
[1073.40 --> 1079.32]  about how we are to mirror the love of jesus he writes what makes christian christians salty being
[1079.32 --> 1086.20]  the salt of the world different and useful in the meat of the world is they're breaking the world's code
[1086.84 --> 1095.64]  of love for love good for good and evil for evil reciprocity it is the christian counter grain
[1095.64 --> 1102.44]  counter-cultural love for the undeserving the unloving and even the positively hostile
[1103.08 --> 1106.12]  that makes them recognizably christian
[1108.76 --> 1115.16]  i love that quote and at the same time it is so hard to live into this isn't it because the way
[1115.16 --> 1119.48]  of the world and we know this this is in our bones so often when we are hurt we retaliate when
[1119.48 --> 1124.12]  someone speaks poorly of them we attack them with our words when someone cuts us off we cut them off
[1124.12 --> 1129.16]  when they hurt us we hurt them right that's the way of the world and the way of jesus breaks the code
[1129.96 --> 1136.76]  of the way of the world it is love for the unloving hospitable towards the unloving it is showing a
[1136.76 --> 1142.20]  different way of being towards even those who are hostile and unkind and here's my question for you
[1143.80 --> 1151.16]  who's coming to your mind as you hear this i've learned that usually doesn't take long for us to
[1151.16 --> 1154.68]  think about who are the people we struggle with maybe they're sitting around your dinner table
[1154.68 --> 1158.60]  over the christmas break right that family member who knows how to grind your gears
[1159.16 --> 1164.44]  that sibling who you just think oh or the co-worker maybe who's made this a very hard year
[1164.44 --> 1169.64]  for year who takes advantage of your work for their own gain the neighbor who mocks you for being
[1169.64 --> 1175.32]  someone who follows this jesus fable who's the enemy who comes up in your mind and then here's the
[1175.32 --> 1183.40]  question what does agape has said love look like in that relationship what might the spirit of the
[1183.40 --> 1191.80]  living god might be inviting you to do not just to say but to do as an act of loving your neighbor
[1191.80 --> 1197.64]  which includes your political enemy your social enemy your work enemy and all the rest
[1197.64 --> 1205.48]  i want to suggest number one that this is not easy it requires prayer and the power of the spirit
[1205.48 --> 1209.00]  nor does it mean you have to have soft mushy feelings towards that person you struggle with
[1209.96 --> 1215.64]  but you don't even have to like them to love them but you're probably gonna have to get close to them
[1215.64 --> 1219.48]  i've learned at least in my own experience the experience of many people in our church that it's hard
[1219.48 --> 1226.36]  to love someone at a distance and concrete love often takes showing up being present speaking and
[1226.36 --> 1231.56]  living in a way that's going to be noticed and seen it takes strategizing prayerfully about how
[1231.56 --> 1236.52]  they need to hear the love of jesus through your action in this concrete reality in this meal in this
[1236.52 --> 1243.08]  workplace situation in this neighborhood what might the spirit of god be inviting you into over the
[1243.08 --> 1249.48]  christmas season i know for many of us the christmas meal is a complicated one i know for some of us we
[1249.48 --> 1253.72]  dread the holidays or there's grief and pain and we don't want to be with people but perhaps this is
[1253.72 --> 1262.12]  precisely the time where we prayerfully strategically pray and ask god to make us people who demonstrate
[1262.84 --> 1270.84]  the sacrificial gritty committed selfless love of jesus christ the same love that we have received
[1270.84 --> 1276.52]  in abundance that has turned us from enemy into child that love might be the way that we show for the
[1276.52 --> 1283.64]  first time what jesus love looks like in our families in our neighborhoods in our workplaces
[1284.52 --> 1289.48]  and trust me when i say when you invite god to give you the strength to do it when you ask him for the
[1289.48 --> 1296.52]  ability and the creativity and the guts to show love in the hard places he shows up with strength opens up
[1296.52 --> 1304.52]  opportunities because it is his desire that the love of jesus christ be made concrete in our lives in such a way that it points
[1304.52 --> 1310.60]  our world to the love of jesus that has come would you let me lead us in prayer
[1320.68 --> 1328.68]  father we thank you that you are love and it is because of your love that we are here we thank you that
[1328.68 --> 1333.88]  you did not give up on us in our rebellion you did not give up on your world and its rejection
[1334.76 --> 1341.80]  and we praise you that you have come in and through your son jesus we thank you for the way that his love
[1341.80 --> 1349.72]  in some way continues to melt us and change us and affect us and our prayer this morning is that we would
[1349.72 --> 1356.76]  reflect that love in concrete ways i pray that you would already now go ahead of us this week in the meal
[1356.76 --> 1363.88]  sharing and the time spent with family and friends and co-workers and use us as a source of agape chesed
[1363.88 --> 1371.88]  love so that people would see us and in and through us they would see your love and give their lives to you
[1373.00 --> 1379.88]  we pray this in the mighty name of jesus amen would you stand and sing with me our song of response