WEBVTT 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:29.840 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and blessed be God's family, now and forever. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:39.680 There is one body and one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:44.000 Let's pray together. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:52.719 Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:03:06.080 By the infinite or Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:07.039 Amen. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:08.639 The Lord be with you. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:11.439 Let us pray. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:21.759 Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:35.680 Grant that all who were baptized into his name may keep the covenant they have made and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior, who with you in the Holy Spirit lives and reigns one God in glory everlasting. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:36.639 Amen. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:45.199 Oh, while you're being seated, I'd like to invite children that are game to come up for the children's sermon. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:58.800 Look at this positive peer pressure. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:00.159 It's fantastic, isn't it? 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:00.639 Okay. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:14.800 Alright, so it's a baptism day. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:17.839 And we're gonna get to do at least two of these. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:25.120 And I've got this cool thing here, and we've got that thing that's a real shell. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:28.959 Does anybody know why we use shells? 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:33.519 Yeah, what do you think? 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:37.199 We do use them to baptize people. 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:37.920 We do. 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:45.439 So that one's gonna hold the water, and this is a little scoop that I can use to put it on somebody. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:47.920 But why shells? 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:54.480 Yeah, it's hard to know. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:56.720 You know, shells do a lot of different things. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:04:59.759 Used to be that people thought the world was flat. 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:01.519 Have you heard this before? 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:05.199 And people thought the end of the world was Spain. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:09.120 And if you walked too far off of Spain, you'd fall off the world. 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:09.680 This is true. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:21.839 So when people would go to Spain, they would pick up a shell and bring it home and tell their church and their people, look, a souvenir from the end of the world. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:25.120 You guys have been to the end of the world. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:26.800 Well, no, because we know it's round, right? 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:28.399 We know it's round, so we couldn't do it. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:36.480 But people started using shells to baptize because they say baptism is what takes us outside of our world. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:43.439 This one's really cool because one of our astronauts, Catherine Thornton, flew it out of the world. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:51.279 So this piece of silver left the atmosphere because what we say we do with this thing is out of this world. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:52.319 That's what we say. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:54.240 Now, what happens at baptism? 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:55.519 Like, what do we do? 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:57.040 What's going to happen? 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:01.279 Like, put water on the baby's head and like devote their life to Jesus. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:04.480 Yeah, we put water on the baby's head and devote their life to Jesus. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:06.879 Do the babies get to choose that? 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.560 So wait a minute, we're taking their choice away? 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:12.079 That doesn't sound nice. 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:14.240 They get to choose later. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:15.839 Ah, they get to choose later. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:17.279 Hey, here's a good question. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:19.680 Can you choose whether God loves you or not? 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:22.079 Yeah, that's why we do it for babies. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:23.680 We say you don't have a choice. 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:26.399 God's gonna follow you everywhere you go. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.279 And hopefully one day you'll say, I want that. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:33.040 But we're all gonna watch it and say, that's true. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:35.360 This is true if you're an adult in the room. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:39.040 You have no choice over God's love for you, it goes everywhere. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:40.319 Why do we use water? 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:41.839 What does water do? 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:46.160 It could carry the Holy Spirit, that's good. 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.480 Okay, so we need water to grow, right? 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:56.240 We use water to clean. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:57.680 What else do we do? 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:01.680 We could use water to clean and heal, right? 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:07.360 Hey, use water to live, and boy, it's Texas, so let's not pretend it doesn't get hot here. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.879 And you use water to cool off, right? 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:12.079 And you use it to drink. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:12.879 This is all good, right? 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:18.800 So look, that's all normal water, and what we're gonna ask God to do is something special with the water. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:23.680 We're gonna say, God, hey, refresh us with new life. 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:26.639 So we need refreshing in the summer, we need some refreshing now. 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:29.279 That's why we leave that out there for everybody during the week. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:33.600 We're gonna say, God, we need water to grow, so make this water grow our spirits. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:42.879 And we know that we use water to wash off, so we're gonna say, God, if there's anything that we don't need to carry, it'd be great if you'd help us wash it off, right? 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:47.279 Maybe it means we did something wrong, but maybe it means we're just worried. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:50.480 Be great if we could wash our worries away, right? 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:53.199 So we're gonna do the same thing we do with regular water. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:56.959 Last thing about the shell that I want to tell you that's really neat. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:03.680 Um do you know what happens when a clam, even a big one like that, when it gets irritated? 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:07.519 It closes and then it does something. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:09.199 It makes a pearl. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:11.519 And you know what's really irritating to a clam? 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:14.639 Sand, right? 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:16.879 Sand is really, really irritating. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.800 Do clams like to keep their pearls? 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:21.759 It turns out clams don't really need to keep their pearls. 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:23.759 But this is a really interesting thing. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:26.160 Do you ever have people that irritate you? 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:28.399 Any of you have siblings? 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:30.800 Yeah, so I have people that irritate me. 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:37.519 Umsually when somebody irritates us, we'd like to spit them out. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:43.519 But when somebody irritates God, God makes them beautiful. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.679 God turns a piece of sand into a beautiful pearl. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:57.039 And this is our great reminder about what we get to do together because all of us are irritating sometimes, and God finds us and makes us more and more beautiful. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:08:58.720 So that's what we're gonna ask God to do. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:03.360 We're gonna say, God, help us to treat each other like pearls or make them pearls. 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:15.039 Help these two kids that we're gonna baptize grow up to be full of the Spirit, full of life, nourish their spirits, and if anything gets in the way, wash it away. 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:17.039 And that's what we get to do today. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:20.000 Thanks for coming up and being bold. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:25.279 And when we get to the baptism, I'll invite you back up if you want a front row seat. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:42.960 A reading from Genesis. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:50.799 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Haga. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:57.039 And he placed it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:01.840 Then she walked away and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:09.200 When the water in the skin was gone, she thrust the child under one of the bushes. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:17.200 Then she went and sat herself down before him, some way off, about the distance of a bowshot. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:22.720 For she said, Let me not see the death of the child. 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:29.039 So she sat before him, and she lifted up her voice, and she had wept. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:39.679 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the messenger of God called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What troubles you, O Hagar? 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:45.039 Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:53.360 Arise, lift the boy, and hold him with your hand, for a great nation of him I will make. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:58.639 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:04.399 She went and filled the skin with water, and let the boy drink. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:07.279 The word of the Lord. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:17.759 Psalm 34, 1 to 14. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:21.360 We will read responsibly by the heart verse. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.240 I will place she who is God at all times. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:29.519 Her praise shall ever be in her. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:33.440 I will glory in she who is strength. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:36.639 Let the humble hear and rejoice. 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:41.200 Proclaim with me the greatness of she who is exalted. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:44.639 Let us exalt her name together. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:52.320 I sought she who saves, and she answered me, and delivered me out of all my terror. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:58.639 Look upon her and be radiant, and let not her face into be ashamed. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:08.000 I called in my affliction, and she who are her ears heard me, and saved me from all my trouble. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:16.000 The messenger of she who saves encompasses those who revere her, she will deliver her. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:20.480 Taste and see that she who is a delight is good. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:23.919 Happy are they who trust in her. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:29.200 Revere she who is God, and you that are her saints. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.480 For those who revere her lack nothing. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:42.480 The young lions suffer want for food and star, but those who seek sheep lack no good thing. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:45.759 Come, children, listen to me. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:54.000 Who is the woman or man that desires life? 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:00.240 Keep your tongue from evil. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.080 Turn from evil and do good. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:40.960 Reading from Corinthians, now hear this the one who sows sparingly, sparingly will also reap. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:45.679 The one who sows in abundance in abundance will also reap. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:14:05.759 Each one must give as decided in your heart, not out of reluctance or under pressure, for God loves a cheerful giver, and the power of God is able to grant you every gift abundantly, so that always having enough of everything you all may abound in every good work. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:11.120 As it is written, God scatters generously and gives to the poor. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.480 God's righteousness endures forever. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:40.080 The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness, enriched in every way for every kind of generosity which will yield through us a thanksgiving to God, and for the offering of this ministry does not only supply the needs of the saints, but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:53.519 Through the character of this ministry, you all glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ, and by the generosity of your companionship with them and with all others. 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:55.440 The word of the Lord. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:41.519 Glory to you, Lord Christ. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:50.399 Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by her, the Spirit, into the wilderness. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:57.360 Forty days was he tempted by the accuser, and nothing ate he, not one thing in those days. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:01.120 And when they were at an end, he was ravenous. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:08.640 And the accuser said to him, If the Son of God you are, command this stone that it become bread. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:14.720 Jesus answered him, It is written, Not by bread alone do the children of earth live. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:32.640 Then it raised Jesus up and showed him all the dominions of the world in a moment of time, and the accuser said to him, To you will I give all their authority and their glory, for to me has it been given, and as I will I give it to any one, thus, if you will worship me, it shall be yours. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:41.519 And Jesus answered, saying to it, It is written, The Holy One your God shall you worship, and God only shall you serve. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:18:01.359 Then it took Jesus to Jerusalem and placed him on the highest point of the temple, saying to him, If the Son of God you are, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, God's own angels will command on your account to protect you, and on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:09.039 Then Jesus answered, saying to it, It is said, Do not put the holy one your God to the test. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:14.160 And when every test was at an end, the accuser departed from Jesus for a season. 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:25.519 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country, and he began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by every woman and man. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:28.640 The gospel of the Lord. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:07.680 And I'm not going to defend the choice in the lictionary, but I uh I sort of think it was absolutely on purpose. 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:15.519 Reminder the lectionary presumes you know the story, which is Jesus' cousin John has invented a practice. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:17.519 And it does seem like John invented this. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:30.240 Jewish people at the time of Jesus were very concerned that they would pick up ritual impurities throughout the day, and said that they would take up to five, sometimes even more ritual baths to wash that off. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:33.359 These were not full of soap. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:42.400 They were like 50-gallon drums with water, and the idea was that you could sort of decontaminate yourself by getting in. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:45.759 John invents a new practice. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:51.839 One baptism for the forgiveness of sin. 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:55.039 This is novel. 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:58.319 It's public, it's not private, it's in the middle. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:02.079 It's not about ritual impurity, it's about sin. 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:05.039 And we read that Jesus wants that. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:07.599 So he goes. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:22.799 He hears the voice from heaven saying, This is my son, my beloved, and then we fast forward to the next thing is he tests his new identity in the wilderness. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:30.480 And I gotta say, I love doing baptisms because they're so beautiful, aren't they? 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:34.240 I mean, really, I don't know if you realize this is a real shell. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:40.559 It's 175 pounds, and it's sort of like the birth of Venus every time we do this, right? 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:46.319 Like somebody comes in and comes out like Venus, resplendent, and here's God with you. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:47.359 And look, we use. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:52.720 I mean, this is water from the actual Jordan River, but it's from upstream where it's clean. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:54.400 It looks really good, right? 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:59.279 And in the picture's everybody's sweet and serene, and it's just really lovely. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:04.319 Um except the Jordan River is really dirty, actually. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:09.200 Like it's brown and it overflows so often it could sweep you away. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:13.359 And people in the ancient world didn't wear like lovely white gowns. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:16.400 They went in naked, which I don't think I would want to do. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:29.119 And people in the ancient world were very afraid of putting their head under water because there was a thought that water is full of chaos and evil spirits and they could seize you up. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:30.640 Did you know all of this? 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:32.160 I'm not making this up. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:37.440 So the ceremony is going to be beautiful. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:44.559 But I think there's also this reality, and we know this all too well, because we have an idiom in English. 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:48.559 We say, that was a baptism by fire. 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:54.160 And I think we're reading about Jesus' baptism by fire. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:59.119 So he has this moment of clarity God loves me. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:07.519 The Holy Spirit comes down, and then, as is often the case, clarity doesn't last all that long. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:11.759 I don't think I'm wrong about that. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:17.279 I think even our most extraordinary moments, we find ourselves wishing they would go on repeat a week later. 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:31.359 So Jesus goes out, and this is maybe helpful to think through because John says this is the baptism for the forgiveness of sin, and we know that Jesus is like us in every way, but without sin. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:33.119 So why would he want that? 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:43.119 And maybe this is helpful to say that we use the word sin now in a way that it was not used in the Bible. 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:50.960 So sin comes from two words in the Bible: a Hebrew word hatat, a Greek word hamarsha. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:52.640 In Hebrew it can mean two things. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:59.039 So let me walk you through all three things that sin can mean, and hopefully we'll see why Jesus would maybe want it. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:06.480 So the Hebrew word is Hattat, and it either means it comes from archery, like you aimed for the bullseye and you hit the first ring. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:08.799 So you missed the mark. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:15.680 It doesn't mean you were a moral failure, it just means things didn't turn out like you'd hoped. 00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:22.319 So I don't want to get on anybody's nerves here, but when Oregon lost that game, they sinned. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:26.000 Because they didn't mean to. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:28.079 You see, they didn't mean to. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:31.839 They were trying to be undefeated the whole year and it didn't work. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:34.240 You may say, Mike, that's watering down the word. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:35.519 That's what it means. 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:37.920 So what's the worst response to sin? 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:40.160 Is you put your bow down and you quit. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:45.279 The proper response is, I can practice more intentionally. 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:46.480 I can practice well. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:49.359 And look, we all know this is what's fun about March Madness. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:52.880 Sorry for the sports metaphors, every team has a bad day. 00:23:53.119 --> 00:24:00.960 And sometimes a team has one good day, and it's their only good one all year, but they have it in the first round, and it's exhilarating. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:06.880 And our lives don't exist in one moment, they exist it day by day by day. 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:13.359 So no matter how good you are, you will probably miss the mark, which means you will sin. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:18.559 And the question is, what do you do when that happens? 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:20.799 Do you become bitter? 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:22.559 Do you give up? 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:24.240 Do you stop? 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:26.720 Do you blame other people? 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:28.960 I mean, this is how we often react. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:35.039 Other definition of a ta in Hebrew is it means to carry a heavy weight. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:50.400 Now, that could be literally, and it could be, and I would tell you that if you go on a serial killing rampage, that is a burden that you have imposed on society, and I would say to your own soul, because hey, humans don't do well when we kill other humans. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:58.720 But this could mean also not just that you did something wrong, but my life is full of burdens like regret. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:04.720 If you've had a child, I think you know what it's like to carry a burden. 00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:10.480 If you've been married more than a couple of years, I think you know what it's like to carry a burden. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:12.319 Because it's hard. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:18.480 So maybe Jesus has got some burdens he'd like to lay down. 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:24.480 Don't you have burdens you wish you could lay down? 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:26.160 I do. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:28.319 I do. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:32.480 Sin as a burden. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:40.160 The last word we get in the Bible, this is in Greek, the word's hamarsha, and it means your tragic flaw. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.319 Tragic flaws are so entertaining that there are plays about them. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:48.319 You may not remember reading Oedipus Rex in high school, but you probably did. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:54.160 Oedipus the king, his tragic flaw was hubris, that is, trying to be more than he was. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:26:04.880 Now, probably everybody knows, because we're in church, you probably know somebody whose tragic flaw is giving. 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:12.799 We love that they give and they're generous, but do you know people who give so much that they'll never receive? 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:16.079 Why is that a tragic flaw? 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:18.720 Because you can't be in relationship with them. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:23.599 So they give to their own detriment. 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:34.559 Do you know people who are so creative, they always think outside the box, and sometimes when they get frustrated, they turn to rebellion because they just want to do a different. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:36.160 By the way, I'm talking about myself. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:43.279 So sometimes our gifts cast big lights and they cast big shadows. 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:47.039 And the word for that in the New Testament is sin. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:57.279 So maybe Jesus, I mean, I'm just gonna say maybe, Jesus didn't have the moral transgression, but did Jesus want to lay down a burden? 00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:58.640 I guarantee you he did. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:03.920 Because he grew up born out of wedlock, and I bet people called him that word we don't use anymore. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:08.559 Starts with a B, and I bet you he wanted to lay that burden down. 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:16.640 Jesus was a carpenter for 30 years, and it seems like he decided not to do that anymore. 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:21.359 Like he decided what he was going to focus on instead. 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:25.920 I don't know what Jesus' tragic flaw was. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:26.799 I don't know. 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:38.640 And maybe that was wrapped up in his vocation, but I think, given the way that the Bible uses the word sin, it is very possible that Jesus wouldn't, well, be done with it. 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:54.160 And I think the beauty is we use this clean water, we talk about pearls, and we talk about shells, and the truth is I wish in a moment I could lay it down for good. 00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:58.000 I wish that were true, but friends, it's not true. 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:00.079 You know this to be the case. 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:08.079 My first placement out of seminary was in a drug rehab facility for mostly black clients. 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:12.880 This was in Atlanta, mostly addicted to crack. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:18.160 Sobriety does not come in one wash. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:26.480 Sobriety is a journey that takes every day of your life. 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:36.880 And it is so much work that the message of sobriety is we don't think about tomorrow because we'll get overwhelmed. 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:38.640 We think about today. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:49.039 Because if I think about having to do this work for 365 and a quarter days a year for the next 45 years of my putative lifespan, it's crushing. 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:56.480 So we do one day at a time, which I think is why we ask God for our daily bread, not our annual bread. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:04.480 This description of baptism, this is Jesus testing what he's just seen. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:06.880 This is the baptism of fire. 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:12.799 These are the waves of chaos that come to him to see, are you really laying that down? 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:15.440 Or are you just gonna pick it right up? 00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:21.279 Are you really changing the way you aim and shoot and target? 00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:25.279 Or do you just take a breather and you're going back to your habit? 00:29:25.839 --> 00:29:30.720 Are you really limiting your tragic flaw? 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:36.079 For the sake of your light and the world, or are you gonna go back to shadow casting? 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:42.480 Now, these temptations you've probably heard of, and they don't sound that tempting to most of us. 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:50.079 I mean, after all, is there anything morally wrong in changing stone into bread? 00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:53.039 I actually think that would be kind of neat, right? 00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:54.960 It would be a great fun at parties. 00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:56.079 Look what I can do. 00:29:56.240 --> 00:30:02.400 And look, in a place where people are uh impoverished and don't have food, it would be really, really useful. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:09.279 After all, the disciples are expecting that a Messiah is going to come and solve their problems for them. 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:14.720 And if you could turn, well, rocks into bread, well, there'd be plenty to eat. 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:24.720 So most scholars will tell you that this is Jesus being tempted to be who other people want him to be instead of who God wants him to be. 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:29.920 I'm still on that journey in my own life. 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:37.039 My dad's been dead for three years, and his voice is louder in my head than my own. 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:42.000 I don't know if you have those voices in your head from your parents about who you want to be. 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:44.160 They're not even always bad, right? 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:48.319 But we have to discern who we are versus who they wanted us to be. 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:53.680 We have to discern who God is calling us to be over what we've settled for. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:31:02.240 I'm actually want to offer you an interpretation of this from Stephen Charleston, who's a Native American bishop. 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:08.559 In the Native American culture, the oldest thing, the elders on earth, are rocks. 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:21.519 So this is a temptation, says Stephen Charleston, for Jesus to use his elders as commodities to be exploited. 00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:31.759 That might sound really crazy, except if you've read the Hebrew Bible, anytime there's like a really powerful event, they raise up a rock called an Ebenezer to bear witness. 00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:34.799 So actually I think they share some of the same perspective. 00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:44.880 And I don't know if you're like me, but boy, sometimes I meet people and I think, what can you do for me? 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:49.119 Instead of, who are you? 00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:56.400 That is certainly how we introduce ourselves to one another in America, isn't it? 00:31:57.519 --> 00:31:59.039 And what do you do? 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:01.440 And what do you do? 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:05.039 Because I'd like to know what I can do with you. 00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:12.079 Are you ever tempted to approach somebody as a commodity that will help you with your goals? 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:17.200 I rarely come out of the water on that one, if I'm honest. 00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:31.920 And this is going to sound really liberal, maybe it is, but we have a history of treating the earth as minerals to be extracted instead of as beauty to be protected. 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:34.480 Thank God for national parks. 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:42.480 I hope we don't lose them, because the goal of the park system is to make sure that we don't sacrifice beauty for strip mining. 00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:44.319 Why do we need that? 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:45.680 Because we do it. 00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:48.079 We would do it in a second. 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:51.119 So, by the way, is that sinful? 00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:52.960 I'm going to say yes it is. 00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:54.400 I'm going to say it is. 00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:56.480 So, this is Jesus' first test. 00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:00.240 How will you approach people as cogs in your machine? 00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:08.160 Or as subjects created and loved by God. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:13.359 Then we get this other bit. 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:26.079 And you'll notice that when the word Satan was used, I read the translation because the Bible did not have in mind this red thing with a tail and a pitchfork that came from Dante and John Milton. 00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:32.400 The word Satan means accuser, and the word devil means slanderer. 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:36.000 Now you may need a red thing to do that for you. 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:36.640 I don't. 00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:38.799 That voice is in me already, right? 00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:40.559 I don't need a thing on my shoulder. 00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:42.079 I've already got it in my brain. 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:48.319 So the slanderer shows up to Jesus and says, I'll tell you what, bow down to me, and you can have all the kingdoms of the world. 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:55.519 And let's not pretend that the devil owns the world, or we're all slaves to the devil. 00:33:55.599 --> 00:34:00.160 That mythology comes way after the scriptures and is not scriptural at all. 00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:09.840 I mean, really, this is probably something like you can have it all if you do it quickly and efficiently. 00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:12.719 Just take up the sword and you'll win. 00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:19.599 You ever tempted that the means justify the end? 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:22.800 Boy, I am. 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:27.440 I am tempted that the means justify the end. 00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:30.239 I would like to be efficient and quick. 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:34.079 I'd like to get the right thing done right now. 00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:44.000 Maybe this is Jesus saying, I'm not going to pick that burden up. 00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:45.920 I'm going to lay it down. 00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:50.559 Even if that means it costs me my life. 00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:52.320 By the way, it will. 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:54.239 Cost him his life. 00:34:55.039 --> 00:34:56.320 What about this third one? 00:34:56.480 --> 00:35:05.599 You know, jumping off the temple, which is about the size of our building, 45 feet tall, and coasting to the ground, sounded like a great idea when I was a middle school boy. 00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:07.440 But Jesus is now 30. 00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:09.760 So what's the temptation here? 00:35:09.840 --> 00:35:12.320 It's probably not a flair for the dramatics. 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:15.280 It's something, frankly, much less glamorous. 00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:23.280 God's just told Jesus, you're my beloved child, and you I'm well pleased. 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:27.840 And I know I've said this before, so you probably already know the answer. 00:35:29.119 --> 00:35:36.239 How many times do you have to confirm a rule in math to prove it? 00:35:39.119 --> 00:35:40.480 Infinitely? 00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:44.639 How many counterexamples does it take to destroy a rule? 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:45.599 One. 00:35:56.480 --> 00:36:00.239 And I still have the days where I say, prove it. 00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:03.280 I know better than to say it out loud. 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:10.000 This is my internal dialogue, but I act in ways sometimes that say, how about you prove it today? 00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:18.400 I mean, really, maybe this is a temptation about the security of God's love. 00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:25.679 If you don't live in that space insecurity about God's love, I don't really have anything to say to you. 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:26.719 You should be the priest. 00:36:26.880 --> 00:36:29.679 I live in that space all the time. 00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:41.440 Sure, I know it on paper, but effectually, it's just sort of hard at our worst to think that God loves us. 00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:43.280 Kind of hard. 00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:48.800 I'd like to think it was hard for Jesus, because that means, well, he's like me. 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:52.719 I'd like to think it was hard. 00:36:54.480 --> 00:36:59.840 I've even had family members who purposefully tried to test my love. 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:00.480 I don't know. 00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:07.920 I don't know that they put it in on paper, but boy, they would self-sabotage themselves in a second because they thought they weren't worth it. 00:37:08.159 --> 00:37:11.679 And they wanted to get it over with soon that I would reject them. 00:37:12.079 --> 00:37:13.920 So they put me to a test. 00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:16.239 Have you had somebody like that? 00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:19.440 Your life seems like Jesus did. 00:37:20.960 --> 00:37:27.440 Yeah, and so I wonder about these temptations, this baptism by fire. 00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:38.559 The truth is, without the baptism by fire, let's just go back to what we were used to. 00:37:40.480 --> 00:37:46.480 When the scriptures use the word fire, they never use them in a sense of torture or punishment. 00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:50.000 The point of heat is to burn away the dross. 00:37:50.719 --> 00:38:02.320 And I will say sometimes I'll start to heat up and my hair will get scorched a little bit, I'll get uncomfortable, and then I'll withdraw before I was transformed. 00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:06.000 Before I was transformed. 00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:13.440 It's because I didn't stay with the work long enough for it to recreate me. 00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:17.840 I'm pretty sure that's why we have these other two readings today. 00:38:18.559 --> 00:38:23.280 You notice what Abraham does with water. 00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:29.280 He washes his hands of his wife and child and sends them out to die. 00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:38.880 When we formally wash our hands of somebody, we've become Pontius Pilate, not Jesus. 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:46.639 You notice that water is life, and God's going to give it to Hegar. 00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:58.559 So the question is, do we join God in giving life or do we use water so we feel better about turning away from other people? 00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:02.960 That's a baptism by fire, isn't it? 00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:08.079 I hate to tell you this, the church hadn't done real well over the ages with it. 00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:15.360 Yeah, we have washed our hands of other people wholesale rather than pursuing them to give them life. 00:39:17.119 --> 00:39:21.039 We get this other bit from 2 Corinthians. 00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:24.400 That God lives, loves a cheerful giver. 00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:30.880 Now, because the holiday season's over, maybe you shouldn't raise your hand because some of you have family members in the room. 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:34.239 I don't always give cheerfully. 00:39:34.719 --> 00:39:37.440 Sometimes I give out of guilt. 00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:40.480 Particularly during the holidays. 00:39:41.760 --> 00:39:43.119 Don't raise your hand. 00:39:43.599 --> 00:39:50.159 But anybody else give the guilt gift of obligation over the holidays? 00:39:51.440 --> 00:39:52.639 I mean, it's fine. 00:39:52.719 --> 00:39:55.519 That's what human beings do, but what does God love? 00:39:56.320 --> 00:39:58.800 God loves giving with cheer. 00:39:59.920 --> 00:40:02.159 God loves giving with cheer. 00:40:02.320 --> 00:40:08.000 Not because of how the person will receive the gift, but because frankly, we thought of them and wanted to offer it. 00:40:08.800 --> 00:40:12.719 God does not give us anything out of guilt or obligation. 00:40:12.880 --> 00:40:15.360 It seems like God actually loves us. 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:23.280