1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,000 Hey, I'm Matt Brownell. 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:10,640 And I'm Van Owens. 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:12,000 And I'm Tim Adams. 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:18,200 Welcome to Climbing the Mountain, where we dive into the scriptures and discuss themes, 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:21,400 connections, and real life application. 6 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:25,080 We're kicking off a series here where we're going to examine the sermon on the mount and 7 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:34,520 discuss implications for this teaching for Christians today. 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:35,520 Welcome. 9 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,960 We're in part two of our study of anger. 10 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,580 This is from Matthew 5:21-26. 11 00:00:42,580 --> 00:00:44,720 So let's start there again. 12 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,680 You have heard that it was said of those of old, you shall not murder. 13 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,040 And whoever murders will be liable to judgment. 14 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:57,840 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. 15 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,640 Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel. 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,400 And whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. 17 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,540 So if you were offering your gift at the altar and there, remember that your brother has something 18 00:01:09,540 --> 00:01:14,160 against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. 19 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:19,800 First be reconciled with your to your brother and then come and offer your gift. 20 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,720 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you were going with him to court, lest your 21 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:29,040 accuser hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard and you be put in prison. 22 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:35,200 Truly I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. 23 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,360 And last time we discussed a few key things. 24 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,280 One, Jesus is getting at the heart of the law. 25 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:46,720 It's not just murder that God is concerned with, but also the impulses of our hearts 26 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,480 that would ever lead us to something so horrible. 27 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,600 Two, this is a huge issue for our society. 28 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:59,120 It feels like everywhere we turn someone is angry at someone else and there's very little 29 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:02,360 pause to consider anything beyond our own point of view. 30 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,200 But going deeper, we discussed how permissible anger is. 31 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:11,080 In fact, and I love the example you gave, Van, of being told that if you're sad, make 32 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:12,520 it look like you're angry. 33 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:17,800 Actually, maybe love is not the best word there, but the example is demonstrative of 34 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:19,600 the point. 35 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:24,320 Three, we also talked about how Jesus switches from the vertical orientation of what God 36 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:29,360 sees in our hearts to the very practical way in which these feelings are then meted out 37 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,760 in our horizontal relationships. 38 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,280 God is very concerned in how we treat others. 39 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:40,440 And so four, when we look at the concept of an altar for some religious activity, God 40 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:47,880 wants us to leave our gift there and go be reconciled if we recall anyone who might be 41 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:49,880 angry with us. 42 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:51,380 And that's where we left off last time. 43 00:02:51,380 --> 00:02:56,780 We started talking about communion as an altar, and then we consider Romans 12's description 44 00:02:56,780 --> 00:02:58,720 of our bodies as living sacrifices. 45 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,520 And Tim, I think that's where you want to pick it up again. 46 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:02,520 Yeah. 47 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:09,640 So when you were talking about that van before of how our bodies are living sacrifices, I 48 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:17,600 was thinking about in Ephesians where Paul says to not even let the sun go down while 49 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:19,400 you're still angry. 50 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,240 And he talks about not giving the devil a foothold there. 51 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:28,600 And that last part of giving the devil a foothold really ties into what we're saying of how 52 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,720 this anger affects us. 53 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:37,880 But when he says, well, why, why wouldn't you let the sun go down while you're still 54 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:38,880 angry? 55 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:40,440 And that's the only way it connects to what you were saying. 56 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:48,120 If your body is a temple and your life is a living sacrifice and Jesus says, leave your 57 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,800 sacrifice and your gift of the altar. 58 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:57,720 If someone has something against you and Paul saying, you've got to deal with it right there 59 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:03,520 and then like this, your this can't go on in our lives. 60 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:08,240 So it's not like, oh, I'm only going up to Jerusalem three times a year. 61 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,600 And I can be angry for four months of the year. 62 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:16,520 And then I have to deal with it or that I have to deal with it in every Saturday before 63 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:18,640 I go to church. 64 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:25,320 There's a sense where, no, I have to deal with this every day and not let these things 65 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:29,640 grow and fester until they become much more deeply rooted in my heart. 66 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:35,200 Tim, what you just said reminds me of Ephesians 4, get rid of all bitterness, rage and 67 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,920 anger, brawling and slander along with every form of malice. 68 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:43,800 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God 69 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:44,800 forgave you. 70 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,400 At the beginning of that chapter, Paul writes, be completely humble and gentle. 71 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,880 Be patient, bearing with one another in love. 72 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:59,400 So humility, gentleness and patience are keys to connection with others, keys to loving 73 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:05,040 people and keys to ridding anger from our hearts. 74 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:10,120 I like how you said we need to deal with anger right away, Tim. 75 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:11,520 We can't just let it fester. 76 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,640 We can't give the devil a foothold. 77 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:20,640 And when I was thinking about the concept of altar, I think it grew for me from communion 78 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:24,920 and our bodies to everything we might do, every religious activity. 79 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:31,600 The altar or 'mizabach' means place of slaughter or sacrifice. 80 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:38,440 The purpose of this place of slaughter or sacrifice was to bring together God and man. 81 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,920 It was a place for expressions of both gratitude and supplication. 82 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:48,120 So first, I think we have to, we have connection back to Jesus' words and that what we are 83 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,640 doing at the altar is trying to connect with God. 84 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:56,320 But he, he's saying he doesn't want that from us when we've ignored our horizontal 85 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:57,320 relationships. 86 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:03,920 I kept thinking about the temple and these all, and the altar and, and I noticed something 87 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:10,120 else that the two main altars in the temple represent these activities of gratitude and 88 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:13,000 supplication or asking God to do something. 89 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,480 One altar was the altar of burnt offering. 90 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,520 And then the other altar was the altar of incense. 91 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:25,320 So I think the first thing to note is what we've been talking about with communion. 92 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:33,440 Jesus' sacrifice on the cross fulfills the entire sacrificial system of atonement, the 93 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,840 goal of which is to bring together God and mankind. 94 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:39,640 At the cross, we have a feast of grace. 95 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:45,440 However, that's not an altar God wants us to visit when we are treating others contrary 96 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,480 to the way God treats us in Christ. 97 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:55,200 And second, this, the altar of incense, today that's, for Christians, that's our prayers. 98 00:06:55,200 --> 00:07:01,040 We see that in places like Revelation 5:8, where our prayers are, are likened 99 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,120 to incense going before God's throne. 100 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:07,880 And in Revelation 8:4, we see what God does with this incense of prayer. 101 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,600 It prompts him to act powerfully. 102 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:16,640 But here too, we read things like our prayers being hindered because we're not reconciled 103 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:17,640 with others. 104 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:23,400 You see that in 1 Peter 3 and famously in Jesus' teaching on prayer in Matthew 6. 105 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,640 But wait, that's not all. 106 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:31,280 In Hebrews 13:15, we're called to continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit 107 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,480 of lips that openly profess his name. 108 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:38,000 So sharing your faith is a sacrifice of praise. 109 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,640 The writer continues, and do not forget to do good and to share with others. 110 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:45,080 For with such sacrifices, God is pleased. 111 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:51,080 So doing good and sharing with others, i.e. giving or hospitality, are sacrifices too. 112 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:52,560 Money is a sacrifice. 113 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:59,040 In Matthew 15 and Mark 7, Jesus refers to the gift devoted to God or Corban. 114 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:05,880 This word Corban is the same word used to describe the entire sacrificial offerings. 115 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:13,640 And Van, you mentioned our bodies, Romans 12:1-2, are to be living sacrifices. 116 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:16,460 Basically everything we possess is to be laid before God. 117 00:08:16,460 --> 00:08:20,800 Even our desires are to be transformed into godly ones. 118 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:25,600 But like you Tim, I am cut by the need to be reconciled with others. 119 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:30,760 It's not something that can just be shoved to the side, it's not really that important. 120 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:35,640 Before I share my faith, before I give my money, before I do a good deed, before I share 121 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:40,440 something, before I take communion, before I even desire something, basically before 122 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:45,920 I participate in any religious activity, I need to get right with others. 123 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:52,720 Yeah, and I think it might be helpful, because that's like a really strong statement. 124 00:08:52,720 --> 00:09:02,840 It's easy to hear that and say, yeah, but it's still more important for me to go to church 125 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:07,920 than it is for me to be right with the people I'm interacting with. 126 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:16,600 Like a practical level, I'm going to have more, there's going to be more consequences 127 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:30,600 for me if I leave that place of worship instead of letting something fester. 128 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:34,400 And so when you're saying all that, I'm in total agreement. 129 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,760 I just wanted to read, I think 1 John is so helpful for me in this, because it just 130 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,560 puts it so, it literally puts it black and white. 131 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:47,160 And there's several scriptures here, I'll just read a couple verses. 132 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:51,320 And 1 John 2, he says, anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother and 133 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,360 sister is still in the darkness. 134 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,400 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light and there's nothing in 135 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:58,880 them to make them stumble. 136 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:03,280 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. 137 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:08,000 They do not know where they are going because the darkness has blinded them. 138 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:17,640 And I think it's another one in 1 John 4, it says, we love because he first loved us. 139 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:22,640 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. 140 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,480 Forever does not love their brother and sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they 141 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:28,040 have not seen. 142 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,880 And he has given us this command, anyone who loves God must also love their brother and 143 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:33,360 sister. 144 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:38,720 And so, I mean, John's just repeating what Jesus said, right? 145 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:45,160 But to me, it helps to hear it in these multiple places that, yeah, our horizontal relationships 146 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:49,840 are essential to how we live out our faith. 147 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:57,920 We would be colossal hypocrites if we go to remember how much Jesus sacrificed for us 148 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:05,200 to die for us, for our sins, and then we're like not forgiving someone. 149 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,720 We're not dealing with something that's happened horizontally. 150 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:13,000 It's Matthew 18, you know, that whole second. 151 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:21,760 And that scripture in 1 John 4:19 is a slap in the face. 152 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:32,880 Because again, anger is so permissible, so acceptable in our society today, that it is 153 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:43,960 so acceptable that people will not even acknowledge a good idea that someone has if they have, 154 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:50,760 if there's any basis of anger, that if they're divided politically, if they're divided 155 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:56,200 racially, if they're divided, you know, this is a podcast and we're on the radio. 156 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:00,760 So if you don't know me, you might not know, I'm a black man. 157 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:11,640 I grew up believing, and I believe this for well into my 20s, that I couldn't really have 158 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:16,400 a good relationship with a white person because they hate all of us. 159 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:20,120 And because they hate all of us, I hate all of them. 160 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,360 I was told that. 161 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,600 And so it hindered my thought. 162 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,360 And I just thought, well, that means I can only have good relationships with only black 163 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:35,440 people because I'm assuming that if somebody's from another race, they probably hate me already. 164 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:42,560 And it was this flawed logic that hindered my heart when it came to relationships. 165 00:12:42,560 --> 00:12:49,520 And it's just, it's so difficult for me because I see it when I read the verse, when I read 166 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:56,880 the passage and it says, you cannot love God whom you do not see if you do not love your 167 00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,920 brother whom you do see. 168 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:06,600 And we're not even talking about anger here in the traditional sort of good old red blooded 169 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:11,760 American sense of anger, you know, I'm angry at the Yankees because they're the rivals to 170 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,360 the Red Sox kind of thing. 171 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:20,920 We're talking about, he's talking about love here and that this is, it's so intense that 172 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:25,640 I have to love my brother because if I don't, I cannot. 173 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,520 It doesn't say you don't, if you don't love your brother, you don't love God. 174 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:33,480 It says if you don't love your brother, you cannot. 175 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:35,280 It's an impossibility. 176 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:40,760 And that's the other thing about anger, putting a seed in your heart. 177 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:46,720 Tim, I love what you said about the passage of Ephesians about not going to bed, not 178 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:51,440 letting the sunset on your anger and, you know, thinking about the analogies of the 179 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,360 altar being your body. 180 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:59,080 If you were getting ready to go to bed one night and you saw a tick embedded in your 181 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:03,800 forearm, you would not say, Oh, there's a tick. 182 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:05,640 Good night, honey. 183 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,520 You would, I would, I would sound the fire alarm. 184 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:10,840 I'm wanting to call an ambulance. 185 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:12,560 I'm like, I could get Lyme disease. 186 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:13,920 How do you get a tick out? 187 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:14,920 We're Googling. 188 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:15,920 How do you get a tick out? 189 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:18,680 How do you, how do you, how do you deal with this? 190 00:14:18,680 --> 00:14:26,760 Because this thing, this tiny little almost microscopic thing is a threat to my life. 191 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:29,440 And that's what anger is. 192 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:31,160 Anger does that to you. 193 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,800 And yet that's what my logical mind says. 194 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:40,120 But in the way that I came up, it's like somebody cuts me off in traffic and I'm instantly 195 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,880 angry, right? 196 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:43,880 Instantly. 197 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,560 And I think I've got so much to work on here. 198 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:54,960 I see why Jesus said, leave your gift at the altar that you can, you can take care of that 199 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:56,460 later. 200 00:14:56,460 --> 00:15:02,280 This you have to take care of now because it, like I said last time, this could kill you 201 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:06,360 and this could kill not just you, but it could kill a lot of people. 202 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:12,280 And you know, it could physically, yes, sure, but spiritually even more so, it could really 203 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,440 destroy a fellowship. 204 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:15,720 You are so right. 205 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:20,720 But all I can think of right now, do you guys remember the old Disney cartoons where I think 206 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:21,920 it's goofy? 207 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,960 He's this mild manner, goofy, see you later, going off to work. 208 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:31,520 And then as soon as he gets under behind the wheel, he goes, whole satins like super angry. 209 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:32,520 I remember that. 210 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:34,520 I remember that. 211 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:36,120 Oh my gosh. 212 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,280 I have become a Massachusetts driver. 213 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:44,400 I used to be from Portland and every time I go back there, I get annoyed at how nice 214 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:46,160 people are on the road. 215 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:50,480 They come to a yield and they're like, you go, no, you go, no, you go. 216 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,680 And I'm behind them going, get off my way. 217 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:55,360 I'll go. 218 00:15:55,360 --> 00:16:06,760 And so if we can pivot, I think we've discussed how serious anger is. 219 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:11,760 It's really not a laughing matter and it can lead to these, it's pervasive in our society. 220 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,120 It is all around us. 221 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:19,640 And we live in a very polarized time and social media stokes it up. 222 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:25,320 You get a feed and it knows what, you know, and you keep hearing one side of things until 223 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:30,400 you can't possibly think that anything on a different point of view could be right at 224 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:31,400 all. 225 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:33,680 And honestly, none of that really matters anyway. 226 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,000 But how can we welcome others? 227 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:38,000 Right? 228 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:43,360 I loved what you said, Tim, using 1 John because it is so true. 229 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:52,120 That is totally holy and found a way to welcome us by the sacrifice of Jesus. 230 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:59,160 And we spit on that when we do not show the same mercy to other people. 231 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,800 And I think that it reminds me of the go and learn what this means. 232 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:04,840 I desire mercy, not sacrifice. 233 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:11,480 You know, before we do all our religious stuff, let's pay attention to the more weightier 234 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:15,640 things of the law like justice and mercy. 235 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:22,600 And I think that, so now if we could pivot though, because I think we could take this 236 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:30,480 to the other extreme a little bit, are we held hostage from worship by other people's 237 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,440 feelings? 238 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:37,840 And if not, and I would hate to do this, should we qualify Jesus's words? 239 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:46,200 I don't, I'm very apprehensive about doing that because I don't want to qualify anything 240 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:50,600 that might just seem hard because he said it. 241 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,160 But I want, I would want to do it. 242 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:57,840 Are there other passages that of scripture that might shed light on on the heart behind 243 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:03,920 what Jesus is getting at as we seek to answer, are we held hostage from worship, all worship 244 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,160 by other people's feelings? 245 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:07,160 Yeah. 246 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:16,200 I, well, I think the point that you're saying of, we've got to, to understand this, we've 247 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:21,560 got to look at everything that the Bible is saying about this. 248 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:31,600 Jesus is our teacher, and he's the one who is, he's our point guy, but he also talks 249 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:38,640 in many other places other than just Matthew five through seven, and his disciples also 250 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,920 speak inspired through the Holy Spirit. 251 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:49,480 And so we, we don't want to just focus just on one place and adopt an interpretation that 252 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:55,680 makes the Bible and, and God himself contradicts himself. 253 00:18:55,680 --> 00:19:01,560 And so I think it's, it's really a really good question, and if we're, as long as we're 254 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:08,040 approaching this question from a perspective of I want to understand instead of I want 255 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:16,000 to explain a way, which is really easy to, it's really easy to kind of make the, those 256 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,040 two murky in our hearts. 257 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:21,880 And sometimes we don't even know, but as long as we're, I think as we have to try to have 258 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:28,440 that place of understanding first, so that I think is just a really important point because 259 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:34,200 we're going to be doing this a bunch in the coming episodes as well. 260 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,360 And try to say, this is a, this is a challenging teaching. 261 00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:42,320 Where else can we understand what Jesus might mean by looking at other scriptures? 262 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:48,360 Yeah, I think of the, I think of the passage that I believe that you referred to it, Matt, 263 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:54,600 where Jesus was talking to the Pharisees about Corban and he says to them, it's in Matthew 264 00:19:54,600 --> 00:20:01,360 chapter 15 towards the end of his, his condemnation of what they're saying. 265 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:06,920 He says, these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 266 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:09,880 They worship me in vain. 267 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,600 Their teachings are merely human rules. 268 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:18,200 And that gets at something we've talked about in previous sessions, about this aspect of 269 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,000 performative religion. 270 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:31,560 Jesus is not as interested in how you perform in how you act as he is, how you are. 271 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:36,960 And what the Pharisees had done is they, they'd created a loophole that allowed them not to 272 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:42,320 do the thing that was at the heart of the matter, taking care of their parents. 273 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,600 You need to take care of your parents. 274 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,720 They were, they figured out a loophole where they could get out of that. 275 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:52,800 They could give some money to the temple and say that was the money that I would have spent. 276 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:57,920 Because obviously God is more important than my dad and mom. 277 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:03,320 And even Jesus said that, didn't he say that in some, in some context, but he's talking 278 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:07,480 about we've got to get to the heart of the matter. 279 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:11,360 And that, that's something that he does throughout this entire sermon. 280 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:16,440 He is getting to the heart of the matter. 281 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:23,920 And so in that sense, am I held hostage by what somebody else thinks? 282 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:28,800 Well, Paul said, and I wish I knew the reference off the top of my head. 283 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:34,480 Didn't Paul say who's led into sin and I do not inwardly burn? 284 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,200 Who shouldn't I rejoice with those who rejoice? 285 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:42,400 And I mourn with those who mourn were in this thing together. 286 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,320 We're, we're a body together. 287 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:55,000 So am I held hostage by my brother's shortcoming by my brother's sin in the, in as much there, 288 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:59,760 if, if I, if there's anything that I can do about it, if there's anything that I can 289 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:06,920 change, if there's anything that I can help him with, then I suppose yes, I am. 290 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,240 But that's okay because we all are. 291 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:18,880 Well, what about, what about Jesus then in the last year of his life when all of the 292 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,480 Pharisees hated him? 293 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:27,680 Should he have foregone any worship until he went out and tried to get resolved with 294 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:29,760 all them because they hated him? 295 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:30,760 Yeah. 296 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:36,440 That's, that's the first thing that I thought of. 297 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:43,280 I do think that, man, like, man, that was a, that was really challenging. 298 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:48,240 It's so, when I hear a question like this, the first thing that I think about is how 299 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,040 am I individually affected? 300 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:54,240 I don't think about how is the body of Christ affected. 301 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,080 I think in terms of the I instead of a we. 302 00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:00,360 So what you're, what you just made me do, Van, is you made me think about how is, how 303 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:03,520 is the we affected? 304 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:10,400 And, and so if, and I think that's where, if I'm just trying to understand this in order 305 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:16,240 to explain something away, that's where I feel like I'm, I'm getting really convicted 306 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:22,720 because I might be just saying, oh, I don't need a reconcile because it, in this particular 307 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:24,800 case because I didn't do anything wrong. 308 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:26,920 It doesn't affect me. 309 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:35,240 With that being said, like what you just said, Matt, I, I thought of two scriptures and one 310 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,680 is right after what you just quoted, Van. 311 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:43,880 The disciples came to him and asked, do you know that the Pharisees were offended when 312 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:49,680 they heard this one when he said that they're teaching for vain and he said, every plant 313 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,120 that my heavenly father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots, leave them. 314 00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:55,000 They are blind guides. 315 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:59,280 Let the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit. 316 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:05,920 And he, Jesus kind of reiterates on that in John 17 that the world's going to hate us 317 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:13,320 because it hated him and it's brought up in first John three. 318 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:17,360 So there's, it's brought up a lot of, in the sermon of the mountain, you know, you'll 319 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:21,120 bless it when the, when you're persecuted for righteousness sake. 320 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:22,120 Yeah. 321 00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:24,880 So if you're persecuted because of righteousness sake, someone's angry at you. 322 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:25,880 Yeah. 323 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:34,200 And so this, this isn't just because someone doesn't like you or is angry at you, therefore 324 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,920 you've done something wrong and you can't worship. 325 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,520 That, that, that can't be what it means because it makes no sense. 326 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:42,040 It's just internally contradicts. 327 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:46,800 So if we were to qualify this, we would say, if you actually did something wrong, if you 328 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:53,520 sinned some way against someone and 99.99999% of the time, that's probably true. 329 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:58,840 If someone is harboring feelings, I mean, I could see like public figures like Jesus 330 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:03,800 or maybe you've got, you've preached a fiery sermon one day and a lot of people are like 331 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,160 ruffled, ruffled a lot of feathers and they might have something against you, but it was 332 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,000 the right thing to say. 333 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,560 You should probably still have conversations and try to get reconciled with people, but 334 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:18,120 I don't think that should stop you from taking communion. 335 00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:19,520 That's how I interpret it. 336 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:29,200 Then the other thing I think of is Romans 12 where it says, if possible, so far as it 337 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:33,080 depends on you, live peaceably with all. 338 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:37,320 I was going to, I was going to bring that same scripture up if possible. 339 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:42,160 That's a, that's a, that's a big piece in there. 340 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:47,960 And I think that Jesus did try in some ways to be at peace with the Pharisees as much as 341 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:48,960 it was possible. 342 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:56,080 I wonder how much the word brother comes into play here because either your brother or sister 343 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,080 has something against you. 344 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:02,680 Leave your, it's not, Jesus doesn't say if anyone has. 345 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,200 And now I don't want to be like the teacher of the law who's like, who's my neighbor? 346 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,480 And Jesus is like, everyone's your neighbor. 347 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:18,520 So I don't, I'm like, I don't know if that really means, what, what Jesus means by that. 348 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:26,680 And it's still, you could still have a situation where someone else might really just be nursing 349 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:35,040 a grudge and you've tried, you've done everything you can to, to try to be reconciled and that's, 350 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:39,080 that hasn't happened. 351 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:44,000 But I think that as far as it depends on you as a kind of a good ground rule because it 352 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,320 means that like I've tried, right? 353 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:51,800 I just, I haven't just like token tried, but I've really done everything I can to try 354 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,000 to be reconciled with this person. 355 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,040 And that's maybe a good place to end. 356 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:03,640 So just to wrap it up, we covered the altar and we said it's our whole life basically 357 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:10,640 and we have to deal with the horizontal relationships that we see before we worship God who we don't 358 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:11,840 see. 359 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:16,920 That said, living a life devoted to God will mean we ruffle feathers from time to time. 360 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:21,200 So where we're ending here is with Paul's qualification. 361 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:25,560 As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 362 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:49,640 All right, join us next time when we wrap up the topic of hate.