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• Will Smith observed that those who experience life at “cliff top” face the same abyss experienced by those on “rock bottom.” It is a honest and vulnerable admission that proves Jesus’ right that a common problem we face is that we do not know “the things that make for peace.”
• Luke records Jesus making his assertion in the moments following his arrival in Jerusalem. And this assertion helps modern readers to see how the event of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem (as well as the following events of Holy Week) bring peace.
• From this passage we see that peace comes as 1) an alien arrival, 2) a welcome into our constructed strongholds, and 3) an invitation into the center of our self-understandings (our identities!).

Pray

• (Pray a whole-life invitation) Father, I invite your presence into every corner of my life. I invite you to center of my self-understanding—may your good and loving presence be the lens that allows me to see every part of my life.

For the summary for this sermon and others - click here!

• In Genesis 3.17-19, we see a fourth layer of alienation w/ nature, “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life” It is an unraveling that impacts that sits at the intersection of how we worship (Lord), how we work (labor), and how we live in God’s creation (land).
• Our post-fall predicament is that we have lost the experience of abundance, security, and resource-fullness of Eden. Instead our work lives, even in the backdrop of materially wealthy global city, are marked by scarcity, severity, and insecurity.
• What we are facing is (at-least) two-fold: 1) scarcity of soul/inner world, and 2) scarcity of resources. This dual-scarcity leads to work-creep, where work and longing for security moves to the center of our existence. And, this experience of scarcity leads to overwork (for ourselves) and overuse (exploitation of God’s creation).
• In a world reeling from an alienation from nature, God prescribed for his people a Sabbath rest for us (every week) and for the land (every seven years). Yet, his people did not adhere to God’s invitation for Sabbath rest.
• Therefore, what is the hope for us in a world marked by scarcity? Scripture says the hope is found in our adoption. We are adopted by a King and we are adopted into the Kingdom! Our adoption by a King infuses us with a new identity that transforms the scarcity of our inner world. Our adoption into the Kingdom places us within Jesus’ Church. And, when the Holy Spirit falls on the Church in Acts 2, the Church receives a capacity for generosity that stands as a counter-cultural example of supernatural abundance.

For the summary for this sermon and others - click here!

• In Genesis 3 and 4, we see the third layer of alienation—a social alienation that pulls us apart from each other. This alienation and unraveling leads to the active conflict we observe in our world, as well as the apathy we can possess towards the material needs of those around us.
• In response to the widening dysfunction and violence multiplying in the world, God chooses a nation to embody a different way. This different way can be seen in passages such as Deuteronomy 15.
• In Isaiah 58, we see glimpse of God’s desire for a spirituality—a “life with God”—in a world marked by conflict and apathy. It is a spirituality that 1) has eyes for others, 2) is rooted in continuous intimacy with the Father, and 3) delights in grace!
• We can often miss God’s desire in two directions: 1) a religious direction and 2) an irreligious direction. We err in the religious direction when we focus on the rituals of spirituality without allowing our love for God translate into active love and concern for others (Isaiah 58.1-5). We can also err in an irreligious direction, where we seek justice for others but discount the necessity of life with God. We desire to remedy alienation #3—social alienation—but do not address alienation #1—alienation from God.
• Jesus embodies a potent spirituality that both 1) challenges a spirituality that ignores the material plight of others (Mt. 23.23) and also 2) prioritizes connection to the Father. A Jesus-Church*,* following after the way of Jesus, gets to experience and embody the same!

Pray

• Father, gives me eyes to see the needs around me; grant me to experience the power of life with you; and fill me with a delight to remember that no matter how often I fall short, you provide incomparable grace.

For the summary for this sermon and others - click here!

• In Scripture, shame has both an passive and and an active component. The passive component is what we are familiar with — the visceral reactions we’ve experienced that stem from feeling exposed and insufficient. Genesis 3 explains that it is our human way of experiencing the world now that we have experienced the disconnection from God once available to humanity at Eden.
• A Scriptural understanding of shame also requires understanding shame’s active component. In Psalm 25.1-3, the psalmist declares that those who put their trust in God are not put to shame. And, this is a recurring idea in Scripture—biblical authors speak of shame as resulting from our misplaced trust.
• The redemptive power of shame, as argued by Allender and Longman, centers on shame’s ability to expose our misplaced trusts—the deep idols of our heart. We feel shame, because the things we depend on for identity and sense of security—such as the respect and admiration of others, the financial stability our jobs provides, the affection of loved ones—cannot provide what we long for.
• Shame exposes our misplaced trusts, which can lead us to repentance and worship!

The psalmist, in the face of threat, finds peace by declaring:

• "my God is good"
• "my God gives good"
• "my God will be good"

What in our story keeps us from believing the same?

A few years ago Cindy, Founder of We Want More, shared with Jeremiah that deep-life transformation occurs in environments that are 1) safe, 2) vulnerable, 3) expectant and 4) Spirit-empowered. On Sunday, we double-clicked on "expectancy," asking Cindy to share from her journey with God on the importance of "expectancy" and how God's goodness and character forms the basis of our hope.