WEBVTT 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:41.280 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God's family, now and forever. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:42.159 Amen. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:43.039 Together. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:51.280 Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:03:03.840 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. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:04.879 Amen. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:40.000 Let us pray. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:45.839 Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your church. 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:52.319 And because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:57.920 Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:05:58.720 Amen. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:00.879 Please be seated for the lessons. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:04.959 I now invite all of our kiddos to head on out for Godly Play. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:06.480 Miss Courtney is in the back. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:10.639 So if you want to go to godly play up to fifth grade, here we go. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:11.839 Rock and roll. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:26.720 A reading from 1 Samuel. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:34.879 Samuel said to Saul, I was sent by the dread God to anoint your ruler over God's people, over Israel. 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:40.160 Now then, hearken to the call of the words of the inscrucible God. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:52.079 Thus say to the sovereign of heaven's vanguard, I will punish Amalek for what they did to Israel, setting against them in their ancient, in their ascent from Egypt. 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:58.560 Now go and smite Amalek, and put to holy destruction all they have. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:09.920 Do not spare them, and put them to death from woman to man, and from infant to nursing baby, and from ox to sheep, from camel to donkey. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:18.959 Saul seized Agag, the ruler of the Amalekites, alive, and put to holy destruction all the people at the edge of the sword. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:30.720 The word of the sovereign God to Samuel was, I regret that I crowned Saul as ruler, for he has turned away from me, and my commands he has not instituted. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:37.759 Then Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the God who hears all, who appears all night. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:53.680 And Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, and it was told to Samuel Saul went to Carmel, where he erected a monument for himself, then turned around and passed by going down to Gilgal. 00:07:54.399 --> 00:08:00.560 Now Samuel came to him, and Saul said to him, Blessed are you by the Holy One of old. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:04.399 I have instituted the command of the Holy One of Sinai. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:11.519 Then Samuel said, What is this sound of sheep in my ears, and the sound of cattle I am hearing? 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:21.920 And Saul said, They brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spare the best of the sheep and cattle, to sacrifice to the holy one, your God. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.279 But the rest we have put to holy destruction. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:28.480 Then Samuel said to Saul, Stop. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:32.720 Let me tell you what the ancient one said to me last night. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:35.360 Saul replied, speak. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:43.120 Samuel said, Though you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.879 The Holy One anointed you ruler over Israel. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:58.320 Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the utterance of the dread God and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:08.320 Now then I pray, pardon my sin and return with me, so that I may worship the Holy One of old, the word of the Lord. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:22.240 Our psalm is from Psalm seven. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:24.799 We will read responsibly by the half verse. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:30.399 Faithful one, my God, in you I take refuge. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:40.000 Lest one of them rend me like a lion, dragging me away. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:46.320 Just one, my God, if I have done this. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:54.399 If I have repaid one at peace with me with evil. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.480 And trample my life to the ground. 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:14.639 Rise up, dread God, and in your anger be lifted up against the fury of my enemies. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:23.600 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:29.360 The righteous one judges the peoples. 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:23.679 Each of you is without excuse when you pass judgment, for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself, because you the judge are doing the same thing. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:30.000 We know God's judgment is on those who, in accordance with truth, do such things. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:39.200 Do any of you think when you judge those who do these things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:44.960 Or do you despise the riches of God's kindness and clemency and patience? 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:50.399 Are you unaware that the kindness of God should lead you to repentance? 00:11:50.720 --> 00:12:00.480 For through your hard and unrepentant heart, you are accumulating wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, and the righteous judgment of God will be revealed. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:04.240 For God will repay each one according to their deed. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:13.279 To those who with patience do good, seeking glory and honor and immortality, God will give eternal life. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:20.960 But for those who are contentious and disobey the truth, choosing wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:25.759 There will be anguish and distress for every human soul who does evil. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:30.240 The Jew first and also the Greek for Gentiles. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:34.240 But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:38.000 The Jew first and also the Greek for Gentile. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.799 For God shows no favoritism. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:46.000 Jesus said, You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.559 And whoever murders shall be subject to judgment. 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:57.679 But I say to you all that if you are angry with a sister or brother, you will be liable to judgment. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:03.440 And if you call a sister or brother an idiot, you will be subject to the counsel. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:08.480 And if you say you fool, you will be subject to the hell of fire. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:21.919 Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar, and you remember that your sister or brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:26.639 First, be reconciled to your sister or brother, and then come and offer your gift. 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:38.799 Come to favorable terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way with them, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, to the judge or the court officer, and you will be thrown into prison. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:44.080 Truly, I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:46.960 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:27.440 The word of the Lord, thanks be to God, or the gospel of the Lord, praise you, Lord Christ. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:33.039 I mean, there's Sundays where I'd really like it to say the word of the Lord, doggone it, Lord Christ. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:37.039 Or maybe you've changed your mind, Lord Christ. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:38.799 I mean, let's just be really clear. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:46.879 Like, if you heard that and you didn't hear Jesus speaking to parts of you, read it again. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:53.519 Because there just feels like there's parts of me that feel like, shoot, you got me. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:55.360 So here's what I would have suggested to you. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:00.559 I want to give you like a general opportunity for maybe a way to hear Jesus. 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:07.920 And then I want to back through the gospels and then talk back through the other readings and talk about how I think Jesus is doing something other than I want to tell you now. 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:16.079 So around the time of Jesus, and this is still true, there was this like tradition, and many scholars say this is probably what Jesus was trying to do. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.960 It's called building a fence around the Torah. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:27.039 So the Torah is sort of the law given to Moses on Mount Horeb or Mount Sinai, depending which book you're reading, that's written down. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:29.920 We call that Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:33.920 And then there's another oral Torah that tells you how to interpret that. 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:38.559 And if you think about it, like the Torah says, don't do this, do that. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.640 And sure enough, as human people, I mean, there's nothing wrong with this. 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:46.799 I often find myself liking to walk right along the edge of the rule. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:52.799 Of course, when I stumble over the edge, it's a precipitous drop. 00:17:53.680 --> 00:18:01.519 So what the rabbis were trying to do around the time of Jesus and certainly after, is something called building a fence around the Torah. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:06.559 That is to say, instead of me being able to travel right on the line, it's, well, let's create a buffer zone. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.359 And that way, if I do stumble, I won't fall off the edge. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:13.839 Let me just give you an example that's gonna sound ludicrous to you, but I but it's facts. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:14.319 Okay. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:25.519 I don't know if you realize this, but when our Jewish brothers and sisters talk about the word meat, they're only referring to mammals who are ruminants and have a cloven. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.519 Fish are not meat. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:32.319 Birds are not meat. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:34.160 This is this is facts. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:41.119 You probably know that if you're trying to keep kosher or kosher food law, you cannot combine meat with a dairy. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:42.799 No case birds. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:45.119 No buttering your birds. 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:57.440 So in order to keep us away from falling off that Torah injunction, the rabbis have said, look, we all know that birds aren't meat. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:18:59.920 A chicken and a turkey are not meat. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:05.759 But the rabbis have also said, you can't butter and fuse your Thanksgiving turkey. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:12.079 Because even if you did that, you might think it was okay to butter the meat. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:20.319 So even though it's technically not wrong to butter the turkey, it could lead you into the false assumption that buttering meat is okay. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:26.319 I know that sounds ridiculous to our ears, but if you really want to keep the Torah, this is like life or death. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.839 So don't even lean near it. 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:33.920 Lean away from it by even things that you might think are the case. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:34.960 Does that make sense? 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:42.079 So you've heard it said, don't murder, but I tell you, don't be angry and don't call somebody an idiot. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.519 Okay, could be building a fence away from murder. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:50.480 Because if you're not angry, well then, and you murder somebody, you're probably a sociopath. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:20:02.079 Or, you know, if you call somebody an idiot, well, maybe you've sort of assassinated their character, and the next thing you could do is not care about their life. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:05.519 Could be a fence around the Torah. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:07.920 But I actually think it's going a lot deeper than that. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.400 So let me back into the Samuel's story. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:16.720 Now, reminder if you look at the citation, you'll see that this is portions from a narrative. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:18.319 It's not the straight narrative. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:26.559 In some ways, it's lovely that the compilers of the lectionary think you're fluent with the Bible. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:28.000 They do. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:30.799 They think you've read the whole block. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:34.799 So that when they give you an excerpt, you know the rest of the story. 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:37.680 I think most of you don't know the whole block. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:41.920 So let me tell you a little bit what's missing and what's going on in the story. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:46.079 Saul has this commit holy war. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:48.000 I don't know if you know this. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:53.200 Holy war is an idea in the Hebrew Bible that has never once been practiced in the history of humankind. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:55.680 Holy war goes like this. 00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:59.920 You're going to completely commit genocide. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:04.880 You're going to kill every male and female and child, all of them. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:09.680 And not only you're going to kill the people, because we've done that before. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:12.720 You're going to take all the resources and you're going to burn them. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:15.440 There will be no profit in doing this for you at all. 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:25.279 So just imagine during the first, you know, Gulf War that not only did we kill all of the Iraqi people, not just the soldiers, but all of them. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:29.279 Then when we got to the oil fields, we burned them all in front of us. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:32.880 Now you might be saying, who would do that? 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:34.880 And maybe that's the point of holy war. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.880 Why would you do this when there's nothing in it for you? 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:42.880 Which is actually probably an argument against there being a holy war. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:47.200 I mean, would you send your son to die when there's no gain? 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:53.519 Would you be willing to send your father into a battle where he's going to commit genocide and burn all the prophets? 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:54.400 I don't think so. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:59.759 Here's the kind of war we practice we kill who we think are the obstacles and we take their stuff. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.920 Sure, we might lose our lives, but we get wealthy. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:11.839 You read through Joshua, he never commits holy war, not once. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:18.400 There's always somebody who says, geez, if I'm at risking my life, I should get something out of this physically. 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:21.200 It never happens in the scriptures that people do it. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:22.400 This is no exception. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:24.640 So Saul is commanded, commit holy war. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:28.240 And actually, if you read the part that's missing, Saul thinks he's done it. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:33.839 He kills everybody, man, woman, children, except for the ruler. 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:36.640 He kills all the cattle except for the good ones. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:47.279 If you read the part we're missing, Saul says to Samuel, I've done it because I'm going to bring Agag and all the good cattle, and I'm going to kill them in the presence of the people. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:50.559 I'm going to make them an offering to God. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:57.599 Now, you might quibble because it's true that when you holocaust a sacrifice, that means burn it completely, no one gets any. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:00.160 Whereas if you sacrifice it, you can eat it. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.559 I mean, so what's Saul getting out of it? 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:03.119 A meal. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:08.640 But if you just give him a little bit of compassion just for a second, he actually thinks he's doing it. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:15.279 He's going to bring them back and sacrifice them all, and he's going to publicly execute Ag so everybody can see. 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:16.480 Not just hear the story. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:19.200 I mean, they want proof of Osab bin Laden being killed. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:20.319 Do you all hear this? 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:22.640 So that's his intent. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.279 There's this interesting phrase. 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:32.799 God says to Samuel in the middle of the night, God says, I regret from making Saul key. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:37.359 And I want to make sure you hear that the Hebrew is actually way more ambiguous than that. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:40.880 God says, I repent from making Saul key. 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:44.160 Not in the sense that I wish I'd never done it. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:48.319 This word of repentance is, I am aggrieved. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:54.880 I am aggrieved that Saul in a position of power did not follow my word to the letter. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:57.759 It's really important you hear that. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:02.400 Because God says nothing about Saul being rejected. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:09.920 God says nothing about Saul being an incomplete or an unfaithful or bad human. 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:14.559 God just says, I've got grief over what happened. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:22.000 This is what I want to suggest to you happens when we go to school and university. 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:27.759 We go in order to become better judges. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:39.839 I got a math degree so I could judge more effective ways of solving problems and judge whether their answers made any sense at all. 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:44.000 College trained me for judgment. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:56.240 I am a strong judge of false information regarding interpretation of the scriptures because I went to seminary to be a more competent judge. 00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:59.519 God judges out God grief. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:05.920 Samuel hears judgment and turns it to condemnation. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:13.759 I did not go to college ostensibly to be better at condemning people. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:16.960 I was already really good at it. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:40.400 And so this interesting part that we know is socially valuable, rendering respectable, considerable judgments is so often tied in us to this very socially destructive and not just outside, inwardly destructive force of hearing a judgment and turning it to condemnation. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:45.039 Here's just a minor social example. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:49.759 Somebody tells a lie, we judge, you told a lie. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:52.960 That is very different from the ruling that often comes. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:55.680 You told a lie, therefore you're a liar. 00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:00.079 By definition, a liar is somebody who only lies. 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:02.880 You've never met that person in your life. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:06.000 There is no one who only tells lies. 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:14.640 We might say there are people more prone to telling lies than others, but I hope you hear the difference between telling lies and being a liar. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:20.319 That is the difference between judgment and judgment-informed condemnation. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:28.319 I don't think God has any problem with us judging what is life-giving from what isn't. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:37.519 I think God is actually very aggrieved when we take our judgments and take life from other people. 00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:46.880 And it's hard not to, because after all, if we don't enforce the rules carefully, there could be disorder. 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:54.000 Therefore, the disorder that we often render for telling a lie is death. 00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:58.960 This is how we talk about politicians, isn't it? 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:01.839 You told them the lie once, you deserve not to be in office. 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:02.880 I mean, that's crazy. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:05.279 Who could even live by that standard? 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:11.359 And we revel in that standard, I'd like to suggest. 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:14.240 And I don't just mean about the way we talk to other people. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:19.039 I mean usually how we talk about our experience. 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:26.400 So many of us, probably in elementary school, had this really interesting experience where we were drawing a thing. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:36.799 And maybe it'd be somebody said, probably an adult, either a teacher or a parent, that doesn't look realistic, or that's not very good. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:41.200 As if art existed to be realistic. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:44.000 That's why we have cameras, friends, right? 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:45.920 We have cameras to be realistic. 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:48.319 Art allows us to express what's in there. 00:27:48.480 --> 00:28:00.319 And so if you heard that message like I did, and maybe I didn't even hear it, maybe I just looked and I did comparison and I judged myself not only in keeping with my peers, but worse than them, then I got this narrative. 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:01.759 I'm not good at art. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:10.880 And that's the difference between a judgment, this doesn't look realistic, to I'm no good. 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:19.680 I see that happening in the Samuel story, and I actually think that's what Paul is calling out in Romans. 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:25.759 I don't think Paul is just loosey-goosey and saying, never have an opinion about anything. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:33.200 I think actually that Paul might be saying something like, we can't live up to our own condemner. 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.200 So why would we do that to other people? 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:42.799 Because it makes us feel better about how bad we feel about ourselves? 00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:46.720 It's a timeless tactic that results not only in failure. 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:49.599 But if we're going to talk about murder, let's just say this. 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:58.799 You in the room have probably not murdered somebody, but I am sure you have heard it said, or maybe even said yourself, so and so is dead to me. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.079 Now, isn't that interesting? 00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:12.319 We can decide you're so bad based on two or three betrayals or trivialities, it's as if you were dead. 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:18.799 We know not to murder, but isn't that a different way of doing it? 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:39.920 When Saul when when Paul says to us in Romans the reward for this kind of condemning judgment is excruciating wrath, he didn't even have to be talking about what happens when we're dead. 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:46.640 He could very well be describing the reality we all are blissfully too aware of. 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:53.039 That is, that our own judgments that result in condemnation result in our death now. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:59.200 So I'm not sure Jesus is building a fence around the Torah. 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:06.880 I think Jesus might be trying to build a fence around the judgment that leads to condemnation. 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:15.519 And Jesus says this really interesting thing, which is why I wish I could say something like dog on it. 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:26.319 When you're offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your neighbor has something against you, you hear that? 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:30.799 He doesn't say if you remember you have something against your neighbor. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:39.920 If you remember that your neighbor has something against you, leave your gift and go get reconciled. 00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:42.160 Don't wait till church is over. 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:45.440 Don't wait until you've had Sunday lunch. 00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:49.200 If you remember, get up and go. 00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:52.559 Now I will tell you this. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:31:00.720 Oh, by the way, the gift of reconciling, being reconciled, is apparently what God refers to anything else we have to give. 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:04.799 I just I just wish God liked my prayers better. 00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:07.200 Because they would cost me less. 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:13.680 And I'll tell you, because many of you are frankly more upright people than I am. 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:17.200 If I took this scripture literally, I would never even be here. 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:22.480 I would spend the rest of my life being reconciled with people who hold things against me. 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:24.319 My list is that long. 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:28.559 I'm glad you resisted, but mine is that long. 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:31.119 And Jesus says that's preferable. 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:36.799 Now, here's where it gets really, really hard because a couple of times in my life I've really tried to be bold. 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:42.000 I mean, really take Jesus at his word and go get reconciled. 00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:45.200 And I tried and they wouldn't have it. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:47.839 And boy, I wish they were dead then. 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:50.559 Have you ever tried this? 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:56.960 Apologize to somebody that they and they wouldn't hear it, and you hated them more than when you tried. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:01.519 Actually, this is why it's so hard. 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:06.160 Because Jesus doesn't demand anybody else to be reconciled. 00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:09.599 He just says, You want to really give a gift to God that's pleasing? 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:10.559 Try it. 00:32:11.119 --> 00:32:20.880 And boy, you know, when it doesn't work, maybe the best gift I can have is being reconciled in my heart and my brain, even if they won't allow it between us. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:24.799 Sometimes I say, Well, I tried that, so I'm done. 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:27.519 Maybe God's saying, Why don't you try again? 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:29.759 Why don't you try more than one time? 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.960 And don't try in such a way that they're going to have to owe you something. 00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:37.039 They have the right of refusal. 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:39.680 That's what it means to be injured. 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:42.079 You don't have to be reconciled. 00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:50.960 But boy, don't I live in hell a little bit more every day when I take their refusal to be reconciled and condemn them further? 00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:59.519 What if I say, you've got the right to refuse, and I still want to be reconciled with you in my being? 00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:02.720 Even if it never plays out. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:10.079 I mean, I don't want to thank God for that, even though I know that's where real life is to be found. 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:21.440 And when Jesus says this bit about, hey, on the way to the judge, I mean, that may not be a literal judge, because I'm always on the way to the judge in me. 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:26.160 Boy, that judge in me usually thinks it's me, even though it's just a part of me. 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:28.559 On the way to the judge. 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:32.559 Get reconciled favorably and quickly. 00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:39.519 Otherwise, you're gonna be thrown over to the court officer and then prison, and you'll never get out until you pay the last penny. 00:33:39.599 --> 00:33:49.279 And boy, friends, I have spent most of my spiritual life continuing to pay every last penny of living into that condemnatory judgment. 00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:53.599 And at the end of the day, even if I settle the debt, there will be no life. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:55.680 I'll just be broke. 00:33:57.519 --> 00:34:06.160 What if Jesus is saying, take the investments you've got and look for reconciliation instead of getting even as you understand it? 00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:15.119 I don't think Jesus is asking us to judge our judgment. 00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:25.280 I think he's asking us to judge the way we turn judgment into wholesale condemnation against others, against ourselves. 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:32.159 Now, here's a story about the judge and me this past week, and I'm gonna say this: it was really lovely to spend a bunch of time at Camp Allen. 00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:38.960 I was in charge of 45 senior high kids delivering their program and making their whole schedule, and it's this beautiful ministry. 00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:51.440 We purposefully take kids away from their phones and we put them together and we try to build a capsule in which they get to know new people and new relationship skills, and yes, we try to teach them a little bit of wisdom we've recruited over the years. 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:54.239 And it's lovely, and it happens for eight weeks. 00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:57.280 So I was here week eight. 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:06.960 Condemnation budget based in judgment is like my native tongue. 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:08.639 I am so good at it. 00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:17.440 And so sure enough, I was doing my thing, and you know, I've learned since being a fundamentalist that we don't have to turn the lights out in order to worship God. 00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:25.840 And I've learned since being a fundamentalist that I can find God in folk music and radio songs along with what we consider hymns and praise songs. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:27.360 Like I've learned that. 00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:35.519 And one of our counselors said, Well, you know, we just think the kids would like more of the worship experience. 00:35:35.760 --> 00:35:38.880 And boy, the judge in me got real excited. 00:35:40.239 --> 00:35:41.599 Because I knew better than them. 00:35:41.679 --> 00:35:43.039 You know, I mean, that's it. 00:35:43.360 --> 00:35:45.840 That's why I went to seminary so I could know better than you. 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:48.639 And and I found this innocent request. 00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:50.000 I mean, it was so innocent. 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:53.280 We just want what we're used to, don't you? 00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:55.039 I want what I'm used to. 00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:56.880 This very innocent request. 00:35:57.039 --> 00:36:03.440 The judge in me was throwing books everywhere, throwing them at them, throwing at me, throwing them at the camp, throwing them at the Lord. 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:05.679 I mean, I'm just throwing books everywhere. 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:09.119 Because all you were asking was something simple. 00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:13.119 But the judge in me here is behind in a request condemnation. 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:20.159 I don't know if your spouse has ever asked you to do a thing, and you were like, You're judging me completely. 00:36:20.719 --> 00:36:23.199 When they were really just saying, could you flush the toilet? 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:29.440 Like we me, my brain just loves to link all of it together. 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:33.039 And maybe that's what Jesus is offering us. 00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:36.079 Who can live by that standard? 00:36:36.239 --> 00:36:40.400 You can survive, but who can live by that standard? 00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:43.039 I don't live very well by that standard. 00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:45.920 So why do I want to keep doing it to me and to you? 00:36:46.159 --> 00:36:49.360 Why do I want to keep doing that to people I don't know? 00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:53.920 Because it makes me feel a little bit better about myself, that we're all bad. 00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:55.840 I don't really think that works. 00:36:56.239 --> 00:37:10.880 So I just want to invite you to join me this week and trying to little build not a fence around the Torah, but a fence around between the judge in us and the sentencer in us.