WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:01.360 Good morning. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:07.120 Today's reading is from Hebrews chapter two, one through four. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:12.480 Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:23.199 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression our disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:27.839 It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:36.000 While God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:37.119 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:38.399 Please be seated. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:42.479 Good morning. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.719 Welcome to Church This Morning. 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:45.840 My name is James Raspman. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:48.000 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:50.799 Thanks for uh joining us this morning. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:54.479 Um before I pray, I've got a couple of announcements to make. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:58.640 January 19th, we're beginning a women's Bible study. 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:06.719 Uh it's going to be moving through, it's going to be about 10 weeks, and it's going to be moving through the first uh 11 chapters of Genesis. 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:17.840 So this year we're returning to Genesis as we've been moving through for a couple of uh actually the past couple of years in the uh after the first of the year. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:23.840 And we're going to be returning Genesis for our third time, and this will be a wonderful study to be a part of. 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:29.760 It'll really complement where we are in the text, and it'll just, I think, just be a really enjoyable thing. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:31.680 So Genesis is so important. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:33.599 It's incredibly foundational. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:36.560 Uh so to sign up for that, Mona, where do they sign up? 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:40.560 Great. 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:43.200 There are some flyers everywhere. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.480 And you have any questions, just call me to the numbers right there. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:47.519 Great. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:51.200 So you can sign up in uh uh the did everybody hear that? 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:52.319 I'll say it again. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:58.319 So you can sign up uh in the lobby, check out the flyers, you'll find Mona's uh email address and phone number. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:05.519 Likewise, you can sign up uh you can get all that information in the Redemption Church Denver app, which you can find in your app store of choice. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:07.120 Yeah. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:09.039 Invite your friends. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:10.719 So much fun. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:12.080 There you go. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:14.159 Happy New Year. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:15.919 Nice. 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:20.240 I usually preach with an earpiece where Mona's just telling me what to say. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:24.000 So that was a little inside information you guys just got to see. 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:25.840 It's only the second day. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:31.759 If you haven't started your Bible reading plan this year, you only have like three chapters to catch up on. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:42.159 So the beginning of the year is a wonderful time to recommit to a pattern of uh taking in God's word every day. 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:44.000 We're doing this together as a church. 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:45.840 We've done this as a church for the past three years. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:50.560 This may be our, I think this is our fourth year going into a Bible reading plan together. 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:53.599 This is the lightest of the Bible reading plans that we've done. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:03:02.400 We've typically done a plan called the McShane Reading Plan, which is uh the Old Testament and the New Testament twice and the Psalms twice. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:04.240 This is just the Bible. 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:10.560 So consider if you've never read the Bible, this could be your year. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.199 Uh the it's what it could mean. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:19.520 Even if you are not a Christian, just think of how much better you'll understand like references in books. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:24.319 So there's one reason, at least, to have read the Bible. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:32.719 Um, this is the Bible's at least a very strange document that came together in a way that we can't particularly explain over thousands of years. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:36.159 Um it should pique your interest no matter what. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:40.080 And if you're a Christian, consider what you think about the Bible. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:44.639 You think it's the word of God that God Himself speaks to you through this. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:52.319 So spending time there, you're fellowshipping with the Lord, actually hearing the Lord's voice. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:56.479 Now, if you don't join our Bible reading plan, then it probably won't work. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:12.639 Of course, I'm I'm kidding, but there's uh is I I want you to consider whether whether you do this with us with us or not, consider how could you build in a pattern of returning to the word uh on a on a daily sort of rhythm. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:22.720 Likewise, uh for the plan this year, also through the app, you can join in to be a part of a of a group chat for all those that are going through the Bible reading plan. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:26.560 Uh, I'm going to be a part of that and tend to be a very active member in it. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:34.319 So it's fun to read through a passage, then I'll get to share insights and things that I thought, as well as link to articles that can help clarify. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:48.639 Um, because if you're reading through the Bible and at least every other day you don't hit something and think that's just plain weird or strange or I don't understand what I'm reading, um, then you maybe you're reading a different, you're probably reading the message, actually. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:50.480 Which is just clarifying. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:51.600 Message is is great. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:53.600 Eugene Peterson is a legend. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:57.199 Um anyway. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:09.519 So uh this has been a particularly heartbreaking week in our state, in Boulder, in Louisville, and Superior. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:18.079 Uh so many folks have lost their homes and are just now discovering the particulars of what the loss included. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:19.680 These types of things can be confusing. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:31.040 It's only a 1600-acre fire, which sounds like nothing, and yet it was the most costly fire in Colorado history in terms of amount of people affected and amount of homes and structures destroyed. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:37.600 Uh, these things I I've texted with many people who have shared that they know someone who lost a home. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:43.120 I, as far as I know, at this point, I don't think anyone who attends our church directly has lost a home. 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:48.319 So we're sort of on the perimeter of this, but that doesn't mean we can't contribute in some way. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:57.199 So there's a uh a church that my wife and I actually went to when we were in college at CU in Boulder called the Boulder Well. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:05:58.480 It's a wonderful church. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:05.839 They've been there for about 10 years, and they've been uh just a faithful servant in Boulder. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:08.319 They say Boulder is where church plants go to die. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:14.079 And they've been wonderfully serving there for 10 years, just purchased a building. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:15.439 I love this church. 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:20.399 Like if I didn't, you know, have this church, which, you know, we've got a pretty great church, I'd probably go there. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:27.600 I just love those folks at that church and uh serving faithfully in a challenging community anyway. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:34.879 Uh, they have been really active in supporting the community that they've been serving throughout this fire. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:38.800 And it's something that we can join in doing as well. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:44.399 So they've gathered families uh who've been who've opened up their homes to bring people in. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:47.199 I think they've placed five families so far. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:07:03.680 Um and they are taking donations to just give people gift cards and uh help people rebuild their their lives, um, starting particularly with those in their church who they're connected with, and then extending out into the community from there. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:08.399 So I know many of you are antsy to give and wondering where you can give. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:11.279 I just wanted to recommend to you the boulder well. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:14.079 Uh the information on how to give is up there. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:20.000 Just go to boulderwell.give and then select the boulder campus, because they also have a Longmont campus. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:21.199 Don't care about them. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:28.959 Select the Boulder campus, and then you select what fund to give to and just select the Marshall Fire Fund. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:35.040 It's a place where you can give, it's trustworthy, and they're they're a part of the community. 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:41.519 They're not just coming in, so they're directly connected to these needs, and it'll be deeply beneficial. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:46.240 Um, this is a huge opportunity for the church to step up. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:55.600 When I was uh, I don't know what it's like to have a home burned down, but when I was 17, the my parents' home, which I lived in when I was 17, was foreclosed on. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:59.600 And so suddenly I wasn't able to go into my childhood home. 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:03.040 And there was a quote from actually Mark Twain. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:04.639 You guys ever heard of him? 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:08.639 Um king of linen suits. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:14.319 And he uh has this quote about what it's like when a house burns down. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:16.160 Uh, and I thought I'd share it. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:23.839 I found it particularly helpful, and I think it'll help us understand what folks will be going through and might direct our prayers a bit. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:29.360 Uh this is actually about when his he got news that his six-year-old daughter passed away. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.960 But he makes an analogy to a house burning down. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:36.639 And I think it might teach us how to help those who are mourning. 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:46.480 He says, It is one of the mysteries of our nature that a man all unprepared can receive a thunderstroke like that and live. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:49.919 There is but one reasonable explanation of it. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:56.240 The intellect is stunned by the shock and but gropingly gathers the meaning of the words. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:01.440 The power to realize their full import is mercifully wanting. 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:05.039 The mind has a dumb sense of vast loss. 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:06.240 That is all. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:16.240 It will take mind and memory months and possibly years to gather together the details and thus learn and know the whole extent of the loss. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.720 A man's house burns down. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:26.159 The smoking wreckage represents only a ruined home that was dear through years of use and pleasant associations. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:32.799 By and by, as the days and weeks go on, first he misses this, then that, then the other thing. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:36.480 And when he casts about for it, he finds that it was in that house. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:38.879 Always it is an essential. 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:40.799 There was but one of its kind. 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:42.320 It cannot be replaced. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:43.759 It was in that house. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.000 It is irrevocably lost. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:50.080 He did not realize that it was an essential when he had it. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:55.440 He only discovers it now when he finds himself balked, hampered by its absence. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:00.320 It will be years before the tale of lost essentials is complete. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:05.360 And not till then can he truly know the magnitude of his disaster. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:10.799 It's a picture of the journey that so many folks that are that are close to us are on now. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:14.559 It can take years to discover what you've lost when a home burns down. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:18.720 So let's commit to joining them in that journey. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:21.679 You know, the gospel provides us incredible resources. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:28.320 If you think the way that the Bible is laid out, there's four gospels that show us the life of Jesus. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:34.799 And then we've got 16 books that describe the Israelites in exile. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:45.360 So that means that God really wants us to understand what it is like to live in exile, to live outside of your home. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:52.879 In a sense, we are all homeless on this side of the new heavens and the new earth. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:11:01.360 And when we attend to those who are more acutely experiencing that homelessness, then we're reminded of our own true state. 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:07.519 And so there's a spiritual benefit to assisting those and drawing close to a tragedy like this. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:15.840 And there's news that you can bring of a homelessness that will not last, but one that will be rectified in Christ. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:20.879 So let's take a moment and pray for those who are in the midst of this loss. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:30.399 Holy Father, we pray that you would attend those who are just beginning this journey to discover all the essentials that they had lost. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:35.919 Lord, the lives that will feel like they need to be totally rebuilt from the ground up. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:48.559 Lord, we pray that the exile that they are experiencing, that they might find in you a God who understands what that is, one who left his home in order to seek and save the lost. 00:11:48.879 --> 00:12:05.279 Lord, we pray that you would draw close, that you would comfort those who are mourning, that you would give us wisdom and how to help in practical ways, and that you would allow your your church to shine like a light in the darkness, benefiting and helping the community. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:07.759 Lord, would you give us the wisdom to do that? 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:13.840 And Lord, help us move forward in love for those who are experiencing this loss. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:15.840 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:16.720 Amen. 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:19.279 Okay. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:23.840 So let's go ahead and jump into today's text. 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:31.919 This is one of those one-off sermons that I get to preach every now and then, where we're not moving through a book, and instead I just get to choose the text that I'm going to preach on. 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:36.559 And so this text, I thought, what would be helpful at the beginning of the year? 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:44.799 And I think that one of the most helpful things that we could do at the beginning of the new year is to focus our attention. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:52.000 And so I want to help us to gain a perspective on what the value of our attention is. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:57.440 And I want you to leave this morning thinking, my attention is incredibly precious. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:05.600 My wife is a, she's our kids director here, and she is uh before that she was a teacher for six years. 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:07.360 So she knows about kids. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.279 She's really good at knowing about kids. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:12.720 And and she also has kids of her own. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:14.159 We share them. 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:30.960 And occasionally, um, when one of our kids is is having like a meltdown, like they do, like we all do, she'll say, You need to uh you need to give JT 10 minutes of attention. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:35.279 Just 10 minutes of uninterrupted attention. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:39.120 Just focus on him, listen to him, ask questions. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:45.279 Don't look at your phone, don't have a podcast on in the background, which is almost certainly saying something more interesting. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:52.720 Don't have a TV show on in the background, uh nothing, just your attention to him. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:56.559 And I'll tell you what, it can be like flipping a switch. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.600 Just 10 minutes of attention. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:04.720 Our attention is incredibly powerful. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:09.360 It reaches out into the world and affects things. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:12.559 So we've been granted the superpower of attention. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:14.240 Well, what do we do with it? 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:22.000 In the text that the text that we're going to move through today, we'll see a warning regarding our attention. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:25.039 That our attention has this tendency to drift away. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:38.480 And then we'll see that just as our attention has this tendency to drift away, so too, when it's focused on the Lord, it can actually create in us this capacity to be wise and discerning people. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:47.919 So this comes in creating a posture of attention that sacrificially lays itself down to attend to the Lord. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:52.559 So this is the phrase that I want us to leave with: sacrificial attention. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:15:00.799 This is the idea that your attention is precious, and that when you lay it down, it is like making a sacrifice, it is like worshiping. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:10.879 And when you sacrifice your attention to the Lord as an act of worship, your heart becomes formed, he becomes glorified, and you actually become wise. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:19.360 So we'll see the dangers of a drifting attention, the glory of an attention focused on the Lord, and then I'm going to do something for the first time ever. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:20.799 I'm going to become practical. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:27.200 And I'm going to give you a list of things that you can actually do to help aim your attention towards the Lord. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:28.799 Here we go. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:32.559 So what we read is in the book of Hebrews. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:36.080 I'll quickly read again just this first verse, which is all we'll deal with. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:41.919 Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:51.360 Now, this is only the second chapter of Hebrews, and already he gives an exhortation, the writer of Hebrews does. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:16:12.799 And it's coming on the heels of the first chapter, which explains that in this present time, in these last days, God has revealed himself, not in the typical ways that he's revealed himself to us before, through signs or wonders, or through prophets that he has sent to speak to us, but instead he's revealed himself to us through his own son. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:17.360 And that means that this is the greatest revelation of God. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:31.759 And because we've received such a wonderful revelation of God that is greater than all others, and that is the greatest revelation that will ever be, then we must attend to it. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.399 So that is what the therefore is connecting to. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:43.440 He says, Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:45.360 So what is the first command? 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:58.240 Upon hearing the gospel, upon hearing the news of Jesus Christ, the Lord has revealed himself in a person, as a person in the world, who has died, has resurrected, atoned for our sins. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:01.840 In him we have the whole hope of salvation. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:04.880 So what do we do with that information? 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:13.119 The first thing that the writer of Hebrews says is we must pay much closer attention. 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:19.440 Because the danger here is that we might drift away from this news. 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:25.119 Do you think that there is news that you could receive that is so good you would never drift away from it? 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:29.920 Well, there is no better news than the gospel. 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:40.799 And yet the warning is your attention will drift unless you pay much closer attention. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:47.920 Now, the way that this is constructed, this idea of paying much closer attention, this isn't just a quantity discussion. 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:53.920 It doesn't say you should pay much more attention, although it must be related in some way. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:18:08.880 Instead, this is saying you must pay a much more precise and deep attention to the message of the gospel, to the Lord Jesus Christ, that he must have your attention. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:12.880 And that means this is a particular and nuanced way. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:20.720 We're going through something like a mindfulness revolution, at least in terms of the amount of mindfulness apps available. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:35.759 And mindfulness is this practice of becoming a sort of observer of what your thoughts are and entering a space where your mind is able to be you're identifying with the with the observer part of your mind. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:44.240 And in that sense, you're sort of able to empty your mind of particular thoughts, detach from the particular thoughts of your mind. 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:47.519 Well, this is saying something different than that. 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:54.240 This is saying that you must engage with particular thoughts of Christ. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:19:11.680 This is saying that in order to have a mind that is truly connected, you must be focused on, not emptied of, the particular understanding of who Christ is and who he has revealed himself to be. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:27.440 Now, of course, there must be some sort of a mindfulness component to that, because in order to focus on Christ, we must be emptying a lot of other things, in fact, almost every other thing, so that it finds its proportion as it relates to Christ. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.480 But notice the first thing is to pay attention. 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:37.119 Think of it like this what your attention accomplishes to the gospel. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:40.000 Imagine that the gospel were written down in a book. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:41.839 Can you imagine? 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:47.839 And imagine that that book is sitting on your your bedside table. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.160 Now, what does the book accomplish while it's sitting there? 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:54.000 Nothing. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:57.279 It doesn't do anything. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:19:58.400 It just sits there. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:01.519 What is it that brings a book to life? 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:08.400 What is it that makes the words of a book manifest into the world? 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:10.960 It's your attention. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:12.400 Don't you see? 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:16.559 This is like a magical power that you have that to that casts a spell. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:37.839 It takes something that is otherwise completely dormant, dead, and then by giving it your attention, you resurrect these words that are there, they're written down, you don't change them at all, and yet you bring them out into the world that they might manifest in a real way simply by giving them your attention. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:41.359 How is it that the word bears fruit in the world? 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:44.079 It is that it is attended to. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:47.680 And then the word begins to bear fruit. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.880 Your attention is like water to a plant. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:53.839 It requires it to live. 00:20:54.079 --> 00:21:02.160 And so too, for the gospel to take place, for our understanding of the word of God to take place in the world, it must be attended to. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:08.079 Imagine writing uh we could you, you know, someone, we could imagine this. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:15.279 Someone may have written the greatest systematic theology, the greatest breakdown of scripture. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:29.599 And it may even pull in these understandings from natural revelation and from the sciences and from all these places, and written the most precise and complete and wonderful breakdown of the truths of the universe. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:39.519 And yet, if it sits just on a shelf somewhere in the Library of Congress with some little code that tells you where it is, it accomplishes nothing. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:45.680 Yes, it's been done, it's been written down, it is there, it's complete in a sense. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:48.880 But does that mean we can all clock out and head home from life? 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:52.960 It must be attended to. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:57.680 Our attention is incredibly powerful. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.759 But this verse also comes with a warning. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:07.680 If you do not pay attention to the word, you will drift away from it. 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:11.599 This is the ordinary course of our lives. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:13.519 This is the ordinary course. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.799 This is the sort of entropy of the human heart. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:30.480 That if you are not connected to the word in a precise way, where you can pay close attention to it, where you're giving it your mind, then you will drift away from it. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:31.680 It is inevitable. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:34.079 This is one of the promises of Scripture. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:35.759 Name it and claim it. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:39.039 If I don't attend to the Word, I will drift away from it. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:42.319 It is a promise of the Scriptures. 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:57.119 Throughout Hebrews, the writer returns to this analogy a couple of times, and he's actually sort of using it here of a tether to like a line that connects a ship to an anchor. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:07.839 And he's describing that we are anchored to the Lord, but our attention is that tether which keeps us connected to the anchor. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:19.200 And if the the anchor can sit there, you know, the anchor of the gospel, the news of Christ can sit in the sea, you know, dug into the sand, immovable. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:25.039 But if we are untethered from it, the anchor accomplishes nothing. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:29.119 And our attention is that tether. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:39.440 Our attention allows us to be connected to the anchor and instead of drifting away into the current. 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:49.519 So here then is the question that should accompany this warning that if you are not tethered to the anchor, you will drift away. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:53.039 The question is, what has your attention? 00:23:54.079 --> 00:24:03.039 Because it isn't as though if you aren't attending to the Lord, then perhaps your attention is just neutral. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:06.960 It's just out in the world. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:12.240 You know, it it it's it perhaps your attention is just drawn to yourself. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:30.960 You can imagine, I think that there's sort of a myth of pure mindfulness that I think a lot of people think they're aiming at, which is that my mind will be completely emptied, and therefore I will be able to experience a pure detachment. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:34.319 You are not that type of creature. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:37.599 At least for a number of reasons. 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:40.400 Consider what it would mean for a baby to come into the world. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:43.599 We could think of them as in like an unstained condition. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:45.279 And they come into the world. 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:48.720 Well, could they possibly live with pure detachment? 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:50.000 Of course not. 00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:55.039 They need the attachment of their parent to nourish them and care for them. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:25:03.200 We at least need the social attachment of one another to actually be participating and living as humans in the world. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:20.799 And so to pursue a total detachment, a pure mindfulness, an absolute observer position that isn't experiencing any of the reality of the world is to put yourself in a suicidal position. 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:29.440 It's to say, in order to remove myself from the pain of humanity, I'm going to remove my humanity entirely. 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:41.359 So if you aren't attending to the Lord, you are attending to something else. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:50.720 You are, which means you are tethered, tethering yourself to another anchor. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:55.039 So what is your soul anchored to? 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:58.240 Consider what gets your attention. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:02.240 What are your information habits? 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:05.519 Where are you resting your mind? 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:13.839 If you aren't attending to the Lord, you're just getting swept off in some current. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:19.519 And I think before Twitter existed, this might have been a point that was harder to convey. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:33.680 But now that Twitter exists, this I think this just feels so intuitively obvious to us that the world moves in uncontrolled, unpredictable currents that don't seem to lead or amount to anything. 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:42.000 But they contain within themselves these deep promises of a narrative that you can participate in. 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:47.039 Because think of what it means to focus your attention on the gospel. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:57.680 It means that you are focusing on not just an event, but on a whole story and framework of understanding the world. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:02.079 Because you're saying things must have started out wonderfully. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:05.039 Like a garden scenario. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:08.480 Because I see this goodness that's built into the world. 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:13.200 And when things are lost and swept away from it, it seems so wrong. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:15.359 And yet that type of thing happens all the time. 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:19.839 Even in my own soul, there's wrongness that seems to corrupt everything. 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:25.039 What can possibly rescue us from that wrongness? 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:28.319 And then the Christ story emerges. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:44.799 We see the glory of God Himself who comes to atone for the wrongness in our own souls, that we might be redeemed and experience a closeness and a redemption and a closeness to the Lord and his redemptive action in our hearts. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:47.599 And then that gives us a hope towards a glorious future. 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:48.160 Do you see? 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:55.200 Focusing on the gospel means entering into a whole narrative of the way the world is unfolding itself. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:04.799 Which means that if you're not focusing on the gospel, you are entering into some other narrative. 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:09.279 And it's usually a narrative. 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:15.119 There are a couple of problems with the other narratives. 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:17.039 Let me count the ways. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:30.319 Firstly, you are entering a narrative that usually causes you to pretend to not know something that you really know. 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:36.400 Imagine entering a purely materialist scientific narrative. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:39.599 One that says there is no such thing as the soul. 00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:48.079 There is no such thing as that which we cannot measure or touch or describe in causal materialist terms. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:56.880 Now you have to pretend to not know that humans have souls. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:01.039 Think of the explanatory force of the soul. 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:05.519 It's incredible the amount of questions that having a soul answers. 00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:25.359 The loss of someone at death, the glory of a child at birth, understandings of that we encounter things like beauty that seem to have no real no connection to a sort of purely materialist evolutionary process. 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:33.359 And if we make that connection, we're having to make these leap jumps and leaps and bounds that are that are almost absurd when we start making them. 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:49.359 And so you're entering a narrative that's forcing you to pretend to not know things that look you know, and that's creating a reductionist view of the world as you enter these stories that capture your attention. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:57.839 Or imagine this: what if you're just scrolling through and you're really taken in by like the pros of the advertising industry? 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:06.000 And you're sold this narrative that fulfillment is just around the corner in this next thing that you'll buy. 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:11.440 Or that there is on our drive, on my drive down Tennyson to get here. 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:13.759 Uh, you guys know Berkeley Supply? 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:18.480 They're a bit out of a pastor's price range, but I like everything in there. 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:23.119 And it says it says, uh outfitter of things that last. 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:33.680 Um look, uh, those things burn up. 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:37.839 Sometimes completely unexpectedly. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:46.319 And yet I found ourselves, we just drift into this narrative of finally get the things together that will last. 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:51.440 And hope is just around the corner of that sort of experience. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:57.839 And so our habits of information consumption they form a new narrative. 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:14.000 They tell us who the bad guys are, who the good guys are, and then when we get caught up in those other narratives, we'll find that we are celebrating things that don't actually amount to any good, and we're destroying things that are actually where our hope comes from. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:23.200 And your attention is being fought over because it is deeply beneficial. 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:33.039 It's it's at least profitable to have your attention in a counter narrative to the gospel. 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:42.799 You can start to feel the drift when you can no longer conceptualize problems outside of the political realm. 00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:48.960 What if you thought of every problem as ultimately political? 00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:51.759 You've entered a new narrative. 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:59.759 And don't you see you're entering a narrative which is requiring you to believe things that you know are not true? 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:04.960 Every problem comes down to a political solution. 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:07.920 No, you know that's absurd. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:09.759 Because you have a family. 00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:15.279 And and your family has problems, is what I mean. 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:17.599 With no political solution. 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:18.799 Sorry. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:33.519 So you are you're tricked, you're duped into this other narrative of seeing the world, all because of a lack of attention. 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:46.960 So ultimately, what this causes you to be is, and I want to put this as bluntly as I can, you become a useless interpreter. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:53.119 You cannot look out into the world and interpret the reality of situations. 00:32:53.759 --> 00:33:00.400 Now, before Twitter existed, this might have been a difficult point for us to receive. 00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:04.960 It seems like there are lots of smart people making lots of accurate interpretations. 00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:06.480 But Twitter exists. 00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:13.279 So now this is a very simple point to make land in the hearts of a congregation. 00:33:14.319 --> 00:33:21.839 There is a lot of absolutely useless interpretation going on in the world. 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:24.880 Useless interpretation. 00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:34.799 And for many of us, we enter our lives and we're unable to discern what is good in them and what is bad in them. 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:39.119 What is something to pursue and what is something to avoid? 00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:44.799 What is the liberation of a human heart and what is enslavement of a human heart? 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:54.720 How many New Year's resolutions will you see or hear that, and you'll hear people say, like, this year I'm putting myself first? 00:33:56.640 --> 00:33:58.559 Like that was your problem. 00:34:01.359 --> 00:34:05.680 That you weren't thinking about yourself enough. 00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:08.960 It's the most absurd thing I've ever heard. 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:28.480 Like, no, you you look, it there's a uh if you think you'll finally feel secure, because you'll finally start thinking about yourself enough, then you don't understand the type of creature that you are. 00:34:29.280 --> 00:34:31.280 Oh, how we wish. 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:38.480 We could step outside of our own skin and I could still be standing here and I could say, bless you, James. 00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:40.480 You're forgiven. 00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:44.400 I love you, you are valuable and atoned for. 00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:46.400 But we can't. 00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:51.360 You have to hear that from someone outside of you. 00:34:51.840 --> 00:34:52.800 You must. 00:34:53.199 --> 00:35:02.639 And so if you're questing for security as something you can give yourself in your own mind, don't you see the pattern of the way people are? 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:07.440 This relational pattern of the types of creatures that we are? 00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:15.440 Don't you see it in the mindfulness revolution? 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:17.440 What are we trying to do? 00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:22.800 Perhaps I could be the subject and the observer at the same time. 00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:32.000 To put it in theological terms, perhaps me, this imminent thing, could also be the transcendent thing that blesses me. 00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:39.039 Because what do we need as imminent people, as proximal people, as embodied people? 00:35:39.519 --> 00:35:45.199 We need something outside of us to bless us in order for it to be meaningful. 00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:51.360 And so we try and create that pattern in ourselves, in our own hearts, and it's futile. 00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:55.199 It's standing in a bucket and trying to lift it up. 00:35:55.280 --> 00:35:58.559 It's pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. 00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:03.679 It's it's pretending to not know something that you know. 00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:05.440 And what do you know? 00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:07.760 You can't bless yourself. 00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:14.159 Because you're not a creator, you're a creature. 00:36:15.199 --> 00:36:19.920 Creatures are designed to be blessed by something else. 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:23.840 So, where is your attention? 00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:25.440 That was a little sermonette. 00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:32.480 How might we become useful interpreters? 00:36:33.119 --> 00:36:34.719 Useful interpreters. 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:40.880 How deeply does the world need useful interpreters? 00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:42.239 Oh my goodness. 00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:44.480 Where do you where do you go to find something like that? 00:36:44.639 --> 00:36:46.159 We're going to move into Romans 12. 00:36:46.239 --> 00:36:47.920 Oh man, I gotta hustle. 00:36:49.840 --> 00:36:51.760 I appeal to you, Romans 12.1. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:53.119 This is the hope of attention. 00:36:53.199 --> 00:37:03.840 I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 00:37:04.320 --> 00:37:08.400 Okay, now this isn't particularly about attention, but it will be in the next verse. 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:15.039 And we see this connection here of how when we attend appropriately, we become useful interpreters. 00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:17.519 So here, an underlying thesis. 00:37:17.760 --> 00:37:25.280 In order to interpret the world accurately, you must worship the Lord. 00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:26.800 Isn't that strange? 00:37:27.039 --> 00:37:28.960 What a scientific method. 00:37:29.280 --> 00:37:33.519 You must worship the Lord in order to be an accurate interpreter. 00:37:33.760 --> 00:37:39.440 Okay, now look at this is where I want us to get this phrase, sacrificial attention. 00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:49.199 I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. 00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:51.679 This is your spiritual worship. 00:37:51.920 --> 00:38:01.280 I want us to understand that our attention, when it is given to the Lord, is an act of sacrificial worship. 00:38:01.599 --> 00:38:04.880 Because consider the opportunity cost of attention. 00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:08.320 You can't pay attention to multiple things at once. 00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:11.519 Isn't it strange how we are as people? 00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:15.280