March 2021

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First Reading = Numbers 21:4-9

4From Mount Hor they set out by the  way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people  became impatient on the way. 5The people spoke against God and against  Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the  wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this  miserable food.” 6Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 7The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” 9So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and  put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person  would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

Introduction

We are still in the season of Lent, preparing ourselves for Jesus’ journey to the cross. And for this Lenten season we are looking at covenants in the Bible. Those are God’s promises to us, and even when they have expectations and stipulations for what we’re supposed to do, covenants are founded on God’s commitment and God’s word rather than our own.

Last week we talked about the Ten Commandments and two core truths. It is true that God does not condemn us and offers us grace. AND it is true that God dreams for us to live how he designed us and to be more responsible with our decisions. Both are true at the same time.

This week we get to hear a little more context around one of the most famous passages in the entire Bible. Some say that John 3:16 is one of the best summary verses for the entire narrative arc of the Bible. But that verse doesn’t stand alone.

Our text today actually is part of a broader conversation between Jesus and a curious Pharisee named Nicodemus. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night to ask him some questions without all the other Pharisees around. In particular, he realized that Jesus must have the power of God within him or he wouldn’t be able to heal and speak unknowable truths and do the other miraculous things Jesus was doing. But Nicodemus didn’t understand everything Jesus was saying about the nature of God, so he came to ask some questions.

It’s kind of a strange chapter, because Jesus confounds Nicodemus with his answers, and he probably confounds some of us, too. But when Jesus decides to land the plane and put the cookies on the lower shelf for Nicodemus, boy does he hit it out of the park.

Sermon Reading = John 3:14-21

  14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave  his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but  may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not  condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because  they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light  has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light  because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Looking One Way

Several years ago, I was driving through a downtown area. There are usually a lot of things going on at the same time in a downtown area, but on this particular day it was a little slower than usual. I came to a stop at a red light, and watched traffic for my opportunity to turn right. I had to wait for five or six cars – not too bad. And when I noticed my opening, I started pulling onto the street and SCREECH! I slammed on my brakes. A pedestrian had walked in front of my car while I was looking the other way.

Normally, I turn to look the other way before pulling out. But this time I forgot. It was such a short time I was waiting. I assumed nothing had changed. Now, luckily for everyone I hit the brakes in time to avoid anything but a dirty look from the pedestrian. But I almost had a catastrophe because I was looking in the wrong direction.

Our text today starts off by talking about the importance of looking the right way, and Jesus does it by referencing a very odd chapter from near the end of the Israelites’ wandering through the wilderness after being rescued from Egypt. We heard it in our first text today.

It’s kind of weird, but here’s the short version. The Israelites were grumbling – again – and God decided to try something different. He sent serpents to bite them. Side note, apparently complaining about God’s food results in you getting bit by a serpent. Keep that in mind if you’re ordering food in heaven. Public service announcement right there.

But anyway, God told Moses to make a symbol of a serpent, put it on a pole, and people had to look at this symbol or they would die. All they had to do was look up – look in the right direction – look where God told you to look. All it took was that one, very specific act of faith. They couldn’t look at someone else’s symbolic snake on a pole. They couldn’t just pray. They had to look in one very specific direction to live. Nothing else worked. If you want to live, look at the serpent on Moses’ pole. That’s it.

God required this act of faith – nothing more. But it was a very specific act of faith. It required more than believing in God. It required more than passive assent that God knows what he’s doing. It required this one, very specific, act of faith. Look here! Not over there! Look here if you want to live.

So Jesus picks up this story and says, “just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” OK, the last I checked, Jesus wasn’t a serpent. So what does this mean?!?

Well, let’s take this in parts. The serpent was lifted up on a pole, and so was Jesus at his crucifixion. The serpent was to save people from physical and immediate death, and Jesus saved people from spiritual and eternal death. The only way for the Israelites to be saved was to look at this one specific serpent, and the only way for us to be saved is to look at this one specific person – Jesus.

And so we are told, “Look this one way – look at this one person – if you want true life.”

Benefits of Following Jesus

Now, the Israelites had a pretty obvious reason to look at Moses’ serpent. They were bitten by a snake. They were dying. If they looked at Moses’ serpent they wouldn’t die. Pretty clear cut. It’s not always as obvious for us.

But I contend that following Jesus, looking his way, looking at him instead of anywhere else, results in some pretty tangible benefits. These are the very tangible ways that God demonstrates his love for us, as our text today puts it.

As we go through some of these, I want to encourage you to think about it in a couple of ways. First, check in with your own heart, your own soul, your own mind, your own experiences to see if you can notice these same benefits in your own life. If so, celebrate that. Acknowledge that. Thank Jesus for that. The more you celebrate these benefits, the more you will notice them throughout your life and the stronger these benefits become.

If, on the other hand, you do not notice these benefits in your life, I encourage you to ask yourself where you’re looking. The vast, vast, vast majority of the time when we aren’t experiencing these benefits of following Jesus, it’s because we’re looking elsewhere. Instead of looking to Jesus, we’re looking at ourselves, or someone else to save us, or our money or position or resume or whatever. The Israelites had to look at Moses’ one, specific serpent on a pole to be healed. We have to look at Jesus, the one very specific person, the Son of God, to experience true life.

So to recap, as we go over these benefits of following Jesus, either celebrate where you see them in your life or ask yourself how you can look to Jesus more if you don’t see them in your life. I asked my friends on Facebook to share their own experiences, so these are themes shared by actual people. These aren’t just hypothetical. They’re real.

Never Alone

One of the most common themes people listed was never being alone.

Have you ever done one of those high ropes courses? I remember one when I was younger, maybe middle or high school. And one of the challenges was to get the group over the wall. It was impossible to hurdle on my own, but it was easy to lift people over as a team.

When we’re looking away from Jesus, we might feel like we’re at the bottom of the wall with no way over. When we look to Jesus, we know we aren’t just relying on our own legs to hop over.

Jesus is with us when the imposing wall is something physical. But he’s also with us when the imposing wall is something internal. One of my friends wrote that she had been at the bottom, she had been on a roller coaster, but Jesus was always watching over her. Sometimes we bottom out. Sometimes the roller coaster sends us careening down. But we aren’t alone. He’s with us. We don’t face that imposing wall alone. We don’t face that crushing burden alone. We don’t bottom out alone. We don’t ride the roller coaster alone. We do not walk through the valley of the shadow of death alone, for he is with us.

I remember an old video teaching series from Rob Bell where he talked about going for a walk with his baby strapped to his chest. I don’t think that was super common for every generation, but I know the baby chest wrap was definitely a thing when my boys were babies. But I digress. Bell shared that he was walking with his baby on chest when a sudden freak storm sprung up. As they were getting drenched, he did his best to protect his child from the rain, but the baby was screaming at the top of its lungs. So he did what he could. He continued to comfort his child, protecting it from the storm, and whispering over and over again, “It’s OK buddy. I’m right here with you. It’s OK buddy. I’m right here with you.” That’s how Jesus is with us in our storms. He’s right there with us, protecting us, whispering, “It’s OK buddy. I’m right here with you.”

Have you felt the presence of Jesus in your life? If so, celebrate that. The more you celebrate Jesus’ presence, the more you’ll notice his presence even more.

If you haven’t felt the presence of Jesus in your life, I encourage you to look to him. Not at yourself. Not at your resume. Not at your bank account. Not at your stock portfolio. Look to Jesus. As you look up to him, you’ll notice he’s already right beside you. You aren’t alone when you follow Jesus. Ever.

Peace and Hope

People also wrote a lot about peace and hope. That was another major, common theme. As one of my friends wrote, “Even in dark times, my hope in Jesus prevails.” It’s not the Jesus gets rid of all the dark times. In fact, Jesus says we should expect dark times. A few weeks ago in our series looking at the book of James we heard that we should expect to face trials of many kinds.

Jesus doesn’t promise to turn the twists and turns in our lives into a straight paved Interstate highway. But he does promise something a little different that can help us feel peace and hope when we otherwise wouldn’t.

I finally – FINALLY – got to ski at Loveland a couple of weeks ago. I left at my normal time, but my phone warned me there was a wreck on I-70. I don’t need to tell you what happens when there’s a wreck on I-70 in the mountains. Oh, on top of that wreck, there’s construction going on right now. I don’t need to tell you what construction does to travel times through the mountains. Net result? I was like 90 minutes later than I expected.

But I wasn’t done yet! I didn’t know that this was the start of spring break for some. And so I couldn’t park in the main lot, nor Lot B. I got one of the last spots in Lot C and then waited in a shuttle line that took seven shuttles before I finally got to head over to the ski area! Seven shuttles worth of people in front of me! I don’t want to know how many shuttles’ worth of people were behind me.

But you know what? I got there! My boots still fit. My skis still let me fly down the Apollo run from the top of lift #4 as fast as I could go. I still got to enjoy my favorite sport. The road wasn’t smooth. The main parking lot was full. The crowds were bigger than I expected. But eventually? Eventually I got up on top of the mountain, got away from the crowds, and had a great day skiing Loveland.

Even through the I-70 traffic, even through the I-70 construction, even through the parking lot drama, even waiting through seven shuttles, I never wavered in my hope that I would eventually get some skiing in. My hope didn’t fail. Now, my sense of peace did fail at one point. I was good through the I-70 part, but the parking lot pushed my peace out the window for a couple of minutes. I recovered enough to joke with people in the shuttle line, but there was a brief non-peaceful moment there. But my hope never wavered.

When we look to Jesus, we know our destination. When we look to Jesus, we know we’re going to get to the mountain eventually. When we look to Jesus, we have a hope that does not get squashed by the twists and turns and crashes and construction and full parking lots of life. As one of my friends wrote, “I know where my future home will be!” We have a destination in mind, and we know we’ll get there eventually.

Our hope and our sense of peace come from trusting that Jesus has the most important things under control. Nothing in our lives can shake Jesus from his throne. Nothing in our lives can shake Jesus from his love for us. Nothing in our lives can shake Jesus from fulfilling the will of God as our text says: “For God so loved the world that he gave  his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but  may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

That can’t be shaken. So our hope and our sense of peace don’t have to be determined by the shape of our lives. Our hope and our sense of peace don’t have to be determined by how straight or how twisted our path is. When we look to Jesus, we can have hope no matter the road, peace no matter the bumps along the way.

Have you felt hope in a seemingly hopeless time? Have you felt the peace of God which surpasses all earthly understanding? Celebrate that! The more you celebrate it, the more you’ll have access to that hope and peace when you need it.

If you haven’t felt the hope and peace of Jesus in your life, I encourage you to look to him. Not at yourself. Not at your resume. Not at your bank account. Not at your stock portfolio. Look to Jesus for your hope and peace. Though the road may twist and turn, our destination is never in doubt when we look to Jesus.

Guidance (and what NOT to do)

Receiving guidance is the final theme I’ll lift up today. Sometimes that’s receiving guidance on what to do…and other times that’s receiving guidance on what not to do! There were a lot of good quotes on this one from my online poll.

One person wrote, “It’s so comforting to know He’s in charge!” Another wrote, “When I’ve been willing to stop and listen to Him, the small steps in which Jesus guides me makes my life so much better than I could have imagined!” I think both of those really capture what it means to look to Jesus for guidance. Following Jesus’ guidance means trusting that his way will be better than your way. Asking Jesus for guidance doesn’t mean asking him to bless your plan. Asking Jesus for guidance means’ asking him to give you HIS plan and trusting that it will be better than your own.

Every once in a while I watch short videos to try to improve my guitar abilities. It’s questionable how much better I am today than two years ago, but a few things are clearly better. I remember watching one video a few months ago that showed how I should be holding my guitar a little differently. I thought it looked weird. I thought it felt weird. But I tried it anyway, because I’ve liked this teacher’s tips before.

I had enough trust to try it his way instead of my way. After a couple of days, I could actually detect a big difference. My wrist was way less strained after playing. I could finally get my hand into position for some chord shapes that were previously giving me fits. It took a few days to pan out, but I trusted this teacher enough to try it his way. And sure enough, his way was better.

When we look to Jesus for guidance, we are willing to follow his lead even when we don’t understand it. Even when it takes a while to pan out.

Of course, sometimes Jesus’ guidance is for us to not do something or not say something. One of my friends shared that she prays for Jesus to “put His hand over my mouth unless there is something He directly puts on my heart to say.” I love that image! Jesus, cover my mouth! Don’t let my words escape my lips until they are actually your words!

Another said she is “slow[er] to anger.” Jesus’ guidance for her included slowing down the anger instead of unleashing it. And then trusting that Jesus’ way is better even though that anger wants to be readied, aimed, and fired at someone.

Jesus puts it this way in our text today, “those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” Jesus’ way leads us to the light and out of the darkness.

Have you received guidance from Jesus – whether that’s to do something or avoid something? If so, celebrate that! The more you celebrate it, the more you’ll be able to receive Jesus’ guidance in the future.

If you haven’t received that kind of guidance, I encourage you to look to Jesus. Not at yourself. Not at your resume. Not at your bank account. Not at your stock portfolio. Look to Jesus for guidance on what to do and what to avoid. God sees our future better than we see our past. Trust his plans!

Summary

Sisters and brothers, “God so loved the world that he gave  his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but  may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

When we look to Jesus, when we accept the life God offers us in love and grace, we are never alone. We can feel hope and peace no matter our circumstances. And we can receive impossibly insightful guidance on what to do and what to avoid.

If you’re not sure how much of these things you’ve experienced, I encourage you to make that a spiritual discipline this week. Schedule some times – multiple times, not just one – schedule some times to think about and write down where following Jesus has been a blessing in your life or somehow improved your life and decisions. Feel free to email those to me, too, I would love to read those!

The more we recognize and celebrate the presence, the hope, the peace, and the guidance of Jesus in our lives, the more we will experience those benefits for the rest of our lives, too. I want more of those things! Do you? If so, look to Jesus. Not somewhere else. Look to Jesus. Amen.

View the Sermon

First Reading = 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

18For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20Where is the one who is wise? Where is  the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish  the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the  world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the  foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Introduction

We are still in our series looking at covenants in the Bible. Covenants are promises that God makes to us. Sometimes God places expectations on us, but the strength of the promise comes from God’s commitment to it, not our ability to uphold it.

That’s especially true today as we will be looking at when God gave the Ten Commandments. To put this in historical context, this happened a little bit after God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. So these people had seen the plagues sent upon Egypt. They had seen the waters part as they walked across dry land. They had seen God lead them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They had a healthy respect for the power of God. But they had a lot to learn. Most of the time, Moses spoke with God and then delivered the message. But this time? This time God had the people prepare themselves to hear from God directly. What a great opportunity, right? Well…let’s see.

Sermon Reading = Exodus 20:1-17

20Then God spoke all these words: 2I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3you shall have no other gods before me. 4You shall not make for yourself an idol,  whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on  the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord  your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of  parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord  your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter,  your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your  towns. 11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

12Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13You shall not murder. 14You shall not commit adultery. 15You shall not steal. 16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Not Up to Standard

Shane is one of my favorite engineers on YouTube, and he has a penchant for making some wild projects. He made a basketball goal that analyzed your shot in real time and moved and tilted the basket to make sure you never missed. He made an automated robotic barber. That one didn’t work quite as well, and I would be very nervous about losing my ears, but it was still impressive.

His latest one was a pool cue that had a robotic end that made sure you always made the shot no matter how bad you were at pool. The idea came to him after losing about ten games in a row to his wife. He needed a way to win! And why practice more when you can build a robot, right?

So he got it all hooked up. He could see the robotic cue tip moving to optimal position as he moved it around. It looked great! With excitement he lined up his first shot. It struck the ball cleanly. The ball rolled toward the pocket and…missed? Strange. So he lined up another shot, and it…missed, too!

Five days of agonizing debugging and ripping out hardware and rewriting software later, he discovered one of the problems. One of the key parts wasn’t performing up to standard. It wasn’t rotating as far as it was supposed to, and it was throwing off the shot. The manufacturer gave the specifications. The manufacturer certified it was up to standard. But it wasn’t.

This happened to NASA recently, too. An aluminum manufacturer had lied about the specifications of aluminum for 19 years, charging extra without delivering the real goods. After two failed satellites and $700 million in losses, NASA figured out the source was this sub-standard aluminum. It was supposedly up to standard. But it wasn’t.

For an example a bit closer to home, does your phone or laptop get as much battery life as they say it will? I have never in my life owned an electronic device whose battery life was equal to the marketing materials! If you have, tell me what you’re buying! Unless you’re still on a flip phone. That’s just not worth it.

In our text today, I already shared that the Israelites knew God had incredible power. They had felt the heat of the pillar of fire. They had scooted across the dry seabed with walls of water on either side. They didn’t doubt God’s existence or God’s power. But they did want to know God’s expectations.

And so God obliged. Here’s how God spoke to them. In the previous chapter it says, “there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled.” And then God’s words, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me!”

If you’ve ever wished that God would speak to you directly, some of these Israelites would say, “be careful what you wish for!” In fact, it’s hilarious, right after our text today they tell Moses not to let God speak to them directly again. They say to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

Why were they so afraid? Well, the presentation probably contributed to that. A booming voice from a mountain of lightning and thunder might give anyone pause. But they were also afraid because they realized they weren’t up to God’s standards. God throws out a whole bunch of “you shalls” and “you shall nots.” God sets the standard. But they realize they tend to “shall not” when God said “you shall,” and they tend to “shall” when God said, “you shall not.” They aren’t up to God’s standard.

But Timothy Keller, the Christian author and pastor, takes this a step further. He says to imagine that you have a body camera that records every time in your life that you said to someone else, “you should” or “you should not.” All it records is your own definition of right and wrong. Not God’s standard – your own standards for right and wrong as spoken throughout your life. Got it?

And now imagine that God says on judgment day, “I’m a fair-minded God. I’m going to use your own moral standard to judge your decisions.” And then God watches the recorder and compares it to how you lived.

How confident are you that you have actually lived up to your own moral standards? How confident are you that you have actually lived a “good life” as you define it? How confident are you that you have always lived up to your own standards?

I am personally very confident. 100% confident, even. I am 100% without-a-doubt confident that I have NOT lived up to my own moral standards, let alone God’s. I have not always done what I believe to be right. I have often done what I believe to be wrong. Like that part in the robotic pool cue, like that bad aluminum sold to NASA, like the battery life in my cell phone, I’m not up to my own standard, let alone God’s standard. How about you?

Gospel of Grace

William Penn – the namesake of Pennsylvania – grew up in the upper class in the mid-1600’s. It was the predominant fashion among the upper class to wear a sword. It wasn’t really there for a purpose. It was a status symbol. It set apart the high brow from the low brow – the moneyed from the poor – the well-born from the peons.

But at age 23 William Penn became a Quaker. They believed, in their devotion to Jesus, that one should refuse to use violence and one should abolish class distinctions. Pacifism and equality were two of the cornerstones of how they lived their faith in Jesus.

Penn approached his mentor, because he was so accustomed to wearing the sword. He pleaded with his mentor, “May I continue to wear the sword?” But it was a symbol of violence and intentionally designed to distinguish the classes. It seemed to violate two of the core principles of the Quaker faith.

His mentor told him something I consider surprising. His mentor told him, “Wear the sword as long as you can, William, wear it as long as you can.” I find that surprising. Why?

Most people would have taken one of two different approaches. Many would have said, “That’s OK, William. It’s just a fashion statement.” Others would have said, “Get rid of that sword and turn it into a plowshare like the Bible says!” But Penn’s mentor didn’t say it was OK and he didn’t say stop it immediately. He said, “Wear the sword as long as you can, William.”

That’s fascinating! He didn’t offer blanket endorsement and appeasement. He didn’t offer relativism. But he also didn’t offer blanket judgment and condemnation. He turned the question back to William Penn, placed him in conversation with his faith, and trusted him to eventually make the responsible choice for a Quaker.

He offered young William Penn grace instead of judgment and condemnation. But he also offered young William Penn an expectation that he would examine himself in light of his faith and eventually make the responsible choice for a Quaker.

I believe that is a fabulous demonstration of the dual nature of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

What did Jesus say to the woman who was caught in the very act of adultery when the crowd wanted to stone her to death? “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” He said two things to her. The first was “neither do I condemn you.” The second was, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Jesus said both things!

We see in the Bible, in the book of Romans, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It doesn’t say, “after we clean up our lives, God will love us.” It doesn’t say, “once everyone around us thinks we’re good, God will love us.” It says, “while we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us.” God loves you for who you are today. That’s good news.

But God ALSO loves who you could become. Jesus said, “whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus desires us to live a certain way. Jesus desires us to become more responsible in the eyes of God. Jesus wants us to live the life that God dreamed for us when he formed us in our mother’s womb! That’s good news, too.

Both things are true. Jesus does not condemn us for who we are today. AND Jesus is eager for us to live the life that God dreamed for us before we were born. Both things are true.

Moses demonstrated this with his response to the Israelites who were terrified after hearing the voice of God. Remember I shared earlier that they told Moses not to let God speak to them again because they were afraid they would die. They weren’t up to God’s standard.

But Moses said to them, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.” Two things there. Do not be afraid…AND do not sin.

At the beginning of the Ten Commandments, God says, “I am the Lord your God” as a statement of fact. It is not contingent. It is not conditional. It just is. AND here are some expectations for living responsibly in the eyes of God. Both things are true.

As William Penn’s mentor said, “Wear the sword…as long as you can, William.” Grace and expectation of responsibility in the eyes of God. Both things are true.

This is good news! But it is also bad news.

When we want to wear our sword like William Penn, our badge of honor, our sense of superiority, our notion that we are right and those people are wrong and must be put in their place, this is bad news. This is bad news for us when we want to feel better than other people, when we want to point our fingers at those people and put them in their place. This is bad news when we’re feeling like that. We’ve all done it at some point.

But that’s the point, isn’t it? We can’t live up to our own standards, let alone God’s standards. We don’t have the moral high ground in the eyes of God. We are all sinners saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.

Two Hard Prayers

A late night comedian put up a photo of a famous person and spent several minutes mocking him because his face was one color and his hands were another color. And he was wondering what kind of makeup person wouldn’t notice the difference. To highlight the point he held up his own hands to his face and had a startling revelation. His own hands were a drastically different color than his face!

He confessed, “I mean, it’s not as bad, but it’s close. I’ll be honest. I regret going on this riff now because…I am in a glass house chucking some stones!”

I’m going to encourage us to have the courage to pray two hard prayers from within our own glass houses. And I mean “us.” I have needed to hear both of these things within the last year. Within the last month. Probably within the last week. I’m not sure about this morning, but the day’s still young! There’s still time!

First hard prayer is simple. “Jesus, give me your eyes of love.” Let me say that again: “Jesus, give me your eyes of love.”

Whenever we find ourselves thinking or saying someone has to look a certain way – whether that’s respectfully nice or honestly casual – whenever we find ourselves thinking or saying someone has to look a certain way to be a true follower of God, “Jesus, give me your eyes of love.”

Whenever we find ourselves thinking or saying that someone has to act a certain way to be a true follower of God, “Jesus, give me your eyes of love.”

Whenever we find ourselves thinking or saying that someone has to smell a certain way or vote a certain way or think a certain way to be a true follower of God, “Jesus, give me your eyes of love.”

That’s a hard prayer sometimes for me. What about you? But that grace is part of the Good News of Jesus.

Second hard prayer. “Jesus, help me live more responsibly in your eyes.” Let me say that again: “Jesus, help me live more responsibly in your eyes.”

I’m reading a book with a group of pastors right now called “Failure of Nerve” by Edwin Friedman. Friedman was one of the foremost practitioners of family systems, and he said that troubled families and troubled systems don’t change by focusing on the problem behaviors or the problem person or the weak link. In his decades of experience, families and systems change when someone or some ones behave with greater responsibility. When someone chooses not to be manipulated, when someone chooses not to be controlled by the anxiety in the system, when someone chooses not to be goaded into another fight, when someone chooses not to react in the same old ways, that’s when the family or system starts to change.

Summary

Sisters and brothers, when we live more responsibly in the eyes of God, we influence the people, families, and systems around us. You reap what you sow, right? So if you want the world to be more Godly, be more Godly. But that doesn’t mean finger-wagging judgment, because we have a Gospel of grace. And that doesn’t mean saying that our choices are always fine and dandy in the eyes of God. Because Jesus wants us to do the will of our Father in heaven.

When we pray, “Jesus, give me your eyes of love,” and “Jesus, help me live more responsibly in your eyes,” we sow Christ around us.

What will we sow this week? And what will we reap later on? Amen.