WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:01:49.200 It's not a good idea. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:47.439 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:49.680 Blessed be God's family. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:50.560 Amen. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:52.400 Amen. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:54.319 Let's pray together. 00:02:54.560 --> 00:03:00.159 All wonderful God, whom all hearts are open, all desires know. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:16.080 When these thoughts about us, by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, let me perfectly love you and worthyly magnify your holy name through Christ in the Lord. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:17.199 Amen. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:00.159 Let us pray. 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:08.159 Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the Spirit to think and do always those things that are right. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:15.360 And we who cannot exist without you may by you be enabled to live according to your will. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:22.079 Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:23.199 Amen. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:27.519 As you're being seated, do children want to come up for a children's sermon. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:41.920 It's great to see you, and I'm glad you're here. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:53.040 Anybody know what this is? 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:57.040 What do you see? 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:00.160 Just tell me, what do you see? 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:01.519 You're not gonna be wrong, what do you see? 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:05.920 It looks like a rug or a tapestry, right? 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:07.519 Some kind of cloth, right? 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.399 Now look, does this help you know what it is? 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:12.319 No, right? 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:15.199 Do you think there's something under here? 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:19.120 Well, let's find out. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:23.199 Turns out there's something under here every week, are you ready? 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:27.199 Now it isn't. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:36.000 Yeah, yeah, in fact, we call it a chalice, right? 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:36.800 Now look. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:40.240 It's hiding, right? 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:42.879 It's hiding. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:45.920 There's probably something under here, because you know what? 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:49.759 I can't hold a garment stiff with just my hand, right? 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:50.720 You see the square? 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:53.680 Turns out what's making a square is this little card, right? 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:55.680 There's this really special word. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:57.360 In church we use. 00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:00.480 This is called apocalyptic. 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:05.279 It means I pick up and look what's inside. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:10.000 Apocalyptic means what's under there. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:14.639 Or another way of saying it is what's under the veil. 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:16.639 This is actually called a veil. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:19.839 It's supposed to cover the chalice till we're ready. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:27.439 Now you'll always see if you're in here, the veil matches the chasuble and it matches the hanging. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:30.480 And we're in green season because we're supposed to grow. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:32.319 So we use a veil. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:34.480 We know the chalice is there. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:37.680 But we're supposed to not see the chalice just yet. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:41.279 We're supposed to see, ah, the chalice is going to help us grow. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:43.199 And when we pick it up, you'll see it. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:50.319 When we get ready for communion, I will unveil the chalice, I will take the veil off, and all you'll see is the cup. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:51.199 Yeah? 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:54.480 That word is apocalyptic. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:55.839 Really long word. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:57.439 Can you say apocalyptic? 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:00.160 Well, of course you can't hold because you're cold. 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:04.959 Apocalyptic means I unveil and I see what's hidden. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:08.079 Can your eyes see the cup right now? 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:08.720 No. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:16.319 Not yet until the apocalypse happens, and then you can see what's been there all along. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:29.360 So I want you to remember that it's too long to use in scrap, but you could use that word with your teachers starting Wednesday, and they would be like, hold, you know what apocalyptic means? 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:30.399 Of course you do. 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:31.839 Okay, go back to book six. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:34.399 We're going to talk about apocalypticism in a minute. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:37.199 Thanks for your questions, Rob. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:37.440 And how it was that the word of the judge of all flesh was upon me, Son of Lord, if a land sins against me by acting unfaithfully to commit a faithless act, and I stretch out my hand against her and break her staff, and send famine upon her, and I cut off from her humankind and animal. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:52.879 And were these three men in her midst, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they, through their righteousness, would save only their lives. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:56.960 The utterance of God whose name is Lord. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:23.519 If there were barbarous beasts that I sent through the land to bereaver, so that she became a desolation without anyone passing through because of the beast, these three men will lay in the midst as I live, the utterance of God whose name is holy. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:32.000 They would say neither the daughters, their daughters, or their sons, their law would be saved. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:38.159 The land would become a desolation. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:10:07.519 Or if I brought a sword upon that land, and I said, Let the sword pass through the land, and I cut off from her humankind and animal kind, these three men, were they in permits as I live, the utterance of God whose name is holy, they would say, Neither daughters nor sons, for they alone would be saved. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:39.200 Were they a pestilence that I sent into the land and poured out my wrath upon her in blood to cut off from her humankind animal kind, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in their midst, as I live the utterance of God whose name is holy, they would save neither their Lord nor their son. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:45.039 They to their righteousness would save their own lives. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:49.519 For thus says God, whose name is holy. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:11:20.639 More so than these things, my former judgment ascend upon Jerusalem the sword, and Barbara's beasts, and her sons, to cut off from her humankind and animal kind, and look, there remain in her solar in her survivors who shall be left in her, bringing forth daughters and sons. 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:37.519 They shall come out to you, and you all shall see their ways and their deeds, and you all shall be confident in a kind of the healing that I have brought upon Jerusalem. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:41.360 All that I have brought upon Jeremy. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:07.440 Were it not the divine warrior who was for us? 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:21.600 Were it not the divine warrior who was for us, then still alive, they would have swallowed us up. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:28.879 Then the waters would have swept over us. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.120 Then he said over us. 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:57.919 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, having been in the circle for seven days. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:06.639 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish, but those who did not believe, because she had received the spies with peace. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:08.960 And what more should I say? 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:42.080 For time would fail, need to tell of Gideon, Deborah, Barak, Samson, Jeff, David and Samuel, and the women and men who were prophets, that they who through faith subdued monarchies, did the work of justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched mighty fires, fled to safety from the raven of sword, we were strengthened from weakness, became strong in battle, and failed encamped foreign armies. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:45.600 Women received their death by resurrection. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:52.799 Others were tortured, not willing to receive release, in order a better resurrection to obtain. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:58.879 Yet others received the test of mocking and whipping and even chains and prison. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:14.960 They were stoned and cut apart in the slaughter, they died upon the sword, they traveled around in sheepskin and goatskin hides, impoverished, oppressed, afflicted, persons of whom the world was not worthy. 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:20.799 In deserts they wandered, and in mountains and in caves and holes in the ground. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:34.000 Yet all of these, martyrs of their faith, they did not receive what was promised for God for us, but provided something better so they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:45.200 Therefore, since we have surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also every weight throw off, along with the sin that distracts. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:49.039 Through patience, let us run the race that is set before us. 00:15:49.279 --> 00:16:05.600 Looking to Jesus, the foundation and the fulfillment of our faith, who for the sake of joy that was set before him endured the cross, in shame and despising, and at the right hand of the throne of God be seated the word of the Lord. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:07.440 Glory to you, Lord Christ. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:14.880 Jesus said, Now, just as it was in the days of Noah, thus shall it be in the days of the Son of Woman. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:29.279 Women and men were eating, drinking, marrying, being given in marriage, till the day Noah and his wife and daughters and sons and daughters-in-law entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them and their children. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:38.160 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, women and men were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:47.119 But on the day that Lot and his wife and daughters left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them and their children. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:51.440 Accordingly shall it be on the day the Son of Woman is revealed. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:58.079 On that day, anyone on the roof who has belongings in the house must not come down to gather them up. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:01.759 And likewise, anyone in the field should not turn back. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:08.160 Remember Lot's wife, the one who seeks to preserve their life will lose it. 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:11.599 But the one who loses their life shall save their life. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:17.839 I tell you all, and that night there will be two in one bed, one will be taken, and the other left. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:22.880 There will be two women grinding meal together, one will be taken and the other left. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.440 And then they asked him where, Rabbi. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:30.960 He said to them, Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:34.079 The gospel of the Lord. 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:36.400 Praise to you, Lord Christ. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:07.519 Well, uh, the compiler of the Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, which is what we're using this year, and we used it last year, has really given us apocalyptic summer. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:23.920 And I just want to make sure you hear that there is an entire cottage Christian industry that has quite a bit to gain financially, and certainly through membership, about one version of the word apocalypse. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:26.240 It's probably the one you're most familiar with. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:31.279 And this idea is less than 250 years old. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:32.880 I want to make sure you hear this. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:38.880 The earliest Christians did not hear that the apocalypse was the end of the planet. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:46.240 The earliest Christians did not believe that the apocalypse was when Earth went to hell in a hand basket. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:58.240 The earliest Christians did not have strange, bizarre maps of end times, prophecy, so that they knew how to get out unscathed. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:20:59.519 Did not. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.480 And it's based on this idea. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:16.799 That faithful people won't have to suffer. 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:19.920 It's a funny thing, right? 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:23.039 Because Jesus was like pretty faithful, right? 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:25.759 And boy, did he suffer. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:34.160 Strange that we think that God would deliver us from pain, isn't it? 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:38.960 It's worse than strange. 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:42.079 I'm going to tell you it's heretical and idolatrous. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.119 And the scriptures today remind us of that. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:48.480 So, apocalyptic, you already heard me say this to the kids. 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:52.160 It's not about when precisely the world will end. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:55.359 Because Jesus himself, when asked, says, I don't know, and I don't care. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:56.559 That's up to God. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.759 No, apocalyptic, and I can only do this. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.240 Because I'm wearing clothes, is when we lift the veil and show what's underneath. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:18.319 And sometimes we think, oh, you know, what's underneath is like the typical code that we can crack and we'll know when to invest and when to go live in a hole so we don't have to experience nuclear winter. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:21.920 I just don't really think that's why we have the Bible. 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:27.920 Instead, I think what we're trying to hear is what's underneath when it's hard. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:42.720 And to be honest, a better agency of apocalypticism than a diagram with seven-headed monsters coming out of the ocean is what happens when somebody cuts me off in traffic. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:47.680 That's when the veil is lifted and I see what's in here. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:50.000 Or what's in here. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:23:00.480 A better agency apocalypticism is not reading between the lines to get in source code. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:06.720 Nope, it's what happens to me when my kids do a thing I've told them a thousand times not to do. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:15.839 Lifts the veil on where my heart is, and where my virtue is, and where my faith is. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:21.599 Heck, sometimes I can't even find my keys, and that is very apocalyptic. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:28.559 Who do you become when you can't find your keys? 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:37.119 I didn't think Jesus is really that worried about whether or not we suffer or not, because the truth is he did. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:39.839 I'm worried about that. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.160 He's not. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:47.599 So I'm gonna tell you this. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:24:01.200 If your faith, prayers, church attendance, give money to church, helping other people is all based on how you get out of suffering for free. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:04.880 I just don't think it's gonna work. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:09.680 I really don't think it's if it's working for you, tell me later. 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:12.880 But I just don't think it's gonna work. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:24.160 Nope, I think the scriptures are asking us to go ahead and lift the veil a little bit on ourselves. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:31.039 And I'm convinced, actually, that the reason we have this Ezekiel reading, it was really long. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:35.359 And gosh, it's written in a weird English, so thanks, Robert, for taking that on. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:38.480 Um I hope you hear the theme of it. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:41.759 Gosh, it lifts the veil on me. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:46.799 I really wish I could be generous all the time. 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:48.720 And you know how I'd like to get there? 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:50.640 I'd like to take a pill. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:55.519 I'd like to take a pill that would fix me. 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:58.799 I don't want to do the work. 00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:01.599 I just want it to be done. 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:10.400 By the way, I think that's part of the problem we're having in the world now, is we're saying we need a savior. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:21.759 I don't know if you've noticed, but in countries that are becoming increasingly autocratic, and there's more than a handful, sadly, the rhetoric is, I will save you. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:22.960 I will do it. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:23.599 Me. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:32.480 I hope you heard this thing in Ezekiel where Ezekiel said, if you were the most righteous person on the world, you'd save yourself, and that's it. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:35.519 Do you hear that? 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:38.240 Like, think of the best people you know. 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:45.119 Noah and Daniel and that other guy. 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:49.759 And Ezekiel says, they wouldn't save you. 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:51.759 They'd save themselves. 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:55.599 It's almost like Ezekiel saying this thing, I'd rather not hear. 00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:57.119 Nobody's coming. 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:00.720 You are the ones you've been waiting for. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:07.200 Oh, wait, I'm waiting for somebody else to do it for me. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:10.000 I really want that. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:14.079 And Ezekiel says, ha ha ha, lift the veil. 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:15.440 It's you. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:21.359 So I'm going to tell you right now, Kamala Harris is not going to save you. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:24.079 She can't save herself. 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:26.640 Donald Trump is not going to save you. 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:29.200 He can't save himself. 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:32.000 We have one Savior and it's Christ. 00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:37.359 And we are called, not asked, we're called to say, y'all do the work. 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:48.880 Sometimes I wish God didn't trust us so much, but Ezekiel says, I trust you so much that if it doesn't work out, it's on you, not on me. 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:52.880 Lift the veil. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:54.640 Lift the veil. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:57.279 God doesn't work in quick pills. 00:26:57.440 --> 00:26:59.599 I'd even swallow a jagged pill, folks. 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:01.119 I'd love to do a surgery. 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:05.680 You know, I could endure that pain of God says, you want to do it day by day. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:10.160 Y'all are going to do it day by day if you want to thrive. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:16.799 Here's some great news about what kind of people God uses to thrive. 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:20.960 We read this letter from Hebrews, and you know what's great about it? 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:27.359 It's got this litany of what kind of people are heroes and sheroes in faith. 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:29.920 And it says, the world turned on their acts. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:34.720 Man, I wish we had people like that, like a prostitute. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:39.920 Like somebody who is a serial killer. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:44.880 Like somebody who is scared to do what God asked and made some idols. 00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:50.240 Like somebody who is so scared to do what God asked that he phoned a friend. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:53.839 Like somebody who broke every vow his parents made for him. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:54.880 That's Samson. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:58.799 Like somebody who killed their own daughter because they thought that God would enjoy that. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:27:59.839 Oh, that's Jeffha. 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:01.759 Hey, I hope you're hearing the comments, Lee. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.640 These people are way worse than you. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:07.359 I really make sure you hear that. 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:12.319 Because I've been here long enough that I know you, you're way better than these people. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:17.519 You are, because none of you are serial killers or sociopaths. 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:28.400 We get a laundry list of people, not because they're perfect, but because maybe for one moment they said, fine God, if you'll just leave me alone, I'll do this one thing. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:33.359 If God can use them, God will use you. 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:48.240 The question is, are you waiting for them, or are we willing to say, fine God, if you'll leave me alone, I'll do this one thing. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:52.640 Anybody read the Bible in here? 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:56.079 Like, I grew up reading the Bible because I'm not Episcopalian originally. 00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:57.920 That's what we did in the Baptist church. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:28:58.799 We read the book. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:02.160 And boy, we sure thought these people were heroes. 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:07.039 I mean, David raped his best friend's wife and then killed his best friend. 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:08.880 Y'all didn't do that. 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:12.319 Because you're not in jail. 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:13.440 Right? 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:15.279 God can use that. 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:18.400 God can work at that. 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:20.240 God can work with you. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:23.119 And here's the real crux of the argument. 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:24.640 And this is a tough one. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:30.240 And I'll tell you this is why I went to Summer King in just a second, too. 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:42.640 For the sake of the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, it's shame despising. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:50.799 Now, I don't know if you know this, but being executed as a common criminal is relatively well shameful. 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:58.160 Particularly when that mode of execution, that being the cross, typically lasts for several days. 00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:00.240 And look, you've seen the arch, right? 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:02.000 And Jesus has a loincloth on. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:03.200 That's just in a part. 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:05.359 He didn't have a loincloth. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:15.119 His mother was there looking on her naked adult son nailed to a piece of wood. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:19.359 Wouldn't you call that well shameful? 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:26.559 Beyond that, if you were Jewish, you had the conviction, hang, if you cut your head off, that was sad. 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:31.279 But if you were hanged on a tree, that was a curse. 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:42.640 And Jesus saw the shame of those things, and he despised that shame. 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:44.880 He didn't accept it. 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:50.640 He said, to heck with your sense of shame. 00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:59.440 Now, I told you, so I'm modeling what I said. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:08.319 You may wear hats in church, and as a man, I mean you can do whatever you want, but traditionally, men have worn, have covered their heads in the worship space. 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:16.079 And in the Christian tradition, when we say not just Jesus or Christ, when we say Jesus Christ, the hat comes off and it comes back on. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:20.000 That actually is the oldest rule about hats, even baseball hats. 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:22.799 And I'm wearing this one because I was just a Camp Allen. 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:28.640 And you know, there is a Camp Allen Sunday every year in which they want me to hand out their propaganda. 00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:38.400 Instead, I'd rather give you like the best propaganda, which is I was just there for a week with incoming seventh and eighth graders. 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:42.559 Now, school starts on Wednesday, right? 00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:53.599 So it's the end of summer break, and boy, you go away somewhere and you get really, really tired, plus you've got this kind of nerve-wracking thing coming on, even if you think class is fine. 00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:54.640 I mean, let's be honest. 00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:56.640 I always look going forward to school. 00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:58.880 I always did, because I was bored. 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:06.000 And there was always anxiety and nervousness, especially when I was going to, well, middle school. 00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:07.759 Anyone been in middle school? 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:08.240 Yeah. 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:08.720 Okay. 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:09.599 Right, so we got. 00:32:12.079 --> 00:32:16.400 Here's why I think we do it as a church, and I think we really believe in it. 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:18.720 And I think we do this as adults too. 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:21.200 We just don't realize this is what we're doing. 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:38.400 When you take somebody on a retreat or you go on a pilgrimage, when you leave home for an extended amount of time, it's sort of like this opportunity to leave behind what you're familiar with so that you can tinker a little bit. 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:52.079 Hopefully, if the tinkering goes well, you've kind of done some transformation in yourself that is durable, so that when you go back to the home life, which is no way different, you are. 00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:54.960 I hope this makes sense. 00:32:55.119 --> 00:32:56.480 It's part of why I travel. 00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:03.680 I travel so I can grow and change and see how other people do it and appreciate that, and then come home slightly different. 00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:05.839 I go on pilgrimage for that reason. 00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:12.240 We definitely believe in youth retreats because we say, here's what I think we say. 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:20.880 You are so used to cultural values that frankly are shameful. 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:29.599 We want to take you away from what's actually shameful so that you can go back and despise that shame. 00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:32.079 What do I mean? 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:39.359 Well, this is actually pretty well researched and documented, and my own experience rhymes with this. 00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:44.319 The cool kids in middle school are cruel. 00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:49.839 Major research studies show this. 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:58.400 The ones who have unwieldy power over others, the merchants of cool in middle school, are cruel. 00:33:58.799 --> 00:33:59.359 Why? 00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:10.239 Because they know it is shameful to be cruel, and they embrace that shame because they start to think that there is power in it. 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:13.599 I really don't think I'm wrong. 00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:20.880 My power is based on doing what we all know is wrong, but I've shown I'll do it. 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:34.480 Oddly enough, if you are made fun of in middle school, odds are if no one else steps up to support you, you will give power to your oppressor. 00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:37.519 You will say, they have power I don't have. 00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:41.679 Very few middle school kids say, cruelty is not okay. 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:45.519 I'm not defined by your cruelty, I'm defined by God. 00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:50.800 Very few middle schoolers do that because it's hard. 00:34:51.280 --> 00:35:04.000 Curiously enough, if you're a friend of somebody who is targeted by the cruel kids, you will either despise the shame of speaking up for your friend. 00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:07.519 You'll either despise it and say, we don't treat people like that. 00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:09.039 That's my friend. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:11.760 Happens rarely, doesn't it? 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:13.679 You've been to middle school. 00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:20.159 Or we'll say, ha ha ha! I mean, we used to be friends. 00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:26.719 Lived experience says this is true. 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:27.760 So what do we do? 00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:37.599 We take kids to Camp Allen and we say you're in a different place, and we hope you'll transform so when you get back, you can despise the shame you have been taught. 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:44.480 Is it easy to stand up against a power broker who's cruel? 00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:47.039 No, it feels like there's a lot to lose. 00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:51.119 It might even feel like suffering. 00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:54.880 What about when it's not happening to me? 00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:57.599 Well, shoot, I don't have to get involved. 00:35:57.760 --> 00:36:01.440 Why would I want to suffer for somebody else? 00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:06.079 And the reminder is Jesus despises the shame of the cross. 00:36:07.519 --> 00:36:11.039 What about when I think that person is kind of a loser too? 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:17.199 That means I need to despise my own shame. 00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:26.480 We go to camp for a week so that we can come back and not be weak, so we can be strong. 00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:28.000 That's what we do. 00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:34.719 And unless you are really different from me, it's not just middle school. 00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:36.880 This still exists in my adult bread. 00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:44.079 Worry about not being enough. 00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:55.280 Now, if you've had kids, I trust you have at some point in your parenthood worried about not being enough. 00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:02.239 And here is Jesus despising that shame. 00:37:03.440 --> 00:37:10.159 Here's Jesus despising the shame of being crucified as a parent, because every parent I know has spent some time on a cross. 00:37:10.800 --> 00:37:12.880 And Jesus says it's not supposed to be easy. 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:14.079 Actually, love hers. 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:15.519 It hurts. 00:37:16.079 --> 00:37:23.039 And I also hear Jesus saying in my workplace, I work in a really good place, by the way. 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:34.880 I don't want to say I'm called to stand up or march, but for crying out loud, I can do something for my employees and my friends, even when I don't feel like it. 00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:37.760 Ah. 00:37:39.119 --> 00:37:41.760 But suffering means you don't have enough faith. 00:37:41.920 --> 00:37:45.840 Actually, I think suffering often is because we've chosen to be faithful. 00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:48.079 We've chosen. 00:37:48.480 --> 00:37:56.400 These people who are heroes and heroes, I'm telling you, they weren't faithful very much, but just for the moment they said, fine. 00:37:56.639 --> 00:38:00.800 God, if it's what it takes to get you to leave me alone, I'll just do it. 00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:04.400 And what if we said, God, fine? 00:38:05.519 --> 00:38:12.639 I mean, I don't even want to because I'm a good human, but if you'll just leave me alone, I'll do the right thing. 00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:15.440 Well, that'd make you a hero. 00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:17.599 That'd make you a shear. 00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:23.199 The world turns on these moments that say, I've had enough, God. 00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:30.559 I'm willing to lose the life I'm used to to save myself. 00:38:36.719 --> 00:38:45.519 It feels like dying to lose the life we're used to, which is probably why we get to hear about the cross so much. 00:38:46.159 --> 00:38:51.440 Not just a historical event, but as a metaphor for what it's like to be made new. 00:38:52.320 --> 00:39:05.599 Dying to what we self, despising the shame we're so participatory in, so that we can actually become alive. 00:39:08.880 --> 00:39:12.800 I don't care if you're going back to school this week, you're going back somewhere. 00:39:13.519 --> 00:39:15.280 You're going back home today. 00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:24.320 And my prayer, right, is that just from home and it may just be one time this week will say, you know what, I'm gonna despise the shame of doing that. 00:39:25.760 --> 00:39:28.000 And because there's life there.