1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,840 Hey, I'm Matt Brownell. 2 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:10,480 And I'm Van Owens. 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,160 And I'm Tim Adams. 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:18,120 Welcome to Climbing the Mountain, where we dive into the scriptures and discuss themes, 5 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,280 connections, and real life application. 6 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,960 We're kicking off a series here where we're going to examine the Sermon on the Mount and 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:34,960 discuss implications for this teaching for Christians today. 8 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:37,960 Welcome back to the pod, everyone. 9 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,000 Appreciate you joining us again. 10 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,600 Last time we talked about generosity. 11 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:47,200 We talked about how we would change if we were generous, both as individuals and as 12 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:48,440 a community. 13 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:53,240 We talked about getting rid of the us against the world mentality. 14 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:57,880 And ultimately, we talked about what keeps us from being generous, which is fear. 15 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:05,720 We get so afraid of what we lose that we decide not to be generous and just hold on to everything. 16 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:10,920 This time on the pod, we're going to hopefully finish this section and the Sermon on the 17 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,600 Mount. 18 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,680 We'll see where the discussion goes. 19 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,680 But it's been a ton of fun, and it's been very illuminating to talk through this and 20 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:22,480 wrestle with this. 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:27,080 And just one thing I wanted to remind everyone that we're here wrestling with you. 22 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:28,720 We don't have all the answers. 23 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:33,520 We're trying to wrestle with this in community just like you are. 24 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:39,560 So if you've come here for black and white answers to all your Sermon on the Mount questions, 25 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,720 unfortunately, you've probably come to the wrong place. 26 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,080 So I'm going to let Van read the scripture, and then we'll get into it. 27 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:47,080 All right. 28 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,080 Matthew chapter 6, verse 19. 29 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:54,400 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and vermin destroy and where 30 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:59,600 thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths 31 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:04,560 and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. 32 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:08,200 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 33 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:10,000 The eye is the lamp of the body. 34 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,440 If the eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 35 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,840 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. 36 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,720 If then, the light within you is darkness. 37 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,400 How great is that darkness? 38 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:26,160 No one can serve two masters. 39 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:30,520 Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and 40 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:31,920 despise the other. 41 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:36,440 You cannot serve both God and money. 42 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:37,720 Thanks Van. 43 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,280 So this is sort of the last part of this. 44 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:45,080 And the word for money, which is we use money is actually maiming. 45 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,680 Just for our listeners, I think most of us in the room know that. 46 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,120 But it's not just like I have a big bank account. 47 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:53,320 I have wealth. 48 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:55,840 I have possessions. 49 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:03,280 It would be the one who has a big bank account, an expensive house, more cars than you need, 50 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,120 maybe a boat, maybe a vacation home. 51 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:08,680 Just it's wealth. 52 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,800 It's being overly wealthy. 53 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:16,480 And in verse 24, Jesus uses a really strong word. 54 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:22,080 He uses the word master, which is essentially decision-making authority, the one who has 55 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,120 a right to decide. 56 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:33,040 So what's being communicated is that we cannot serve both God and the pursuit of riches 57 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,080 and wealth. 58 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:41,880 Now some tension I feel here, and I want us to resolve this together, is it doesn't 59 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:50,480 seem like it's talking about earning money to live our day-to-day lives. 60 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:51,480 Can we get some agreement from that? 61 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:52,480 Yeah, in the room. 62 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,280 I don't think that's true. 63 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,600 We have to earn money, and the math has to add up at the end of the day. 64 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:04,160 But it doesn't seem like he's talking about that, but he's talking about the excesses 65 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:10,240 that if we're all being honest, we all somewhat want. 66 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:16,120 Why would Jesus use God and riches as the opposite decision-making authority? 67 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:23,320 If they're both authorities, why are they so in contrast with each other? 68 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,640 Well, I think you're right. 69 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,320 I think part of what Jesus is saying here in verse 24 is that you can't do both. 70 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,920 You can't store up earthly and heavenly treasure. 71 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:38,880 We see this kind of dynamic play out in Luke 9 and 14 passages that indicate, I think, 72 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,800 we're to give away earthly treasure to secure heavenly treasure. 73 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,880 I think that's pretty clear. 74 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,680 You can't hold on to Christ if you're still gripping money. 75 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:52,600 You aren't really trusting him. 76 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,160 You're trusting yourself, your kingdom, the works of your hands. 77 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:56,160 It's the opposite of faith. 78 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:01,000 I think that's a very dangerous place to find yourself. 79 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,280 I think it's the place we mentioned the rich young ruler earlier. 80 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:09,440 I think that's where he found himself, ultimately relied on himself instead of God. 81 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:17,160 I think we see throughout the Old Testament that there's a value placed on trusting God, 82 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,400 not self, and taking care of community. 83 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,880 You're supposed to be generous and take care of the others around you. 84 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:32,240 We talked about hospitality being a huge thing, or the laws limiting servitude, things like 85 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:40,320 the jubilees where servants were liberated, or laws that allowed the portagling crop leftovers. 86 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:41,800 There's all the tithes. 87 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:48,040 There's just so much there about giving that's just baked into their culture. 88 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:52,520 I think when we get to the New Testament and Jesus, what he's talking about, I don't think 89 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:54,280 it's just the tithe, but it's the whole. 90 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:55,280 It's like your whole heart. 91 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:56,600 It's not just the limit. 92 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,000 It's like, no, no, no, not the limit. 93 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,000 What can you do? 94 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:02,000 Think creatively. 95 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,000 What can you give? 96 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:10,000 How can you be a vessel to be used to give, not just hoarding things in bigger barns? 97 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,440 Matt, I love how you talked about their system. 98 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:19,200 The system they lived in was designed to make provisions for the poor. 99 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:23,480 It wasn't just you as the individual based on your own heart. 100 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:29,480 It was, no, I'm creating a system, a society that makes provisions for the poor. 101 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:30,480 I really like that. 102 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:35,360 Yeah, Tim was talking about, in the previous episode about the year of Jubilee and how 103 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,400 you forgive your debts. 104 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:45,760 There was also put into the law, it's in the scriptures how land had to return to the 105 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,240 original owner of the land. 106 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:50,560 You know, the sort of the year of Jubilee. 107 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,720 I think that happened during the year of Jubilee. 108 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:59,080 There's other passages in the Old Testament where the king is commanded not to amass too 109 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,600 much cattle, not to amass too much of everything. 110 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:08,240 Everything has to come back. 111 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:16,920 I think that what Jesus is saying here is that, and that word master, I think is just 112 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:22,520 another example of some of the extreme terminology we experienced early in the Sermon and the 113 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:31,680 Sermon that if you're, if you're, if God is not your master and money is, then it's 114 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:33,320 not the money. 115 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:35,920 The money doesn't belong to you. 116 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,760 You belong to the money. 117 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,520 And that's the risk that you run. 118 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:47,680 If you're not, if you're not making God your master, because if God is your master, then 119 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,880 you belong to God. 120 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,800 If money is your master, you belong to the money. 121 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,120 And, and money is not a good master. 122 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:01,800 I think of what you said with the guy, the wealthy, famous person. 123 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:02,800 Exactly. 124 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:09,400 Who, he has so much that he could never do anything else in his entire life. 125 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:16,800 And he would probably in all reasonable estimates never run out of money. 126 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:22,960 And yet he still lives in fear of losing it all because instead of, because he's so 127 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,200 mastered by the money. 128 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:26,200 Exactly. 129 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:27,200 Yeah. 130 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:34,320 And I mean, when you think about that, like we've, we've just been talking about the, 131 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:42,480 the way of following God in the Old Testament and the New is this generous sacrificial nature. 132 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:48,960 And the way of Mammon is this clinging, you know, acquiring nature. 133 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,360 And so those are going to be intention, right? 134 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:59,520 Those are the, the two different ways of operating and seeing the world that are going to result 135 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:00,960 in different decisions. 136 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,680 And so I think that's when Jesus said you can't serve both. 137 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:11,920 Like you, it's just, it, it's just an impossibility to live both in a life that is generous and 138 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,960 sacrificial like the way of the cross. 139 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:19,000 And that's always acquiring and me, me, me, I want more. 140 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:20,000 Yeah. 141 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:21,000 And always nicer stuff. 142 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:29,880 And I think it, I think pulling into it, what we talked about the last time too about 143 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:38,680 seeing things with generous eyes is that I think we can take that a little bit further. 144 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:44,600 And that's how you, that's how you see God because it's really difficult to cling to 145 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:52,600 something that you can't see, which is why it's so easy to cling to your money, your 146 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:53,600 Mammon. 147 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:54,600 Yeah. 148 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:55,720 Because you can see that, right? 149 00:09:55,720 --> 00:10:01,120 You can, you can, you can experience it with your senses in some way. 150 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:08,880 The only way you get to experience God is through a generous, through your perspective, 151 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,120 through a generous perspective on your life. 152 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:17,040 And then you can see God and then you can cling to him as your master. 153 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:18,040 Yeah. 154 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:23,480 There's a, there's a big element of this that is about faith, about trusting God. 155 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:24,480 Yes. 156 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:25,480 Huge. 157 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,680 So question, just one thing, one more thing I want to ask before we move on to the next 158 00:10:29,680 --> 00:10:36,480 one is how did God tell his people to handle prosperity in the Old Testament? 159 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:41,560 And then the follow up is how did they do with that? 160 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:42,560 Fans laughing. 161 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:45,880 Well, I, you know, I think we talked about it a little bit. 162 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:51,360 I wish I had looked up all the, the scriptures that were specific, but they weren't to, 163 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:53,680 they weren't to have too much. 164 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:58,960 They were supposed to be able to tell when they had enough, when they, when, okay, that's 165 00:10:58,960 --> 00:10:59,960 enough. 166 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:01,640 I don't need anymore. 167 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:05,640 That rarely happens in, in our world. 168 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:12,840 And so, you know, but it is pretty explicit in the law that you, you don't acquire too 169 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:14,840 much. 170 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:16,400 How did they handle it? 171 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:17,400 Not well. 172 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:25,120 I think, I think, I think what everything Van said, in addition to remember God, remember, 173 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:29,040 I'm paraphrasing, remember me when you have an abundant harvest. 174 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:30,040 Yeah, right. 175 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:31,040 Deuteronomy eight. 176 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:32,040 Yeah. 177 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,040 Remember me when you, when you have abundance. 178 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:35,040 Yeah, good one. 179 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:36,040 Exactly. 180 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:41,640 And that didn't, throughout the history of God's people, they usually forgot him. 181 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:42,640 Yeah. 182 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:47,560 When they had abundance, even when the abundance was not their doing, it wasn't their hard 183 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:48,560 work. 184 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:50,160 It wasn't any of that. 185 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:58,600 They usually just said it in, like what Van said, they set a whole system up to not have 186 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:02,120 anyone be too rich and to not have anyone be too poor. 187 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:09,320 And that was, seems like God, based on that, and you guys are free to disagree with me 188 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:14,520 on this, it seems like God is trying, doesn't necessarily want, he doesn't want everyone 189 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,240 to be so poor that they become destitute. 190 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:24,920 That's not something he wants, and he doesn't want anybody to be so rich that they're irrationally 191 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,880 petrified of losing everything. 192 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:28,880 Right, right. 193 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:32,760 Yeah, you know, it reminds me a little of what Tim, you were saying in one of the other 194 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:37,680 episodes about an ax, how they just shared all their belongings with each other, no one 195 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:39,000 had need. 196 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:46,080 And it made me think a little too of the sacrificial system and how they were called to bring their 197 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,200 best. 198 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:52,000 And then what, sacrifice it, and then they have a meal and they have joy. 199 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:58,800 But like, that's your best of this, like I want to, if I'm owning that particular animal, 200 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,720 I want my best to reproduce. 201 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:04,000 I want more of best. 202 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:08,840 And I'm going to now put them on the altar because I trust God more. 203 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:14,480 And now I'm going to have a party and we're going to have joy and experience joy because 204 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:19,080 I'm not clinging to that, I'm clinging to God. 205 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:20,080 Yeah. 206 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:25,200 And I also wrote down, I wrote down in my notes that in their world, worshiping God cost 207 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:26,200 money. 208 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:27,200 Right. 209 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:28,200 Yeah. 210 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:35,480 I mean, I don't want to be tried about it, but for them to go to the temple in that particular 211 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:43,000 audience, they had to go get price gouged on an offering and then sacrifice that offering. 212 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:47,560 And we're not, we're talking about people that are not rich. 213 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:49,840 They had to, it cost them money. 214 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,000 It probably hurt them to go worship God. 215 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:57,560 And so God's not telling them, don't make money. 216 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:04,040 But he's also saying, it seems like he's saying, you don't want to have too much, but you also 217 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,240 don't want to have too little. 218 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:10,200 And you want to make sure nobody around you has too little. 219 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:12,880 That's how I read it anyway. 220 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:18,720 Now to bring us back to my favorite topic, which is how the people would have heard it, 221 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:26,000 how would a Pharisee and a Herodian and maybe even a Sadducee, what would they believe about 222 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:32,000 Jesus's statement, assuming they're all good-hearted, they're not, if they're going out to listen 223 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:37,520 to Jesus talk, I think they're at least curious, maybe not good-hearted. 224 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,240 But how would they hear that? 225 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:44,160 I don't know if I assumed good-hearted in my response here. 226 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:45,600 I was kind of a jokie. 227 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,840 I don't know if I should be jokie, but I thought of a few scriptures I could quote. 228 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:55,840 So for the Sadducees, I thought from 1 Corinthians 6, I have the right to do anything and food 229 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:57,880 for the stomach and stomach for food. 230 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,440 It's probably not entirely wrong. 231 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:01,960 Essians, I don't know. 232 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:06,440 I think maybe they had left by then to go write some more rules in their caves about 233 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:07,440 community living. 234 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,360 No, I'm just kidding about that. 235 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:14,360 Pliny, the historian, claimed the Essians possessed no money. 236 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:21,840 So I think many probably believed what Jesus was saying here because they were voluntarily 237 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:23,340 poor. 238 00:15:23,340 --> 00:15:27,000 So I'm guessing they'd agree with him wholeheartedly on this point. 239 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:32,760 The Pharisees, I don't know, Jim, you'll respond to this. 240 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:34,680 I know they're your boys. 241 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:35,680 But- 242 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:36,680 Never said that. 243 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:38,000 I'm messing around. 244 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,440 But I was thinking of John 8, 33. 245 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:47,080 We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. 246 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:52,680 I don't know how the rest of the argument ends, but it sounds kind of like Pharisees. 247 00:15:52,680 --> 00:16:00,720 Well, I think a good-hearted anything, a good-hearted anybody when they see the words of Jesus are 248 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:02,840 going to take them to heart. 249 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:08,280 I think that's the definition of a good-hearted. 250 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:15,920 I think that whenever I see those titles, and I don't pretend to know a lot about Pharisees, 251 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:21,680 Herodians, and Sadducees, I know a little bit. 252 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:28,480 But I know what my tendency is, and I know what the human tendency is, is as soon as you 253 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:38,360 align yourself with a particular way, and it is not God's way, it's easy to be blinded 254 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:46,080 to your own sin, weakness, foibles, whatever you want to call it. 255 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,200 It's very easy to get blind to that. 256 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:56,840 And in some ways, we seek to be blind for that because it makes us feel better in the 257 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:02,200 short run. 258 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:14,320 I just think that that's the risk with all scripture, I think, is being able to see it 259 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:20,480 and see what it means to you really at the depths of your heart. 260 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:27,320 I was thinking about something you said in an earlier pod that while the Pharisees, in 261 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:30,640 my opinion, would have been like, amen, you cannot serve two masters. 262 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:32,400 Go Jesus, go. 263 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:33,920 I think that's kind of where they would have been. 264 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:37,600 They also would have been like, hey, you need to tell the Sadducees that. 265 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:44,120 Like, hey, Jesus, can you go down to the Sadducees and the Herodians and repeat this one part 266 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:46,040 to them? 267 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:50,440 They very well might have heard it for, yeah, we agree with this, and we want all of our 268 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:54,120 other Jewish brothers to stop acting like this. 269 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:55,120 Yeah. 270 00:17:55,120 --> 00:18:02,440 Well, you know, Nicodemus went to see Jesus, but he went to see him at night. 271 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:06,000 Because he was kind of serving two masters. 272 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:07,840 Yeah, he was playing. 273 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,880 He was, there was, let's go see him, but let's not let him know. 274 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:12,880 Let's not go at night. 275 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:18,920 Let's go at night when nobody sees. 276 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:24,960 It definitely, with Nicodemus, feels like he's trying to figure out where he's at and 277 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:26,360 where who Jesus is. 278 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:30,600 And he's dipping his toe in the water, but not getting there. 279 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:37,520 But I think the difference between all of these is that all of them, it highlights a 280 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:39,880 good thing that this hits us differently. 281 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:40,880 Right? 282 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:43,880 Like some people go, yeah, I don't serve two masters. 283 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:47,200 I live as simply as possible. 284 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:53,800 And I think if a Herodian, good-hearted Herodian were to hear this, they would go, ooh, man, 285 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:58,400 I kind of do pursue wealth a lot, don't I? 286 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:07,280 Like I read this and I go, and I fully embrace, not embrace, but I will admit I have a lot 287 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:12,000 of Herodian tendencies because I live in 21st century New England. 288 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:18,360 And we, in my opinion, we all have Herodian tendencies where, and their central tenant 289 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:23,640 was I can have God and I can have all the good stuff in both ways. 290 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:29,320 And it really sounds like Jesus is saying we can't have it both ways. 291 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:33,600 We have to make a decision about which thing we're serving. 292 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,720 Which thing has decision-making authority over us? 293 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:41,680 Is it God or is it money? 294 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,240 Bring this thing in for a bit of a landing here, boys. 295 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,040 This is good. 296 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:53,480 What's Jesus saying kind of overall about what our life priorities should be? 297 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:54,480 And how was that? 298 00:19:54,480 --> 00:20:00,800 Why is this so hard? 299 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:01,800 It is hard. 300 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:03,440 It's a battle. 301 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:08,800 And I think I notice when I'm not doing well with this is when I tend to be worried or 302 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:10,680 stressed out. 303 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:17,240 You know, I think the next section is directly related to this when he talks about anxiety. 304 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,720 When I'm stressed out, ultimately I'm not trusting God, I'm trusting myself. 305 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,600 And that's when I tend to pull back, get tight-fisted. 306 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:31,440 I have a lot of baggage from growing up and feeling like I got to make sure things don't 307 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,760 go sideways and I got to protect. 308 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:42,640 And that's who I am for default. 309 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:49,400 So this battle, I think we talked about it a bunch, but we got to keep looking to Jesus 310 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:51,240 who's the author and perfector of our faith. 311 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:56,480 We got to keep our eyes focused on him because it's not just looking to him that one time. 312 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:04,960 It's like continuing to look to him and not ourselves. 313 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,680 This battle, I love what Paul, I'm going to bring this answer in for Elanah here. 314 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:18,760 In 2 Corinthians 3, going into chapter 4, Paul's talking about how we contemplate the 315 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:23,080 Lord's glory and we're being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which 316 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:24,240 comes from the Lord. 317 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:31,000 So, you know, we're looking to Jesus, we are transformed and being transformed and can 318 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:36,680 be ever-increasing glory displaying that light and to the being that lamp to the world, right? 319 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:42,320 But he goes into the next chapter and says there's an opponent that wants to veil the 320 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:49,200 gospel and blind the minds of unbelievers. 321 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,800 And this is the thing that we have to fight against. 322 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:57,220 He talks about the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in Christ. 323 00:21:57,220 --> 00:22:05,000 This is faith and he's calling us to, in our hearts, know God through seeing Christ. 324 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:10,040 It really, I think boils down for me, how much am I reading the word and then doing 325 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:11,840 what it says. 326 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:16,800 And the way that Paul runs that chapter is so we fix our eyes not on what is seen but 327 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,400 on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary. 328 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,400 But what is unseen is eternal. 329 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:27,320 Oh, that's good, that's good. 330 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:28,640 Yeah, I think so. 331 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:32,080 I think in why is it so hard? 332 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:39,240 So when I think about my life, I think what do I have? 333 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,040 What do I want? 334 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:46,760 What do I need? 335 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:57,360 And if the answer to that is monetary, material, mercenary, mammon, whatever you want to call 336 00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:04,360 it, then the answer, what I have, well, it's not enough because I've got this bill coming 337 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:11,200 up or I've got that bill coming up or I've got to fix my car or I need a new shed or 338 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,800 my shoes are wearing out or what I have is not enough. 339 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:22,320 But I need more. 340 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:23,320 How much more? 341 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:27,640 I just more, I need to get those shoes, I need to fix the car, I need to get the shed, 342 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,480 I need to do all that stuff. 343 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:33,360 And what do I need? 344 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:35,680 Well, more. 345 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,160 It's a vicious, horrible cycle. 346 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,440 But if I answer that question through the perspective of God, what do I have? 347 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:47,000 I have a relationship with God. 348 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:51,520 I'm a Christian, I'm saved, I'm right with God. 349 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,320 Well, okay, so then what do I want? 350 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,160 Well, I want God. 351 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:01,840 I want more of him. 352 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:03,480 And well, what do I need? 353 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:04,480 I need God. 354 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:12,240 He answers all of those questions in one fell swoop and it leads to joy and it leads to 355 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:20,160 satisfaction and it leads to contentment and it leads to gratitude and it erases sin, it 356 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:32,480 erases regret, it erases all those things that come with the more of money, of possession, 357 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:39,000 of material things, of wanting more of what I can see. 358 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:46,240 Because eventually I used to, when I was in college, my friend Jim Condon, his dad was 359 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:55,840 a minister and his dad was very wise and very pithy in the things that he said and something 360 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,520 he said to me I'll never forget. 361 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:00,400 He would say, how are you doing? 362 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:05,680 And I tell him how I was doing and because I'm angst ridden, something was always wrong. 363 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:11,960 And he would always say, well, add 100 years to it. 364 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,520 In 100 years, what's that going to mean? 365 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,200 I said, well, nothing. 366 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:20,880 And he said, exactly. 367 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:28,760 And it has always stuck with me that, okay, all the stuff I'm anxious about and distraught 368 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,880 about, add 100 years to it. 369 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:38,040 I add 100 years to my relationship with God and I'm there, I'm with him. 370 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:39,560 It's still there. 371 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,360 It's the only thing that's actually still there. 372 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:50,200 Well, I can't think of a better way to end that discussion than what Van just said, is 373 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:57,040 that we talked about a lot, we've talked about not storing up treasures for ourselves on 374 00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:01,040 earth, all the earthly treasures, add 100 years to it. 375 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,120 I think my house might still be standing in 100 years. 376 00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:07,120 But I doubt I'll, I won't be standing in it. 377 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:09,200 It's been standing since 1860. 378 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:13,720 So I think I'm on solid ground there. 379 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:15,400 But my house won't be standing. 380 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,880 My car will definitely be scrap metal. 381 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:25,800 All the stuff I have is going to be gone to some degree, including my own life, but I'll 382 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,040 still be with God. 383 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:33,480 And I think that's a great thought to end this with, is in 100 years we'll still be 384 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:35,960 with God. 385 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:40,680 Let's pursue the things that lead to being with God. 386 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,160 That's what I feel challenged by in this. 387 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:49,280 And I feel challenged to get rid of some of the things that don't and to be more generous. 388 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:57,360 I feel challenged to spend less time pursuing the stuff here on earth and ultimately less 389 00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:06,440 time pursuing money and less energy and figuring out where the tension lies and how to resolve 390 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:07,680 that tension. 391 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:09,240 So I really appreciate you guys. 392 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:10,920 I appreciate everyone's perspective. 393 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:12,760 This has been great for me. 394 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:15,480 Thank you guys for listening and we'll talk to you all next pod. 395 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:16,480 Thank you. 396 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:17,480 Thanks guys. 397 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:26,960 Global Action.