WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:01.520 Morning, Church. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:06.080 This second Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of peace. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:11.439 Jesus told his disciples, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:14.080 Not as the world gives do I give to you. 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:17.839 Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:22.480 We light this candle to remember that Christ gives us his peace. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:37.520 Hear now the word of the true and living God. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:40.880 Hebrews 11, starting in verse 8. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:49.679 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:01:03.359 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:11.439 By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:21.120 Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead were born descendants, as many as the stars of heaven, and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:31.200 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on earth. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:35.040 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:40.000 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:44.079 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:49.280 Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:50.560 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:51.599 Please be seated. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:54.879 Good morning. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:57.280 Thanks for joining us this morning. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:58.480 My name is James Rathman. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:07.040 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver, and uh glad to meet together with you this morning on the second week of Advent. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:12.879 This will be our first sort of like Advent Advent sermon. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:17.520 Last week was kind of finishing up Mark, but it was a sneaky Advent sermon. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:19.520 This one's less sneaky. 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:21.199 This one's just plain. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:37.680 We are thinking in last week what we looked at was um at the end of Mark, Jesus, at the end of our time in Mark, the end of the all of it discourse, Jesus asks his disciples and tells them and commands us to stay awake. 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:43.280 That means to remember his promises, this promise that he will return. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:03:03.599 And we're seeing how the promise of Christ that he will return, that he will set all things new, that his kingdom will be fully and completely realized on earth as it is in heaven, that this promise structures the whole of how we live. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:07.039 And the way it structures it is the way that Jesus described. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:16.719 He told his disciples what we looked at last week, that it's like this it's like a master leaves servants in charge of his house. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:25.759 And the master goes on a journey, and he tells his servants, I'm I'm gonna come back, but you don't know when I'm gonna come back, so stay awake. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:39.919 And when he's what he's saying there is when what the servants are called to do is to have the whole of their action structured by this understanding that the master will return. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:49.039 So that when the master shows up, the house should be in good order, and the doorkeeper should be awake so that when he knocks on the door, he's able to enter his house again. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:59.680 And so what we're learning this Advent season is how it is that our lives are structured by the promise, and then what it means to live by faith. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:04.719 So we're going to look at three examples for the rest of our time before Christmas. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:20.879 The first one that we're looking at this morning is the example of Abraham and Sarah, how they show us how to live by faith in a promise that they can't see right now, but that because the Lord has given them this promise, they live sure that it is coming. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:23.759 And the whole of their lives are shaped by this promise. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:30.319 And then next week we're going to be looking at the story of Simeon, a lesser-known story in the Christmas story. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:48.000 When Jesus is just born, he's brought to the temple, and there's an old man who sees Jesus and he says, Now I can depart in peace, seeing because he had received a promise from the Lord that he would not die before he saw the Christ, the Messiah. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:58.079 And then we're going to look at the story of Anna, who is a prophetess who lived for uh into her 80s and for most of her life as a widow. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:04.959 And she lived in the temple and she prayed, and she recognized Jesus in the same way that Simeon recognized Jesus. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:13.120 Now, part of the reason that we'll be looking at those stories is because I don't really know what Simeon and Anna mean. 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:20.079 They're sort of like these sort of hidden figures in the story, and I wanted an excuse to look into what those mean. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:22.720 And so we're we're getting we're gonna get to do that together. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:32.160 But in either case, what we're seeing is these examples of lives that are lived in faith in a promise that they can't immediately see. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:43.839 Now we can't immediately see Jesus' return in the same way that those who were promised of Jesus' first coming couldn't see that he was coming. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:06:01.279 Most of their lives were structured in ways where they saw life and death and things not culminate in ways that were extraordinary or ways that they would have expected, and yet by faith they lived in such a way in which God was honored to be called their God. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:06.800 And they knew that there was a city that the Lord was preparing for them, that they were headed to. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:13.519 So, in order to learn how to live by faith and how to have our lives structured by faith, we're looking at these stories. 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:18.079 So, before we move into today's text, let's pray together. 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:26.959 Lord Jesus, you are acquainted with our pain. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:30.160 You're familiar with our suffering. 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:40.560 We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with the suffering that we face in this life, but one who knows it intimately. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:58.959 Because you took on flesh and dwelt among us, because you were born in such a lowly estate as in a manger, because you took on all of what it means to be human so that you might redeem all of that to yourself. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:04.720 Father, we praise you for the depth of love that you've shown to us in Christ. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:08.879 We pray that you would train our hearts to hold fast in faith. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:10.879 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:11.759 Amen. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:20.000 Now, talking about faith is one of those things where we're talking about something that's so central to the Christian life. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:23.519 It's so plain and evident that it's almost like we miss it. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:28.000 Of what does it mean to have a life lived by faith? 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:45.680 And it's not the type of thing where I can just say, like, okay, a life lived by faith is you wake up and you do this in the morning, and then you say this type of prayer, and then after you say that type of prayer, then you do this in the morning, and then you it's not that it's not that type of thing, uh, where it can just be laid out for you. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:52.000 It's something that rather than just a list of things that you can tick off and then you would know later that you would lived life by faith. 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:56.639 It's more the type of thing that you have to look at people who have done it. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:04.480 And we see these examples, and throughout scripture, there's this myriad of examples of what a life lived by faith looks like. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:08.000 And when we look at those examples, we we begin to catch it. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:12.560 We start to understand, okay, that's what it means to have a life lived by faith. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:15.279 It's uh that's what trust looks like. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:21.279 That's what that's why this sacrifice that these people lived with and endured makes sense. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:25.600 It's because they were living a life guided by faith. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:35.039 So in today's text, we're in Hebrews 11, and this is like the this is the hall of faith, is what people call it. 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:40.559 And so it's a great place to look to get examples of what it means to live by faith. 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:49.200 And in this particular section, we're looking at the story of Abraham and Sarah, and we're going to look at the call of God on their lives. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:51.840 This is an essential component for faith. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:57.279 We're going to look at their faithful obedience to the call of God. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:10.240 Then we'll see the fruit of their obedience, and then we'll see how all of this was shaped by the city that they looked forward to, the city that God was preparing for them. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:22.000 So in Hebrews 11:8, looking at the call of God, it says, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:25.519 And he went out not knowing where he was going. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:30.480 Okay, so Abraham, who are we talking about? 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:32.960 Think regular guy. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:37.919 Abraham comes from a family that is not particularly extraordinary. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:44.000 They are an ordinary pagan, ancient Middle Eastern family. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:49.279 So type that into Chat GPT and say create an image. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:54.240 That's the whatever the ordinary image it creates, that's the image that it creates. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:57.440 Of course, there's probably a demonic spirit guiding that image. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:01.519 But that's for another sermon. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:10.720 Now, this in this ordinary pagan family, Abraham receives this call from God. 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:15.840 And do you know why God uh particularly and uniquely calls Abraham? 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:22.000 Do you remember in the text when it explains he called Abraham because no, I don't know either. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:25.679 It's this strange thing. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:38.879 It's like you know, like the like a Deus Ex Machina, like at the end of a story when something that wasn't a part of the story just comes in and it's like the hand of God comes in and just fixes the story, and the story happens. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:42.799 Well, it's a it's um exactly like that. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:49.360 It's exactly like there's just some story happening, and then God intervenes. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:55.360 You'd say, well, what was happening in this story that pulled God in in such a way that he would intervene? 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.320 And the answer is nothing that we can tell. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:02.639 The reason that God intervened belongs to God. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:13.039 It was God's will, God's intentions, God's desire, God's love, which causes God to intervene. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:21.759 And he chooses among all the peoples of the earth, among all the nations of the earth, strangely, almost absurdly, Abraham. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:24.000 Abram at the time. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:28.960 A lot of times God changes your name, which he's that he can do, things like that. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:30.799 And we let it slide. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:40.639 So by faith, Abraham obeys when he is called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:45.440 Now, that's strange because that's not the way inheritance works. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:12:04.240 The way inheritance works is you stay in your father's house, and you work the farm and you learn the land, and you learn how to do what your father does, and then the whole time you know one day when my father dies, this will be my house. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:08.559 This will be my farm, this will be my thing that I take care of. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:14.320 And then you uh know that you're staying close to and you will receive an inheritance. 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:22.080 But God says, leave your father's house and go seek your inheritance. 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:34.240 So that means that there is an inheritance that will come directly from God that requires him to deny all the ways that he had known of living. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:36.720 Don't seek your father's gods. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:39.759 Don't seek the inheritance that could come from him. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:46.799 There's a new story happening, and there's an inheritance that exists in your future. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:50.000 That's not really where inheritances come from. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:55.919 You know, inheritances come in a sense like from your past, from your origin, from your parents. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:03.600 But this is an inheritance that exists in the future that the Lord will give of his own accord. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:08.320 And Abraham went out not knowing where he was going. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:33.919 Abraham's response of faith is such that the word of God was sufficient for him to abandon all of the hope of what he might gain by earthly means, so that he might leave to gain something that is glorious beyond imagination, that he can't see from where he is standing. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.960 And he doesn't exactly know how he will get it. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:40.080 God doesn't say, okay, follow me. 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:45.759 There's an inheritance coming to you, and here's how you're gonna get the inheritance. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.399 I can lay out exactly precisely how you'll get it. 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:51.440 I'm gonna give you a promise of a son, it's gonna take a while. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.080 And so don't worry, it's gonna take a long time. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:14:07.919 And once the sun arrives, he'll have another son, another son, then there'll be some time in Egypt, then I'll take you out of Egypt, then it'll be a nation, and then the nation that I give you will fall into corruption again, there'll be an exile, then there'll be a return from the exile. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:19.279 And then there's going to be this moment where the fulfillment of all this takes place for where I send my son, who is who is God Himself taking on flesh, and then this will be the redemption of the world. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:23.600 That is not the story that Abraham received at his call. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:29.200 The story that Abraham received at his call was, go, there's an inheritance for you. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:31.200 And Abraham might have said, Where? 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:34.960 And he'd said, It's it's soon you'll see where. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:38.480 But for now, I just need you to go. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:48.960 And the faith that this demonstrates is that Abraham trusted the word of God as the word of God. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:15:14.480 In our fallen minds and our misinterpretation of the world, we would think that it would be better and more sure to be given the whole of the story, to be given the series of cause and effect events that would lead to the certainty of the inheritance, so that we would be able to calculate from where we're standing now how we would certainly receive something glorious if we live in this way. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:17.039 But that's actually less certain. 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:22.000 The most certain thing we could receive is the call of God. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:26.159 The most certain thing we could receive is his promise. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:34.080 There is nothing more certain than the word of God, than his promise. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:46.000 And there's a sense in which that makes sense as we've seen the story unfold so far, because remember what it was that Abraham did to initiate the call of God on his life? 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:48.080 He didn't do anything. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:16:06.240 So that means we live in a world in which God can just intervene at his own accord, of his own accord, and make happen whatever he would like to make happen in ways that we are not able to draw cause and effect diagrams to be able to explain. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:23.039 And so that means to just analyze the world in terms of there's this cause and effect, there's just these first principles that if you go up from, you know, if I had all of the information available to me at the Big Bang, then I would be able to calculate all of the events of the world leading up to the end of this sentence. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:26.960 But there's no such world. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:40.879 And so, what is more sure than the word of God to us? 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:44.399 There's nothing more sure than the word of God to us. 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:49.120 Abraham sees that and he recognizes it. 00:16:49.440 --> 00:17:03.360 Now, the reason this is a response of faith is because there is a call that Abraham receives, and he's responding to the call out of obedience. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:06.240 So this is not to be thought of. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:26.319 There's one, there's a way to tell this story, which is like, hey, you know that, you know that little thing in your heart that says you need to go leave your father's house, and you need to go and explore, and you need to find what the world has for you out there, and there's this thing in your own heart that must be expressed and demands expression in the world. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.240 That's not this story. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:35.680 This is not just wanderlust and pointless exploration. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:38.720 This is obedience. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:42.559 See, it's much more constrained than that. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:45.440 It's it's here's what I'm telling you to do. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:48.480 The response of faith is to obey it. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:52.480 And that's why it's connected to sacrifice. 00:17:53.599 --> 00:18:11.599 See, there's a way to tell the story, which is like a I think more uh accessible to us culturally, which is okay, there's this thing in my heart, this drive, this dream, it must be expressed, so I leave my father's house in order to see that that that thing gets realized. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:18.720 This is a call of there's a way that story, in a sense, is like indulgence. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:23.200 I I must indulge this desire that I experience in myself. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.079 This story is sacrifice. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:36.880 I must lay down the plans that I would be able to make for myself in order to obey the Lord in what he is calling me to. 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:49.200 Now, you may be thinking, that sounds great for Abraham, but I don't know what the call on my life is. 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:54.240 I don't know how to understand or discern the call of God. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:19:00.160 Well, I think you're thinking too highly of the call of Abraham, which may be a weird way to say it. 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:05.599 Nobody comes to Christ unless you are called. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:10.640 And the call of Christ sounds like this. 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:20.160 You hear like a like a preacher, like me, say, Did you know that Christ will not reject any who come to him? 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:30.160 That he gives to you this offer of salvation, that he laid down his life for you, so you give him the whole of your life and you follow him. 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:32.480 You make him the Lord. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:39.920 You lay down your desires and you seek what he desires as good, and you obey him with your life. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:44.000 Okay, so if you're a Christian, you have that call. 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:52.640 And you may be thinking, yeah, but I don't know what land, like it's not like, hey, go and settle this promised land, and I'm going to give you a promised son. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:54.400 I don't have anything like that. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:20:00.720 But there's a sense in which neither did Abraham, at least not initially. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:04.160 The first thing that Abraham gets is, go, where? 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:06.400 I'll tell you later. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:10.319 So that feels more like our lives. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:18.000 And then even just more simply, what is the call on Abraham's life? 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:22.240 Don't worship the gods, the gods of your fathers. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:24.079 Worship the true God. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:33.920 Go to where the true God is calling you, and have a family that doesn't worship the God of your fathers, but worships the true God. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:39.359 That's not that's not that crazy. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:42.400 That feels very ordinary. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:49.279 Like Abraham is this expression of the highest uh he is the example of faith. 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:54.960 It is, he is the first one in Scripture who we hear that his faith was counted to him as righteousness. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:21:01.759 So we take incredible hope in that because that means that our faith in Christ will be counted to us as righteousness. 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:07.039 But his faith is really these simple, ordinary acts. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:15.920 Go start a life which is ordered by the promise of God and bring your family into that. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:29.920 So Abraham shows this single-minded obedience to that, leaving the tangible inheritance that he might receive for a more glorious inheritance. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:46.640 In Hebrews 11, 9 through 10, it's Abraham's story continues to be related to us and says, By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:53.519 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:22:06.960 So by faith, Abraham goes out from his father's house, and he lives As in a foreign land, this is the way that the Christian must live. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:22.640 We understand that the land that holds our true citizenship is the new heavens and the new earth, which will be realized when Christ finally comes and inaugurates this completely, consummates this completely. 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:28.160 And that is the land in which our true citizenship is held. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:33.200 And so we live according to its customs, according to that land's values. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:42.880 We live in a culture that is in line with the new heavens and the new earth, where Christ is Lord and He lives and reigns over our hearts. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:56.319 But that means we live now as in a foreign land, where the culture that we are surrounded by is not the one where we seek its ideals. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:02.160 And so this means we must live in a way that is constantly sacrificial. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:05.759 It's a way of living that's like living in a tent. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:16.960 And it means that we don't get to go back to the place where the brick and mortar houses are. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:31.599 Instead, we must live in a way that understands ourselves to be not shaped by the promises of this world, but to be shaped by the promise of the coming kingdom. 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:37.599 And the ways that you do that is you keep your eyes fixed on that coming city. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:49.920 So it means that the values that you have are not values that are determined by the culture that we're in, but they're values that are determined by the culture of the kingdom that is to come. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:24:03.599 And so we don't become seduced by the offers of this world because we see that that is not where our inheritance is. 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:19.599 I have a friend who I was talking with earlier this week, many of you know, and uh he used to live here and then he moved to LA to go, you know, be in the pictures, like you do. 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:24.319 Uh he won he wanted to produce movies, and it worked. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:27.039 He like makes movies now, which is pretty cool. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:30.720 Not right now, because nobody's making any movies, is what he's explaining to me. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:33.599 Um but it was cool there for a little while. 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:41.759 And he he just sort of watching his story from afar, staying close friends, praying for him. 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:46.640 It was like, man, things really, a lot of things really came together for you. 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:55.599 Like you can't, you went out there with like a connection, and now you're you know making movies with you know all these people that are like, you know, household names. 00:24:55.839 --> 00:24:57.599 Like bubba gump shrimp. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:59.200 It's a household name. 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:02.400 And he explains that he and I was like, how did this happen? 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:04.079 How did that sort of sort of thing come together? 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:07.599 And he was like, Well, I've got a couple of superpowers. 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:13.680 Uh one of them is the integrity that our faith gives us. 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:26.640 He's like, it was explained, he's like, I've had multiple friends, people who are advocating for me, come and explain, like, hey, the way that you're putting this deal together, like you're new here, you don't know how things work out here. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:29.279 You're gonna have to lie a little bit about this deal. 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:34.559 And it's not gonna, that's just the way the business is, it's just the way it works. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:37.920 And he was like, and then I just don't. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:40.319 I just tell the truth. 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:46.640 And it's like you're a superhero when you do that out here. 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:58.319 He's like, and what I explained to what I've explained to these friends is if that's the what I need to do to make it in this job, I just won't do this job. 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:00.079 I'll go do something else. 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:04.559 I'll go sell insurance, or you know, he's a pretty capable guy. 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:07.519 And there's uh he's like, I'll just go do that. 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:09.599 I don't have to do this. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:20.400 Now, the reason that he's able to hold it that loosely is because he understands my citizenship is not Hollywood. 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:24.640 It's not being accepted into this world. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:26.960 I I can do something else. 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:39.440 And if it requires me to deny the place where my citizenship is truly held, that is, with Christ, then I just won't participate here. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:47.519 Secondly, he explained the other superpower, uh, rather than integrity, although this is related, is abstinence. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:50.240 He's a single guy. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:58.480 And it's uh I'm I know that I'm not trying to sleep with these women. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:06.160 And that is an ordinary way of working in that world. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:18.640 That this is an ordinary aspect of the currency of this space is that there's like a passing around of sexuality. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:28.799 He's like, so we can be in meetings or we're we're negotiating an actress's contract or something, and I'm the only clear head in the room. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:34.960 I'm the only one who is able to maintain this these purity of motives. 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:37.759 That's like a superpower. 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:42.160 And then what's gained is there's trust. 00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:54.559 Now, I I use that example because it's an example of kind of like a world that we all kind of think we know, and then you have a friend go there, and it's like, oh, it's exactly how it seems. 00:27:55.759 --> 00:28:08.720 And hearing that, you know what it means to not be a part of that culture is to hold fast by faith to your citizenship in heaven. 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:20.160 Even when you're being told, hey, this is the way, this is the prudent way, this is the ordinary way, this is the shrewd way, this is the practical way, you know, this is how things work here. 00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:26.960 And if you agree with us that this is how things work here, we'll let you in and you get to be a part of it. 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:29.519 Fine, don't let me in. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:33.119 I don't have to be a part of it. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:37.599 I'm a part of something else, something more wonderful. 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:46.240 So you can imagine we don't have this scene, but one of Abraham's relatives coming and being like, hey man, been talking with your dad, the farm. 00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:50.160 What a season we've had at the farm. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:51.759 Beautiful season. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:53.920 It's a it would blow your mind. 00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:56.400 You're you were crushing it back here. 00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:02.640 Uh we just added on a new addition to the house just because we're bored. 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:06.240 And it would be great, you and Sarah. 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:07.920 It's still just you and Sarah, right? 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:10.319 This, how's that promise from the Lord working? 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:11.440 It's still just you and Sarah? 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:11.920 Okay. 00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:15.759 Well, you guys could come back and there's a great life for you here. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:19.599 And Abraham could say, that's not my life. 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:23.519 I don't have to be a part of that world. 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:26.480 You can't see it when you look in. 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:33.440 Because I look, because as you can see, we have not made a new addition to the tent. 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:38.720 But there's something more glorious here that you can't see. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:42.480 And I'm a part of that world. 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:45.279 That promise is what shapes the way that I live. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:50.000 So so I will hold by faith to the reality of that promise. 00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:52.559 And that's because he has his eyes. 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:59.200 It says, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:10.000 There is a city that we're heading to that has true foundations that will not be moved. 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:11.279 It will be sure. 00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:14.079 Its designer and builder is God. 00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:20.079 If I'm going to be a citizen of that city, then I can't be a citizen of this one. 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:38.400 We have lost, I think, culturally, it's almost become like something we don't we don't want to talk about, the ascetic component of our faith, the sacrificial requirement of what it means to live by faith. 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:44.000 That we are committed to the Lord even if it kills us. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:50.400 You know, when we use the word martyr, we say, we use it negatively. 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:52.799 You know, don't be such a martyr. 00:30:54.960 --> 00:31:03.279 I bet over Thanksgiving, there was someone who was like, wait, maybe not, but at mine there was. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:07.119 Someone who it's like, they're up like doing the dishes already. 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:11.440 I know that they're cleaning those dishes at the rest of us. 00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:14.480 You know? 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:17.839 Or it's like, okay, you've made enough pies. 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:23.599 We get it, you're stressed by how much food you've chosen to make. 00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:27.039 You know, and then we describe that person as a martyr. 00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:38.799 And what we mean by martyr, colloquially, and it is wrong to be that type of a martyr, because what we mean by martyr when we say that is you're serving in such a way that makes it about you. 00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:43.039 And then so this isn't actually service. 00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:50.880 This is a you're you're bartering with us so that we're gonna owe you for the rest of the of our time here. 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:54.640 And that isn't service, that's not sacrifice. 00:31:55.519 --> 00:32:00.160 But remember, remember the story of our faith. 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:02.000 Do you do you remember our lineage? 00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:10.640 Remember the the Christians on on whose shoulders we stand to be able to receive this story that we receive. 00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:20.640 They heard the story of Christ and they held fast to the promise of Christ when it cost them their very lives. 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:28.880 They held fast to the promise of Christ, even when it meant that they would there was no visible gain from it. 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:35.200 They would literally be killed in order to hold fast to the promise of Christ. 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:50.960 This is why there's there's it's so strange the way that we, the way that like the the gospel stories are criticized, or sort of like the the way that Christianity is talked about in our culture, is like this this mechanism of oppression and power. 00:32:51.279 --> 00:33:01.599 Like the the first disciples, what did they have to gain by holding to their faith? 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:06.240 All they had to do to live was deny Christ. 00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:08.079 That's it. 00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:12.559 And they held fast even when it cost him. 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:16.400 So I just want to remind, give ourselves this reminder. 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:18.720 Remember sacrifice? 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:25.519 Like it, like I really think this needs to be recaptured in some way. 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:27.839 I want to recapture it in my heart. 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:35.200 Like, in order to live as a Christian out here, you have to be like a martyr. 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:39.200 You have to be like a saint. 00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:49.599 And a saint is able to walk around the world and say, I'm not seduced by those things. 00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:57.519 I have disciplined my eyes so that I don't lust after the things of the world. 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:10.400 I know that it looks just costly now because I don't pursue these other things, but I am single-mindedly focused on the call of Christ on my life. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:21.039 And in all this is a uh before you're thinking like, okay, so I need to I need to martyr, I need to be a martyr. 00:34:21.519 --> 00:34:24.480 Where am I how am I gonna go do that this afternoon? 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:28.960 Here's what it looks like. 00:34:31.039 --> 00:34:46.800 The life that God has given to you, you receive with absolute gratitude and an absolute commitment to honor God with what He's given to you. 00:34:49.039 --> 00:34:52.000 So when where are these ordinary things? 00:34:52.159 --> 00:35:14.719 It it means that when there are uh opportunities for complaint for complaining to well up in your heart, or you recognize that like, gosh, this this time with these kids, like he's I I walked into my home yesterday, and there's just poop on the floor. 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:21.039 And it was and it was we couldn't figure out where it came from. 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:29.360 We literally, Megan and I literally were like, okay, is that is that poop or vomit? 00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:35.119 And why is there no poop on anyone's clothes? 00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:41.519 How's it was like a I don't know, some horrible mystery. 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:49.920 Okay, now that's a that's a um an inconvenience. 00:35:52.639 --> 00:35:56.559 Uh but but little kids are little kids are great examples of this. 00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:58.880 Everyone has this in their lives to some extent. 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:00.239 Little kids are a great example. 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:07.519 In a lot of ways, they're an easier example than like um annoying friends that you have to deal with or for, you know, things like that. 00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:11.360 But what is the call then? 00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:13.199 What is the call right there? 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:15.119 This life isn't about me. 00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:19.519 There's a glory in this service. 00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:24.800 There's uh there's a wonder to this little cleaning here. 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:38.480 You know, the uh Martin Luther is probably the best theologian of diaper changes uh because he got married and had kids for the best reason to get married and have kids, to spite the devil. 00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:40.960 He was a real romantic. 00:36:43.679 --> 00:36:57.199 And uh he would be mocked for by the the priests who who thought he sinned in doing so, and I as he's changing diapers, he would be you know mocked for doing such lowly lowly work, having been a priest. 00:36:57.360 --> 00:37:07.840 And uh he explained that let them mock all they want, they are not worthy of such high honors to be able to participate in this. 00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:17.360 There's a kingdom that this is in service to. 00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:24.400 That these ordinary acts are these are in service of that kingdom. 00:37:26.159 --> 00:37:28.480 I know you can't see it from here. 00:37:29.199 --> 00:37:44.400 I know it doesn't look like it, but I I I see the heavenly kingdom who whose foundations have been built by God, and this little ordinary service is is connected to that in some way. 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:58.239 So you change the diaper, your uh annoying friend who you know is friendless and is actually a drain on you, you pick up the phone and you call, you invite over. 00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:05.280 These are the the like a monk would do it. 00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:06.800 You know? 00:38:07.039 --> 00:38:09.119 How does this make me feel? 00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:12.159 I don't care. 00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:14.800 Maybe I don't care is too harsh. 00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:16.960 Maybe it's more like bad. 00:38:18.239 --> 00:38:21.599 But that's probably what's wrong with me. 00:38:25.119 --> 00:38:31.039 I'm not here to string together a series of easy of moments of ease. 00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:39.440 I'm here to lay this down because I see something more wonderful coming on the horizon. 00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:45.360 That's that recapturing of this ascetic dimension that I want us to understand. 00:38:45.679 --> 00:38:48.480 Now, Sarah becomes this demonstration of this. 00:38:48.719 --> 00:39:02.320 In Hebrews 11, 11 through 12, it says, By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 00:39:04.639 --> 00:39:15.519 Therefore, in verse 12, from one man and him as good as dead were born descendants, as many as the stars of heaven, and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 00:39:16.400 --> 00:39:19.280 Father Abraham had many sons. 00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:23.280 I'm one of them. 00:39:44.639 --> 00:39:49.360 It says, by faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive. 00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:58.719 Faith is the mechanism by which we receive the power of God to accomplish what He's called us to. 00:39:59.119 --> 00:40:01.280 It's by faith we do that. 00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:13.039 So you your life is unfolded in such a way where you can't bear another loss. 00:40:13.840 --> 00:40:21.920 How could the Lord call you to this life that just seems like it's just one thing falls apart after another? 00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:30.719 Faith is the mechanism by which you receive the power to be fruitful for the Lord even in those circumstances. 00:40:39.360 --> 00:40:41.599 That is wonderful and mystical. 00:40:43.199 --> 00:40:48.559 And I want you to see how of course that is. 00:40:48.880 --> 00:40:53.760 You know, how like how could it, how could it be any other way than that is? 00:40:54.159 --> 00:40:59.360 Uh, you know, last week, Thanksgiving, and so pilgrims on the mind. 00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:07.440 And uh I've been reading to JT, my son, uh uh uh this little book of pilgrim stories. 00:41:07.760 --> 00:41:11.920 Those folks were wild, the uh pilgrims. 00:41:12.079 --> 00:41:14.639 And it's like, what does it look like to, they're a perfect example of this. 00:41:14.719 --> 00:41:17.599 Like, what does it look like to live by to live by faith? 00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:26.159 Well, I've heard there's another land where we'd be able to worship the Lord. 00:41:27.199 --> 00:41:34.960 And what am I gonna do today to live to live by faith and realizing that sort of promise? 00:41:35.199 --> 00:41:46.400 Okay, I'm gonna go down to uh the harbor and I'm gonna negotiate a deal for two boats to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to this land that none of us have been to. 00:41:46.639 --> 00:41:53.039 And so part of living by faith in that ordinary means is okay, so like how much for these boats? 00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:54.880 All right, that seems like a pretty good deal. 00:41:54.960 --> 00:41:57.679 Is there any way we can, you know, I got a couple of friends coming. 00:41:57.840 --> 00:41:59.039 We'll be able to split it. 00:41:59.199 --> 00:42:01.920 Sometimes an Airbnb is cheaper if we all go in together. 00:42:02.159 --> 00:42:09.280 And uh and then uh so you so it's the ordinary parts of that day was was living by faith. 00:42:10.239 --> 00:42:11.599 Why are you getting those boats? 00:42:11.679 --> 00:42:14.079 You could just stay in Holland. 00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:16.960 You know, that wasn't so bad. 00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:18.400 Rivers for roads. 00:42:20.559 --> 00:42:24.880 Which is close to a song, but isn't. 00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:30.400 And then uh what happens is they get in these two boats. 00:42:30.559 --> 00:42:33.280 One of them is taking on water. 00:42:33.920 --> 00:42:38.079 So, okay, I guess this whole thing is kind of shot then. 00:42:38.239 --> 00:42:40.000 No, we'll just take the one. 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:42.559 We'll just all load in the Mayflower. 00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:44.559 Ah, you guys come in, we got room. 00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:46.079 Load in the Mayflower. 00:42:46.239 --> 00:42:59.519 Okay, now these are it, this is a wonderful story because it's part of our story and uh part of our national history, and uh and we uh it we receive the fruits of of the sacrifice that they had made. 00:42:59.679 --> 00:43:08.559 We live in the most prosperous uh uh nation in we are the most prosperous people in world history. 00:43:09.039 --> 00:43:10.159 That's something. 00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:15.119 That's pretty what a what a place to be. 00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:17.280 Great choice, everyone. 00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:20.400 No, you you remember you didn't. 00:43:21.280 --> 00:43:28.159 Now, how would you so if they're thinking back then, okay, how are we going to make the most prosperous civilization in world history? 00:43:28.320 --> 00:43:31.039 How would how would we accomplish such a thing as that? 00:43:31.280 --> 00:43:40.559 Um we'd sail across the ocean and we'd bring all of our family with with us, and that first winter, half of us will die. 00:43:42.960 --> 00:43:44.159 Half of us. 00:43:47.039 --> 00:43:53.039 And there'll be a hill covered in covered in us being covered in our dead loved ones. 00:43:54.719 --> 00:43:59.599 That's a weird way uh for that type of fruitfulness to. 00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:01.039