Mother's Day, Luke 20:20-40

Transcript

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I'm looking forward to sharing today. It's not like a traditional Mother's Day message. I I really prayed about it because I'm not opposed to pausing, but I felt like that uh we were supposed to stay in the text that we were in. And in that, there's still gonna be honor for for you moms. But uh what we're not gonna talk about today is aliens. Uh I know that's been big in the news lately, so we're not how they might be the Nephilim that built the pyramids or uh the Hannah Montana virus or whatever that is. We're not gonna those are not the things we're discussing today, so rest assured it's gonna be okay. We are gonna be in the Bible, we're all gonna be in Luke 20. We're gonna talk about taxes for a minute. We're talking about taxes. So um, does that feel like a great Mother's Day message already? You're like, oh boy, your hands are just ringing in excitement. Yeah. Here we go. Let's do this. Watching for their opportunity. Now, I want to say who is watching for their opportunity? We're gonna get that in a minute. As we've come into this passage, we know right now Jesus went into the temple. He flipped the tables of the money changers, made a whip, drove out all the animals that were being sold for sacrifices. He was showing, hey, this system's messed up. My father's house should be called a house of prayer. He's been at the temple now in the temple courts teaching daily. Now, in this time of year, what you would see often is the leading rabbis would go to different sections and stand, and people would then come to them and ask them questions. That's what's going on. They'd walk up, ask their rabbis, what do you think about this? What do you think about that? And then the rabbi would share. Now, there's some people that are diligently asking questions, and now there's other people you're going to see that are trying to hoodoo Jesus because we know that he is in his last days and the Passover is coming. Watching for their opportunity, the leaders, check this out, sent spies. That sounds like something church leaders should do. The church leaders sent spies, pretending to be honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor so he uh would arrest Jesus. Teacher, they said, we know that you speak and teach what is right. So that they're blowing a little bit of smoke, right? Like you don't mess up, you get things right. Teacher, they said, we know that you speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You teach, check this out, you teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us, they think they've painted him to a corner. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? He saw through their trickery. Shocker. Listen, let's just be honest with you, he sees through your trickery too. My trickery, like, let's just do away with the trickeries. All right. He saw through their trickery and said, Show me a Roman coin, whose picture and title are stamped on it. The Caesars, they replied. Well then he said, Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God. So they failed to trap him by what he said in front of the people. Instead, they were amazed by his answer and they became silent. I'm I'm gonna hold off on jumping ahead just for a second. So the leaders, one of the things that's interesting is we know that other gospels uh bring information into this text that maybe we don't have right here because everybody's emphasizing a little bit something different. But we know that in Matthew's gospel, in this moment, it notes that the leaders are the Pharisees and the Herodians. I wanted to bring that up just for a minute because this is it's a note that any other day, the Pharisees and the Herodians would have been at each other's throat. They would have been opposition. But the only thing that they're finding common ground on is to attack Jesus. Right? So any other day, I don't like you, I don't like what you believe, I don't like what you stand for. Hey, but what I don't like more than you is that guy over there who's trying to overthrow the whole system. So they perceive, check this out, they perceive Jesus to be a greater threat than they were to each other. Right? So it's like, okay, this guy is changing everything, and he is answering every question. He is a threat to what we're doing. Remember last week we talked about how they wanted control. They didn't want to lose control, right? So you've got an interesting moment here where enemies are working together. Verse 22, it says, now tell us, is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar? The question is it law for us to pay taxes to Caesar? It's a question that's kind of ambiguous at best. Uh they are asking a Jewish man, is it lawful? So for Jesus, a Jewish man, lawful, when you hear the word lawful, it replies to the Torah, not who the Roman authorities' law is, right? Is it lawful? Is it in the Torah? Where is your allegiance? And in the Torah, allegiance is to God, to God is the core. Allegiance is to God is the only thing. You don't stray, you don't defer, you don't differ. So if Jesus says, yeah, pay the taxes, then it shows something. They're also asking him, a Jewish man living under Roman rule, where Loman Raw requires tribute, they're trying to say, listen, we're gonna paint you into a corner. So either you're denying the authority of God and we're gonna get you on that, or you're denying the authority of the Roman state and we're gonna turn you over to them. You see what they've done is they've calculated, they've triangulated. And I want to tell you something. In your life, don't ever be afraid if the enemy tries to back you into a corner, because if you walk before God, he will always walk you through the mess and give you wisdom how to do it. One of the things that inspires me when I read how Jesus responds to these people is that I know that the Holy Spirit is with me, and the Holy Spirit will give me wisdom as I encounter difficult people in my life. I'm not going to be afraid of people that bring challenges and try to corner or trap me because what does the word say again? If God be for me, then who can be against me? You with me on that? Okay, so they're trying to trap him. Jesus has seen through it. Now he does something here that, like, over the years I missed a key part. And I just want to be honest with you. He says, uh, show me a coin, verse 24. Show me a Roman coin. I think it's telling that the people that are questioning him if his allegiance is to Rome, those are the people that are carrying the Roman coins. Hey, show well, show me a coin real quick. Oh, and they're not even thinking about sure. Boom. Here it is. Well, that's a little bit hypocritical. You with me? Like you're dogging me, you're trying to challenge me on like my allegiance to Rome or to God, and you're the one carrying around his money in your pocket. Right? So he brings out their hypocrisy in front of everybody. They seem to miss that. And he says, Whose picture and title are stamped on it? It's imprinted with something. What's it imprinted with? It's imprinted with Caesar, they replied. Well, then he said, Give to Caesar. Another version will say, render to Caesar. What is Caesar's? That word means uh the Greek word literally means to give back, repay, return. Like I borrowed something from you and I'm just giving it back. It wasn't mine to begin with. I'm giving it back. Does it make sense? So return to Caesar what's his? It's got his face, it's got his imprint on it. Return it to him. And give to God what belongs to God. So if we're talking about imprints, then if the coin's imprinted with Caesar, and Jesus is making this point, then what is imprinted on us? Give to God what belongs to God. Where is his imprint? In Genesis, right? Genesis chapter 1, 27. So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God, he created them, male and female, he created them. So this is a word we used earlier last year, the Imago Day, the image of God. He's looking to have, listen, he's saying to everybody there, give Caesar what his image is on, but give God what his image is on. And his image is on you. And so he's asking for relationship with you. You can put the money to Caesar, give it to him. I'm not worried about the money. I'm worried about you. I want to have relationship with you. And as you're in this place today, there's something you need to recognize is Jesus has not changed his desire to render to God what belongs to God, return to God what belongs to God. And we are that which belongs to God. He created us, he formed us, he shaped us, he designed us. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. I don't care what anybody says about you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. When I was growing up, I weren't good at English, and I still ain't the best. Right? And I had this one teacher, and she went through red marker after red marker on my papers. There would be more red than black. And I'd get done. I'm like, I don't even know how to correct this. And I'm just like, there were just moments where I'm like, oh my gosh, this is not. And then I'd have to remind myself, man, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, regardless of what the score looks like on the test. Can I just tell you something? Regardless of what your life has looked like to this point, you are still fearfully and wonderfully made. Screw ups, mess-ups, faults, flaws, victories, successes, all of that is secondary to the imprint that's upon you. And you are the Imago Day, the image bearers of God. And he's saying, return to me what belongs to me. These guys, they were trying to corner him, and now he's bringing conviction upon them. He's saying, Listen, you guys are going around doing trying to get all check all the boxes off of what a good Hebrew boy or girl is. I'm trying to tell you right now, give to God what belongs to him. He wants your life. He doesn't want anything less. I really believe, and man, I've hit this week after week after week, but I just feel like I want to kick this door down. We do not desire to have a church of attenders. We desire to have a church of disciples who have given their whole life to God. I could listen, we are called to come together, we are living stones. He puts us together. The togetherness of this time is holy and it's sacred. Right? You with me on that? But listen, check this out. But your heart matters in the process. Because are you surrendered as a living stone to God? Or are you just somebody going through the motion saying, I'm showing up because it's going to make somebody else feel good or it's going to make me feel good, but I'm not really going to do anything about what I learned. We're talking about taxes. If anybody doesn't know, that's an old Allen Iverson reference about practice. So talking about practice. Talking about taxes. So they they failed to trap him. But there's something that I kept thinking about, and I kept thinking about, is this. At the core, at the depth, at the starting place, your deepest, listen to me, your deepest identity is child of God. That should have hit you harder. Your deepest identity is child of God. Not what your job is, not what you do, not what you've done, not what you can accomplish. The identity deepest in your DNA is child of God. So what does that mean? Once we capture that, we can live from our identity rather than to establish one. Because people are trying to establish their identity every single day. And God's saying, no, no, no. Your deepest identity is I made you. So live from that. You're not trying to attain an identity because that's what we try to do. We try to attain like a status of how good I am at what I do, or listen, check this out. Moms, what a great mom you are. But where the enemy attacks you is what a terrible thing you do here and there and everywhere. Listen, my mom, I love her to death. She would always say, Joey, I'm so sorry that I wasn't better at this or better at that. And I look back and I can just remember beautiful things that she did. But the enemy is relentless with moms, attacking them, saying, if only you were better, then your child would do this, or you're living in a life of comparison. The enemy just throws these zingers your way over and over and over. And moms, am I missing it at all? Was it just my mom? Okay. Like, because the enemy's like, if you were only better, if you could only try harder, if you only gave more time, if you only whatever. And God's like, no, no, no, no. Your identity is not there. You mother from the identity is daughter of God. You mother from there. You being a mother is not your identity, it's an outflow of your responsibility in this season of life. And he just comes and he whispers. And listen, man, I know that he does it to you, but your day's coming in another month. And by the way, we're gonna turn the tide on that because the least attended Sunday in America is Father's Day. We will turn the tide. You with me? Man, if that wasn't a bassie amen from the men, ooh, don't get frustrated. It's Mother's Day, you better be glad it's Mother's Day. I was gonna circle back. Your deepest identity, that's worth writing down, that's worth putting in your notes. Your deepest identity is child of God. Let's go to verse 27. A new group enters the chat. Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees. I will try my hardest not to do wordplay today. Every pastor falls short in this area with Sadducees because they're Sadducee. But I'm not gonna do that because I practice self-control. Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees, religious leaders, check this out, who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They pose this question Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother's name. Well, suppose there were seven brothers, and the oldest one married and then died without children. So the second brother married the widow, but he also died. Then the third brother married her, and this continued with all seven of them who died without children. Listen, by the time you get to five, brother number five, if you have not like, come on. There's coincidence, and then there's like yeah. Yeah. There's like radiator fluid in your coffee or something. This continued with all seven. They weren't quick. All seven who died without children. Finally, the woman also died. So tell us whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her. I want to just stop right there. Super weird question. And uh, but the context is uh is out of Deuteronomy 25. Um and Deuteronomy 25 is it's it's wild. So so I'm gonna read this to you, and this is scripture, and I'm gonna tell you why, because for a minute you're like, this is crazy weird, but I'm gonna tell you why it is the way it is. So Deuteronomy 25 starts in verse 5. If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her brother's husband should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of the brother-in-law. Fur the first son she bears to him will be, check this out, considered the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel. Check this out. But if the man refuses to marry his brother's widow, she must go to the town gate and say to the elders assembled there, My husband's brother refuses to preserve his brother's name in Israel. He refuses to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law by marrying me. The elders of the town will then summon him and talk with him. If he still refuses and says, I don't want to marry her, the widow must walk over to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she must declare, This is what happens to a man who refuses to provide his brother with children, even afterward in Israel, his family will be referred to as the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off. Women didn't really have a whole lot of rights. So if they died a widow and then they didn't have any children, they were wildly vulnerable. There would be no inheritance, there would be no legacy. This is a protective measure. This is a protective measure to care for them. And and check this out it's such a protective measure that if the brother didn't fulfill the duties, the removal of the sandal, it'd be awesome if you removed the sandal and slap him with it. That I thought that right right across the face. The removal of the sandals, like you're not worthy to walk in the land of your legacy. You're not worthy to walk in the land of your inheritance because you wouldn't fulfill your duties. So that's the context that they're coming from. But it's weird that the Sadducees are asking about resurrection because they don't care about the resurrection. They don't believe in it. If you don't believe in something, you don't ask about it. But but they had they had intentions again. Everybody that's coming up is trying to come up with negative intentions. So Jesus says something here that is phenomenally beautiful. He gives us an insight of what heaven's going to be like. You ready for this? Okay, this is the insight. This is verse 34. Jesus replied, Marriage is for people here on earth, but in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they will never die again. In this respect, they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection. On a pause right there. So verse 34 says, Marriage is for people here on earth. Marriage is for people here on earth. But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. So we we're getting a glimpse that when Jesus comes and when he returns and everything's made right, and we step into eternity, all of us, there's no more marriage there. You're not gonna get married, you're not gonna be married. Right? Now, listen, to some people, this is a sad thing to hear. You love your spouse. You like, man, I can't imagine. For other people, they're like, woo-hoo. Right? Like, right? There's some people that heard that and it was not good for them, right? I I I heard the story recently, a true story of a lady she'd been married 45 years, her husband died. Two weeks later, the pastor's checking on her and say, How are you doing? It must be so, so weird to go lay down at night in a bed that you've laid next to your husband for this this long, and like it must be so weird. And she goes, Mm-mm, I slept good. And he said, she said it just like that, held out the good. And he's like, Really? It like it was not weird. She said, Mm-mm, I sleep good. That man was evil, right? I was like, yikes. So not everybody's gonna be mad about this verse. And there's some people that you're like, geez, but but but why is that? Just real quick insight. So the church, when you look through scripture, you see an image of the church being the bride of Christ, the bride of Christ. Um Ephesians 5, 25, verse 25 through 27. You can write that down. Ephesians 5, verse 25 through 27. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word. He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. John chapter 14, verse two and three. John chapter 14, verse two and three. Check this out. This is Jesus talking. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you? Verse 3 says, If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. I don't know if you've ever recognized that that's wedding talk. Because the way that it rolled in Jewish tradition was the vows were exchanged, and then the groom left for the period of a year, and he would build on an addition to his father's house for he and his bride. And the bride didn't exactly know when the groom was going to return. So she would wait and watch. And she would prepare herself and she would wait and watch. And right now, that's what where we're in in the body of Christ. The return to the king is coming. The return of Jesus is coming, and he's coming back for his bride, which is the church. And there's going to be a phenomenal, a phenomenal intimacy, not in the sensual, but in the spiritual. With me on that? And so sometimes people hear like we're the bride of Christ, something feels icky about that. No, no, no. It's a beautiful thing. Because we get to wear, you want you want to know why brides wear white gowns? It's because it's a symbolic gesture that Christ has cleansed the church and made us white as snow. Right? There's a purity in that. And so he's coming back for a bride without spot or wrinkle or blemish. And so we're in the process right now of waiting on him. Yeah? So this is what Jesus is addressing. Right? So we're not going to be in the in the age to come. And so it says, in this current age, which is the age we're in right now, where things aren't working out, crazy things are happening, aliens, right? Like all this stuff. Weird things going all over the place. Like this is not the age that will be. There is an age coming. There is a time coming that's not going to be like the time is right now. Where there's no more pain and there's no more hurt, and there's no more disease, and there's no more worry, and there's no more fear, and there's no more death, there's no more discouragement, and there's no more depression, and there's no more anxiety. Like, I wonder if we become so inoculated to hear that that it doesn't truly get us excited, or if we don't truly believe it. Because if you tell me, Joey, there's a time coming where there will not be anything that will bring sorrow to your heart, harm to your body, illness, injury. There will not be anything that brings great worry or concern, that all will be made right. If you tell me that, that that time's coming, there's something in me that rises up like, well, let that time come as soon as it can. Let that time begin to happen. And what it does for me is it begins to allow me to say, I need to let other people know that there's a time like this coming, so I'm not going there by myself, but that I can go with others. That I can go with a group of people that I won't go lonely to heaven, that I will go hand in hand with other people that I've said, listen, I know things right now in this age look bad, but there's an age to come that won't look like right now. And so when you hear that, there should be, if you don't get excited in your core, not emotionalism, but a true joy that overrides your circumstance, there needs to be, okay, God, help me get a picture, a glimpse of what you've got for us. Because right now I'm not capturing it. Because what can happen is your current circumstance can be so overwhelming, you can hear the truth of the word, but not believe the truth of the word. And if you're in that moment right now, you're like, my I hear Joey, I hear what you're saying, but my circumstance is too loud. Whatever you feed the most will be the strongest. You with me? And some of our faith is atrophy because it's not been fed. Like I try on Sunday morning to bring you a meal. You with me? Boy, and sometimes it's crackers, and I know, I know when it's not going good, but sometimes it's you know, it's mac and cheese. And sometimes you're like, man, that was steak, that was good today. Pastor was on, like, but you can't just come get nutrition on Sunday morning, live the wet rest of the week without it, and expect to ever be growing. But we do that consistently. We're like, why am I always frustrated? Why am I always upset? Why am I always anxious? Why am I always depressed? Why am I always worried? Why am I so focused on everything that's wrong? It's because you feed that and you feed that and you feed that. It doesn't mean that you have to act like a fool, like it doesn't exist, like problems don't exist, but you don't magnify them over God. It's got more control in your brain than what the word of God does. I've got to be transformed by the hearing of the word. I've got to get it in my system. You with me on that? It's a Mother's Day message for you right now. So Jesus is using a marriage language that he's gone to prepare a place for us. Even now, there's a place being prepared for you in heaven. Man, is that good, like is that just me that gets amped up about it? Like right now, it's like, could you see him? Like I've seen, I've seen Luis with a tool belt on, and he looks awesome with a tool belt. He's why he hung the TVs and him and Juan, they hung the TVs and the speakers. You can walk under them and they will never fall off. It's perfect. And they walk around with tool belts and they look awesome. Juan does it sleeveless. He got because he got muscles, right? Not that Luis Dutton, but he's humble. And like, could you imagine you get a picture of Jesus got a tool belt on, and he's building a place for you because he loves you. It's like he doesn't even see me. What are you talking about? He's building a place for you right now. He doesn't care about me, he doesn't hear my prayer. No, no, no, no. He's building a place for you. You will be so concerned with this age, you'll forget about the age to come and you'll start only living for this age. And when you do that, then you get a church that is only concerned about comfort and warm fuzzies and making people feel better for a little while because it sucks so bad out there. No, no, no, no. The church's call is to go into the battle. You remember scripture talking about putting on the whole armor of God? Why do you need armor if you're just called to a couch? You need armor when you're called to battle. And so we're called to a war that he will win, but we got to invest in and get in the fight. Let other people know. Listen, there's a God who loves you so much, he sent his son to die for you. And that son is now in heaven preparing a place for you. Yeah, but I but but but you don't know what I'm going through. He's preparing a place for you. And now, we as his bride, the way that we wait for his arrival is we let other people know that he's coming. So we get a glimpse into heaven. Not gonna be married, not gonna be given in marriage. And verse 36 says, and they will never die again. In this respect, they will be like angels. In this respect, they will be like angels. Don't anybody ever dare tell you when somebody dies, well, they've gone and they have their wings now. No, that's not scripture. I don't know when that weaved itself in. That's a lie. You're like angels in that you're not gonna die again. But you're as you, and we're not gonna go down this path on this one, but you be greater than the angels. Are you with me on that? So when somebody passes away, they don't go up and get a harp and some wings and just like drum the harp sitting on the cloud, right? They walked before, and there's a judgment day that will come for everybody. And if you know him, he's gonna say, your name is in the book. And he's and he and and he's gonna take everything that's happened in your life and he's gonna lay it out in front of you. All the all the all the things, all the works you've done, not to get his love, but because you love him. And I I love him, but can I tell you, I'm gonna be real with you, there's things I've done that were for Jesus that made me feel better. And so the intentions were not pure. And there's things I've done for Jesus that were truly to honor him and glorify him. And so that pile is gonna get set on fire, and anything that's hay is gonna burn, and anything that's jewels is gonna remain. And then he's gonna form and fashion a crown for your head. You're not getting angels when you get to heaven, you're getting a crown. And you're not gonna die. That's done with. They will be like angels. Children of God, children of the resurrection. There's a I'm gonna throw a theology word at you real quick, okay? We've joked enough about aliens, serious stuff now. Eschatological belonging. Eschatological belonging. It's a huge theological word, but it basically means your true identity, your true home, your true security is in Jesus and the place he has prepared for you. Eschatological belonging. It means like it's again, church, it's the shifting. We are children of the resurrection. It's a shifting to say, all my focus, it's not here. It's when he comes. It's everything that happens after I breathe my last. So that while I'm still breathing, the breaths are important. Let me say that again. Let me run that back because that made more sense in my head, and I thought you'd be like, uh-huh. If my breaths are gonna have meaning in this life, I can't forget about the next life. And the more I just think about this life, the less my breath has meaning. Doesn't mean the less valuable I am. I'm still loved. You're still loved. But if I'm gonna live a legacy, not just leave a legacy, but if I'm gonna live a legacy, I gotta remember that there's a future coming that's eternally with him. The place that he's prepared for me and prepared for you. You with me on that? Cool, all right. Revelation 21, just one more thing. Revelation 21, verse 4, I just want to add to this. In that time, it says this, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And there will no longer be death, there will no longer be sorrow and anguish or crying or pain for the former order of things has passed away. And I wanted to read that verse, and I'm like, my mom had this Bible that was like full-on falling apart, duct taped together, notes sticking out everywhere, and uh it was always she always read the amplified version. Have you never read the amplified version? It's like it takes like every word and expounds each word to the most meanings of that word, right? And um, it's like a thesaurus, right? You open it up and it gives you like every word, and and I and as preparing, I was like, I want I want to read the amplified version. And I and I sat and I was reading that, and it hit me. I was like, man, this is the version my mom would read. And um and there was something about it for me of just like reading a passage. I don't know that we do good with with with with with grief. But man, with grief comes tears. And sometimes Mother's Day, I just wanted to hit this point. Sometimes Mother's Day is not a day that some people look forward to because a lot of pain associated, because there's distance now. But man, when I read Revelation, I'm like, it's tears that I cry. That don't, they don't have a chance. They're like just every tear wiped away. And I don't know if that's you this morning. You're like, man, that's just certain times of years hit and it gets harder, not easier. It's difficult for you because everybody's kind of celebrating you. They're like, ah man, I'm kind of grieved. But I love that as children of the resurrection, we don't have to grieve as those who have no hope. Verse 37 says, But now as to whether the dead will rise, or excuse me, be raised, even Moses proved this. Why is Jesus quoting Moses? Moses is talking to the Sadducees because they only believed that Moses' words were authoritative. Right? So he's meeting them where they're at. Even Moses proved this when he wrote about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, check this out, had died. He referred to the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. So he is the God of the living and not the dead, for they are alive to him. I want to read that again. It says, he referred to the Lord as the God of Abraham, not he was the God. As to whether the dead will rise, even Moses proved it. Long after Abraham, Isaac had died, he referred to the Lord as the God currently. That word, when you break it down into the Greek, it's right now. He's right now the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac. Right? Like, are you with me on that? So what is he saying? Like, what does he mean by that? It means that they're not dead. If he is currently their God, then they are alive. They just aren't here. It's not he was their God, because if they had died and they didn't exist anymore, then he was in the past tense, but he is in the present tense still their God. So when somebody dies and they have relationship with Jesus, they they they may have died here, but they are still alive in him. He is still their God. And so he speaks about Moses in this regard, like currently, right now, he is the God of the living and not the dead. There's nobody that's passed away that had relationship with him that doesn't still have relationship with him. He is the God of the living and not the dead, for they are alive to him. Check this out, verse 39. Well said, teacher. Could you imagine giving props to God? Well said, teacher, remarked some of the teachers of religious law who are standing there, and no one dared to ask him any more questions. No one dared to ask him any more questions. I love that in these two passages we see that our deepest identity is that we are children of God. And that wrapped up in that identity is our future. That he will always be our God because we will not die. My deepest identity is that I'm his child, and attached to that identity is I will always be in his presence. I will always be with him. When you live with those two truths, it changes how you live. And um, I'm gonna I'm gonna go out of where I didn't tell Adam I was gonna do this first, it's not gonna be on your screen. I'm jumping ahead. He's not even in the room right now, so who cares? Chapter 21, it's not on, it's not on there. This is chapter 21. I'm actually skipping a little bit of a portion. I'll teach on that next week. In chapter 21, verse 1, it says, uh, while Jesus was in the temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts into the collection box. They're doing the right thing, but not necessarily the right heart. Then a poor widow came by. Check this out. Then a poor widow came by. What did we just learn about widows? They don't have any legacy, they don't have any inheritance, they don't have any rights, they're fully taken advantage of. A poor widow came by and dropped two small coins. I tell you the truth, these are red letters. This is Jesus. I tell you the truth, Jesus said. This poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has. And this is what hit me when I read that, thinking about our identity and what we'll be in our future. This, we even just read a little bit ago, like, why did brothers have to marry the spouses of their brothers who had died? But so that there would be some kind of place for them in history. And I love how Jesus comes and he rearranges everything. And now this widow that doesn't have any legacy, any kind of any kind of inheritance, she doesn't have anything. Check this out. You can Google and look and check this out. That it's estimated that four, I gotta look. Don't get it wrong. Four to six billion Bibles, four hundred to six hundred billion Bibles, sorry, have been printed. Now, portions thereof have been translated into over a couple thousand languages, but there are 700 languages that the entire Bible has been printed into. With me on that? So, like billions, let's just say this, billions and billions, that's a number we can't wrap our head around. Billions and billions of Bibles. Enough Bible to fill this place and go all the way like up, right? Like it's just we can't fathom that many. That many people reading the Bible. Check this out. This woman gave two coins, and yet her legacy has been translated into 700 languages, into billions of Bibles, so that billions of people over the course of history have learned about her faithfulness. There's not a small thing that you do in service to God. There's only faithful things that you do and you let Him bless it. She walked in with nothing, gave two coins, and now we read about her in 2026, about this lady who gave, didn't have any children, didn't have anything else in her life, but those two coins gave them, and God honors her by letting us hear about her legacy. There's a moment when you'll be in heaven, and it just seems like, as you read scripture, that you're just gonna somehow know people. Like on the Mount of Transfiguration, like right when Moses and Elijah show up with Jesus, and the apostles are like, hey, listen, they recognize them. I don't know how they recognize them, but they recognize them. And we're just gonna know people. Wouldn't it be amazing that you just you're walking one day and you see this woman? You're the two coins, woman. I don't even know your name. You're the two coins, lady. I just need to tell you that those two coins remind me there's nothing insignificant in my life that I give to God. Moms in this room, there's nothing insignificant in this life that you give to God. Everyone in this room, there's nothing insignificant if you give it to them. There's some things in life that are a cost. Coffee out, right? It's a cost. Some people call it self-care. I'm just keeping it real with you. I've never had a coffee that was like my whole week changed. It's like 15 minutes. I was like, I was alright. But now I want a muffin, right? Like there's some things in life that you give money, it's a cost, you're not getting that back. But there's things in life that are an investment and you see return on. And everything you give to God is fully invested in the right place. Because coming for you, listen, is a love. Like, I can I just tell you, it shook it shook me a little bit preparing this message. Like, I don't get to be married to Ashley in heaven. I'm not trying to get points right now, but it bothered me, man. Like uh, how great is it gonna be? Right? Like, how incredible is it gonna be that the fullness of his presence is all I need? That the most meaningful relationship I have with another human on this planet isn't gonna be able to compare to what's going on in that place. And everything that I do now is not wasted. But as much as I look at this life and focus on this life, man, I'm gonna make some wrong choices. But if I can remember, I'm a child of the resurrection. And the groom is there, and he's preparing a place for me, and he's returning for me. I want to live today with purpose. I want to live Monday with purpose. I want to seize an opportunity to share the gospel with people. I want to seize opportunity to love on those who aren't loved. Listen, I want to tell you right now, moms in this place, you you you, I know you got physical children, but I want to tell you, every woman in this place, God would call you in this season to be a spiritual mother because there are sons and daughters that don't know what it is to have a spiritual mom, pray over them, prophesy over them, embrace them safely. And listen, those young sons and daughters are gonna be coming to this church, and you can do something that I can't do. I can pray for the spiritual mothers. I cannot be a spiritual mother because God has created you in such a fashion, such a way that you're gonna do it so differently than what I could ever imagine. It's gonna be the right words at the right time, the right embrace in the right moment. And so this morning, why I want to honor you, I also want to throw out a uh a responsibility if I can. Like, Joey, I didn't come to get more responsibility, I came to get caffeine after the service. I feel like it's something that God's laying on the women of this church right now. Let me just pray over you. God, I just prophesy right now over the women of this church, the mothers who have children currently, the mothers who don't yet have their children in their arms, but they're coming. And the mothers, all of them who operate with a calling from heaven. Lord, I prophesy over them right now that their hugs be anointed, that their words be anointed, to speak into a generation that doesn't really know what true love feels like. They don't really know what an unconditional love is. I prophesy over them right now, God, that they would have anointing in their hands and healing in their hands to bind up those who are broken and those who are wounded. And I thank you, God, that as they pour out, you would refresh them. Because I know they're tired. I pray that you would refresh them, that their rest at night would be sleep, that they could sleep with peace, not worrying about tomorrow. Because God, what is there to worry about? Death has lost its sting, the grave is going hungry. Lord, that you've won. Victory is yours. Eternity is waiting for us. Your arms open on the other side, waiting for us. God, I thank you right now that these women in this room that might worry at night would worry no longer. They would sleep sound and wake up refresh. God, I pray that you would minister to them in their time of getting in the word, their time of sharing with one another. Man, for those that are in this room right now, maybe there's not a whole lot of quiet moments. The door is getting knocked on while they're in the restroom, God. Like, Lord, would you just meet them in all the cracks and all the spaces of time? Just pour into them, refresh them. And Lord, I just want to pray and prophesy over this church right now. We are not attenders. The men and women in this room are not attenders of Hope City. They're disciples of Jesus Christ. Whose focus is not on the now, but on the future. And Lord, as we know and we recognize that our life is about the one to come, not the one that is, God, that that brings meaning to the one that is right now. Father, I thank you for disciples in this room that would put on the whole armor of God and run into the fight. Run to rescue, run to heal, run to share hope. Thank you for that right now. Lord, we honor you and we love you and we bless your name. I pray over this time as we just celebrate together, Lord, that it'll be rich in conversation, rich in prayer, rich in love. And we just thank you for what you're doing in this church. We thank you for what you're doing in this space. We honor it. We submit to it. We bless it. And we bless your name. In Jesus' name, we pray. You say,