SPEAKER_00: There's a line in the first reading that feels very real.
SPEAKER_00: All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
SPEAKER_00: That's not abstract.
SPEAKER_00: That's not ancient.
SPEAKER_00: That's our human condition.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah is not dealing with strangers.
SPEAKER_00: He's dealing with people who know him.
SPEAKER_00: People who have walked with him.
SPEAKER_00: And now, while they're waiting for him to fall, watching for a mistake, ready to tear him down.
SPEAKER_00: And you can feel it.
SPEAKER_00: Tear on every side.
SPEAKER_00: Denounce him.
SPEAKER_00: Now hold that because when you get to the gospel, it escalates.
SPEAKER_00: They're not just whispering anymore, they pick up stones.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Not because Jesus did something wrong, but because of who he claims to be.
SPEAKER_00: You, a man, are making yourself God.
SPEAKER_00: This is the thread that connects both readings.
SPEAKER_00: When truth becomes clear, when God becomes present, when light exposes what is hidden, there's always resistance.
SPEAKER_00: Don't miss this.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the closer you are to truth, the more you will be tested.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah experienced it.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus experiences it.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're actually living your faith seriously, you too will experience it.
SPEAKER_00: Because we like the idea of faith, well, until it cost us something.
SPEAKER_00: We like comfort, affirmation, easy Christianity, the feel good.
SPEAKER_00: But the moment faith demands clarity, the moment it demands conviction, the moment it exposes your sins, your habits, your bad behaviors, well, then we take a step back.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the gospel again.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, if I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, look at what I do.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the evidence.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the truth right in front of you.
SPEAKER_00: But they don't want truth.
SPEAKER_00: They want control.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the deeper issue.
SPEAKER_00: It's not that they don't understand, it's that they don't want to accept.
SPEAKER_00: Now this brings us back to our own lives because this is where the gospel stops being about them and becomes about us.
SPEAKER_00: Where are you resisting truth?
SPEAKER_00: Where has God made something clear in your life?
SPEAKER_00: What are you still pushing back?
SPEAKER_00: This is a theme that we've been talking about all this week.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's that decision you need to make, a sin you need to confront, a relationship that needs to change, a habit that needs to go.
SPEAKER_00: And instead of surrendering, you argue, you delay, you justify, you stay in the same old same old.
SPEAKER_00: Not because you don't see it, but because you don't want to deal with it.
SPEAKER_00: This is where Jeremiah's line becomes everything.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is with me like a mighty champion.
SPEAKER_00: That's not confidence in himself, that's trust.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you choose truth, you will not always be understood.
SPEAKER_00: When you choose God, you will not always be supported and applauded.
SPEAKER_00: You will never be alone.
SPEAKER_00: But that's the difference.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah is surrounded by opposition, but grounded in God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is surrounded by hostility, but he's still united to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And you have to decide where do you stand?
SPEAKER_00: Because neutrality is not an option.
SPEAKER_00: You're either aligning yourself with truth or you resist it.
SPEAKER_00: You either trust God in His plan or you trust yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Be demanding.
SPEAKER_00: Stop resisting what you already know is true.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need more information.
SPEAKER_00: You need surrender.
SPEAKER_00: Stand firm even when it costs you.
SPEAKER_00: Faith that costs nothing changes nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Trust that God is with you.
SPEAKER_00: Not vaguely, but and not even symbolically.
SPEAKER_00: He's with you like a mighty champion.
SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of the gospel, they try to arrest him and he walks away.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because his life is not controlled by them.
SPEAKER_00: It's ordered to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: That's freedom.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what God wants for you.
SPEAKER_00: Not a comfortable life, a true life.
SPEAKER_00: So today, don't just admire Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Don't just listen, choose, stand, trust, because the same God who stood with Jeremiah is the same Father who was with the Son, is now with you.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's true, then you have nothing to fear.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.