WEBVTT 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:36.639 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and blessed be God's family now and forever. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:37.600 Amen. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:38.800 Together. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:47.360 Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:07:00.319 Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:01.279 Amen. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:11.039 Let us pray. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:18.720 O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy. 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:22.000 Increase and multiply upon us your mercy. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:29.440 That with you as our ruler and guide we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not the things eternal. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:35.039 Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:36.080 Amen. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:37.120 Please be seated. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:40.000 Now, unfortunately, kiddos, please be seated. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:41.919 We do not have godly play today. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:52.399 We have some come up, and so if you are, you know, used to go to godly play, I invite you to maybe come and grab something from the playground, or we've got some other toys and things there. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.840 You are, of course, welcome in the sanctuary always and everywhere. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.919 But sorry, no godly play today. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:09:59.120 Next week. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:04.159 A reading from 1 Samuel. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:17.840 There was a man, a Benjamin, whose name was Aesha, the son of Aviel, the son of Zehor, the son of the Korah, the son of Ophiok, himself, a son of Benjaminite, a warrior-hearted man of substance. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:21.840 He had a son whose name was Saul, a fine young man. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:25.120 There was not a man among the people of Israel finer than he. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:27.919 He stood above and beyond everyone else. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:31.759 Now the female donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, had strayed. 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:38.080 So Kesha said to his son, Saul, take one of the boys with you, get up and look for the donkeys. 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:53.120 Now the Holy One had uncovered the ear of Samuel the day before Saul came, saying, About this time tomorrow, I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be leader over people of Israel. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:11:01.919 He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have seen the humiliation of my people, because their cry has come to me. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:09.200 When Samuel saw Saul, the Holy One told him, Here is the man of whom I spoke to you. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:12.000 He it is who shall govern my people. 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:19.840 Then Saul approached Samuel in the center of the gate and said, Tell me, please, where is the house of the seer? 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:31.519 Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him and said, Has not the Holy One of oil anointed you leader over God's own heritage? 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:33.759 The word of the Lord. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:43.759 Sing to the exalted unused. 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:51.039 Sing to the Most High, bless her name. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:57.919 Declare among the nations her glory. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:13.039 For all the gods of the peoples are idols. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.440 Splendor and majesty are before her. 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:27.120 Give to the majestic one, you families of the peoples. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:34.960 Give to the fire of Sinai the glory do her name. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:42.799 Bow down and worship the sovereign one in majestic holiness. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:49.679 Say among the nations, the ever living God reigns. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:52.080 Indeed, the world is firmly established. 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:54.000 It shall never be moved. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:00.879 Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:08.000 Let the field exalt and all that is in it. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.080 Before the wisdom of the ages and for she is coming. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:44.799 God gave him fall. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:48.960 A man of the tribe of Benjamin for forty years. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:50.720 And God had removed. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:53.440 God made David the ruler. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:55.600 And God has testimony about David. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:04.879 God has I have found David, the son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will cry out and carry out all my wishes. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:11.120 From this seed, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as promised. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:13.759 The word of the Lord. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:01.680 And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:09.279 And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:17.039 But Jesus answered, It is written, Not by bread alone does humanity live, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:22.960 And the devil took Jesus to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:28.079 And he said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:38.000 For it is written, God will command God's own angels concerning you, and on their hands they will take you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:43.119 And Jesus said to it, Again, it is written, Do not put the Holy One your God to the test. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:55.680 And again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the dominions of the world and their glory, and it said to him, All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:20:02.799 And Jesus said to it, Away with you, Satan, for it is written, Worship the Holy One your God and serve only God. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:07.920 And the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on Jesus. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:11.119 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:43.759 Amen. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:45.279 Please be seated. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:48.079 Happy Sunday, everyone. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:50.640 Yay. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:54.960 I think it's gonna be a fun one today, y'all. 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:05.279 So I know, I know I'm a priest and I've I've been a priest for a long time, but did anybody, and it's okay, I don't expect anybody to answer this question yes. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:11.359 Did anybody have a moment when we had the reading today where you thought to yourself, are we in Lent? 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:13.039 Did that happen to anyone? 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:14.559 Okay, Jim, of course, right? 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:15.599 Yeah, Rodney. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:28.960 The reason is is because this reading, this this reading about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness is historically always and pretty much only read on the first Sunday in Lent. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:48.240 So, I mean, remember, we have a revised common lectionary in the church that most churches use, and very faithful people decide what scriptures we read every Sunday, and they decided that the first Sunday in Lent we should always read this story from one of the synoptic gospels. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:50.000 So we should always read this story. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:54.720 But we are reading a different lectionary, we keep talking about it, and it's Dr. 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:56.960 Will Gaffney, it's the women's lectionary. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.759 And I was really delighted that. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:01.279 We got to read it. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:02.240 And here's why. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:10.960 Like, it has been really meaningful and helpful for me as we embark on Lent to read this story. 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:11.440 Right? 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:15.279 We're getting ready for 40 plus days of sort of a discipline. 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:17.359 We journey together through a wilderness. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:18.400 We just had it. 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:19.440 We talked about it. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:22.079 If you're new and you don't know what it is, see me after. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:23.119 We'll talk about it. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:32.640 But like it's this season of the church where we together, through some discipline and some way or some intention, order our lives in a preparatory way as we prepare for Easter. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:34.079 It's a very intentional time. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:49.039 And so that the church said we should like see that Jesus went out for 40 days after he was baptized, just like the Israelites were 40 years in the wilderness journeying with God towards the promised land. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:23:06.880 There's this pattern, and we read, and Jesus, you know, he spends 40 days and he doesn't eat, and then the evil shows up, the devil shows up, Diablo shows up and tempts him in some way, and Jesus, you know, resists those temptations, and then he gets ministered to. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.200 And there's a part of me that needs that. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:11.920 I need that encouragement to do something hard. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:18.240 The problem for me is that I have this tendency to make Jesus a superhero. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:20.000 I'm not the only one. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:23.200 You hear me preach and push back against it. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:25.039 Y'all, is my is Marg here? 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:25.920 No, we're my family. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:26.960 Ah, Margo's here. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:35.599 So, I mean, so much so that I had a I had a t-shirt that had all of the Marvel and DC superheroes sitting on a bench and it had Jesus in the middle. 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:40.240 And like, I thought it was so clever because he was saying, Let me tell you about the time I saved the world. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:42.240 I mean, that's what the t-shirt did. 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:49.039 Like, I like this shirt so much that when perhaps I gained a little weight and it didn't fit, I made my oldest daughter wear it so I could look at it. 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:51.039 Right? 00:23:51.599 --> 00:24:08.079 Like, so I but here's that the problem is, is like, if our stories are about being superheroes in our faith, and we need encouragement about people who like white knuckle it and do great things and fight temptation, that leads us to become certain people and to talk about our faith life in a certain way, right? 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:09.920 So I'm kind of anti-superhero now. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:11.920 Friends, Jesus is not a superhero. 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:13.599 He's not a superhero, right? 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:16.799 He's just he's he is he is a son of God. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:21.359 He faces stuff that we face, and he had the same spirit that God is giving us, right? 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:22.880 So we're not alone. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:35.039 So I thought, well, if it's not Lent, and I don't want to talk about the superhero Jesus, like what, like, how can we understand this story as we're in ordinary time? 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:47.519 We're just we're in that time between the seasons where we're just wondering and thinking about what does it mean for us to be people of a Christian faith and a church community that is following this Jesus in the world. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:51.279 That's the the the normal everyday parts of life. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:53.599 No, it's it's the normal everyday part. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:59.359 And and as I'm doing that, I'm listening to a podcast because y'all know I like to listen to philosophy podcasts. 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:04.000 It wouldn't be a Sean Steele Storm if I don't introduce you to some random philosophy scholar. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:08.240 So I introduce you to a man named Peter Schladerdyke. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:15.519 Okay, so I'm listening to a podcast about a man named Peter Schlauderdike, who is a German, he's deceased now. 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:19.759 He was a German philosopher, and he was a philosopher of religion. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:25.759 He studied comparative religions, and he grew up in Germany post-World War II. 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:31.839 So he was raised and reared seeing like the worst of what faith can do. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:41.039 Remember, the Nazis used their Christian faith to subsidize and to justify all of the atrocities that they were doing. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:46.880 So he was sort of reared and grew up in this reality of seeing the worst about religion. 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:55.119 And so he didn't end up being a person who proclaimed a particular faith, but he did start saying this really interesting thing, right? 00:25:55.279 --> 00:26:03.519 Is he said that religion is actually critical and necessary and important for humanity and for all people. 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:10.240 Because it forms and trains us into being certain kinds of people. 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:16.079 And so he coined this term called anthropotechnics. 00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:17.279 Here we go. 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:31.200 Anthro, anthropos for human, and techne in the Greek for like tech technique, like skill, like a craftsperson, like something that you can learn by habituating and practicing over and over again. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:32.880 And he's a philosopher, right? 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:35.279 But he's also a psychologist and all of these other things. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:41.359 And he says that it without a doubt, human beings are not just what they eat, we are what we eat. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:42.319 We all know that. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:44.799 Garbage in, garbage out, we know that. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.240 We are what we do. 00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:54.400 Like, we become the way that we behave. 00:26:55.519 --> 00:27:06.319 And that doesn't mean, like, that doesn't mean that like you can in your head say, oh, I am a person who loves to care for the poor. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:09.200 But there's nothing I can do about it. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:11.599 He says that what makes a cynic. 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:16.160 He says that his big criticism is cynicism. 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:29.200 He says that cynics are people who can acutely see the problems and the realities of the world, but then they let themselves off the hook and they just sit and they're, well, there's nothing I can do about it. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:34.400 So I'm just gonna sit and point out how everybody else is doing it wrong and how everything is so horrible. 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:47.680 So he says that like religion is supposed to be the response to cynicism, and that we're supposed to train and order our life and our behaviors in a way that combats the things that we see are wrong in the world. 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:50.079 That we're supposed to be working towards something. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:52.319 We can't just do it in our head. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:54.640 He uses analogies. 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:57.440 He says, you know, it's just like playing the piano, y'all. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:00.000 I don't know anything about this piano. 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:05.759 But I promise you, I cannot sit down and start playing Rachman and off. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:08.640 Like, that's not gonna happen. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:11.759 How many hours do you think you played piano or organ in your life? 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:17.119 Are you at 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, 20,000 hours? 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:22.960 He said, the ethical human life is just like that. 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:27.440 That we actually have to build in practices to become the people that we are. 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:28.480 So stay with me. 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:36.240 I started thinking, what happens if I take what's now called this Peter Schlaughterdykian lens and I apply it to our Matthew 4? 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:43.680 What if this isn't just about like appreciating Jesus as superhero who inspires us to do hard things and to like white knuckle it? 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:44.160 Right? 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:45.839 Work harder, right? 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:55.839 What if this is a pattern and this is about facing and building disciplines in our life so that like we can be and do the things that God is calling us to do? 00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:02.400 So notice that like Jesus doesn't really show up a lot before his baptism. 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:03.119 I mean, he doesn't. 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:08.960 We get some stories in Luke and Matthew, but largely there's not a lot of stories floating around about Jesus' first 30 years. 00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:10.640 And I think that's intentional. 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:18.000 So Jesus is baptized, and something happens in that moment where he hears, he has a revelation. 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:29.599 There's a voice, either he hears it, other people hear it, you know, there is a voice of in some way a revelation where Jesus hears, you are my beloved son, and in you I am well pleased. 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:31.440 You are God's beloved. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:33.519 He is given this identity. 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:43.440 And I would like to think that every single one of us, whenever we have experienced the baptism, when we come here in some way, we hear you are God's beloved child. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:46.640 Like you are God's beloved child. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:48.799 You hear me say this over and over again. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:53.839 So Jesus has this revelatory moment that is spirit-given. 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:58.400 And then that same spirit drives him into the wilderness. 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:02.720 And it doesn't mean like invited or suggested, it literally means compelled. 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:07.519 Like grabbed by the crook of the neck and drove out into the wilderness. 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:08.079 Why? 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:09.599 To prove something? 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:19.519 Or was this to begin the process of habits so that Jesus can become and do the thing that he realized he needed to do? 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:26.079 In his baptism, he got a compelling vision about the world and his work and who he was supposed to be. 00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:28.880 And that required training. 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:31.279 That required discipline. 00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:33.599 That required practices. 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:36.000 So he goes out into the wilderness. 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:39.839 And so I started thinking like, what are the things that Jesus was facing? 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:42.480 What did he need to train in his life? 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:49.920 Like, what were the behaviors that he had to get used to doing and pushing back against to be the person that God was calling him to be? 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:51.680 What are the behaviors that we need to have? 00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:56.720 What's the training we need to have in our life to be the people God is calling us to be? 00:30:56.960 --> 00:31:02.400 And so if I titled this like little reflection, it would be Pain, Shame, and Shortcuts. 00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:06.640 Pain, shame, and shortcuts. 00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:09.039 That's what that's what I want you to leave here with. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:11.599 These are the things we have to train ourselves against. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:14.079 And them dominating our life. 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:18.559 So the first one, Jesus, 40 days he didn't eat, it says. 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:21.440 What is the longest you've ever gone without eating? 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:23.359 Honestly. 00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:25.599 What's the hungriest you've ever been? 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:32.880 We got any like military people who had to do some like, yeah, Jed, I bet at the longest in the military, when you're doing your wilderness training, it was probably what three days? 00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:34.160 Four days? 00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:35.200 Three days? 00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:37.039 And how hungry were you? 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:39.519 Exactly. 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:44.000 We're talking like on the verge of death, people. 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:48.960 Hungry, in pain, psychologically, physically. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.640 And then the temptation is hey, just turn these bread to stone. 00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:58.319 Make that pain go away, that suffering. 00:31:58.559 --> 00:32:03.359 And and Jesus' response is you don't live by bread alone. 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:06.880 My life is not just about me avoiding pain. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:15.039 And guys, I gotta be honest, he's fighting, I don't know, a couple million years of evolutionary biology. 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:17.680 Do you know why we have pain? 00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:23.359 To tell us that something is that's why pain exists. 00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:36.640 I mean, according to the evolutionary biologists, and for some reason, and I think it's a good one, God is telling Jesus, you need to train yourself to not interpret pain always and everywhere as the thing that you have to avoid. 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:43.039 Otherwise, when you have to face a hard thing in the world, Jim just earlier says, Man, the Christian life is risky. 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:45.839 If you take it seriously, it's a risky life. 00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:55.200 It invites you into discomfort and pain and hard conversations and sacrificial giving and standing up and speaking truth to power. 00:32:55.920 --> 00:32:59.599 Like physical, maybe, existential, emotional pain. 00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:03.680 And if we orient our entire life to just avoid pain, that's a successful life. 00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:04.799 I just don't look at it. 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:06.799 I shove it away, I numb over here. 00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:15.279 I do if our relationship with pain is always and everywhere, it's failure and it's meant to be avoided, then we're not going to be able to do the work that God has called us to do. 00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:24.240 So I think this is Jesus starting a practice in his life to engage discomfort. 00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:28.720 And to say that discomfort is somehow how God shows up sometimes. 00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:36.799 I'll be honest, looking back, the biggest moments of transformation in my life, the biggest moments have always involved great pain. 00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:43.839 Well, Richard Rohr says it like this transformation always happens with great love or great pain. 00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:46.799 Unfortunately, it's rarely great love. 00:33:48.960 --> 00:33:50.480 Friends, we gotta have practices. 00:33:50.559 --> 00:34:01.359 And so the church says maybe you should have a fasting practice, maybe you should take a pilgrimage, maybe you should forego some type of comfort for the sake of somebody else, having basic or minimum needs being met. 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:02.960 Create discomfort in your life. 00:34:03.119 --> 00:34:03.759 Get used to it. 00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:07.599 Otherwise, we will orient our entire life just around avoiding pain. 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:11.679 Now, listen, I'm not asking you to go out and buy that little whippy thing that you hit yourself with. 00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:13.679 Like, listen, we're not doing that. 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:14.320 Okay? 00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:16.800 Like, there's enough in life. 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:21.760 I'm just saying, perhaps recognize if you're orienting your entire life around avoiding it. 00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:25.440 The hard conversation, the slight discomfort, whatever it is. 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:26.960 Develop a practice. 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:34.960 The church has said there are lots of practices that we can do to engage discomfort in our life and to build that muscle. 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:36.719 The next one. 00:34:36.880 --> 00:34:39.360 Now, of course, you might say, okay, Sean's the shame guy. 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:40.719 I talk about shame all the time. 00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:43.519 And the reason is, is because I'm writing my dissertation on it. 00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:44.960 When it's over, you won't hear it anymore. 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:45.679 I'm just kidding. 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:48.480 The reason is, is because I think it's really, really important. 00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:50.960 I think it's the core thing. 00:34:51.119 --> 00:34:52.159 I really do believe this. 00:34:52.239 --> 00:34:55.679 And so let's look at the second little test or temptation. 00:34:56.000 --> 00:35:09.599 He takes Jesus up to the top of the pinnacle of the temple and he says, you know, if God really loved you, you could throw yourself off, and God would catch you. 00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:11.199 So here you have Jesus. 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:13.599 He does a psychological attack, not a physical one. 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:17.679 You have Jesus, he encountered I am God's beloved child. 00:35:18.159 --> 00:35:22.480 He had this moment of like, I am God, nothing can separate me from the love of God. 00:35:22.719 --> 00:35:24.079 That's what happened to Jesus. 00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:29.199 He realized that God loves me, I have a place at the table, nothing can separate me. 00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:30.320 Hard stock. 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:35.199 Remember, shame is the painful feeling that we are flawed and unworthy of that love. 00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:44.400 Jesus had a moment, and then the tempter comes in and is like, are you sure God loves you? 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:48.320 Why don't you just chuck yourself off? 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:51.119 And God will save you if God loves you. 00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:58.159 And Jesus pushes back and begins a practice of saying, you know what? 00:35:58.320 --> 00:36:02.639 I'm not gonna spend my life just validating that God loves me. 00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:05.119 Because there's work to do. 00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:11.119 How many of us orient our entire life every day just trying to fill that shame bucket? 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:21.280 Shoot, I'm so good at it, I can actually make you think I'm doing something good for you when really all I'm doing is meet my own shame needs. 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:28.559 There is a way for us to orient our entire life around just saying, God, really, do you love me? 00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:29.199 Do you love me? 00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:30.320 Do you love me? 00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:31.840 Am I good enough? 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:32.559 Am I good enough? 00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:34.000 Am I good enough? 00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:42.880 And if we allow that to dominate our life, how are we gonna do the work God wants us to do? 00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:48.880 So the church has practices for this. 00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:50.880 You're seeing a theme here. 00:36:51.280 --> 00:36:57.440 The church has said there are practices that we can do to push back so we can catch ourselves when we're curving in. 00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:01.360 Augustine calls it curving in on yourself to curve out. 00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:03.519 Confession. 00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:05.119 It's a great practice. 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:09.840 You come in, you sit with the priests, and you say, Yeah, I'm broken. 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:11.760 I say, Yeah, I'm broken too. 00:37:12.559 --> 00:37:13.760 Say, this is what I did. 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:14.559 Does God love me? 00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:15.199 Yep. 00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:16.480 Stop worrying about that. 00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:18.000 Let's get on with it. 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:21.360 I mean, it's really, I mean, it's more a little bit more holy than that. 00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:32.559 But I mean, essentially, what we're saying is the church has built in a practice that said, shame is gonna creep in, but if you let it dominate your life, then everything you do is always gonna be really a conversation about you and your worth. 00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:35.360 So let's build in practices that push back. 00:37:35.599 --> 00:37:38.079 Let's confess it, let's talk about our brokenness. 00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:43.039 Let's have a community of people that remind us that it's okay to be imperfect and that we're loved. 00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:46.000 Let's actually get out with the suffering of other people. 00:37:46.079 --> 00:37:48.960 That's the second practice that I want to recommend to you. 00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:52.960 Jesus said, Go be among the poor, go be among the broken. 00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:53.679 And you know why? 00:37:53.840 --> 00:38:05.199 Because it's really hard for me when I'm doing the food distribution, talking to people who have so much less and are carrying so much heavier of a burden for me to be so obsessed about my own self-worth. 00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:06.800 I'm not the only one. 00:38:08.559 --> 00:38:11.840 So the practice is how do we get out of our own head? 00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:18.880 And Jesus starts pushing back and developing that difference, that that that developing that practice to push back. 00:38:21.039 --> 00:38:26.400 And the last one, pain, shame, and this one was a little interesting because I thought, wow, this is so true for me. 00:38:27.039 --> 00:38:28.559 It's shortcuts. 00:38:29.280 --> 00:38:31.440 This the the story's fascinating, right? 00:38:31.519 --> 00:38:38.800 Jesus is taken up to a grand mountain and says, All of this will be yours. 00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:42.480 I mean, it already was, which is interesting, right? 00:38:43.519 --> 00:38:44.400 It already was. 00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:46.320 I mean, in the story, Jesus is the Messiah. 00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:50.079 Who knows what his revelation was, but Jesus is Lord over all of creation and earth. 00:38:50.239 --> 00:38:57.360 But he comes in and he's like, all of this will be yours if you just sacrifice your highest value. 00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:02.880 And I started thinking, wow, shortcuts. 00:39:03.280 --> 00:39:11.199 We live in a society right now that idolizes and worships speed and efficiency. 00:39:11.840 --> 00:39:12.719 Oh, yeah. 00:39:13.039 --> 00:39:18.559 All of our technology and development is about faster and more efficient and less energy. 00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:19.920 Faster. 00:39:21.440 --> 00:39:22.559 It's everywhere. 00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:28.480 How can I get there as quick and with the least amount of resources as possible in my life? 00:39:31.760 --> 00:39:36.159 There's a guy named Koyama, he's a Japanese scholar. 00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:40.480 And he wrote this book called The Three Mile an Hour God. 00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:43.599 Isn't that interesting? 00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:46.079 It's slow. 00:39:48.320 --> 00:39:49.280 Thank you. 00:39:49.679 --> 00:39:52.960 But you know why he says God moves at three miles an hour? 00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:57.599 Because that's the pace of an average walking person. 00:39:59.760 --> 00:40:06.800 He says that redemption happens relationally and slowly at three miles an hour. 00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:15.760 And there are times where we just want to get there and relationships and things, and we don't want to go through the relational process and we don't want to just sit with it. 00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:21.920 And usually those times are, you know, when we're invited to sacrifice a value. 00:40:23.599 --> 00:40:29.760 And if you're like me, you can rationalize that sacrifice to move quickly. 00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:37.440 And the story is saying that Jesus had to build in practices to say that, like, I know where I'm supposed to go. 00:40:37.679 --> 00:40:40.000 I know I am Lord over all of the earth. 00:40:40.239 --> 00:40:42.000 I know this is what God is doing. 00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:43.840 I know we're supposed to get there. 00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:49.519 But I'm not gonna take shortcuts, I'm not gonna sacrifice my values to get there. 00:40:50.320 --> 00:40:53.440 I'm gonna walk slowly and I'm gonna do it relationally. 00:40:55.679 --> 00:40:57.840 This tyranny of busy, y'all. 00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:03.519 The Sabbath is the only commandment that we brag about breaking. 00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:08.239 We brag about it. 00:41:10.239 --> 00:41:11.039 How you been? 00:41:11.199 --> 00:41:12.320 Oh, I'm busy. 00:41:12.719 --> 00:41:15.199 Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy. 00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:18.079 Y'all, listen, mom, I love you. 00:41:18.239 --> 00:41:19.679 You know I love you. 00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:25.760 My mom, at some stages of her life, I don't know how she did what she did. 00:41:25.840 --> 00:41:30.800 I look back with all the demands that she had, and you talk about feeling like she was a superhero. 00:41:30.880 --> 00:41:32.480 The woman didn't sleep, she didn't do anything. 00:41:32.559 --> 00:41:34.400 I just don't know how she did it. 00:41:34.639 --> 00:41:38.000 Now I call her and she's got one doctor's appointment a week. 00:41:38.239 --> 00:41:41.119 And when I asked her how she's doing, you know what she says? 00:41:41.679 --> 00:41:43.920 Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy. 00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:45.760 I'm like, really? 00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:49.440 You want the high V and a doctor this week? 00:41:49.599 --> 00:41:50.800 Like, like what? 00:41:51.519 --> 00:41:58.159 Y'all, because it because the we're so trained and ingrained that if we're not busy, then we're not valuable. 00:41:58.480 --> 00:42:01.039 And busy is related to efficient. 00:42:02.159 --> 00:42:02.800 Right? 00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:13.280 The tyranny of this and the practice that the the started with our Jewish brothers and sisters and goes on with us is this practice of rest and Sabbath. 00:42:13.599 --> 00:42:18.000 Sabbath, don't do anything but be in relationship with each other and God. 00:42:18.800 --> 00:42:19.599 Do nothing. 00:42:19.760 --> 00:42:20.719 You don't need to do anything. 00:42:20.800 --> 00:42:22.960 All the work that needed to be done was done in Jesus. 00:42:23.119 --> 00:42:23.760 We're good. 00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:25.199 You're not that important. 00:42:25.440 --> 00:42:26.400 Meet your neighbors. 00:42:26.559 --> 00:42:28.320 Don't just look at a screen. 00:42:29.360 --> 00:42:31.360 Sit with somebody, get to know them. 00:42:32.639 --> 00:42:34.559 Move at three miles an hour. 00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:37.599 Sabbath. 00:42:38.719 --> 00:42:39.360 Rest. 00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:41.599 Service. 00:42:42.400 --> 00:42:43.199 Prayer. 00:42:45.280 --> 00:42:46.719 Embrace the slowness. 00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:53.199 Jesus had to put practices in his life so that he wasn't tempted to take shortcuts in every way. 00:42:55.760 --> 00:42:57.440 So here's the good news. 00:42:57.840 --> 00:43:04.800 I don't think the angels were a reward because Jesus somehow slugged it out like Rocky for 40 days, right? 00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:09.599 It was like, oh good, we'll get you, you know, we'll get you a doctor to care for your wounds. 00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:23.519 I think that's in the story because it's saying that like as we build these practices and as we orient our life, we get reminded that God doesn't leave us to do it alone, that God sends God's very own spirit and angels to minister to us. 00:43:24.079 --> 00:43:43.360 And that the point of life, right, is to be these beloved children and to tell the world that they are beloved children, and to put bricks in the kingdom of God that is full of shalom and peace and equity and love and justice and forgiveness and welcoming, you know, welcoming the stranger and hospitality and speaking truth to power. 00:43:43.760 --> 00:43:46.880 I mean, this is hard stuff, and we we gotta train. 00:43:47.039 --> 00:43:50.400 We gotta train our ethical life, is what I'm trying to say. 00:43:51.199 --> 00:43:54.480 And I and I think that that I think that, you know, Mr. 00:43:54.639 --> 00:43:56.480 Schladerdyke was right. 00:43:56.960 --> 00:43:58.559 I think we are what we do. 00:43:58.639 --> 00:44:04.320 And so my invitation to you today is one, just remember that you're God's beloved child. 00:44:04.719 --> 00:44:06.559 Like that's who you are, that's your identity. 00:44:06.639 --> 00:44:08.960 I'm not asking you to go to earn anything. 00:44:09.199 --> 00:44:10.239 You can't earn that. 00:44:10.400 --> 00:44:10.960 You are it. 00:44:11.039 --> 00:44:11.679 God loves you. 00:44:11.840 --> 00:44:12.639 Hard stop. 00:44:13.440 --> 00:44:16.960 And then I wonder like, what are the practices and behaviors of your life? 00:44:17.039 --> 00:44:19.440 Like, who is that forming you to become? 00:44:20.559 --> 00:44:22.320 And can we do anything about it? 00:44:22.400 --> 00:44:25.599 And I think the story and the church is saying you can. 00:44:25.840 --> 00:44:30.400 We can be people that resist discomfort and don't always and everywhere avoid pain. 00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:39.280 We can be people that don't fold in on ourselves, that think about other people and work towards like their wholeness, that we can be a part of that system. 00:44:39.679 --> 00:44:43.519 And we can be people who can slow down and be in relationship. 00:44:43.679 --> 00:44:46.719 We don't have to get so worked up about how long it's gonna take. 00:44:47.199 --> 00:44:51.679