WEBVTT 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:06.000 So as a church, we've been going through the book of John for a year. 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:08.880 We got five chapters left, I think, six chapters left. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:10.800 We're in John 16. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:15.279 So what this means is it means we just travel passage by passage. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.239 So what's next week is just the next passage. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:26.000 And so what that means is oh oh this is like fall, everybody's coming back, there's no vacation, school started back, people get back to normal rhythm. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:32.320 And so, okay, so this is a this is a big church Sunday, and uh I can't control what's next, not like that. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:34.320 And uh the passage this morning's on grief. 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:35.759 You're going like, oh, that's great. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:41.679 Like kind of bring them back in, and everybody's showing back up, and we're gonna talk about grief. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:54.960 Um so Jesus is at this table in John 16, and it's the upper room, and it's really it's the last conversation with his disciples going into the weekend, the weekend where he is gonna be uh he's gonna be taken, he's gonna be isolated. 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:57.439 His disciples are gonna completely desert him. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:00.399 He's gonna be beaten, he's gonna be crucified. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:04.959 This is his chance to sort of pass on last words. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:12.319 And he gets toward the end of that sermon to his disciples around this meal and this table. 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:16.560 And he starts talking to them about grief. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:34.400 These disciples are about to know about this, they don't even realize they're about to know about it because they have this certain vision of their future, like you have a vision of your future, and so they have a vision of their future with their friend and their leader and their messiah, and that vision is about to vanish. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:38.879 And when a vision vanishes, there's grief. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:58.879 And maybe you're here and you know that feeling because you had a vision for your 20s, you had a vision for your married life, you had a vision for your student life in high school, you had a vision for that relationship with that girl or that guy, and you had a vision for Saturday, you had a vision for Saturday with your family, and that just didn't play out. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:01.439 You had a vision for a weekend with your loved one. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:04.879 It didn't play, that vision didn't play out like you thought it was gonna play out. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:12.080 So the vision could be big or the vision could be small, but when it vanishes in a big or small way, you experience grief. 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:15.280 And maybe you wouldn't call it that, but but that's what that's what it is. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.000 And maybe you're here, you don't want to talk about this. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:22.719 I mean you're going, oh man, I picked the wrong Sunday to show up. 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:27.360 Let's just let's just talk about peace or love or something. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:33.360 But possibly you're here and you're in deep grief. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:43.520 Uh because you're sick or your mom's sick, or somebody died, or you've been rejected, or you've been isolated. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:49.680 Um maybe you're surrounded by people, but you feel like nobody's interested in you. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:52.960 Your heart is broken, and you don't want to talk about it. 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:55.360 Maybe you haven't talked about it to anybody. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:07.520 Maybe you could even forget about it for like a certain amount of hours in the day, and then randomly you're opening the refrigerator door and you're pulling out a yogurt, and all of a sudden you just feel all this grief because it's still there. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:16.639 Because we had a vision of what we thought would be, and then it vanishes, and then when it vanishes in some way, big or small, we feel grief. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:20.240 Uh this week, just sort of living in this passage we're about to read. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:21.599 I'll get to it, don't worry. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:31.599 Uh, Monday and Tuesday, I was I was studying and just kind of in my office, and I was doing administrative stuff, and uh, I wanted to call my friend Jim, who passed away last fall. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:34.319 I wanted to call him with a question, couldn't call him. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:42.240 And then I had uh this week I had a dream about my dog who died in the fall, who kind of just was my sidekick. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:43.439 He wasn't there. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:45.280 Woke up, he wasn't there. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:52.560 And and then I was doing that admin stuff, and I and I removed Stuart from the email list, our church email list. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.280 Um he passed away a couple months ago. 00:03:55.599 --> 00:04:00.400 And you know, I just realized you know, look this passage, thinking about this passage and then thinking about that. 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:02.000 I'm not over any of that. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:07.840 You know, like at times I, you know, I just kind of put it to the side, or you know, I'm not over any of it. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:13.280 And it's easy to think, oh, well, I should I should be. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:18.319 That was a year ago, that was 10 years ago, that was 30 years ago. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:21.600 How could I still feel grief for this? 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:31.199 So I read a lot, and I was reading psychology articles and different stuff, and you know what the consensus was over and over? 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:33.600 There's no timeline here on grief. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.399 You don't have to put a timeline on it, you don't have to get over it in a certain amount of time. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:53.199 So later in the week, on Wednesday and Thursday, I was attending this conference downtown at the Fox, and I got invited to it through a friend, and it was uh it was on social entrepreneurship, or another term they kept using was philanthropic capitalism. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:05:12.639 Uh so what this means is like um startups uh that are capitalistic, which we're not, we're church, but startups that are capitalistic, um so meaning they want profit, and some of some were nonprofit, but they're interested in profit, but then also um they're for the good of society in some way. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:18.160 And I'll just be honest, everywhere I looked around, um there were tighter genes, better looking people than me. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:30.480 I mean, everybody was hip or hipster and and really, really cool, and everybody was starting um like like the coolest restaurant and you know, the old fourth ward or something, or you know, I don't even know. 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:32.480 I mean, there's just a cool, there's just cool everywhere. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:37.279 I'm going, man, you know, I mean, I'm not this, you know. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:47.120 I mean, and I know we shouldn't compare, and then thinking about these verses, you're going, but there's even grief kind of this, kind of this comparison thing we always do, right? 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:50.879 And these these verses helped me. 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:52.560 Even this week, these verses helped me. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:53.759 So let's read them. 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.959 John 16, starting in verse 17. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:02.959 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, so Jesus has been teaching. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:09.680 What does he mean by saying, In a little while you will see me no more? 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:10.240 Right? 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:12.160 So Jesus knows the weekend's coming. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:12.879 He's about to die. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:14.240 You're not going to see me for a little bit. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:15.279 So what does he mean? 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:18.560 You will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me. 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:19.519 What does he mean by this? 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:22.160 And and because I am going to the Father? 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:23.279 They kept asking. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:25.439 What does he mean by a little while? 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:27.680 We don't understand what he is saying. 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:38.399 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me? 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:45.279 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.920 You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.600 So you can feel the context there, right to the disciples. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:57.519 You know, Jesus knows he's gonna die, he's gonna go away, the world's gonna rejoice. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:06:58.959 Right? 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:01.519 We got rid of the radical. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:09.519 We got rid of that radical talking about grace that's upsetting all the systems of merit in the world. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:15.199 We got rid of them, and we're gonna rejoice because he's gone, and you're gonna be grieving. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:17.600 And Jesus is saying, You're gonna see me. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:19.680 A little while, you'll see me again. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.560 And so we feel the direct context for the disciples, and then the text kind of broadens a little bit. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:26.000 Jesus gets a little metaphorical. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:38.079 So, verse 21 a woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come, but when her baby is born, she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:48.560 So with you, now is your time of grief, but I will see you again, and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:55.040 So, one major question coming out of this for me was is like, why would his resurrection help? 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:56.079 Right? 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:57.920 He keeps referring to, we're gonna see me again. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:07:59.839 All right, so I'm going away, I'm gonna die. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:00.800 You see me again. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:02.160 So why would the resurrection help? 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:04.160 For the disciples, that's easy, right? 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:09.439 I mean, you're going, he died, he's gone, three days later, ta-da, I'm back, you don't have to grieve anymore, right? 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:13.120 I mean, it's like you know, a loved one dies, and then you're walking down the street, ta-da, there they are. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:14.399 You don't have to grieve anymore. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:16.879 So the relief has been given. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.160 But what about us? 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:19.360 What about us? 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.920 Verses 21 and 22 begin to speak to us in this regard. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:29.120 And what we see in verses 21 and 22, and then we're gonna close with verse 33. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:35.360 Um, what we see in these verses, we see two paths for how we handle grief. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:40.000 And the first path is the path of separation. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:42.720 You might want to call it the path of the world. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:49.200 And so what this says is basically either you have joy that is based on your circumstances. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:52.240 Circumstances are good, joyful. 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:54.399 Or you have grief. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:58.240 Circumstances are not good, so I grieve. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:04.240 And when you're over in the grief, it's all about how do I get back over there? 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.399 And maybe you can't even see over there, right? 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:08.960 You're you're so in the grief you can't even see over there. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:17.039 But all of this over here is if I can, whatever, then I can get over there. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:19.279 And there's this separation, right? 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:25.840 So the world, a few sermons ago, we defined world as the path of self-salvation. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.200 You're your source of your own truth, you're your hope, you're your own hope. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:33.120 And so path of the world is self-salvation. 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:34.080 I'm in grief. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:39.120 I've got to get to joy, so I've got to handle the circumstances, I've got to get rid of them. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:42.159 So either maybe I have to escape it, right? 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:50.639 So I'll just drink it down, I'll smoke it down, use chemicals, I'll work myself so I avoid it. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:54.000 I'll use sex to kind of just push it down. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:58.080 Or maybe I just deny it and forget about it and pretend it's not there. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:09:58.480 Right? 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:08.159 All sorts of ways we cope to get grief pushed down so that we we can feel like, well, if I handle the circumstance, I get it I can get it to tip, right? 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:09.200 Like a scale. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:12.080 Like, okay, if I get I get it to tip enough. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:13.759 And this is because of separation. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.080 We feel like we have to handle it this way. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.559 But the remedy is on you. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.799 See, the world would say the remedy is on you because it's self-svation. 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:24.080 It's up to you. 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:26.639 You have to learn to balance it. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:32.159 And when the circumstances line up, then you'll be okay. 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:36.720 So this week, uh, Christy and the girls were baking. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:42.799 Uh, we believe in our house, we like to win over the heart of a teacher from the first day uh with a sugar bribe. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:48.639 And so Christy and the girls are in there and they are cooking cookies for the first day of school. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:50.399 And uh, these cookies can do it. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:55.759 I mean, you're gonna win over the heart of the teacher, Christy's cookies, and then the recipe is called Barb. 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:01.600 In our house, we just call them Barbara Bush's because it's a Barbara Bush's recipe for cookies. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:06.960 And I don't know how you feel about George H or George W. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.799 But Mama Barbara can cook some cookies, apparently. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:22.879 I mean, she she's got it down, and so they're in the kitchen, and one year old, our little one-year-old girl, she's on the stool and she is just digging into the dough, reaching up and shoveling it straight to the chubby little thighs. 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:24.240 So cute, right? 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:27.679 Just straight down, then so great. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:40.240 And uh one of the girls was handling an egg and um and then got jostled or something, and it fell on the floor and broke, you know, splat, broke open. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.679 I mean, that egg, that egg could have been a chicken, right? 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:46.159 I mean, that egg could have been a cookie. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:48.559 And it wasn't gonna be, right? 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:54.799 An egg is, we know what an egg is, it's a fragile seed of life. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.840 Here's what the Bible says about you, says about me. 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:04.879 You're a fragile seed of life. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:13.120 And and here's what happens is we when things go well, when things go well, joy. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:13.759 Right? 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:16.399 We're not getting jostled, things are good. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:22.399 Like they noticed I lost weight, the project went well, I got the raise. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:25.039 The girl, she wanted to go out with me. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:27.120 I got on the team, whatever. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:29.440 The circumstances are good. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:39.440 Then you get jostled a little, like you didn't get noticed, you did get rejected, circumstances aren't good, and there's a little illness, right? 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:45.360 A little jostle, and it just it just doesn't take much, and all of a sudden just splat. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:54.639 And and that's the moment where that vision you had, that vision vanishes, and then there's some grief. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:56.799 And the world says this. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:00.080 The world says, the world is the answer. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:02.960 But it's actually the world that jostles you. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:12.480 So the so the world is saying to you, uh, well, the world is the answer, you're your own answer, or some circumstances getting the scales of tip. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:17.679 That's the way, that's actually the way out of your grief, but that's actually what's causing the grief. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:30.879 And so the path of separation creates enormous pressure on us. 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:34.879 Which only jostles us more. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:46.080 And then Jesus comes into this, and then he speaks these verses, and he says, There is life in the middle here where there is more to look at than circumstances that create joy or grief. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:48.159 There's something else to look at. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:54.000 And this is where we get not the path of separation, but the path of integration. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:14:01.279 So six years ago when we had our first child, we went on the due date, which I think was June 10th. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:02.320 June 10th, yeah. 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:07.919 So June 10th, we show up to the doctor because uh we hadn't gone into labor yet, and we're we were nervous. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:36.480 We're nervous because we we had we had miscarried a baby before that, and so we're extra kind of nervous and anxious about this, and so we go into the doctor and we get to the doctor, and we didn't have a bag, we didn't have anything, and the doctor does some test and some fluid somewhere, some things too low or too thin or too something, and all of a sudden it's like you're going to the hospital, and off Christy goes, and then I run home to get the bag and get the dog settled and get everything kind of orchestrated. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:43.840 I'd show back up, and Christy goes on to push for seven hours, right? 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:45.919 Seven hours. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:55.200 I mean, it felt like for me, it felt like 27 for her, it just probably felt like 700 hours. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:57.519 I mean, it is that vacuum, right? 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:03.279 That vacuum of time that develops when you're having a baby and you're in the hospital. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:11.360 And so at some point, Christy's sort of at the end of herself and her ability, and Josie's just in there, cozy as can be, and she doesn't want to come out. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:18.559 And and so we get that epidural and then push a little bit more, and whole body's just hurting, right? 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:19.519 I mean, not mine. 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:25.120 Christy's whole body is just uh parts of my body are hurting from just like bending over, holding her hand. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:27.919 And so she's just hurting. 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:29.840 I'm hurting a little. 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:38.080 And so uh finally, finally, finally, uh it's just like all of a sudden the doctor's like, it's over. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:39.200 C-section. 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:39.519 Boom. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:44.159 It's like, I mean, just like we can't do with you know, we're risking something here, and all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:46.960 So labor room into surgery room. 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:49.759 All right, let me reread 21 and 22. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:16:02.639 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come, but when her baby is born, she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:06.159 So with you, now is your time of grief. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:10.399 But I will see you again, and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:14.720 So Jesus is not saying the pain is gone. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:17.200 Right? 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:21.120 I mean, I mean, Christy comes out of that experience and whole body hurting. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:25.440 The abdomen's been cut open, she pushed for seven hours, the medicine wears off. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:27.039 You are hurting. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:28.000 But you know what? 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:33.840 Like they cut over that open that abdomen, this little baby comes out, and they go over and they beat the living daylights out of that baby. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:35.279 That's my baby. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:40.559 Take it easy over there, and they're bopping and putting their finger in, all sorts of stuff. 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:42.000 And then what happens, right? 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:46.879 You get back to the room, some pain's starting to settle in on Christy. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:49.200 But she has this baby to look at. 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:50.960 Like, look at this hair. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:54.720 Oh, look at her ears and toes. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:56.320 Right? 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:59.279 There's something else to look at. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:07.039 The mother refuses to be focused on the pain because there's something much better to look at. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:08.640 It doesn't mean the pain's not there. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:10.319 See, it doesn't mean the grief's not there. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:13.839 See, see, that's the difference between separation and integration. 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:21.680 And maybe you're here the whole sermon, even up to this point, just sort of irritates you because you're going, you know what, it's just it hasn't worked for me. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:23.519 I've been doing it. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.920 Like I've been in the grief thing for a long time. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:32.880 Like I've been showing up to church sort of like to do it because I think it's gonna kind of work, and it just has not worked. 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:33.599 And you know what? 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:34.720 I don't have all the answers. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:38.880 And I just want to say, I'm so, I'm sorry it's been difficult. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:43.359 But there is something greater for you to look at. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:56.319 I think it would be easy at this point to sort of think, okay, well, um, you got joy and you have grief, and when I grieve, then I I can't do the separation thing. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:58.640 I I have to do the integration thing, right? 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:10.000 And then you actually grieve over your inability to integrate, and so then you separate more, and then you grieve more about your grieving, and you're just kind of like this downward cycle of, I'm just not even good at grieving. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:14.079 I can't even integrate out of my grieving. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:20.960 And the good news is this morning is that God comes into the suffering. 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:27.680 And you don't have to rate your response to grieving. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:31.680 You don't have to analyze it, you don't have to chart your progress. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:33.440 Right? 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:36.640 Because grace gives you the room to grieve. 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:38.720 Because you are righteous. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:51.759 If you have faith in Christ, you are righteous, and your standing before God is sealed and secured, not on how well you grieve or how well you even live, you are secured by what he did for you. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:57.119 And because of that, it means grace gives you room to grieve. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:00.240 And he comes into the grieving. 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:05.039 And he takes our sin and takes it to the cross and gives us his righteousness. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:16.480 So we are battling separation and integration, but really the rescue is in the incarnation, the incarnate love of God into humanity, into suffering. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:19.920 Maybe you don't feel it. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:27.279 But even there's rescue in going, you know what, I don't feel it, and I don't even have to, because the rescue is outside of me. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:32.880 I don't even have to rate the rescue on my feelings or my progress out of the grief. 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:35.839 All right, so let's jump down to verse 33. 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:37.119 There's a whole bunch of verses in between. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:38.240 You're gonna pick up on that. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:39.359 A lot of those are on prayer. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:50.240 So next week we're gonna talk about prayer, we're gonna look at those and a whole bunch of other kind of sections on prayer that he's been talking about in the last uh this conversation around this table at the upper room. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:52.400 But let's close with verse 33. 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:59.599 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:04.720 In this world, you will have trouble. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:07.519 Are you gonna lay out the two paths? 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:10.720 But take heart. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.720 I have overcome the world. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:14.000 So he promises this. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.480 In him you will have peace. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:20.559 And in the world, you will have trouble. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:28.799 And you're gonna be okay if you have faith in Christ because he overcomes the world, and it's not gonna be your victory. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:32.319 It's not gonna be how well you grieve or how well you work yourself out of that grief. 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:36.240 It's gonna be because he has victory over all of suffering. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.880 You have to rate your grief. 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:41.279 So, what does all this mean? 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:43.119 It means you can grieve. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:48.240 It means you can grieve in little ways on little visions that vanish. 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:53.759 And it can mean you can grieve in big ways over big visions that vanish. 00:20:54.559 --> 00:21:05.200 And it be it means you don't have to become manic over how well, how faithful, or you're being faithful enough in your grieving in these little ways or big ways. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:10.079 You don't have to become manic over rating those and kind of grading them and charting them. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:14.079 You don't have to do that because grace gives you the room to grieve. 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:25.119 And when grace gives you the room to grieve, there's space in your heart that's created, and that space that gets created is where joy can begin to be birthed. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:28.480 And it's not because you're enough, it's because he's enough for you. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:32.799 And this is how the gospel comes into grief and rescues us. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:34.319 Let's pray together. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:40.160 God, we thank you that though we are not enough, you are enough. 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:45.200 Though we are not enough even in our grieving, you are enough for us. 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:46.480 Help us. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:54.079 Give us faith enough to trust that we are secure with you, our identities are secure with you, and we are loved. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:57.440 We are loved in our suffering. 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:10.960 And we don't have to create more anxiety in our life based on how well we're doing in our grief, but in the pain, we have something else to look at. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:15.839 God help us with this. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:25.119 In little ways tomorrow, over little visions that vanish, and in big ways over big visions that vanish. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:25.920 Amen.