WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.060 I'm here, I'm here. Hey, good morning. How's 00:00:02.060 --> 00:00:05.379 everybody doing? Good. Good, good. It's been 00:00:05.379 --> 00:00:07.440 a minute. It's been a minute, but I'm so happy 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:11.199 that I am here to be with you all. And I'm Chris 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:13.720 Britton. I've been around the house for a very 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:17.519 long time. And I know I started to come with 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:19.559 my family when we were still in Rock Island High 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:23.199 School. How many years ago? It's been a minute. 00:00:26.349 --> 00:00:29.210 12 and a half. There's our scorekeeper. Thank 00:00:29.210 --> 00:00:34.710 you. So I've been a part for a long time. And 00:00:34.710 --> 00:00:37.490 it's been a while, but I do consider it an honor 00:00:37.490 --> 00:00:40.509 and a joy to be in front of you. And we're going 00:00:40.509 --> 00:00:42.799 to get right into it. Is that all right? So I'm 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:45.560 going to continue our series in Matthew. And 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:47.960 I want to start off just by telling a little 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:49.880 bit about myself. I grew up in the Quad Cities. 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:53.600 I consider Rocktown, AKA Rock Island, my city. 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:56.740 That's my home, even though I moved around a 00:00:56.740 --> 00:00:59.740 little bit. And yeah, Rocktown. I'm a Rocktown 00:00:59.740 --> 00:01:03.280 graduate. And I met my wife Trish while I was 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:06.420 in college, and I went to a school called Judson 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:09.319 College at the time, Judson University. Ironically, 00:01:09.420 --> 00:01:11.280 if you hear Greg and I's story, like we both 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:13.340 obviously grew up in La Crosse, but we both went 00:01:13.340 --> 00:01:16.400 to Judson. But I was older, and I showed up like 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:19.040 after he already graduated. We both took the 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:20.879 same master's program, not at the same time, 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:22.519 at different times. You can ask us about all 00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:25.239 that later. We have this Marvel timeline that 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:28.939 we talk about that we were on. But I was at a 00:01:28.939 --> 00:01:31.379 Judson University in my junior year. I met my 00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:34.019 wife in college. That was a great thing I have 00:01:34.019 --> 00:01:36.299 three beautiful daughters, and I think they're 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:41.239 all here at this point right now but During my 00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:45.879 time there at Judson I Gained just a heart for 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:47.819 youth I got a degree in youth ministry adolescent 00:01:47.819 --> 00:01:50.140 studies came back served at a local faith -based 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:53.859 nonprofit for over a decade well almost two decades. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:56.540 During that time I also picked up a master's 00:01:56.540 --> 00:01:58.819 in ministry leadership along the way and when 00:01:58.819 --> 00:02:02.099 COVID hit about 2020 that's when God kind of 00:02:02.099 --> 00:02:04.620 began to uproot some things and work in me a 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:07.799 little bit and so I was telling someone earlier 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:10.280 that I've been a teacher in Rock Island School 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:12.699 District at an alternative school and I'm about 00:02:12.699 --> 00:02:16.729 to in one week complete my sixth year. And I'm 00:02:16.729 --> 00:02:19.469 really happy that the year's almost over, and 00:02:19.469 --> 00:02:21.009 I'm completing my sixth year, and I'm growing. 00:02:21.750 --> 00:02:23.729 And yeah, we got some educators in the house. 00:02:25.150 --> 00:02:28.949 So as I have just shown you my resume, one thing 00:02:28.949 --> 00:02:34.030 that is not on there is gardening. Or I do not 00:02:34.030 --> 00:02:37.120 have the green thumb. I cannot keep plants alive. 00:02:37.580 --> 00:02:40.639 My jam is working with youth, the ones that people 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:42.860 might point to and say, they are so bad. And 00:02:42.860 --> 00:02:46.139 I'll be like, man, let me try to instill some 00:02:46.139 --> 00:02:49.340 hope in them. So it might not be a surprise with 00:02:49.340 --> 00:02:51.560 the story that I'll intro with. A few years ago, 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.759 it was a hot July morning, and I was mowing my 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:57.659 lawn. I usually mow my lawn with some music playing. 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:01.319 My batteries had ran out. So I was able to hear 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:05.050 nature. And I noticed that there was something 00:03:05.050 --> 00:03:07.530 wrong. I didn't even know that I had a magnolia 00:03:07.530 --> 00:03:11.689 in my yard until I googled it. I was like, what 00:03:11.689 --> 00:03:16.669 is this? You have a magnolia. So I noticed that 00:03:16.669 --> 00:03:19.689 something was off with my magnolia shrub. There 00:03:19.689 --> 00:03:21.930 was some unusual activity happening in there. 00:03:23.289 --> 00:03:26.030 Magnolia bush on the side of my house is probably 00:03:26.030 --> 00:03:30.569 about 10 foot high. And there was a lot of buzzing 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:35.449 going on in there. There was a smell in there 00:03:35.449 --> 00:03:38.610 The leaves were kind of dark. It was almost as 00:03:38.610 --> 00:03:42.550 black sticky residue. It was very gross There 00:03:42.550 --> 00:03:45.030 was ants that was in there. There was bees that 00:03:45.030 --> 00:03:47.650 was in there There was a whole bunch of you all 00:03:47.650 --> 00:03:51.349 that was in there as I mowed by and You ever 00:03:51.349 --> 00:03:53.810 been outside and something flies by and you just 00:03:53.810 --> 00:03:55.750 start swatting that stuff and the neighbors are 00:03:55.750 --> 00:03:57.909 probably like look at him He's like doing a crazy 00:03:57.909 --> 00:04:00.169 dance out there something that was me that day, 00:04:00.169 --> 00:04:04.110 but from a distance The shrub looked fine. Matter 00:04:04.110 --> 00:04:07.129 of fact, what I learned was that I had magnolia 00:04:07.129 --> 00:04:10.889 scales. You can Google that. I'm serious. We 00:04:10.889 --> 00:04:13.050 got smartphones and stuff. Google magnolia scales 00:04:13.050 --> 00:04:15.310 real quick. I was going to pop some up on the 00:04:15.310 --> 00:04:17.470 screen, but we got smartphones and stuff. So 00:04:17.470 --> 00:04:19.370 somebody at the table, while I'm talking, you 00:04:19.370 --> 00:04:22.410 might be on your phones anyway. Just Google magnolia 00:04:22.410 --> 00:04:25.069 scales. I'm keeping it real. Google magnolia 00:04:25.069 --> 00:04:27.449 scale. Show it to somebody at the table. It's 00:04:27.449 --> 00:04:35.269 gross. I'll give y 'all a couple seconds. You 00:04:35.269 --> 00:04:41.769 can even usury if you need to. Anybody got it 00:04:41.769 --> 00:04:48.670 yet? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Zoom in on there. That 00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:51.069 was at my house, man. That was crazy. They moved 00:04:51.069 --> 00:04:57.990 in, wasn't paying rent, nothing. From a distance, 00:04:59.189 --> 00:05:02.480 my magnolia Still kind of look beautiful. I blamed 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:05.180 it on the Midwest weather I remember pointing 00:05:05.180 --> 00:05:07.939 at it a couple years prior saying like something's 00:05:07.939 --> 00:05:12.420 wrong with that thing Always says hot. I didn't 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:15.819 know until I started to research some things 00:05:15.819 --> 00:05:21.660 that They attach to branches and it's usually 00:05:21.660 --> 00:05:24.120 invisible until you turn the leaf over and you 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:30.329 look at the branches Magnolia scale infantation, 00:05:30.329 --> 00:05:32.589 it doesn't happen overnight. It's something that 00:05:32.589 --> 00:05:35.310 started years before I even noticed it. So I 00:05:35.310 --> 00:05:37.050 had been mowing past those guys for a long time. 00:05:37.069 --> 00:05:38.370 They probably had been waving, trying to get 00:05:38.370 --> 00:05:43.089 my attention. I was oblivious until there was 00:05:43.089 --> 00:05:46.110 probably about 20 % or 25 % of the magnolia bush 00:05:46.110 --> 00:05:49.050 was just gone. And it was the first time when 00:05:49.050 --> 00:05:51.709 I was there, I was like, dang, they can eat. 00:05:54.050 --> 00:05:58.600 But what I realized that... One website was like, 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:01.000 push on some of the branches if it breaks and 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:02.759 stuff. There's nothing in there. There's no life 00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:06.000 to it. It just was like, just snapping off, snapped 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.259 off. And I had a lot of that. I had to do some 00:06:08.259 --> 00:06:12.100 pruning. And then for whatever reason, I sought 00:06:12.100 --> 00:06:15.139 out to find the information to see if I could 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:17.779 salvage this magnolia tree. I'll get back. I'll 00:06:17.779 --> 00:06:20.500 give you an update in a little bit of where we're 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:24.100 at. But this was a few years ago. But I want 00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:26.939 to talk today not just about some nature stuff 00:06:26.939 --> 00:06:28.540 but I want to talk about what happens when we 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:31.579 zoom in not on my plant but we're going to zoom 00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:34.060 in on a passage in Matthew and then we're going 00:06:34.060 --> 00:06:36.339 to zoom in on our hearts because what we'll see 00:06:36.339 --> 00:06:39.259 in the passage I believe that Jesus did his own 00:06:39.259 --> 00:06:43.279 zooming in on people and what he had found what 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:45.800 he overturned in them I feel like we can do the 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:49.860 same in us as we look at things that could be 00:06:49.860 --> 00:06:54.759 quietly draining the life ourselves or things 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:58.500 around us so we have a tradition at our church 00:06:58.500 --> 00:07:01.379 where we will stand and give attention to God's 00:07:01.379 --> 00:07:05.560 Word so in any way that you feel comfortable 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:09.680 or in your power please turn to Matthew 23 verse 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:15.699 23 through 28 and as you find that there's three 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:17.600 words that we're gonna focus on today justice 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.379 mercy and faithfulness and I'll explain a little 00:07:21.379 --> 00:07:23.800 bit more about that after I read the scripture. 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:28.379 So here, Matthew 23, 23 through 28. Woe to you, 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:31.339 teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:34.000 You give a tenth of your spices, mint, dill, 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:36.939 and cumin, but you have neglected the more important 00:07:36.939 --> 00:07:39.699 matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:42.420 You should have practiced the latter without 00:07:42.420 --> 00:07:46.360 neglecting the former, you blind gods. You strain 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:49.220 out a gnat but swallow a camel. That's crazy. 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:53.920 Woe to you. Everybody say, woe. That's like a 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:57.000 song. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, 00:07:57.060 --> 00:07:58.959 you hypocrites. You clean the outside of the 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:01.600 cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:05.079 and self -indulgence. Blind Pharisees, first 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:07.740 clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then 00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:10.100 outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers 00:08:10.100 --> 00:08:12.560 of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:15.160 are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful 00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:17.639 on the outside, but on the inside are full of 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:20.100 the bones of the dead and everything uncleaned 00:08:20.100 --> 00:08:23.339 in the same way. On the outside, you appear to 00:08:23.339 --> 00:08:27.040 people as righteous, but on the inside, you are 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:31.639 full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Let's pray. 00:08:32.779 --> 00:08:35.179 Lord, I pray that you will open our eyes this 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:39.159 morning. Help us to see what you see. Help us 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:42.519 to zoom in on things that matter around us in 00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:44.500 our hearts, in our lives, in our circles of influence. 00:08:44.620 --> 00:08:47.440 Give us the courage to let you turn the camera 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:53.340 around on us. In Jesus' name, amen. Alright, 00:08:53.899 --> 00:08:55.860 let's unpack a couple things. What Jesus saw, 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.100 like, Jesus in this chapter, He delivered seven 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:02.799 woes in this chapter. Say woe again for me. Woe. 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:09.299 But when you hear woe, when Jesus was giving 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:14.639 out these woes, a biblical woe, it wasn't Him 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.500 pointing fingers and just snapping and spazzing 00:09:17.500 --> 00:09:21.990 on people, but a biblical woe is grief. And it's 00:09:21.990 --> 00:09:23.970 a sound like a prophet would make this sound 00:09:23.970 --> 00:09:26.350 sometimes. There's scriptures, especially in 00:09:26.350 --> 00:09:29.289 the Old Testament, where people would feel some 00:09:29.289 --> 00:09:31.230 type of compassion, and they would rip off their 00:09:31.230 --> 00:09:33.629 clothes and stuff like that. Or they would take 00:09:33.629 --> 00:09:35.909 off something, because it would just be like 00:09:35.909 --> 00:09:38.309 a moment of woe. There would be grief packed 00:09:38.309 --> 00:09:42.009 into it. This grief also filled with compassion. 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:49.000 So. Part of it was a warning part of it was was 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.740 heartbreak, but Jesus isn't just up there like 00:09:51.740 --> 00:09:55.559 hating on people He was hurting for people in 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:58.539 Matthew 23 Jesus directs the woes at the religious 00:09:58.539 --> 00:10:00.139 leaders because here's a couple things that they 00:10:00.139 --> 00:10:01.840 were involved in doing one they were blocking 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:04.139 people from God's kingdom they were exploiting 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:07.240 the vulnerable they were teaching hypocrisy and 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:10.740 focused on hourly religiosity instead of justice 00:10:10.740 --> 00:10:15.419 mercy faithfulness. So I want to be clear that 00:10:15.419 --> 00:10:19.100 a woe was not just a rebuke, it was more of a 00:10:19.100 --> 00:10:22.740 sorrowful declaration that their actions are 00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:25.399 leading them towards judgment unless they repent. 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:31.460 But it reminds me a lot of Apostle Paul who told 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:35.389 the Galatians that he was in pains of childbirth 00:10:35.389 --> 00:10:37.629 until Christ is formed in you. He described that 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:40.830 to the Galatians where he was feeling so torn 00:10:40.830 --> 00:10:44.289 up that he's this man was saying that I feel 00:10:44.289 --> 00:10:46.110 like a woman that's going to give birth like 00:10:46.110 --> 00:10:48.250 the pains. I don't know what that feels like. 00:10:48.370 --> 00:10:51.029 I don't want to know what that feels like. But 00:10:51.029 --> 00:10:55.190 the metaphor as a poet struck me so hard. I remember 00:10:55.190 --> 00:10:58.250 being I came to Christ when I was about 17 or 00:10:58.250 --> 00:11:02.019 18. I remember somebody gave me this book on 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:04.519 a Galatians Bible study. I had no clue. There 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:06.279 was big words in there. There was all this theology 00:11:06.279 --> 00:11:09.100 in there. But I remember that scripture. I was 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:10.639 in the basement of this house. I was reading 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:13.419 this. I didn't understand anything. And at the 00:11:13.419 --> 00:11:16.940 time, I had homies on the street that was like 00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:19.080 in gang stuff. I knew little shorties that was 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:21.720 coming with a pants tag. And I had left a lifestyle 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:25.039 like that. So when I read that scripture, when 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:28.309 I was 17, 18, And I had been working at the youth 00:11:28.309 --> 00:11:30.029 center for a little bit around young people. 00:11:30.490 --> 00:11:32.809 I knew that my heart had hurt for the generation. 00:11:33.269 --> 00:11:36.029 But when I read that scripture, it was a woe 00:11:36.029 --> 00:11:41.009 moment for your boy. I weeped. I couldn't explain 00:11:41.009 --> 00:11:42.529 it. I remember telling some of my boys, and they 00:11:42.529 --> 00:11:43.730 were like, yeah, you was just tripping, bro. 00:11:43.730 --> 00:11:45.149 It was probably late. You was trying to do Bible 00:11:45.149 --> 00:11:49.350 study late. And I was like, no. I was on the 00:11:49.350 --> 00:11:52.700 ground, curled up like a baby, crying. Because 00:11:52.700 --> 00:11:55.059 I hurt for this next generation and I felt like 00:11:55.059 --> 00:11:58.840 God was calling me to do something about it So 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:05.700 again Jesus hurt For the people that he was speaking 00:12:05.700 --> 00:12:11.539 to And Jesus did this publicly on the southern 00:12:11.539 --> 00:12:16.700 steps of King Herod's temple some of you as I've 00:12:16.700 --> 00:12:20.240 shared earlier that know that Greg and I had 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:22.700 a chance in our Master's program separately on 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:25.259 different occasions to go to the Holy Land. And 00:12:25.259 --> 00:12:26.759 that was kind of a big selling point for the 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:29.159 Master's program. It included two weeks in the 00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:31.820 Holy Land, and we visited the Holy Steps and 00:12:31.820 --> 00:12:34.340 a whole bunch of other places. So, ya boy's been 00:12:34.340 --> 00:12:37.240 at this place that we're talking about here. 00:12:37.820 --> 00:12:40.960 And one of the things that I learned... quickly 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:43.759 as I walked in some of these places, that geography 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:47.559 gives us so much context and changes how we absorb 00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:49.980 some of these passages, at least for me. So I'm 00:12:49.980 --> 00:12:51.519 going to do the best that I can to paint a picture 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:55.500 of what the Southern Steps might appear like 00:12:55.500 --> 00:12:59.039 for us so we can kind of get some more of the 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:01.820 understanding of what was happening with Jesus 00:13:01.820 --> 00:13:04.419 and the Pharisees and stuff out there. But the 00:13:04.419 --> 00:13:07.120 Southern Steps was the main public entrance to 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:10.210 the entire Temple Mount. So teachers gathered 00:13:10.210 --> 00:13:13.590 there, the crowds moved through there, debates 00:13:13.590 --> 00:13:16.309 happened there, the most public stage in Jerusalem 00:13:16.309 --> 00:13:21.049 was right there. And Jesus picked this place 00:13:21.049 --> 00:13:24.269 on purpose. And from those steps, if you looked 00:13:24.269 --> 00:13:27.169 across, you would see what is called the Kidron 00:13:27.169 --> 00:13:30.350 Valley toward the Mount of Olives. And this might 00:13:30.350 --> 00:13:35.309 not make sense. But I always say that... Remember 00:13:35.309 --> 00:13:37.629 coming back from my Israel trip I'm driving around 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:40.330 Rock Island and I was coming down the long view 00:13:40.330 --> 00:13:43.009 hill everybody know where long view Park is and 00:13:43.009 --> 00:13:44.710 I was like, I can't remember who I was with in 00:13:44.710 --> 00:13:48.110 the car, but I was like this is one of the best 00:13:48.110 --> 00:13:51.289 spots because When you're on the temple steps 00:13:51.289 --> 00:13:54.610 Hear me. I'm not making this up If you're at 00:13:54.610 --> 00:13:56.269 the top of long view where you know, they tore 00:13:56.269 --> 00:13:58.250 the tennis courts down and stuff like that If 00:13:58.250 --> 00:13:59.509 you're in that parking lot, it's kind of like 00:13:59.509 --> 00:14:02.850 being on the southern steps because what you 00:14:02.850 --> 00:14:08.669 see Across the river, you see a stadium. You 00:14:08.669 --> 00:14:12.210 see the lights on the bridge, and there's a valley 00:14:12.210 --> 00:14:14.830 right there. When you're on the southern steps, 00:14:15.309 --> 00:14:18.490 you just see this valley. There was no cars, 00:14:18.509 --> 00:14:21.230 so you would have to walk up there, but you would 00:14:21.230 --> 00:14:25.429 see out, and it wasn't that beautiful at our 00:14:25.429 --> 00:14:28.950 bridge, but you would see tombs. You would see 00:14:28.950 --> 00:14:31.970 these graves, and you would see some tombs that 00:14:31.970 --> 00:14:34.220 were covered in white. that looked very, very 00:14:34.220 --> 00:14:36.080 beautiful. That if you've seen them, you'd be 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:41.740 like, oh, ain't that a pretty grave. So think 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:46.820 of that. Think of being able to stand on this 00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:51.659 big stage, as big as this room, the temple steps, 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:53.799 where everybody's going, and off to the distance, 00:14:54.179 --> 00:14:59.100 you can see these tombs. And Jesus wasn't trying 00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:01.129 to paint some kind of a picture. I always say 00:15:01.129 --> 00:15:03.870 that Jesus used timeless examples so he could 00:15:03.870 --> 00:15:06.289 just look at you and talk to you and be like, 00:15:06.450 --> 00:15:12.750 hey, bro, you see that? That's you. And everybody 00:15:12.750 --> 00:15:16.610 in their mind would be like, hey, he just said 00:15:16.610 --> 00:15:18.450 he's like that whitewash tomb. That's crazy. 00:15:18.549 --> 00:15:23.029 Jesus said, what? Yeah, you the tomb, bro. That's 00:15:23.029 --> 00:15:33.190 you. Jesus pointed at. The people, the Pharisees, 00:15:33.450 --> 00:15:35.029 and the thing that we need to understand about 00:15:35.029 --> 00:15:38.370 them is they weren't irreligious people. The 00:15:38.370 --> 00:15:40.210 Pharisees were the most religious people out 00:15:40.210 --> 00:15:45.070 there. They tithed. They tithed from their gardens 00:15:45.070 --> 00:15:50.110 down to the last leaf. They would tithe. And 00:15:50.110 --> 00:15:52.850 the equivalent of today would be like a... You 00:15:52.850 --> 00:15:55.149 know, if we was a church that had the biggest 00:15:55.149 --> 00:15:58.090 programs and the best this and we had the best 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:00.649 sounds and the lights and all this stuff, we 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:04.090 have the best of the best. But inside, there 00:16:04.090 --> 00:16:08.789 would be some some turmoil and some some mercilessness, 00:16:08.870 --> 00:16:12.509 some injustice going on. And it would be like 00:16:12.509 --> 00:16:14.929 us after our service, shaking hands with everybody. 00:16:15.570 --> 00:16:17.929 We have fireworks going off and everything. And 00:16:17.929 --> 00:16:21.029 Jesus would be like. Yeah, y 'all like that trash 00:16:21.029 --> 00:16:24.840 can out there. It's a nice painted trash can, 00:16:25.379 --> 00:16:27.500 but y 'all got some garbage going on in here. 00:16:28.340 --> 00:16:35.139 And people would be like, dang. One of the commentators 00:16:35.139 --> 00:16:38.539 named William Barkley, he nails what was going 00:16:38.539 --> 00:16:41.539 on wrong. He says that the Pharisees kept the 00:16:41.539 --> 00:16:44.159 details of the law and forgot the things that 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:48.360 really mattered. They lost their sense of proportion. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:51.460 They transformed into people who got the small 00:16:51.460 --> 00:16:53.860 things exactly right and the heavy things like 00:16:53.860 --> 00:16:58.039 justice, mercy, and faithfulness way wrong. And 00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:02.320 they were the examples to the community. So Jesus 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:05.220 drops his punch line in verse 24 that people 00:17:05.220 --> 00:17:06.859 would have definitely gotten a chuckle. He told 00:17:06.859 --> 00:17:09.220 them, you strain out the nap, but swallow a camel. 00:17:09.859 --> 00:17:12.039 Picture, they would try to do the little things 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:18.829 right. Sometimes they would strain wine. Through 00:17:18.829 --> 00:17:21.990 a cloth just to catch like a nap Because that 00:17:21.990 --> 00:17:24.069 would make it unclean so Jesus like y 'all go 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:25.250 through all that trouble, but y 'all is drinking 00:17:25.250 --> 00:17:28.309 a camel Y 'all try to do all that to catch the 00:17:28.309 --> 00:17:30.410 net and it'd be like I got it. It's pure but 00:17:30.410 --> 00:17:32.990 y 'all Y 'all basically would eat a camel. That's 00:17:32.990 --> 00:17:36.950 how that's how y 'all look So people would laugh 00:17:36.950 --> 00:17:38.910 until they fit realize like you ever laugh and 00:17:38.910 --> 00:17:43.269 then the jokes on you They'd be like hold on 00:17:43.269 --> 00:17:47.980 is he talking about he's talking about us Verse 00:17:47.980 --> 00:17:51.680 25 and 26, Jesus says, you can clean the outside, 00:17:51.819 --> 00:17:55.200 but the inside is full of greed and self -indulgence. 00:17:55.980 --> 00:18:05.720 First clean the inside. One commentator pointed 00:18:05.720 --> 00:18:08.539 out that the food in the cup might have been 00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:11.359 gotten by cheating or extortion, but as long 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:14.140 as the cup was ceremonially clean, they didn't 00:18:14.140 --> 00:18:20.789 care. Jesus was saying, if the inside ain't clean, 00:18:21.430 --> 00:18:23.910 it doesn't matter what it looks like. You could 00:18:23.910 --> 00:18:28.630 look like the healthiest shrub in the yard, but 00:18:28.630 --> 00:18:31.309 there's things that are going on that need attention. 00:18:32.210 --> 00:18:36.069 Verse 27 and 28, when he says, you are like whitewashed 00:18:36.069 --> 00:18:38.430 tombs, beautiful outside, full of death inside. 00:18:39.450 --> 00:18:42.809 These tombs were whitewashed to protect people. 00:18:43.460 --> 00:18:45.759 So Passover pilgrims wouldn't accidentally touch 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:48.059 them, because if you touched one, you would be 00:18:48.059 --> 00:18:51.019 unclean. They had a lot of rules and regulations 00:18:51.019 --> 00:18:54.279 that we might feel are weird, but everybody that 00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:56.640 was around him would have known, the business 00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:58.640 would have known what Jesus was talking about. 00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:05.200 But Jesus said this not as someone that was being 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.900 disrespectful. He was telling them truth and 00:19:08.900 --> 00:19:12.970 love, knowing that he wouldn't... Really be received 00:19:12.970 --> 00:19:16.190 and I find it ironic that these are the kind 00:19:16.190 --> 00:19:18.230 of confrontations that got him killed if you 00:19:18.230 --> 00:19:21.589 I was gonna say click over but if you swipe over 00:19:21.589 --> 00:19:24.329 or Turn over to pages you see that in a couple 00:19:24.329 --> 00:19:29.430 pages Jesus gets killed spoiler alert These are 00:19:29.430 --> 00:19:32.109 the things that led him to this because people 00:19:32.109 --> 00:19:36.450 wanted to like we got to shut dude up like he's 00:19:36.450 --> 00:19:42.109 He's saying way too much stuff And this is what 00:19:42.109 --> 00:19:43.829 I realized as I was going through this this week 00:19:43.829 --> 00:19:47.390 is that Jesus was actually embodying the things 00:19:47.390 --> 00:19:49.730 that he was talking to them about When he was 00:19:49.730 --> 00:19:52.089 saying like y 'all y 'all y 'all focus on so 00:19:52.089 --> 00:19:54.450 many things, but you're not focused on justice 00:19:54.450 --> 00:19:57.529 He did this in front of people that were being 00:19:57.529 --> 00:20:00.609 treated and justly actually standing up for them 00:20:00.609 --> 00:20:07.190 So Jesus in saying this was being just Jesus 00:20:07.190 --> 00:20:13.009 Being broken for them with the seven woes, he 00:20:13.009 --> 00:20:17.809 is actually being merciful on them. And the thing 00:20:17.809 --> 00:20:19.450 that he asked them about their faithfulness, 00:20:19.450 --> 00:20:22.190 he was being faithful to his message and what 00:20:22.190 --> 00:20:26.049 he knew that he was going to be doing as we continue 00:20:26.049 --> 00:20:28.130 to turn the pages, he knew what would lead to 00:20:28.130 --> 00:20:31.769 his death. So we have Jesus on the steps embodying 00:20:31.769 --> 00:20:33.930 the things that he was checking them about and 00:20:33.930 --> 00:20:37.210 they had no idea and no clue because they just 00:20:37.210 --> 00:20:47.900 was mad that he was right. This is the time in 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:50.059 a message where I got to just confess like sometimes 00:20:50.059 --> 00:20:53.460 when you open this passage If I'm being honest, 00:20:53.819 --> 00:20:57.619 we like to see Jesus go off on other people It's 00:20:57.619 --> 00:21:00.079 like get him bro. Like he's going crazy on there. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:02.680 You see that he's talking to the hypocrites And 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:04.720 then it's easy for us to pick up a conversation 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:07.140 and point to hypocrites whether at a big scale 00:21:07.140 --> 00:21:10.509 or a small scale Whether it's in our home or 00:21:10.509 --> 00:21:13.450 in our workplace or in our social circle We can 00:21:13.450 --> 00:21:15.650 read that scripture and then we can go hunting 00:21:15.650 --> 00:21:18.210 for the people that we feel like we need to check 00:21:18.210 --> 00:21:22.069 as well But then if we do that the jokes kind 00:21:22.069 --> 00:21:24.769 of on us, right? Because that's what happened 00:21:24.769 --> 00:21:27.990 with the Pharisees where they was Talking and 00:21:27.990 --> 00:21:30.329 doing their regular thing and Jesus comes out 00:21:30.329 --> 00:21:32.509 there They're talking and then they're ha ha 00:21:32.509 --> 00:21:35.130 laughing until they realize that Jesus is talking 00:21:35.130 --> 00:21:42.230 right about them So I caught myself, because 00:21:42.230 --> 00:21:48.289 Jesus is grieving over the one most sure... Sorry. 00:21:52.890 --> 00:22:05.089 Okay. So, before we cheer, I think that the best 00:22:05.089 --> 00:22:07.569 thing that we can do is look at our own branches. 00:22:09.290 --> 00:22:13.630 even for myself, because injustice and mercilessness 00:22:13.630 --> 00:22:18.849 does not start big. It's the micro. In the heart 00:22:18.849 --> 00:22:21.490 of a person, in one branch, it's easy to demand 00:22:21.490 --> 00:22:24.289 justice, mercy, faithfulness out there at the 00:22:24.289 --> 00:22:27.730 macro, and then Jesus kind of drags it in here 00:22:27.730 --> 00:22:37.410 to our heart. So, again, back to my shrub. Day 00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:40.589 after day life was getting drained out of it 00:22:40.589 --> 00:22:43.630 while to me everything still looked Okay, like 00:22:43.630 --> 00:22:45.690 it was hanging in there. I had no idea the timeline 00:22:45.690 --> 00:22:53.210 that it was dying The environment around it was 00:22:53.210 --> 00:22:56.890 feeling the drain But before the the shrub even 00:22:56.890 --> 00:23:00.170 knew that it was dying. I started one branch 00:23:00.170 --> 00:23:03.029 at a time So this goes this made me really think 00:23:03.029 --> 00:23:05.569 about the the number of years that I served in 00:23:05.569 --> 00:23:09.269 ministry if I can get personal. I went to so 00:23:09.269 --> 00:23:10.690 many different conferences. Me and my brother 00:23:10.690 --> 00:23:13.750 Dave Hodge, we served in ministry together. If 00:23:13.750 --> 00:23:17.490 we had, you know, a dollar for how many different 00:23:17.490 --> 00:23:19.910 leadership books and conferences and all that. 00:23:20.269 --> 00:23:22.769 I like to say we're like old school, like where 00:23:22.769 --> 00:23:25.309 when youth ministry was booming and the churches 00:23:25.309 --> 00:23:28.109 had to build a gym. You know why churches build 00:23:28.109 --> 00:23:30.650 gyms? Because in the scripture, like you haven't 00:23:30.650 --> 00:23:32.789 seen the thing about how we won an NBA championship 00:23:32.789 --> 00:23:34.910 and stuff. I'm just kidding. You didn't do that. 00:23:35.379 --> 00:23:37.759 But for some reason, that was a big thing. Just 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:40.779 build gyms. Build gyms. We're going to build 00:23:40.779 --> 00:23:42.680 bigger. We're going to do a whole bunch of big 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:47.519 stuff. And then we don't realize that came at 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:50.319 a price. There's people that had to do that. 00:23:53.500 --> 00:23:55.920 We had been to so many different things. And 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:59.059 for us in a ministry, I guess I'll speak for 00:23:59.059 --> 00:24:03.059 myself, is that what we saw creep in, just like 00:24:03.059 --> 00:24:06.009 with my bush, Just like with my shrub. There's 00:24:06.009 --> 00:24:07.890 these things called crawlers that will eventually 00:24:07.890 --> 00:24:10.710 I was like asking Google like how do these things 00:24:10.710 --> 00:24:13.990 find? Why do they attack my magnolia? Well, they 00:24:13.990 --> 00:24:16.730 get they just drift over from a branch or there 00:24:16.730 --> 00:24:19.529 could be a bird that gets on there But once they're 00:24:19.529 --> 00:24:22.769 on there they they get going But it's just a 00:24:22.769 --> 00:24:25.069 slow drift towards it. I think back in the day 00:24:25.069 --> 00:24:27.109 There was a lot of ministries as it was just 00:24:27.109 --> 00:24:29.769 a slow drift towards this type of almost like 00:24:29.769 --> 00:24:35.420 the merciless At all costs we're gonna grow So 00:24:35.420 --> 00:24:38.400 somewhere in the ministry, there was some kind 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:41.619 of motto or model that came up that got passed 00:24:41.619 --> 00:24:44.160 around. And there was this language that was 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:47.440 used where leaders would say, if we're not growing, 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:52.779 we're dying. So we got to keep going at all costs. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:56.359 I don't know about you, Hodge, but I adopted 00:24:56.359 --> 00:24:59.740 that. I remember sitting in a staff meeting where 00:24:59.740 --> 00:25:03.720 one of my fellow coworkers had a new family. 00:25:04.589 --> 00:25:08.269 and was in a sense asking for mercy, saying like, 00:25:08.869 --> 00:25:11.630 man, ministry's taking a lot of time, and I feel 00:25:11.630 --> 00:25:13.829 like I just need to have a little bit more time 00:25:13.829 --> 00:25:17.230 with my family at night. And I remember, I was 00:25:17.230 --> 00:25:20.230 really bought into this thing. And I remember 00:25:20.230 --> 00:25:23.670 in my head saying, you might as well quit, bro, 00:25:23.690 --> 00:25:27.750 we don't do that here. How you gonna go to the 00:25:27.750 --> 00:25:30.890 crib when we got... All these kids that we got 00:25:30.890 --> 00:25:32.589 to meet on the streets I kind of laughed and 00:25:32.589 --> 00:25:34.589 I remember talking to another staff person like 00:25:34.589 --> 00:25:36.950 so -and -so Talking about they want to go home 00:25:36.950 --> 00:25:41.009 to eat at night We we trying to pull work in 00:25:41.009 --> 00:25:43.450 this kingdom work what they talking about They 00:25:43.450 --> 00:25:45.170 got to figure out whatever they got to figure 00:25:45.170 --> 00:25:47.569 out at home. They come in here and we're gonna 00:25:47.569 --> 00:25:50.549 figure out this kingdom work That's what I was 00:25:50.549 --> 00:25:58.440 on And almost ten years later I remember being 00:25:58.440 --> 00:26:05.279 at a camp, shaking, anxious. We had bought a 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:08.779 guest speaker out. That's now a world -renowned 00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:10.900 person that got books out and stuff, but that's 00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:13.619 besides the point. But we was doing work. Y 'all 00:26:13.619 --> 00:26:15.299 don't know how hard I worked to get that person 00:26:15.299 --> 00:26:18.799 there for these kids. And I was in the back room 00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:22.819 shaking, losing my mind, wishing I was home with 00:26:22.819 --> 00:26:30.349 my family, wanting that mercy. and grace. Scared 00:26:30.349 --> 00:26:32.529 to admit it because it would make me feel like 00:26:32.529 --> 00:26:36.210 I was weak if I said I want to go home. If I 00:26:36.210 --> 00:26:37.730 came out the room crying and said I want to go 00:26:37.730 --> 00:26:40.329 home and see my family, I'm like, I could get 00:26:40.329 --> 00:26:45.230 fired because we don't do that. We got to keep 00:26:45.230 --> 00:26:53.799 growing. There was a joke in our ministry. that 00:26:53.799 --> 00:26:56.059 trickle down from leadership that says, you know, 00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:59.500 some leaders don't have the gift of mercy, and 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:06.240 we would laugh. Years later, in some of my darkest 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:10.220 moments where I realized, like, yo, it's possible 00:27:10.220 --> 00:27:13.299 for something to grow and die at the same time. 00:27:14.619 --> 00:27:17.259 It's possible for us to experience growth and 00:27:17.259 --> 00:27:24.079 be dying. Y 'all hear me? It's possible for ministries. 00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:29.819 It's possible for us individually. Whatever our 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:33.500 status is, it's possible for us to be planted 00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:37.160 in soil that's not good for us, that is merciless, 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:41.839 unjust, and not faithful to who God truly is, 00:27:42.339 --> 00:27:50.599 and be slowly drained. Sometimes we're at the 00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:52.539 environment just has the right language right 00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:57.579 the right programs the right metrics and again 00:27:57.579 --> 00:28:00.599 Like I'm not I'm not up here trying to have a 00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:04.900 pity party at all because here's the thing The 00:28:04.900 --> 00:28:07.099 restoration that God has done in my heart as 00:28:07.099 --> 00:28:08.940 I even pulled up to the parking lot today I was 00:28:08.940 --> 00:28:10.480 saying when Jen I was like I'm kind of emotional 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:12.759 because I haven't been up here in a while And 00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:14.660 I'm so thankful that I can be in a place where 00:28:14.660 --> 00:28:18.220 I consider it soil that is good to grow in Amen 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.119 a place where I could walk in and there's mercy 00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:26.160 exhibited. There's justness and faithfulness 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:30.099 from friends and leadership. And there's a place 00:28:30.099 --> 00:28:33.640 where I don't have to come in to this room and 00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:35.380 pretend like I got it all together in front of 00:28:35.380 --> 00:28:40.819 y 'all. Amen? I hope y 'all are happy y 'all 00:28:40.819 --> 00:28:52.789 in a place like that. Shoot. What I've noticed 00:28:52.789 --> 00:28:58.309 in these last years of my life... is that it's 00:28:58.309 --> 00:29:01.910 important to surround myself around people that 00:29:01.910 --> 00:29:05.089 exhibit these things. And in my home, it was 00:29:05.089 --> 00:29:09.450 important for me to call a timeout as far as 00:29:09.450 --> 00:29:13.210 just being explicitly involved in ministry so 00:29:13.210 --> 00:29:17.910 I can get my soil right. So the shrub outside 00:29:17.910 --> 00:29:20.619 of my house... Has kind of been this thing where 00:29:20.619 --> 00:29:22.839 I've been watching it and looking at it and it's 00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:26.180 been a mirror in my own life Because here's the 00:29:26.180 --> 00:29:31.799 thing that I realized was that If I wanted to 00:29:31.799 --> 00:29:37.339 keep it alive The hardest thing the hardest thing 00:29:37.339 --> 00:29:40.799 that any of us or the ministry or whoever is 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:44.980 paying attention to the branches Giving nourishment 00:29:44.980 --> 00:29:48.529 to the branches in and out of season Being mindful 00:29:48.529 --> 00:29:58.450 of the branches, right? That's mercy That's faithfulness 00:29:58.450 --> 00:30:01.049 and that's justness when we care about those 00:30:01.049 --> 00:30:07.630 things So for me I googled stuff and I wasn't 00:30:07.630 --> 00:30:10.349 gonna let it die and I remember I had to buy 00:30:10.349 --> 00:30:14.190 this treatment and I had a timeline where I would 00:30:14.190 --> 00:30:19.660 pour this stuff all in the soil, and you just 00:30:19.660 --> 00:30:22.420 gotta wait. You gotta wait till the next season 00:30:22.420 --> 00:30:25.099 to see if it took, but it has to take in the 00:30:25.099 --> 00:30:29.440 roots. It has to grow new. If you drive by my 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:31.380 house right now, you'll see something that looks 00:30:31.380 --> 00:30:34.559 kinda funny. You'll see like death on one side, 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:39.900 because guess what? That 20 % is gone, it's not 00:30:39.900 --> 00:30:43.759 coming back. And in my own life, I had to think 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:46.740 about the past stuff. That's not coming back. 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:52.420 It's gone. But it's OK. It's OK to let it go. 00:30:53.660 --> 00:30:57.740 Because God's growing some new things. Amen? 00:30:58.420 --> 00:31:02.960 Amen. That's new, healthy, vibrant, not infested, 00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:08.079 not ugly. And it's a reminder for me. And you 00:31:08.079 --> 00:31:13.680 can drive by, too, and look at it. that these 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:17.700 things are important. Let me make it clear as 00:31:17.700 --> 00:31:24.180 I close. Because I could be a good man standing 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:26.319 before you, or there could be a good guy that 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:30.019 everybody respects, never misses Sunday, coaches 00:31:30.019 --> 00:31:34.180 a team, runs a youth group. I'm not talking about 00:31:34.180 --> 00:31:37.180 Alex. Alex can be like, bro, what are you doing? 00:31:38.519 --> 00:31:42.180 From 10 feet away, family looks perfectly, but 00:31:42.180 --> 00:31:45.059 if you zoom in, there could be a kid that's lonely 00:31:45.059 --> 00:31:51.140 in a full house. Students, there could be students 00:31:51.140 --> 00:31:54.660 in this room that are very precise about your 00:31:54.660 --> 00:31:57.740 grades, your image, how many followers you got, 00:31:58.059 --> 00:32:01.380 being in the right text group or whatever, but 00:32:01.380 --> 00:32:04.700 you could be quietly letting mercy drain in your 00:32:04.700 --> 00:32:11.390 own life. You could have a clean feed and a tune 00:32:11.390 --> 00:32:17.349 for a heart. There could be relationships where 00:32:17.349 --> 00:32:19.609 people are precise about what they did or who 00:32:19.609 --> 00:32:22.049 did what. They're keeping score on chores and 00:32:22.049 --> 00:32:25.009 all the slights and the tenderness could be drained 00:32:25.009 --> 00:32:28.490 out completely from a relationship. You could 00:32:28.490 --> 00:32:31.450 show up and everything looks great and have a 00:32:31.450 --> 00:32:34.369 whitewashed tune relationship. At work, we can 00:32:34.369 --> 00:32:38.470 be precise about metrics and numbers. and advancements. 00:32:39.089 --> 00:32:42.849 Y 'all get what I'm saying? Our loyalty and all 00:32:42.849 --> 00:32:45.750 those things, the same camel, the same gnat is 00:32:45.750 --> 00:32:58.849 a different cup. The thing I hope that we can 00:32:58.849 --> 00:33:05.170 leave with today is that we notice, we notice 00:33:05.170 --> 00:33:07.930 things. that we notice the things in our hearts. 00:33:08.069 --> 00:33:11.990 We zoom in on people in our own soil before the 00:33:11.990 --> 00:33:15.269 leaves go black. That we begin to nourish the 00:33:15.269 --> 00:33:19.410 things that need attention in our life. That 00:33:19.410 --> 00:33:23.869 we begin to go to the root of things before they 00:33:23.869 --> 00:33:29.690 break apart or before the bad stuff. Prune what's 00:33:29.690 --> 00:33:33.170 dead and sometimes apply the same patient mercy 00:33:33.170 --> 00:33:36.450 and justice. that God gives us to ourselves. 00:33:37.630 --> 00:33:42.109 I had to learn to do that as well. And I'll close 00:33:42.109 --> 00:33:45.650 with this, that's not in my notes. Man, God, 00:33:45.710 --> 00:33:50.410 that's good. So, there's a student that I have 00:33:50.410 --> 00:33:53.349 in one of my classes I've been having, Mr. Woods, 00:33:53.509 --> 00:33:55.210 you know, me and Mr. Woods work at Thurgood Marshall. 00:33:55.809 --> 00:33:58.210 There's a student that I've had in my class for 00:33:58.210 --> 00:34:00.390 over, you know, the last two or three years. 00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:04.180 And a couple of years ago, I tore my Achilles. 00:34:04.299 --> 00:34:08.079 I ruptured my Achilles. Trying to play basketball, 00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:10.280 you know, because I'm trying to get those Jesus 00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:13.119 stats and go to Christian Basketball League or 00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:16.800 something. But I ruptured my Achilles tendon. 00:34:18.039 --> 00:34:20.619 When I was off on recovery, I kind of became 00:34:20.619 --> 00:34:24.460 a sneaker head because I was just like, yeah, 00:34:24.619 --> 00:34:27.119 I'm. I'm going to buy some shoes, because I just 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:29.619 envisioned my feet in some nice shoes. I wanted 00:34:29.619 --> 00:34:31.360 to be comfortable when I got back on my feet. 00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:34.619 So I went through this season where I was buying 00:34:34.619 --> 00:34:36.719 a lot of shoes. So I had this student at school 00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:38.760 that he would always be clocking my shoes. And 00:34:38.760 --> 00:34:40.380 we'd talk about shoes. It was a way that we kind 00:34:40.380 --> 00:34:44.539 of built a relationship. I learned this student's 00:34:44.539 --> 00:34:48.860 story over talking about shoes. And I remember 00:34:48.860 --> 00:34:51.679 there was a pair of shoes that he wore that just 00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:54.820 was so nice and shiny all the time. One day, 00:34:54.820 --> 00:34:56.440 there was some students that just didn't show 00:34:56.440 --> 00:34:58.780 up in my class. And I remember it was just me 00:34:58.780 --> 00:35:00.780 and him. We had about 20 minutes, so we were 00:35:00.780 --> 00:35:03.780 chit chatting. And I was just like, bro, those 00:35:03.780 --> 00:35:06.280 shoes, they wouldn't look good on me. But man, 00:35:06.340 --> 00:35:08.199 I'm glad that you're wearing those. Those are 00:35:08.199 --> 00:35:09.940 dope. And he was like, you know what, Mr. B, 00:35:09.940 --> 00:35:12.219 I got to tell you something. He took his shoe 00:35:12.219 --> 00:35:14.820 off. And I'm like, no, bro, that's OK. You keep 00:35:14.820 --> 00:35:17.820 your shoe on. He was like, no, man, I got to 00:35:17.820 --> 00:35:21.039 tell you, man. And I remember he just took his 00:35:21.039 --> 00:35:23.960 shoe off, and he was bending it like this. He 00:35:23.960 --> 00:35:26.900 said, bro, these shoes are fake, bro. He was 00:35:26.900 --> 00:35:28.099 like, don't nobody know, man. These shoes are 00:35:28.099 --> 00:35:30.659 fake, bro. And he was like, hey, don't tell nobody. 00:35:31.300 --> 00:35:32.679 Because when I go out there, man, people know 00:35:32.679 --> 00:35:36.059 I got the right stuff. But these are fake, bro. 00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:38.739 These are so fake, man. Everybody think they 00:35:38.739 --> 00:35:41.059 real. And he was, I don't know, I was just like, 00:35:41.059 --> 00:35:45.440 what? I said, so are all your shoes like that? 00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:47.159 And he was like, I ain't going to tell you, bro. 00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:51.539 But he said, the way that you could tell, though, 00:35:51.739 --> 00:36:02.260 that is fake. is the soul of the shoe. It's bands. 00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:09.139 And what I want to leave with today, he still 00:36:09.139 --> 00:36:12.260 wears those shoes too. It would just be like 00:36:12.260 --> 00:36:21.119 shh. He said Mr. B is the soul. I thank God and 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:25.699 I pray that we may be a church. where you will 00:36:25.699 --> 00:36:30.780 feel enough mercy and that the people in this 00:36:30.780 --> 00:36:36.039 room will exhibit enough just and faithfulness 00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:38.400 where your soul could feel like that and you 00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:41.940 can come up in here with no judgment and you 00:36:41.940 --> 00:36:46.900 don't have to be the shiny shoe that you feel 00:36:46.900 --> 00:36:50.400 thankful and happy that you could just take it 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:53.369 off and be like this ain't this Things ain't 00:36:53.369 --> 00:36:57.969 right with me right now. My soul ain't really 00:36:57.969 --> 00:37:03.489 right. And we ain't gonna be like, well, we got 00:37:03.489 --> 00:37:05.849 the tithing things here, you better get to it. 00:37:06.170 --> 00:37:08.710 You can join this group, or get a book to you, 00:37:08.809 --> 00:37:12.349 and all this kind of stuff. But we love you, 00:37:13.130 --> 00:37:16.150 and God loves you, and there's mercy here, and 00:37:16.150 --> 00:37:18.829 there's justness here, and there's the faithfulness 00:37:18.829 --> 00:37:20.809 of God and his people here in this room, amen. 00:37:22.409 --> 00:37:25.789 Love y 'all. Let me close in prayer God thank 00:37:25.789 --> 00:37:28.969 you so much for your word. I thank you God that 00:37:28.969 --> 00:37:32.030 when it comes to issues of our soul I understand 00:37:32.030 --> 00:37:35.010 that it's easier sometimes to look at scriptures 00:37:35.010 --> 00:37:39.809 like this to point fingers to point at the macro 00:37:39.809 --> 00:37:44.349 I'm thankful God that the work that you kind 00:37:44.349 --> 00:37:46.610 of continue to do in me in the last weeks in 00:37:46.610 --> 00:37:51.389 preparation for this Was looking at these things 00:37:51.389 --> 00:37:54.210 on a micro level. And I pray, God, that it be 00:37:54.210 --> 00:37:56.530 edifying to your body and to the church here, 00:37:56.849 --> 00:38:00.889 to the individuals. I just thank you, God, for 00:38:00.889 --> 00:38:03.250 this opportunity to break bread with my brothers 00:38:03.250 --> 00:38:06.010 and sisters here. And I pray, God, that you will 00:38:06.010 --> 00:38:07.949 do what you do with it. In your name we pray. 00:38:08.190 --> 00:38:09.949 Amen. Thank you all.