WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:03.759 Thank you for tuning in to Newsong Church's Sermon Podcast. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:12.240 Newsong is a gospel-centered community-serving Anglican church in Port Perry, Ontario, in the parish of the Anglican Network in Canada. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:13.759 We'd love to connect with you. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:19.760 If you'd like to reach out to us, you can find our contact information at Newsongport Perry.ca. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.719 God bless you through the ministry of the Word. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:35.039 Our first lesson this morning is from the Book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 13 to 27, and chapter 27, verse 1. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:47.039 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver, and her profit better than gold. 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:52.640 She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:57.840 Long life is in her right hand, and her left hand are riches and honor. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:03.359 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:10.480 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her, and those who hold her fast are called blessed. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:13.280 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth. 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:16.319 By understanding he established the heavens. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:21.920 By his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:25.359 My son, do not lose sight of these. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:32.799 Keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and a dorm for your neck. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:38.239 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.359 If you lie down, you will not be afraid. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:44.719 When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:55.200 Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:02:01.280 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:06.239 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:08.000 This is the word of the Lord. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:16.400 Wisdom is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:20.479 Those who hold her fast are called blessed. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:22.080 Let's pray. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:30.639 God of wonders beyond our galaxy, you are holy. 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:32.400 Holy, holy. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:50.240 Lord, we pray that today as we consider the goodness and grace in your creation, we would glimpse once again your extravagant and resplendent glory. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:58.240 And that our hearts would be drawn towards the source of our life and the source of all wisdom, our Lord Jesus. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:00.080 It's in his name we pray. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:01.039 Amen. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:02.400 Please be seated. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:18.479 Well, friends, we've been journeying these past number of weeks into the book of Proverbs. 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:23.919 And we've been considering what it means to live wisely by God's design. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:36.479 Because what Proverbs has been teaching us is that by living wisely, we can live a flourishing and full and abundant life, the design for life that God's always intended for us as creatures. 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:46.879 We understand that wisdom begins with what chapter 1, verse 7 calls the fear of the Lord, which isn't runaway screaming fear. 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:48.000 It's a reverence. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:52.560 It's a right relationship with God, who is the source of our life and our wisdom. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:56.240 It's humility, it's a teachable spirit. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:03.120 It's a curiosity to discover the design that God has wrought around us. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:13.360 And the fear of the Lord, the reverence of the Lord, will lead to considering what is true and what is good, what it is that binds the universe together through God's wisdom. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:21.279 And it's wisdom that gets praised in our Proverbs reading today in verses 13 to 17 here. 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:30.000 Wisdom is something so precious, so pleasant, so good, it ought not to be neglected. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:44.000 In fact, the author of Proverbs here says, she, wisdom, is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her, those who hold her fast are called blessed. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:46.560 She's a tree of life. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:55.680 She makes the difference between scarcity and blessing, between toilsome trouble and flourishing. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.399 And it's this tree of life imagery that runs so deeply in the Bible. 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:14.560 Maybe for some of us who've been to Sunday school, immediately our minds go to the earliest chapters of Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, and rightly so, because in the very first chapters of Genesis, we're hearing creation described. 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:20.560 And we read in chapter 2, verses 8 and 9, The Lord planted a garden in Eden in the east. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:23.120 There he put the man whom he had formed. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:30.480 And out of the ground the God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:37.600 The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:54.800 The tree of life, as the author of this chapter of Proverbs understands, it's a symbol for the flourishing life, the life that God intends us to have, the life that gives way to eternal life through God's wisdom and through God's purposes. 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:58.879 Wisdom goes as deep as creation itself. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:07.439 And that's why today I want us to consider what does living wisely mean with regards to the creation that we live in. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:12.399 Now, I'm a little nervous of the pulpit today. 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:13.839 I won't lie. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:19.120 And in a strange way, I don't think I would be nervous to preach about creation when I began preaching. 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:22.319 And bear in mind, I haven't been doing this for decades and decades. 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:31.199 Creation, the earth, environment, its climate, has become a really political conversation, don't you think? 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:32.240 Wouldn't you agree? 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:37.040 It's become a very polarizing conversation, don't you think? 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:41.439 It divides left and right of the political spectrum. 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:53.040 And so I'm nervous that when we dive into considering what God's wisdom is for creation, what might be interpreted as some kind of political tangent or something like that. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:54.639 That's not the intention here. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:07:05.360 In fact, oddly enough, what's now kind of identified so much with the left wing of politics, right, environmental consideration, has historically been associated with the right of the politics, right? 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:10.480 Environmental conservation and conservatism have historically been joined at the hip. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:19.920 So what I'm trying to do here is not a political exercise, nor am I going to pontificate on what global policies need to look like, etc., etc. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:21.920 I'm not qualified to do that. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:23.439 We're not the UN. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:25.519 So we're not going to do that today. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:37.040 What I want us to consider as one creature talking to other creatures created in God's image is what does it mean to live wisely in the slice of creation that God has entrusted to us? 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:39.360 That's what I want us to consider today. 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:47.360 How do we think and live and act wisely by God, the creator's design for his creation? 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:48.720 Here's three things. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:57.199 I think we're wise towards creation when we understand number one, God's regard for his creation. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:02.560 Number two, our responsibility towards God's creation. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:08.240 And number three, gospel reassurance about God's creation. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:13.120 God's regard, our responsibility, and gospel reassurance. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:15.600 You can ignore the three points I put in your bulletin. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:17.680 I've changed them since I hit print. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:23.040 God's regard, our responsibility, gospel reassurance. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:36.480 I think if we can center ourselves in these three things, we will incline ourselves to the sort of wisdom that we find in the book of Proverbs, the sort of wisdom that lends itself to a full and flourishing life as God's creatures. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:38.159 So let's open up the scriptures. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:40.080 Proverbs chapter 3. 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:44.320 Let's have a look at verses 19 and 20 to begin. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.399 Let's see God's regard for creation. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:49.759 We're going to discover that matter really matters to God. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:51.279 Verse 19. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:55.519 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:59.679 By understanding, he established the heavens. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:06.799 By his knowledge, the deeps broke open, and the clouds dropped down the dew. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.879 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:13.200 That's what the author wants us to understand. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:16.879 God's wisdom and God's creation are joined at the hip. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:18.559 In fact, they're inseparable. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:27.039 Creation has its order, has its comprehensibility, precisely because it has been formed by God's wisdom. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:37.840 And if we think about it for a sec, if creation is generated with no purpose out of randomness and chaos, then isn't randomness and chaos what we'd expect to find in creation? 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:41.840 I mean, we wouldn't even be around to observe the chaos in creation. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:53.440 The fact that there is order and design and predictability and comprehensibility suggests in the mind of this author that God's wisdom has ordered the creation that we live in. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:55.919 It's got a purpose, it's got a design to it. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.639 And it's our job to find that out. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:06.240 Maybe this passage reminds us of a passage we looked at a couple of weeks ago, Proverbs chapter 8, where much the same point is being made. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:10.879 God's wisdom is like the thread that sews creation together. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:14.159 We want to understand that thread and how it weaves. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:19.120 Here's a few things that we want to see about God's regard for creation. 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:22.320 Number one, creation is good. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:24.000 Creation is good. 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:26.559 Remember Genesis chapter 1? 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.320 Day after day, God beholds what he just created, and what does he say? 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:34.639 He says, it says God saw it and it was good. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:37.519 Not bad, he's not indifferent. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:39.120 It's good. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:46.320 This word is like a combination of useful and beautiful and desirable. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:51.919 It's like the feeling an artist gets after they finish this canvas. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:54.720 They step back and they think, oh, that is good. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:55.840 That's rich. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:58.879 That's captured something desirable. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:05.519 God made a good creation and therefore he's committed to his purposes for creation. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.679 And not just that, but creation is glorious. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:13.039 I chose all the readings for this morning except for Psalm 8. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:23.200 Psalm 8 was already assigned in God's providence for this morning, and I thought, what better Psalm could we have that celebrates God's glory in creation? 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:24.879 This is what we read together. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:30.960 O Lord, our governor, our governor, by the way, by wisdom, how else is he going to govern? 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:34.399 How excellent is your name in all the world. 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:42.480 You have set your glory, your splendor, your majesty, your overwhelming greatness above the heavens. 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:48.639 The idea is God puts his glory on display in the creation that we live in. 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:51.759 So one church reformer named John Calvin can write this. 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:58.639 He says, God daily discloses himself in the whole workmanship of his universe. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:09.519 Wherever you cast your eyes, there is no spot in the universe wherein you cannot discern at least some sparks of his glory. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:11.840 Isn't that a great turn of phrase? 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:21.200 There is nowhere, nowhere in creation, you can look where you will not see some sparks of God's glory. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:23.120 It shows God's glory forth. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:28.080 It shows his purposes and his orderings and his desires for creation. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:39.759 So maybe this needs to be a corrective sometimes about our trends to sideline or ignore or kind of demote the importance of creation. 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:49.840 This idea maybe that God cares only for the spiritual and what's immaterial, rather than caring for the physical and material world that we occupy. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:50.720 To quote C.S. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:53.039 Lewis, we're hybrid beings, aren't we? 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:55.440 We're body and soul. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:58.000 We are spirit and flesh. 00:12:58.159 --> 00:12:59.919 We're both at the same time. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:04.799 And it's not that God privileges one over the other, it's that God has designs for both. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:07.279 In fact, he wants to bring them together. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:18.960 Sometimes when we talk about creation, we talk about it like it's something that's more of an inconvenience or a hassle to get to the real important spiritual stuff. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:26.000 And we end up sharing wisdom that sounds less like biblical wisdom and more like, I don't know, Plato or something. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:31.120 Like let's get to what really matters way out there and above this material world that we live in. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:39.200 I remember when I was uh in youth group where we had, oh God bless him, a guest speaker who was just pouring his heart out. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:46.559 Uh and, you know, I think our youth pastor sort of took him to the side at the end of his little uh talk. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:50.799 But uh his big point was um he was a big fan of The Matrix. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:52.159 Have you seen The Matrix? 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:54.399 Okay, so Matrix is a great film. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:56.720 Don't uh it's great kung fu. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:01.279 But um but The Matrix is this idea that we live in a world that's not really real. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:05.840 It's a computer simulation, and you need to be released from the matrix into the real world. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:13.279 And his point was being a Christian is a little bit like you know you live in the matrix, and you want to get released from the matrix into what's really real. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:15.120 And I kind of think, ooh. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:20.639 That might be true of Plato, but that ain't true of Scripture. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:25.039 And the trouble is I think that idea is all too common. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:32.799 That God really prefers what's neat and tidy and spiritual rather than what's fleshy and messy and earthy. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:35.919 God has desires and designs for both. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:40.480 Creation is good and it is glorious by God's own design. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:46.320 And because God cares for his creation, we should care as well. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:47.679 But how? 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:50.480 Let's look at the second consideration here. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:55.440 Let's consider our responsibility toward creation. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:05.039 Verses 21 to 26 in our Proverbs reading lays out the sort of security and ordering that wisdom offers to our life. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:06.799 It's a full and flourishing life. 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:09.039 And then it kind of concludes with a punch. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:19.360 In verse 27, an imperative: do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:26.000 So, in other words, a foolish person refrains from doing good towards their neighbor and need. 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:32.399 We have a responsibility in creation, a responsibility to live into by God's design. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:34.240 What does all that mean for us? 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:38.639 We're responsible to do justice to our neighbor. 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:41.039 This is what's developed in the verses that follow. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:46.320 It's not included in your bulletin, but if you've got your Bibles out, you can see verses 28 to 35. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:48.960 Don't say to your neighbor, go and come again. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:51.360 Tomorrow I will give it when you have it with you. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:56.000 Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:00.159 Do not contend with a man for no reason when he has done you no harm. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:04.080 Don't envy a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:06.480 On and on this goes. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:13.360 The idea is we owe justice to those who occupy creation with us. 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:20.399 It is a foolish thing to neglect the right ordering of God's moral universe around us. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:22.960 We're responsible to do justice to one another. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:29.279 Now, we're going to explore justice even more in a future sermon, because Proverbs has plenty to say about justice. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:35.279 But for our purposes right here, let's just observe the way that Proverbs is approaching justice. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:45.200 Because it's approaching it perhaps in a way that is subtle, but inverts the way I think we so often think about justice in our moment. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:51.759 Justice in our moment is often, it's often about making sure that we get ours, I think. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:54.320 We're often quite, hmm. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:59.200 In Proverbs, it's asking us to adopt an other-centered approach to justice. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:00.960 Let me illustrate it like this. 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:06.640 I know a buddy of mine who has raised three wonderful boys. 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:11.680 When they were very young, he says their treat every Friday was getting a glass of soda. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.079 That was the big treat of the of the week. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:22.079 And he said, I would purposely, I says I kind of rotated around, but I'd purposely pour a little bit more soda in one of my boys' glasses. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:24.640 Because what's inevitably gonna follow? 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:26.160 Parents, you know. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:28.400 Hey, he's got more than me. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:30.240 That's not fair, right? 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:40.240 The lesson my buddy wanted his boys to learn is this the only reason you have to look into your brother's glass is to see if he has enough. 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:43.599 Do you see the difference there? 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:50.559 Often without realizing it, I think our attempts, our approach at justice is really, do I have enough in my glass? 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:55.599 Rather than looking into our neighbor's glass and saying, but does she have enough? 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:01.759 This is the kind of approach that Proverbs is inviting us to adopt. 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:03.200 It's an other-centered approach. 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:12.640 In other words, loving your neighbor, or pardon me, loving yourself at the expense of your neighbor rather than loving your neighbor as yourself is a very foolish thing to do. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:18.720 What does justice towards our neighbor look like in the creation we occupy? 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:20.799 Here's one thing I think it includes. 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:25.359 I think it includes wise stewardship of our resources. 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:28.640 I think it includes wise stewardship of our resources. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:34.160 You know, North America occupies about 7% of the world's total population. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:40.240 And yet, we use something like over 40% of its resources. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:49.440 And in general, 20% of the world's population uses nearly 80% of its resources. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:51.680 So what's my point? 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:53.680 My point is not guilt. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:19:02.000 My point is rather that I need to consider that I am more prosperous than I would otherwise first think. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:06.160 Reflexively, I wouldn't say I consider myself wealthy. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:11.359 But if I step back for a moment, I recognize God has given me an abundance. 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:13.680 He has given us an abundance. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:18.000 And therefore, he's given us a responsibility towards our neighbor. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:25.039 We need to look into our neighbor's glass, maybe our global neighbor's glass, and ask, but do they have enough? 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:35.279 We need to discern what that looks like for each and every one of us, but maybe it begins with an attitude of gratitude for the abundant provision that God has given us. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:41.680 We thank God for the goodness, the good things, the blessings that he gives us day by day. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:48.960 They're bearing witness to the goodness of his creation, they're bearing witness to his goodness through creation. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:54.720 So we begin being grateful for creation around us and the creation that we enjoy. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:20:04.799 And then I think that gratitude fosters that sort of that sort of burning desire for justice, that we care for our neighbors in need. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:10.000 That's what things like the farmer's market outreach is all about and our Thanksgiving drive. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:14.960 In our own local way, we want to say, does our neighbor have enough in their glass? 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:21.759 And has God given us an abundance with which we can contribute towards their need? 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:23.759 That's the idea here. 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:32.240 And then, of course, we have to consider the requirements of good stewardship, stewarding the resources that are given to us. 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:47.680 And I think, friends, if we're going to be good stewards of creation, we have to do the hard thing and refuse a cheap consumerism that treats creation like something to just be gobbled up for our own purposes. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:21:00.160 We need to consider that God has purposes for his creation, that his creation shows forth his glory, and therefore how we treat his creation is going to impact how we perceive his glory. 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:01.440 Do you see how that works? 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:06.400 We need to refuse a consumerism that cheapens creation around us. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:17.039 Jesus says in Luke chapter 12, take care and be on guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:28.640 See, greed and envy and selfishness that go with an idea of consumerism, it leads to a reckless misuse of creation and a twisting of our soul within it. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:30.559 We need to refuse that. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:39.200 You know, one of the most practical pieces of advice that I received, not an infallible piece of advice, but I really liked it. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:43.200 It's the one less principle, was what was shared with me. 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:47.599 When I need a new phone, I immediately go to the very best on the market. 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:48.240 Right? 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:52.799 I'm thinking what's got the most storage, what's got the most apps, etc., etc. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:56.640 Do I really need the best phone on the market? 00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:58.000 I really don't. 00:21:58.400 --> 00:21:59.759 What's one less than that? 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:03.440 Maybe I'm looking for a new flat screen TV. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:04.319 That was Rachel and I. 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:06.880 We had a big purchase a couple of years ago. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:11.599 Maybe an 80-inch theatrical size would be the dream here. 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:14.319 But do I really need that? 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:16.319 Maybe we go one less. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:21.599 And the one less principle always acknowledges that what we've received, we've received from God. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:27.599 And it always ensures that we acknowledge we have an abundance and therefore a responsibility. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:31.759 And therefore, we always have something to offer our neighbor. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:49.519 I think we're living wisely when we consider God's regard for his good and glorious creation when we live into our responsibility towards stewarding creation and exercising justice towards our neighbors. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:53.039 But we need to center ourselves. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:59.920 If we're going to live truly in wisdom, we need to center ourselves in gospel reassurance about creation. 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:02.960 We need gospel reassurance. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:05.279 What does creation hold for tomorrow? 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:06.400 That's the question. 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:15.759 And Proverbs 27:1 says this do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:18.000 So this is a really practical warning, isn't it? 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:19.680 Don't be arrogant, right? 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:21.920 Don't count your chickens before they hatch. 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:23.519 That's the idea here. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:32.880 Now, occupying the fragile framework of creation that we do, often things don't go the way that we plan. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:49.519 But characteristically, I wonder if from generation to generation we oscillate between arrogance in what will come to pass to our favor and anxiety about what will deteriorate out of our favor. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:56.880 I wonder if we live in a particularly anxious rather than arrogant moment with regards to creation. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:04.000 I mean, we hear the stories in the news over and over about our climate, about how it's changing. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:13.200 And I, as a pastor, see firsthand the spiritual impact that this has in the lives of those who are listening to the news. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:27.359 I can think of one conversation I had not too long ago where this one person was saying that they're convinced that the climate's going to collapse within a few decades' time. 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:33.119 And the truth is I'm not I'm not a scientist, so I'm not going to verify the data for myself. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:45.039 But the despair and hopelessness and utter desolation that this rot in his soul was crippling. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:48.559 What do you say to someone like that? 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:51.599 Maybe we ourselves feel that. 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:53.680 We feel the weight of that. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:57.279 I'm not going to be foolish enough to just say, well, just ignore the news. 00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:59.359 That's a foolish thing to do. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:12.559 But I think we need to recognize that the story we tell, very often in our moment, sounds a lot less like Genesis 1 and 2, that God looks at creation and says, This is good. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:24.319 And it sounds a lot more like Genesis 3, where our parents, having foolishly disobeyed God's good will and command for their lives, have lost access to the tree of life. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:28.559 And now God says to Adam, Cursed is the ground because of you. 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:35.359 In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life, thorn and thistles it shall bring forth for you. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:48.160 You shall eat the plants of the field, by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you are taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:59.200 Do you hear the imagery of a creation that is being undone through our foolish disobedience to God's good will and wisdom? 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:10.640 Do you hear the deterioration and the decay, the alienation that our first parents have from the good creation that they were made to occupy? 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:23.200 See, I think the story we tell sounds a lot more like our reckless foolishness with regards to creation is leading to increasing decay. 00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:28.079 And we need to recognize, based on Genesis 3, that there's truth there. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:34.319 There's truth to our recklessness and disobedience that leads to deterioration and decay. 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:40.880 But we as Christians need to ask this question: Is there any reassurance to be found in the gospel? 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:47.359 Is there any reassurance to be found in the midst of this crisis and dire situation? 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:49.839 Tomorrow is the question. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:51.279 What does tomorrow hold? 00:26:51.519 --> 00:27:00.240 Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says, Therefore I tell you, don't be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body what you will put on. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:01.920 Look at the birds of the air, Jesus says. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:06.880 They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:09.359 Are you not of more value than they? 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:13.519 Verse 28, Jesus says, Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:19.759 If God so clothes the grass of the field, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:21.519 And here's the conclusion. 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:27.200 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:30.319 Sufficient is the day for its own trouble. 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:35.440 There's a Bob Newhart skit where he's got a client in his office. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:36.960 He's a psychologist, right? 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:41.759 And the client is pouring out her heart and her problems, and he just says, Well, stop it. 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:43.839 Just stop being so anxious. 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:44.559 Just stop being so. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:45.839 Is that what Jesus is saying here? 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:46.720 Just stop it. 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:48.240 Stop being so anxious. 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:49.839 That's really helpful. 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:57.119 Jesus is pointing us to a theological principle that gives us great assurance. 00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:08.640 In the midst of this creation, wisdom teaches us to look at the world, not naively, not with our head in the sand, but we look at the world and we see evidence of God's ordering and care. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:18.880 We look at birds, we look at lilies, and they bear witness to the fact that God works providentially in the universe that we live in for our good. 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:30.480 And again, John Calvin can write this what are thought to be chance occurrences are just so many proofs of heavenly providence, especially of fatherly kindness. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:36.480 When we look at creation, we can see evidence of God's own fatherly kindness. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:41.680 We see sparks of his glory and we see ways that he provides for us. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:54.559 Yes, creation is creation is under the curse that we read about in chapter 3, Genesis chapter 3, and yet God's fatherly kindness persists. 00:28:54.880 --> 00:28:59.279 In fact, God's fatherly kindness persists to the greatest degree that it can. 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:01.599 It will renew creation itself. 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:06.880 If God's providence is our first reassurance, then God's renewed creation is our second. 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:09.519 And that's what we read about in Isaiah 65. 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:20.559 Behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not come to mind, but be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create. 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:24.400 From start to finish, matter matters to God. 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:30.480 The world we live in matters to God, and the environment we live in matters to God. 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:31.680 It is his. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:34.160 It belongs to him. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:44.240 And therefore, if we find reassurance, it's in recognizing that this story of creation is not a story about us. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:45.839 It's a story about him. 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:49.599 It is his creation from start to finish. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:52.240 And he will be the one to restore it. 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:54.960 He's promised to restore it. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:59.039 I uh babysat kids when I was a teenager. 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:09.440 I remember very vividly babysitting these two young boys, and um before, well, as mom is dropping them off, she says, the thing that they're gonna want to do is they're gonna want to watch Finding Nemo. 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:11.039 And Finding Nemo is a great movie. 00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:13.279 If you haven't seen it, you should definitely see it. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:18.720 But she says, just so you know, they get really, really scared when the sharks show up. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:23.119 Just remind them that the movie has a happy ending. 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:25.440 I always think about that. 00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:35.359 We need to be reminded in the midst of the story, in the midst of crisis, in the midst of anxiety, that we know whose ending this is. 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:38.960 We know the author and designer, we know the creator. 00:30:39.359 --> 00:30:57.599 And so the image that Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 15 about the resurrection of the body is this idea that a seed has to die to its seedness to give way to the new life of the tree, to give way to the new life of the grain, whatever it is it's growing up into. 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:15.839 He says, what is sown is perishable, what is raised up is imperishable, it is sown in dishonor, it's raised in glory, it's sown in weakness and raised in power, and therefore, Paul concludes, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:26.880 Paul says we can look at, we can look in creation around us and rightly recognize that there is deterioration and decay as a result of sin and the curse. 00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:32.079 But we need to recognize that ours is a God who takes dead things and brings them to new life. 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:35.599 That God restores and he glorifies. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:42.640 God's ability to take what is decaying and deteriorating and raise it up is our reassurance. 00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:45.759 We need to remember that creation is God's story. 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:49.839 And in the end, he will make all things new. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:54.720 So God's wisdom offers us true reassurance, doesn't it? 00:31:54.960 --> 00:32:00.000 By his providence, by his renewed creation, it cures our arrogance. 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:04.319 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you don't know what tomorrow may bring. 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:07.200 But it also cures our anxiety. 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:09.599 Because birds and lilies bear witness. 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:11.680 Don't be anxious about tomorrow. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:14.000 Tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:17.440 Your Heavenly Father will provide you what he knows you need. 00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:36.319 See, we're wise towards creation when we understand God's regard for a good and glorious creation, our responsibility towards our neighbors in creation, in justice and in stewardship, and we're wise toward creation when we find gospel reassurance in the true story, God's story. 00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:41.440 God's wisdom for creation ultimately leads us to its source. 00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:50.319 Paul writes, Colossians chapter 1, Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn, the preeminent one over all creation. 00:32:50.799 --> 00:33:00.160 For by him all things were created in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, and all things were created through him and for him. 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:06.160 If we want to come to the source of wisdom in creation, we have to come to the Lord Jesus. 00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:18.160 And in worship and adoration, we need to lay ourselves down before him and acknowledge that he is the author of this story, and that he is the source of our goods and our reassurance. 00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:22.880 Let me conclude with this quote from a biblical commentator. 00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:28.799 We can maybe catch a glimpse of why wisdom acts like the tree of life here. 00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:35.039 It's the source of God's flourishing and the invitation to God's eternal life through wisdom. 00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:45.200 So Waltke, Bruce Waltke, a commentator, says Adam and Eve, humanity's representatives, lost access to the tree of life by their hubris. 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:58.799 Humans can regain it by humbling themselves and receiving by faith the words of eternal life, which are inseparable from the word, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:01.759 Would you receive the word today? 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:02.880 Amen. 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:08.400 Thank you for listening today. 00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:14.159 We follow a generous God who calls us to give willfully, cheerfully, and sacrificially towards gospel ministry. 00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:20.480 Newsong is one hundred percent funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us. 00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:28.239 If you'd like to learn more about how to give towards Newsong's ministry, you can do just that at newsongportperry.ca slash giving. 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:30.719 God bless you and keep you today and every day.