WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:00.880 Amen. 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:02.000 Thank you, Christy. 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:03.759 Morning, everybody. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:06.080 Oh, you're on the ball. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:06.879 I love it. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:07.519 I love it. 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:08.640 My name's Matt. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:09.679 I'm one of the pastors here. 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:13.199 It's my pleasure and privilege to bring the scriptures to you. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:17.920 Earlier this morning, Russ, uh, when we said good morning, he said, Do you remember today's Mother's Day? 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:18.399 I said, Yes. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:21.039 He said, Does your mother your sermon tie into Mother's Day? 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:21.839 I said, No. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:27.280 You know, there's a lot to plan in sermons, and sometimes. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:29.199 But thank you, Christy. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:32.399 Save the day. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:39.039 And I think if you listen to my sermon, you'll see how they just dovetail perfectly together. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:42.000 George R.R. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:46.479 Martin, he's a fantasy book writer, uh, not to be confused with J.R.R. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:47.280 Tolkien. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:49.439 Uh that's just a coincidence that they're names. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:57.840 Uh his he wrote a book series called The Game of Thrones, and it was turned into uh an HBO series, um, very well received. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:13.760 And it's a story filled with intrigue, deception, backstabbing, and murder as multiple families uh vie for power, control of the great iron throne, and uh the control of the seven kingdoms of Westeros. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:20.799 Um and we're gonna watch a clip from one of the early episodes that kind of encapsulates the message and the point of the whole show. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:21.840 Let's watch. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:26.079 When the king returns from his hunt, I'll tell him the truth. 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:27.599 You must be gone by then. 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:29.280 You and your children. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:31.760 I will not have that blood on my hands. 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:34.239 Go as far away as you can. 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:36.719 With as many men as you can. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:41.840 Because wherever you go, Robert's rot will follow you. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:44.239 One of my rocks will be dark. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:46.799 You should have taken the realm of yourself. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:50.159 Jamie told me about the day King's Landing fell. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:52.959 He was sitting in the Iron Throne and you made him give it up. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:55.280 All you needed to do was kind of step yourself. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:57.760 Such a bad mistake. 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:01.040 I've made many mistakes in my life. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:03.519 But that wasn't one of them. 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:04.879 Oh, but it was. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:08.639 When you play the game of thrones, you win. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:09.599 You die. 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:12.879 There is no middle ground. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:25.439 When you play the Game of Thrones, you either win or you die. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:28.080 There is no middle ground. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:30.240 Now that pretty much sums up the show. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:31.680 Uh you don't have to watch it. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:38.479 A lot of scheming, a lot of murdering, uh, a lot of backstabbing, grasping for power, a lot of nudity and gore. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:44.479 So I don't necessarily endorse the show, but you know, you're a mature adult, you can choose to watch it or not. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:46.240 I just thought the clip was good. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:58.560 Um, as dramatic as this show is in the story, uh, I would argue that this is actually how most of us live our lives day to day. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:07.039 Uh whether we are Christians or not, most of us live as if we are spiritual orphans, that we have to provide for ourselves. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:09.520 No one is out there looking out for us. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:15.520 If we don't take what is there before us, we'll be left behind. 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:21.199 Jesus diagnosed our problem well when he said, Why are you anxious about your life? 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:24.639 Wondering what you will eat, what you will drink, and what you will wear. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:28.319 These are the things the Gentiles chase after. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:32.080 Um I believe that's what we do. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:38.800 We lie, we manipulate, we say uh little white lies, we grasp for control. 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:44.240 All the time on the outside, we look like you know, upstanding Christian citizens. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:49.520 Um else fails, we'll just use all of our energy worrying. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:54.560 Isn't it amazing that we think worrying actually changes things? 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:56.400 Well, it doesn't. 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:00.240 Well, that's what our sermon passage is about this morning. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:02.319 Uh, King Saul is dead. 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:04.479 He died at the end of 1 Samuel. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.719 Today we pick up in 1 Samuel. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:09.599 He took his own life in the midst of a battle. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:12.800 Three of his four sons were also killed in that battle. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:14.800 Only the youngest is left. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:21.519 And the whole nation of Israel has basically been waiting for David to become king eventually. 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:28.879 But nature abhors a vacuum, as they say, and the real Game of Thrones is about to begin. 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:32.240 Let's pick up in 2 Samuel chapter 1. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:39.759 After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days at Ziklag. 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:47.120 And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul's camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:52.160 And when he came to David, he fell on the ground and paid homage. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:53.199 Point one. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:57.680 The fallen human heart grasps for life. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:06.720 Over these next four chapters, the first four chapters of 2 Samuel, this Game of Thrones unfolds in earnest. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:09.519 In chapter 1, we meet an Amalekite. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:11.839 He arrives at David's camp. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:17.120 He is just fled from that battle where Saul died. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:29.439 He comes to David all dirty, clothes torn, straight from the battle, and he is the one who delivers the news to David that Saul and his sons are dead. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:41.279 And it just so happens, not only did he see Saul die, but he just so happened to pick up Saul's crown and his royal armlet and bring it to David's feet. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:48.639 Surely this will gain great favor in David's eyes for the Amalekite. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:50.160 Isn't it convenient? 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:57.040 David can now simply take the crown and step upon the throne that is before him. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:59.600 This guy is resourceful, a go-getter. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:07.920 The Game of Thrones provides a ladder for all types of people to climb, the ladder of power. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.600 In chapter two, we learn of a man named Abner. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:15.920 Now he was the head of Saul's armies, kind of his head general. 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:26.720 After Saul fell in battle, he takes Saul's youngest and only remaining son and flees, and he makes him king over Israel. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:28.720 But this is not an act of loyalty. 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:33.040 We find out as the story goes on that this was really a power play for Abner. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:44.399 He wanted to remain in control, and in fact, he is basically the acting king, making uh Ish Bo Shef, uh Saul's son, kind of a puppet king for him. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:49.199 You see, if David takes the throne, Abner's life would likely be forfeit. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:54.160 When you play the Game of Thrones, you either win or you die. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:07:00.800 By chapter three, the civil war has been raging for some time, and David is gaining the advantage. 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:08.079 And Abner has finally grown tired of little Ishbosheth, and he wants this war to end, so he decides to defect. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:11.920 He secretly absconds away to David's camp and they cut a deal. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:21.759 Abner will broker the peace treaty and he will bring Israel under David's rule, and everything can move along. 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:23.680 Finally, a breakthrough. 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:25.199 The civil war can end. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:28.639 Hurrah! But alas, no. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:36.000 You see, Joab, he's the leader of David's armies, kind of like Abner's counterpart on the other side. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:41.920 And during the Civil War, Abner has killed Joab's little brother, Assabel. 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:45.360 And so Joab wants revenge, right? 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:46.319 Drama. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:51.920 And so he, finding out about this peace treaty, he sends word to Abner, oh, please come back. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:54.399 David forgot to give you something. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:08:06.959 Abner returns, and in cold blood, Joab stabs him through, murdering him, killing the peace treaty, and plunging Israel back into civil war. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:07.920 Right? 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:18.319 As dramatic as this show is, if you've seen it or read the books, I mean, this real life Game of Thrones is just as bloody, just as cutthroat. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:22.959 When you play the Game of Thrones, you either win or you die. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:30.480 Now in chapter four, with Abner dead, the other military leaders are kind of tired of this whole drawn-out conflict. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:33.200 And so they take matters into their own hands. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:38.399 Two in particular, a guy named Rehab and a guy named Bana. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:49.360 They go into the king's house, this young king, into his bedroom in the middle of the day, while the king is taking his nap in the heat of the day, and they run him through. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:52.639 They murder their own king in cold blood. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:09:03.200 They cut off his head, and they bring it to David, lay it at his feet, thinking that they can become the kingmakers of the story. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:04.960 So where are we so far? 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:07.200 Here's our synopsis. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:13.039 We've got the Amalekite, Abner, and the young king, Joab, and these other two. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:17.840 At this point, two are dead as the Game of Thrones continues. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:30.879 But as we trace those four chapters, we we uh skipped over some things, so we're gonna jump back and ask this question: how is David responding to this ongoing Game of Thrones? 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:32.720 That leads us to point two. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:38.799 The heart that rests in God's love does not need to grasp. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:40.480 Back to chapter one. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:47.360 The Amalekite, who has told David of Saul's death, he thinks things are unfolding beautifully. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.240 David is uh enwrapped in this story. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:56.399 He wants to know more about Saul and Jonathan's death. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:04.480 But because David has learned throughout his life to trust in the Lord's timing, he is not overjoyed by this news. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:11.519 In fact, he rips his clothes in a sign of mourning and he asks the Amalekite to continue the story. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.720 Thinking he's doing well, the Amalekite doubles down. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:20.240 Not only did he see Saul's death, but he's the one who actually took Saul's life. 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:21.919 Now, this is a lie. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:28.559 If we went back and read 1 Samuel 31, we would realize that Saul took his own life, but David doesn't know that. 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:35.200 And the Amalekite thinks that this will put him in even higher standing in David's eyes. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:40.559 Not only is your enemy dead, but I'm the one who took his life. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:45.600 Well, then David asks this fateful question. 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:51.679 How is it you were not afraid to put your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:56.320 Then David called one of his men and said, Go, execute him. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:59.519 And he struck him down so that he died. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.399 Another one bites the dust. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:04.799 They're dropping like flies. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:08.799 Rather than celebrate his enemy's death, David laments. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:13.440 He laments that the king of Israel is dead by the sword. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:18.720 And even more, his beloved friend Jonathan is dead. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.720 War has brought about much loss. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:30.639 And not only does David lament himself, but he calls all of Israel to lament this loss with him. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:37.600 Now we jump back to chapter 4, where Rahab and Bana come to David with Ish Bosheth's head. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:41.600 Again, David does not celebrate the death of his enemy. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:44.639 Rather, he upholds God's justice. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:53.600 David answered Rahab and Banah, As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity? 00:11:54.000 --> 00:12:04.240 When one told me, Behold, Saul is dead and thought he was bringing me good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:10.960 How much more when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed? 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:18.159 Shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth? 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:22.320 Beloved, this is the Game of Thrones. 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:24.399 There it is. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:37.039 This is what happens when we cease to trust in God's timing, in God's ways, when we take matters into our own hands, when we think we are so smart. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:43.360 A rash of dead bodies, those who wanted to play the Game of Thrones. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:58.799 And when we look back at our own lives, at those moments and opportunities when we have seized control, a slew of dead bodies, a slew of dead promises, a slew of wreckage that we have made in our own lives. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:04.159 Where do you find yourself grasping these days? 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:10.000 Where is your heart being tempted not to trust in the Lord's way or the Lord's time? 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:13.759 But he needs a little push. 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:17.279 Maybe he's distracted, maybe you know better. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:25.840 You see, David did not, what these men did not know is that David was not playing the Game of Thrones. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:30.559 He embodies the child that Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:32.240 That passage we looked at earlier. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:33.440 Let me read the full passage. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:40.799 He said, Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:43.759 For the Gentiles seek after these things. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:48.399 But your Father in heaven knows that you need them all. 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:50.559 David understood. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:55.360 He had learned through the ups and downs of his own life that the Lord would provide. 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:59.440 Give what he had promised, he would uphold his word. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:04.559 Here's what we see modeled by David through these three chapters. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:10.320 First, that lament is not a waste of time, nor is it a sign of weakness. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:16.080 Rather, it deepens time and it prepares our heart for resurrection. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:26.480 We've talked about this in the past, but when we lament, we cry out to God, we vocalize what's true, that this world is not the way it's supposed to be. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:35.840 Injustice, loss, sin, and suffering are part of our everyday reality. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:51.679 And rather than grasping after control, rather than trying to make the world right by our own might, when we lament, we cry out to God as the only one who can actually bring about shalom. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:15:04.480 Now, I think it's worth saying, I was struck as I read this passage and meditated on it this week, that David, he did not rejoice in the death of his enemies. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:13.840 Beloved, we live in a time where our public leaders are publicly celebrating the deaths of their political enemies. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.399 It is despicable. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:26.240 And God's people should never condone it nor take part in it, but call it what it is, and cry out to our God for mercy. 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:35.600 Second, resting in God's heart means waiting on God's timing and seeking his guidance. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:42.000 Time and again, David does not take the shortcut that is presented to him. 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:50.080 Even when the path seems clear, he seeks the Lord's guidance and timing in prayer. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:58.000 Because, number three, he knows that the Lord establishes our future and the future of our loved ones. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.840 David was anointed king as a teenager. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:09.039 How long did he have to wait to see that promise fulfilled? 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:13.840 How many shortcuts simply fall at his feet? 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:16.639 And he refused to take them. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:21.600 Wouldn't he have been justified to murder Saul in that cave? 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:26.639 Wouldn't he have been justified to take the crown from the Amalekite? 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:35.600 Yet he understood that the Lord would make him king at the right time and in the right way. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:41.279 Beloved, this is a great connection for Mother's Day, but it's true for Fathers too. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:46.320 When you have children, you want what's best for them. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:49.840 You long for their happiness and their well-being. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:56.399 And it is easy for us to doubt God's goodness when it refers to our children. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:04.160 And so we try to take control, we try to take control of our children, we try to control their future. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:08.720 And the Lord calls us to trust in Him even for their lives. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.839 There's a long arc to God's faithfulness. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:16.720 And this is exactly how our passage ends in chapter 5. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:20.640 David is finally anointed king over all of Israel. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:22.720 And this is what we're told. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:27.119 David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:30.880 And Israel built the city all around from Milo inward. 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:36.799 And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:47.680 And David knew that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people, Israel. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:52.480 In the end, David refused to play the game of thrones. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:18:02.960 And yet, through his patience, his humility, his love, his forgiveness, and his trust in the Lord, God established him upon the throne. 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:06.640 Cersei Lannister is wrong. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:09.200 Incredible. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:11.599 David is an incredible man. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:16.720 We should all leave here, go home, and work hard to be a man just like David. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:17.599 Amen? 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.319 No, that was a trick. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:22.240 You didn't fall for it. 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:23.359 Good job. 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:24.559 Good job. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.200 We might be tempted to think that. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:31.519 That David is this ideal man, but that's only if we haven't read the rest of the story. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:38.640 If you continue to read David's story, you find out that he is a man with feet of clay, just like the rest of us. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:45.759 He has the capacity to do great good as well as the capacity to do great evil. 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:50.799 At the end of the day, at the end of David's life, we are waiting for another. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:59.119 And that leads us to our third and final point this morning: that Jesus is the true king who would not grasp. 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:01.599 Of course, David points us to Jesus. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:07.119 We know that Jesus is the Son of David, that Israel awaited. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:10.559 All of Scripture points us to Jesus. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:27.920 And in one of the most beautiful pictures in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul tells us this that Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, to be held onto at all cost. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:42.559 Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:57.599 Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:05.759 And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:20.160 Beloved, David won because he chose not to play the Game of Thrones, and he points us to the one who succeeded where David failed, where Adam failed and where we too fail. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:29.599 Now, last week Russ referenced my favorite story, The Lord of the Rings, and so not to be outdone, I am also gonna reference it. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:47.759 The Lord of the Rings is about uh a hobbit, Frodo Baggins, who is given the impossible task of bringing the Ring of Power to Mount Doom, the only place it can be destroyed. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:52.319 And the reason he is given this task is because he is a hobbit. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:21:00.319 In that fantasy world, he is not notable of power, strength, or wisdom. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:06.640 It is in fact his weakness and lack of power that make him the perfect ring bearer. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:09.279 You see, Frodo is much like David. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:18.079 It was in all the ways that he didn't play the Game of Thrones, didn't fit the script, that made him the perfect king, the man after God's own heart. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:22.640 And yet, like David also, Frodo failed in his mission. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:35.279 He made it to Mount Doom, to the very cracks of Mount Doom, where it opened up into a fissure of this living volcano, the only place where this ring could be thrown and utterly destroyed. 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:40.880 And yet, as he stood there, the power of the ring itself overcame his heart and he refused. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:43.519 He would not throw it into the fire. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:48.319 Spoiler alert for an old movie and book. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:52.000 Frodo failed in his task. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:22:00.079 And it takes evil outwitting itself to finally see this ring of power destroyed falling into the volcano. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:06.079 But beloved, Jesus is the true and better ring bearer. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:09.519 He is the true and better king. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:21.759 He took hold of what we could not let go of: our sin, our grasping, our failure, and he carried it to the cross. 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:27.119 And in doing so, he destroyed its power over us forever. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:33.200 Beloved, this is why there is no way to play the Game of Thrones. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:38.319 To play the game is to lose, it is to die. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:45.440 Jesus said as much when he said, For whoever would save his life will lose it. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:51.119 But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:23:07.680 The only way to win is to refuse to play, to cease grasping for control in your own life, and to entrust yourself to the king who would not grasp, but emptied himself for us. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:12.400 If you have any questions about this sermon or if you need prayer, I'll be down front right after. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:14.640 I would love to meet and pray with you. 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:16.160 Let's pray now. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:26.480 Our Father and our God, we confess that we are sorely tempted day in and day out, moment by moment, to seize control of our own lives. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:31.279 We continue to struggle with that orphan, sinful heart. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:38.480 But Lord, by faith we are in Christ, and you provide for all our needs. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:42.480 Lord, would you strengthen us by your spirit to walk in faith this week? 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:46.160 And more than anything, Jesus, we celebrate you. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:53.279 The King who would not grasp, who died for us even more, was raised for our eternal life. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:55.680 We give you thanks and praise in your name. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:56.640 Amen.