WEBVTT 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:06.799 Hey all, Pastor John here. Thanks for tuning 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.980 in to the weekly sermon podcast. We pray this 00:00:09.980 --> 00:00:12.740 message encourages you, strengthens your faith, 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:15.359 and helps you to take your next step with Jesus. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:18.359 If this content blesses you and you'd like to 00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:20.500 be a part of helping us continue to bring the 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:22.960 gospel to life, we'd love for you to consider 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:26.079 supporting the ministry of village. Your generosity 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.579 makes it possible for us to keep creating and 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:31.670 sharing resources like this podcast. You can 00:00:31.670 --> 00:00:35.729 give safely and easily by visiting sacvillage 00:00:35.729 --> 00:00:39.390 .org slash give, or by heading to our website 00:00:39.390 --> 00:00:43.350 at sacvillage .org. Thanks again for listening. 00:00:43.689 --> 00:00:54.289 Now let's dive into this week's message. So we're 00:00:54.289 --> 00:00:55.929 in a series called True and Better, and we're 00:00:55.929 --> 00:00:58.990 looking at a gospel -shaped identity. And today 00:00:58.990 --> 00:01:02.000 we're going to talk about this aspect of it, 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:07.099 pilgrim not consumer. Pilgrim not consumer. So 00:01:07.099 --> 00:01:09.840 there are two fundamentally different ways to 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:14.260 view, to live in this world. You can live as 00:01:14.260 --> 00:01:19.500 if this world is your home or you can live as 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:23.680 if you are passing through. Think about the difference 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:26.040 between how you treat your living room and how 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:29.909 you treat an airport terminal, okay? So in your 00:01:29.909 --> 00:01:33.849 living room, what do you do? You decorate, you 00:01:33.849 --> 00:01:36.409 renovate, right? You settle into your living 00:01:36.409 --> 00:01:38.390 room. I love my living room. It's the place of 00:01:38.390 --> 00:01:40.489 comfort that I come home to, right? And I've 00:01:40.489 --> 00:01:42.769 got my spot. I've got a spot on the couch. Everyone 00:01:42.769 --> 00:01:44.870 knows that that's my spot. You don't sit in Dad's 00:01:44.870 --> 00:01:48.730 spot. The dogs, for some reason, don't know that. 00:01:51.849 --> 00:01:54.269 It's a place of comfort. It's a place to settle 00:01:54.269 --> 00:01:57.709 in. It's a place that you build for permanence. 00:01:57.909 --> 00:01:59.670 Hopefully you have that living room for a while 00:01:59.670 --> 00:02:02.269 and you can relax and enjoy it for a long time. 00:02:02.290 --> 00:02:04.689 But at an airport, it's different, isn't it? 00:02:05.629 --> 00:02:07.810 You don't repaint the walls, right? You're like, 00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:09.689 hey, I think we need to do something about these 00:02:09.689 --> 00:02:11.889 walls over here. You don't hop on your phone 00:02:11.889 --> 00:02:14.330 and get on the Crate and Barrel website and deliver 00:02:14.330 --> 00:02:19.550 brand new furniture to gate B6, right? Hey, I 00:02:19.550 --> 00:02:22.550 was talking to my son between Nate and he's like, 00:02:22.870 --> 00:02:26.590 dad, you did not paint the picture of the airport 00:02:26.590 --> 00:02:29.210 terminal and how terrible it is enough in the 00:02:29.210 --> 00:02:31.770 first place. There's people eating everywhere, 00:02:31.990 --> 00:02:35.229 there's babies crying, there's loud noises, there's 00:02:35.229 --> 00:02:37.110 the terrible music and then people keep getting 00:02:37.110 --> 00:02:39.550 on the intercom over, it's not comfortable, right? 00:02:41.569 --> 00:02:45.419 You don't make it feel like home. Because you 00:02:45.419 --> 00:02:47.819 accept the reality that it's going to be whatever 00:02:47.819 --> 00:02:51.860 it is, right? Well, why? Because you're not staying. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:55.080 It's an airport terminal. You're in transit. 00:02:55.099 --> 00:02:57.460 You're just passing through. You see, Christians 00:02:57.460 --> 00:03:02.539 are not settlers here. The Bible uses words like 00:03:02.539 --> 00:03:06.199 strangers, exiles, sojourners, pilgrims on a 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:10.180 journey home to describe the Christian life. 00:03:11.370 --> 00:03:14.550 And Paul says in Philippians, our citizenship 00:03:14.550 --> 00:03:18.729 is in heaven. And notice what he says, he doesn't 00:03:18.729 --> 00:03:22.509 say not will be in heaven, our citizenship is 00:03:22.509 --> 00:03:27.090 in heaven. But if we're honest, most of us don't 00:03:27.090 --> 00:03:35.349 feel like exiles. We feel quite at home. We've 00:03:35.349 --> 00:03:37.689 built our lives here, we've organized our hopes 00:03:37.689 --> 00:03:42.009 here, we've anchored our expectations here. And 00:03:42.009 --> 00:03:44.689 without realizing it, right now, we have been 00:03:44.689 --> 00:03:50.449 discipled into a different identity. Not pilgrim, 00:03:51.229 --> 00:03:57.430 but consumer. The consumer identity says life 00:03:57.430 --> 00:04:02.229 is about maximizing satisfaction. The consumer 00:04:02.229 --> 00:04:06.270 identity says institutions exist to serve me. 00:04:07.330 --> 00:04:08.969 We'll talk about that a little bit more later. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.460 The consumer identity says that discomfort in 00:04:13.460 --> 00:04:16.680 my life must mean that something is wrong and 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:21.660 therefore it must be fixed immediately. The consumer 00:04:21.660 --> 00:04:25.819 identity says if I don't like this, I just move 00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:31.079 on. But the gospel says something radically different 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:34.540 than that. It says that the world is not your 00:04:34.540 --> 00:04:41.139 home. It is your assignment. See, if you believe 00:04:41.139 --> 00:04:43.240 this world is ultimate, then you are going to 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:46.319 cling to it with all that you have. But if you 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:48.540 know that your citizenship is elsewhere, you 00:04:48.540 --> 00:04:52.259 will hold this world loosely and yet find the 00:04:52.259 --> 00:04:55.759 greatest joy possible in it. That's what's extraordinary. 00:04:56.060 --> 00:04:58.180 I'll say that again. If you know your citizenship 00:04:58.180 --> 00:05:01.839 is elsewhere, you're gonna hold this world loosely 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:04.220 and yet at the same time be able to find the 00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:07.759 greatest joy in it that is possible. C .S. Lewis 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:12.290 put it this way. Aim your life at heaven and 00:05:12.290 --> 00:05:17.550 get the earth thrown in. Aim your life at earth 00:05:17.550 --> 00:05:22.810 and you will get neither. So the question is, 00:05:22.889 --> 00:05:25.930 are you living like a citizen of heaven? Is your 00:05:25.930 --> 00:05:28.709 life aimed toward heaven or are you settling 00:05:28.709 --> 00:05:32.009 in? And today we're gonna explore what it means 00:05:32.009 --> 00:05:35.829 to live as a pilgrim, not as consumers. People 00:05:35.829 --> 00:05:40.800 whose deepest allegiance lies elsewhere and our 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:43.579 desires are being reordered around that place 00:05:43.579 --> 00:05:46.800 and that person and whose hope is anchored in 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:49.959 a kingdom that can never be shaken. So if you 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:52.319 take notice, the first point of four is identity 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:57.420 determines attachments. Reading out of 1 Peter 00:05:57.420 --> 00:06:02.360 chapter two, beginning in verse 11, Peter writes, 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:05.879 Dear friends, I urge you as strangers in exiles 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:09.139 to abstain from sinful desires that wage war 00:06:09.139 --> 00:06:13.139 against the soul. Conduct yourself honorably 00:06:13.139 --> 00:06:15.500 among the Gentiles so that when they slander 00:06:15.500 --> 00:06:17.899 you as evildoers, they will observe your good 00:06:17.899 --> 00:06:21.500 works and will glorify God on the day he visits. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:27.839 Notice what he does first. He begins with identity. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:33.480 Peter says, I urge you as strangers and exiles, 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:36.240 before he tells them what to do, he reminds them 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:41.839 of who they are. Exile is not about geography. 00:06:43.300 --> 00:06:49.100 Exile is about allegiance. You may live in Sacramento, 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:51.300 you may work here, you may raise your family 00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:53.439 and raise your kids, you may build a business 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:56.319 in Sacramento, but if you belong to Christ, your 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:02.500 truest citizenship is elsewhere. And identity 00:07:02.500 --> 00:07:07.860 determines attachments. If you believe this world 00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:12.879 is your home, you settle into it. You will build 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:15.540 for permanence and you will fight tooth and nail 00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:20.649 for comfort. You will defend your right to have 00:07:20.649 --> 00:07:25.250 all your preferences met. But if you know you 00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:28.050 are passing through, you just travel different, 00:07:28.129 --> 00:07:31.470 don't you? Me and my wife had the opportunity 00:07:31.470 --> 00:07:36.009 to fly into Milan, Italy, and then drive over 00:07:36.009 --> 00:07:40.360 to Rovinj, Croatia, and it was. Beautiful, Rovinj, 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:45.100 Croatia is this little peninsula city. It's on 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:47.240 a little hill, there's a church on top of it. 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:49.540 It's the most picturesque thing you can imagine 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:52.899 with cobblestone streets winding up to that church 00:07:52.899 --> 00:07:57.139 at the top. We show up, we've been in Milan for 00:07:57.139 --> 00:08:00.660 a little bit at a place and so we kind of got 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:02.879 comfortable there and felt like, hey, we look 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:06.129 like locals, right? We know the places, we know 00:08:06.129 --> 00:08:08.449 the terminology, we can get the drinks, right? 00:08:08.449 --> 00:08:10.250 So then we go over to Rovine and we're still 00:08:10.250 --> 00:08:12.850 in that local mindset. But on that trip, you 00:08:12.850 --> 00:08:14.790 know, me and my wife, we're carry -on people. 00:08:15.269 --> 00:08:17.290 Anyone carry -on people? If you travel, you carry 00:08:17.290 --> 00:08:20.250 -on, yeah. Yeah, that whole like check bag thing, 00:08:20.389 --> 00:08:24.170 no thank you. Carry -on, carry -on. Well, we 00:08:24.170 --> 00:08:27.490 were on a 10 -day trip and we brought our carry 00:08:27.490 --> 00:08:29.649 -on, right? So it's like, you know, one pair 00:08:29.649 --> 00:08:39.409 of underwear. I'm just kidding. These are good, 00:08:39.429 --> 00:08:48.049 I'll air them out. Day seven. Sorry. No, but 00:08:48.049 --> 00:08:49.870 we are, we carry on people and you can't fit 00:08:49.870 --> 00:08:51.330 a whole lot of things in your carrier, right? 00:08:51.330 --> 00:08:53.730 So you have to be very discriminating. You look 00:08:53.730 --> 00:08:55.669 and you say, do I need the kitchen sink? No, 00:08:55.669 --> 00:08:57.330 I don't need the kitchen sink. Come on ladies, 00:08:57.370 --> 00:08:59.730 some of you check bag ladies are like, you brought 00:08:59.730 --> 00:09:02.450 your whole living room, right? It's in your bag. 00:09:03.029 --> 00:09:05.610 No, but when you do a carry -on, you're discriminating. 00:09:06.009 --> 00:09:09.029 You decide what you're gonna have. You only have 00:09:09.029 --> 00:09:11.649 a few things, a little bit of space, and you 00:09:11.649 --> 00:09:13.230 don't want to haul that thing around. You don't 00:09:13.230 --> 00:09:15.409 want to lift it up over your head. It's super 00:09:15.409 --> 00:09:17.730 heavy. You want it to roll with you wherever 00:09:17.730 --> 00:09:20.309 you go. Well, we hit Rovine, and we're thinking 00:09:20.309 --> 00:09:22.769 we're locals here, but we have these carry -ons, 00:09:23.309 --> 00:09:25.149 and unfortunately, we had to park like a mile 00:09:25.149 --> 00:09:26.970 and a half from the place we were staying, and 00:09:26.970 --> 00:09:29.090 we had to walk on cobblestone streets with roller 00:09:29.090 --> 00:09:32.299 bags, right? And you can imagine, you know, these 00:09:32.299 --> 00:09:34.940 locals, you know, click, click, click, click, 00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:35.799 click, click, click, click, click, click, click, 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:37.360 click, click, as we're walking down the streets 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:39.740 and everyone's looking at us, you know, tourists, 00:09:39.980 --> 00:09:42.360 yeah. So at one point I'm like, just give me 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:44.720 your bag and I'll carry it. I'm like, put it 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:49.019 on my back. No, but when you know you're passing 00:09:49.019 --> 00:09:50.480 through, when you know you're not going to be 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.360 there for long, you pack different, don't you? 00:09:54.409 --> 00:09:57.850 And most of us have not been discipled into an 00:09:57.850 --> 00:10:01.110 exile identity. We've been discipled into a consumer 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:05.950 identity. And the consumer identity says that 00:10:05.950 --> 00:10:12.789 I am primarily a chooser. Choice. A consumer 00:10:12.789 --> 00:10:16.389 identity says I am the center and the curator 00:10:16.389 --> 00:10:21.149 of my life experience. I make choices and decisions 00:10:21.149 --> 00:10:24.000 about... what I want to do based upon my comfort 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:28.759 or preferences. I curate my life the way I want 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:32.799 it. A consumer identity says, my preferences 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:38.279 define what is good. And the moment something 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:40.980 stops meeting my needs or preferences, it's dead 00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:44.909 to me, right? I don't like, you know, this consumer 00:10:44.909 --> 00:10:47.289 product is no longer meeting my needs, dead to 00:10:47.289 --> 00:10:49.730 me. That restaurant took too long to get in the 00:10:49.730 --> 00:10:53.570 door, dead to me, right? Dead to my spouse, dead 00:10:53.570 --> 00:10:55.889 to me, right? Whatever it is, move on, right? 00:10:59.730 --> 00:11:02.309 The consumer identity says that institutions 00:11:02.309 --> 00:11:04.870 exist to serve me. What do I mean by institutions? 00:11:05.509 --> 00:11:07.450 There are institutions in this life, these are 00:11:07.450 --> 00:11:10.570 things that are instituted. And with some of 00:11:10.570 --> 00:11:13.929 them, we find their origin in the Bible. And 00:11:13.929 --> 00:11:16.750 therefore, we know them to be true and good, 00:11:17.350 --> 00:11:21.009 God's institution. One of them would be the church. 00:11:23.129 --> 00:11:25.090 And with the consumer identity, the church is 00:11:25.090 --> 00:11:28.730 just a spiritual service provider, like your 00:11:28.730 --> 00:11:33.149 AT &T or T -Mobile. If you're getting good reception 00:11:33.149 --> 00:11:36.110 there, you're happy. If you're not getting good 00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:39.070 reception, I'll move on. I know I have choices. 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:45.519 Marriage is another institution. And the consumer 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.759 identity says, well, marriage exists to meet 00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:53.399 my emotional needs. And the moment it doesn't 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:56.379 meet my emotional needs, well, I can get a new 00:11:56.379 --> 00:12:01.500 one. Another institution is the institution of 00:12:01.500 --> 00:12:06.039 work. And the consumer identity will work exists 00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:09.799 to fulfill Me, it's interesting, I was reading 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:11.879 this book called The Rise and Triumph of the 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:14.879 Modern Self and there's a part in the book where 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:17.340 it talks about how like, some of you have probably 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:19.379 heard this before, maybe you've even said it 00:12:19.379 --> 00:12:22.740 before without even thinking about it. But think 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:25.480 about work and think about these words, see if 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:27.919 you've ever said them or heard them before. You're 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:29.820 talking to someone and you ask them, you're asking 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:33.500 them about their work and you ask, do you enjoy 00:12:33.500 --> 00:12:38.179 what you do? Ever? asked that or heard that before, 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:43.179 do you enjoy what you do? You know that for almost 00:12:43.179 --> 00:12:45.679 all of human history, that question was never 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:50.019 asked. Do you enjoy, like what does that mean? 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:55.120 My grandfather, he was born probably 1915, my 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:57.919 grandfather would have no concept of the idea, 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:00.679 he's passed now, he died in the late 80s, early 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:04.019 90s, no concept of the idea of do you enjoy what 00:13:04.019 --> 00:13:06.909 you do? He was a plasterer his whole life. He 00:13:06.909 --> 00:13:10.129 was a hard laborer. He had done everything that 00:13:10.129 --> 00:13:13.769 he did out in the sun, down in Bakersfield, California, 00:13:15.450 --> 00:13:25.049 AKA hell. Okay, hell lights, but no. Yeah, yeah, 00:13:25.049 --> 00:13:33.940 yeah. Do I enjoy what I do? Are you crazy? No, 00:13:34.220 --> 00:13:37.720 I'm grateful for the results of what I do, which 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:42.419 is provide for my family and contribute to my 00:13:42.419 --> 00:13:44.980 church community and be a part of the greater 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:48.179 community in a helpful way. That's what my grandfather 00:13:48.179 --> 00:13:49.960 would have said. And that's what a lot of people 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:54.379 in the more communal or community based cultures 00:13:54.379 --> 00:13:57.519 that have come before. But in our hyper individualistic 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:00.279 emotional therapeutic culture, we ask, do you 00:14:00.279 --> 00:14:04.740 enjoy what you do? That's a consumer identity. 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:13.419 What do I get? What do I get out of this? But 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:16.539 the pilgrim, the exile stranger asks a different 00:14:16.539 --> 00:14:18.899 question. According to the word, as it's laid 00:14:18.899 --> 00:14:21.639 out and we're instructed as exiles and strangers 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:24.200 in this world, the gospel -shaped identity says, 00:14:24.580 --> 00:14:29.639 who am I here to serve? Who am I here to serve? 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:32.080 Because I'm on assignment, and it's a temporary 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:36.519 assignment. Who can I serve today while I wait 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:40.519 for my ultimate hope? The consumer says, this 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:44.279 life must satisfy me. The pilgrim says, Christ 00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:49.899 fully satisfies me already. The consumer says, 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:53.000 protect comfort at all costs. But the pilgrim 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:58.620 says, pursue faithfulness every day. until I'm 00:14:58.620 --> 00:15:04.259 home. The consumer identity feels normal to us. 00:15:04.500 --> 00:15:06.360 It's reinforced everywhere. It's advertisement 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:09.440 tells you that you're incomplete without X, Y, 00:15:09.460 --> 00:15:12.620 Z. Social media keeps you up to date on how sucky 00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:16.399 your life is and what it should look like, right? 00:15:16.740 --> 00:15:19.879 Pornography reshapes what sex looks like in a 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:22.340 marriage. And so people have all kinds of wild, 00:15:22.340 --> 00:15:26.139 crazy expectations. Politics tells you to protect 00:15:26.139 --> 00:15:28.600 your interests at all costs, to stay in your 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:31.059 tribe, to rise up and fight, fight, fight, fight, 00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:33.379 fight, get anxious and be overwhelmed, and fight, 00:15:33.419 --> 00:15:39.039 fight, fight, fight, fight. Right? And even churches, 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:41.539 man, they can unintentionally market themselves 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:46.379 as spiritual vending machines. We got the goods 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:49.950 you're looking for, come over here. until we 00:15:49.950 --> 00:15:53.269 don't. And so we begin to evaluate everything 00:15:53.269 --> 00:15:56.230 through our preference. Am I being fed? Is this 00:15:56.230 --> 00:15:59.490 my style? Or does this fit my needs? Is this 00:15:59.490 --> 00:16:02.110 comfortable to me? But Peter says, you are not 00:16:02.110 --> 00:16:07.950 a consumer. You are exiles. And if you forget 00:16:07.950 --> 00:16:10.330 that, you will slowly begin to cling to what 00:16:10.330 --> 00:16:14.970 was never meant to hold you up. If this world 00:16:14.970 --> 00:16:18.490 feels ultimate to you, you will grip it so tightly, 00:16:18.570 --> 00:16:21.409 but if Christ is ultimate in your life, you will 00:16:21.409 --> 00:16:27.409 hold this world with an open hand. Exile identity 00:16:27.409 --> 00:16:30.789 loosens attachments, and this doesn't say work 00:16:30.789 --> 00:16:34.269 or family or beauty or your house or your car 00:16:34.269 --> 00:16:36.669 or your politics or culture are all inherently 00:16:36.669 --> 00:16:40.470 bad. No, not at all. But they are not ultimate. 00:16:41.710 --> 00:16:43.830 And the consumer identity lives as if they're 00:16:43.830 --> 00:16:49.029 ultimate. They are gifts to us. And pilgrims 00:16:49.029 --> 00:16:52.990 enjoy gifts without mistaking them for home. 00:16:54.529 --> 00:16:57.909 So number two, where's this battlefield? Well, 00:16:57.909 --> 00:17:00.529 the battlefield is desire. Desire is the battlefield. 00:17:01.929 --> 00:17:08.430 Peter says, he says, as strangers in exiles abstain, 00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:11.420 from sinful desires that wage war against your 00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:14.980 soul. That's war language. We know all about 00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:17.460 that in the last day, don't we? The language 00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:21.000 of war, wage war. Why does he use military language? 00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:25.039 Because what you long for will determine what 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:31.559 you live for. The real conflict in exile is not 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:33.599 external pressure. It's not those people out 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:36.880 there who keep messing up my life in here. It's 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:42.430 internal. It's desire and appetite. The war is 00:17:42.430 --> 00:17:47.490 not first out there, it's in us. And that's where 00:17:47.490 --> 00:17:50.569 the consumer identity takes root. The consumer 00:17:50.569 --> 00:17:55.789 self is built on cultivated desires. Our entire 00:17:55.789 --> 00:18:00.390 culture runs on it, people. You are trained to 00:18:00.390 --> 00:18:06.039 want more. Think about the word upgrade. Like 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:09.299 in the early 1900s, when it came out, the word 00:18:09.299 --> 00:18:12.579 was actually invented in 1847, the word upgrade. 00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:19.359 You know what it meant? Walking up a hill. Go 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.859 upgrade. Walk up that hill. It took some effort, 00:18:22.940 --> 00:18:25.759 right? But then over time, upgrade just meant 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:29.819 get the newest, bestest thing that comes out 00:18:29.819 --> 00:18:32.180 because they make everything else obsolete and 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:34.650 then they have an upgrade, right? So we upgrade 00:18:34.650 --> 00:18:38.710 our phone plans, we upgrade our phones. We upgrade 00:18:38.710 --> 00:18:41.329 our experiences, right? We go to finer dining 00:18:41.329 --> 00:18:44.509 and upgrade, upgrade. We upgrade our spouse or 00:18:44.509 --> 00:18:48.730 whatever, like we upgrade, right? Upgrade. We're 00:18:48.730 --> 00:18:50.829 trained to one more, to always be upgrading, 00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:54.009 to always be curating, to always be optimizing, 00:18:54.410 --> 00:18:59.269 to always avoid inconvenience at all costs. And 00:18:59.269 --> 00:19:01.829 slowly, without noticing it, desire becomes sovereign 00:19:01.829 --> 00:19:06.519 in our life. If I want it, it must be good. If 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:09.559 I feel it, it must be true. If I don't like it, 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:14.519 it must be wrong. And that's not exile thinking, 00:19:14.599 --> 00:19:18.420 that's consumer thinking. But Peter says those 00:19:18.420 --> 00:19:24.259 desires wage war against your soul. Not because 00:19:24.259 --> 00:19:27.500 desire itself is evil, God made us desiring creatures. 00:19:27.799 --> 00:19:30.799 The problem is not desire, the problem is always 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:36.059 disordered desires. When good things become ultimate 00:19:36.059 --> 00:19:40.539 things. When comfort outranks faithfulness. When 00:19:40.539 --> 00:19:44.119 approval outranks obedience. When security outranks 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:49.200 trust. When experience outranks holiness. Consumers 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:52.660 are ruled by their appetites. Pilgrims are ruled 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:58.779 by their destination. I'm going home. A pilgrim 00:19:58.779 --> 00:20:01.819 can enjoy comfort, success, or possessions, but 00:20:01.819 --> 00:20:05.349 not worship. They can enjoy those things, but 00:20:05.349 --> 00:20:07.490 not cling to them or build their identity on 00:20:07.490 --> 00:20:10.609 them because their deepest longing, their ultimate 00:20:10.609 --> 00:20:16.869 is not for upgrade, it's for home. And here's 00:20:16.869 --> 00:20:19.650 the kind of subtle spiritual danger behind it. 00:20:19.650 --> 00:20:24.309 When desire is left unexamined, it slowly rewrites 00:20:24.309 --> 00:20:28.369 your theology. You start to believe things about 00:20:28.369 --> 00:20:34.680 God that are not true. Things like If God loves 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:42.240 me, my life would go a lot smoother. Or if something 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:47.019 is hard in this life, like maybe I'm encountering 00:20:47.019 --> 00:20:50.859 all kinds of difficulty, struggles, something 00:20:50.859 --> 00:20:52.839 must be wrong with my relationship with God. 00:20:55.380 --> 00:21:00.619 Or if I'm obedient, well, that should earn me 00:21:00.619 --> 00:21:06.200 something, right? like at least a little upgrade, 00:21:07.019 --> 00:21:11.140 a little better seat, right? You think about 00:21:11.140 --> 00:21:14.140 the rich young ruler. This is a story Jesus encounters 00:21:14.140 --> 00:21:17.240 this young man. The rich young ruler comes to 00:21:17.240 --> 00:21:21.019 Jesus and he says, you know, Rabbi, what must 00:21:21.019 --> 00:21:24.859 I do to inherit eternal life? What do I have 00:21:24.859 --> 00:21:27.059 to do to get the thing? How do I get the prize? 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.900 Tell me what to do. And Jesus says, well, How 00:21:31.900 --> 00:21:35.180 about the law? Right? And he lists off some of 00:21:35.180 --> 00:21:37.339 the laws, the relational laws in the Ten Commandments. 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:40.579 And the rich young ruler, the young man says, 00:21:41.339 --> 00:21:43.799 oh, well, I've done all those since I was, since 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:45.960 birth. Like, I've been faithful and executed 00:21:45.960 --> 00:21:49.200 that. And so, if that's it, what else do I have 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.140 to do? I need to know that I've secured, you 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:56.180 know, the box seats, you know, or the first class 00:21:56.180 --> 00:21:59.759 seat on the airplane, right? What do I need to 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:02.299 do? And the Bible says that Jesus looked at him 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:06.980 and he loved him. Jesus looked at the rich young 00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:10.680 ruler and loved him. And so you know what Jesus 00:22:10.680 --> 00:22:14.880 said? Not a problem. Here's free tickets to heaven, 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:21.920 right? Did Jesus say that? No. Out of love, he 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:24.519 looked at the young man and he saw that the young 00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:28.240 man had a functional God. He said, oh, no, I 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:31.579 worship God, I follow Yahweh, I keep the commandments, 00:22:31.700 --> 00:22:33.619 but Jesus looked and loved him and said, no, 00:22:33.619 --> 00:22:36.200 you have a functional God in your life, something 00:22:36.200 --> 00:22:39.619 which you have made ultimate, something which 00:22:39.619 --> 00:22:41.960 you have based your entire worth or existence 00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:45.339 or security on. And so Jesus looks at him and 00:22:45.339 --> 00:22:49.619 says, let's address that thing. Like he wants 00:22:49.619 --> 00:22:51.940 him to follow, he wants him to inherit eternal 00:22:51.940 --> 00:22:53.519 life, but he wants him to do it the right way, 00:22:53.579 --> 00:22:57.140 right? And so instead of saying, yeah, no problem, 00:22:58.259 --> 00:23:00.859 here's first class. He looks at the young man 00:23:00.859 --> 00:23:05.779 and he says, go sell everything you have. Go 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:09.140 sell everything you have. Distribute it to the 00:23:09.140 --> 00:23:14.259 poor and then come follow me. And the Bible says 00:23:14.259 --> 00:23:17.160 the young man looked at Jesus, lowered his head, 00:23:17.740 --> 00:23:21.119 turned away with great sadness because he had 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:27.890 great wealth. And what he didn't realize was 00:23:27.890 --> 00:23:33.450 that eternal life was not something that you 00:23:33.450 --> 00:23:37.589 trade for or you bargain for. It's not something 00:23:37.589 --> 00:23:41.769 that you buy or something that you earn. Eternal 00:23:41.769 --> 00:23:44.309 life was the man who was standing in front of 00:23:44.309 --> 00:23:48.329 him who loved him and invited him to follow him. 00:23:49.089 --> 00:23:51.390 Literally, Jesus offered him eternal life by 00:23:51.390 --> 00:23:54.000 saying, come follow me. All that other stuff 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:55.720 was just to get him to feel like you're gonna 00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:57.200 have to let go of those things because you can't 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:59.180 have a functional God higher than me. You've 00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:03.359 got to follow me. But eternal life is not something 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:10.380 you're granted. It's a person. Jesus. And all 00:24:10.380 --> 00:24:13.980 those who are in the train, captured up in the 00:24:13.980 --> 00:24:17.660 train of Jesus' robe, enter right into eternal 00:24:17.660 --> 00:24:24.869 life. Because it's Christ. And so you have this 00:24:24.869 --> 00:24:27.890 functional God, this disordered desires in the 00:24:27.890 --> 00:24:32.589 rich young ruler. And he wanted to earn, he wanted 00:24:32.589 --> 00:24:35.529 to buy, he wanted to achieve, and it was as simple 00:24:35.529 --> 00:24:40.750 as follow. As pilgrims, we should expect resistance. 00:24:41.049 --> 00:24:43.990 As exiles, we should expect tension. We should 00:24:43.990 --> 00:24:47.329 expect discomfort. Strangers, always get the 00:24:47.329 --> 00:24:49.130 side eye. We've noticed that everywhere we've 00:24:49.130 --> 00:24:52.319 traveled. It's like, who are you? You look like 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:55.680 you got off the wrong bus. You get the side eye 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:58.119 wherever you're at, because the world is not 00:24:58.119 --> 00:25:02.140 aligned with our king. The world is not aligned 00:25:02.140 --> 00:25:05.000 with our king or kingdom. And so Peter says, 00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:08.019 abstain from sinful desires. Why? Because certain 00:25:08.019 --> 00:25:11.880 desires, if fed, will slowly anchor you to a 00:25:11.880 --> 00:25:16.990 world you were never meant to settle into. Here's 00:25:16.990 --> 00:25:19.430 the thing, every desire you have, every single 00:25:19.430 --> 00:25:22.789 desire you have is forming you. You think it's 00:25:22.789 --> 00:25:26.410 something you have that you're producing, but 00:25:26.410 --> 00:25:29.009 what you don't realize is those desires, especially 00:25:29.009 --> 00:25:31.549 the cultivated desires that you entertain, are 00:25:31.549 --> 00:25:35.130 actually forming you. They're shaping you and 00:25:35.130 --> 00:25:43.250 reshaping you. Every desire, good or bad. and 00:25:43.250 --> 00:25:45.470 they're either shaping you toward temporary comfort 00:25:45.470 --> 00:25:50.809 or toward eternal life. The consumer identity 00:25:50.809 --> 00:25:54.130 promises you ownership. You can be the owner 00:25:54.130 --> 00:25:56.369 of all kinds of things, your life, your experience, 00:25:56.589 --> 00:25:58.869 everything, but in the end, the consumer identity 00:25:58.869 --> 00:26:03.210 owns you. The battlefield or the battlefront 00:26:03.210 --> 00:26:06.730 in the war of desire is subtle. It's that sense 00:26:06.730 --> 00:26:10.400 of constantly upgrading instead of. the kind 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:13.200 of generosity Jesus calls his disciples into. 00:26:14.339 --> 00:26:17.460 It's protecting reputation, even instead of confessing 00:26:17.460 --> 00:26:21.420 sin. I got to protect how people see me instead 00:26:21.420 --> 00:26:23.019 of saying, hey, sin has got to get out of my 00:26:23.019 --> 00:26:26.559 life so that I can continue to obey and follow. 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:30.779 It's choosing convenience over obedience. It's 00:26:30.779 --> 00:26:33.380 small attachments, it's small compromises, it's 00:26:33.380 --> 00:26:36.220 small rearrangements of love. And over time, 00:26:36.220 --> 00:26:39.299 they build a life that feels very settled here. 00:26:39.579 --> 00:26:44.740 but pilgrims were never meant to settle. So are 00:26:44.740 --> 00:26:47.660 your desires training you for heaven or rooting 00:26:47.660 --> 00:26:53.420 you more deeply in the earth? Number three, citizenship 00:26:53.420 --> 00:26:58.799 shapes conduct. Philippians chapter three, starting 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:02.119 in verse 17 says, join in imitating me, brothers 00:27:02.119 --> 00:27:04.720 and sisters, and pay careful attention to those 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:06.779 who live according to the example you have in 00:27:06.779 --> 00:27:10.769 us. For I have often told you, and now say again 00:27:10.769 --> 00:27:13.549 with tears, that many live as enemies of the 00:27:13.549 --> 00:27:17.029 cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their 00:27:17.029 --> 00:27:19.569 God is their stomach, their glory is in their 00:27:19.569 --> 00:27:22.150 shame, and they are focused on earthly things. 00:27:22.470 --> 00:27:26.049 Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly 00:27:26.049 --> 00:27:28.410 wait for a savior from there, the Lord Jesus 00:27:28.410 --> 00:27:31.009 Christ. He will transform the body of our humble 00:27:31.009 --> 00:27:33.589 condition into the likeness of his glorious body 00:27:33.589 --> 00:27:36.250 by the power that enables him to subject everything. 00:27:36.589 --> 00:27:43.569 to himself. Citizenship would have landed really 00:27:43.569 --> 00:27:45.730 well in Philippi because Philippi was a Roman 00:27:45.730 --> 00:27:48.650 colony. And to be a Roman citizen in that time, 00:27:48.910 --> 00:27:50.950 it meant all kinds of things. It meant protection, 00:27:51.069 --> 00:27:53.390 it meant status, it meant security, it meant 00:27:53.390 --> 00:27:55.390 privilege. It's kind of like being a citizen 00:27:55.390 --> 00:27:57.329 of the USA in the world, right? People go, oh, 00:27:57.329 --> 00:28:01.630 you're from the US, right? In that time, the 00:28:01.630 --> 00:28:03.809 Roman citizenship would have been the world, 00:28:03.990 --> 00:28:09.700 the empire, right? And Paul says, to those people, 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:12.200 to those Christians in Philippi, he says, you 00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:14.460 know what, that passport you have that says Rome, 00:28:14.940 --> 00:28:17.759 that's not your truest passport. Your truest 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:23.500 passport is elsewhere. It's heaven. And that 00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:26.660 reality reshapes how you live here. If you remember 00:28:26.660 --> 00:28:30.019 Peter, in the chapter we read in Peter, 1 Peter, 00:28:30.539 --> 00:28:32.940 he said, conduct yourselves honorably among the 00:28:32.940 --> 00:28:38.019 Gentiles, exiles and strangers, they conduct 00:28:38.019 --> 00:28:40.000 themselves in a certain way while they're here, 00:28:40.019 --> 00:28:42.680 while they're on pilgrimage. And notice what 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:45.339 exile identity does not produce. It doesn't produce 00:28:45.339 --> 00:28:47.960 withdraw, it doesn't produce hostility, it doesn't 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:52.099 produce isolation. Pilgrims are not escapists. 00:28:53.299 --> 00:28:56.319 They live visibly and work, jobs, they build 00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:58.259 homes and raise families, they serve neighbors 00:28:58.259 --> 00:29:00.799 and contribute to society, but they do all of 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:05.359 it differently. Because their allegiance is different. 00:29:06.900 --> 00:29:09.299 Consumers live in the world to extract from it. 00:29:09.619 --> 00:29:13.980 Pilgrims live in the world to bless it. We see 00:29:13.980 --> 00:29:16.400 this in Jeremiah. In the book of Jeremiah, God 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:19.119 speaks to Israel, not at a moment of triumph, 00:29:19.259 --> 00:29:22.160 but while they're exiles in Babylon. They're 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:24.500 displaced, they're disoriented, they're longing 00:29:24.500 --> 00:29:27.660 to be back at home. And what does God tell them 00:29:27.660 --> 00:29:29.500 in that moment? Well, instead of telling them, 00:29:29.700 --> 00:29:32.279 hey, withdraw, or why don't you revolt and overthrow, 00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:36.480 or just survive, what does he say? He says, build 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:40.779 houses, plant gardens, marry, have children, 00:29:41.299 --> 00:29:44.559 raise them there, seek the welfare of the city 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:48.859 where you have been sent, pray for it, for when 00:29:48.859 --> 00:29:53.200 it thrives, you will thrive. The exiles were 00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:55.660 not to assimilate into Babylon's idolatry, but 00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:57.940 neither were they to retreat into isolation. 00:29:58.140 --> 00:30:01.940 They were to live as distinct people who actively 00:30:01.940 --> 00:30:04.980 blessed the place that feels foreign to them. 00:30:05.579 --> 00:30:08.880 the place that actually was their captors. They 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:11.900 were to actively bless. And that's the posture 00:30:11.900 --> 00:30:16.039 of a pilgrim. We know this world is not ultimate, 00:30:16.740 --> 00:30:18.839 and yet precisely because our hope is anchored 00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:21.440 elsewhere, we are free to work for the good of 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:25.200 the culture, for the good of our cities, for 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:27.599 the good of people contributing and praying and 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:31.210 building and loving. Because a consumer asks, 00:30:31.269 --> 00:30:33.930 how does this benefit me? But a pilgrim asks, 00:30:33.950 --> 00:30:40.069 how does this reflect my king and kingdom? As 00:30:40.069 --> 00:30:42.529 consumers, when the stock market tanks, what 00:30:42.529 --> 00:30:48.869 happens? Panic. Silver and gold fall. Bitcoin 00:30:48.869 --> 00:30:53.230 drops off. Everyone freaks out, right? Cultural 00:30:53.230 --> 00:30:56.339 influence fades. Comfort is threatened. Power, 00:30:56.660 --> 00:30:58.839 political power changes hands. Oh my goodness, 00:30:58.980 --> 00:31:03.720 it's the end of the world. But a pilgrim is steady. 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:10.220 Not apathetic, not disengaged, but anchored. 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:14.559 They don't need to grasp for control. They don't 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:16.480 need to win every argument. They don't need to 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:20.160 dominate the cultural moment. Why? Because their 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:29.380 king, Jesus, is not up for reelection ever. Their 00:31:29.380 --> 00:31:33.779 kingdom cannot be shaken. And so their conduct 00:31:33.779 --> 00:31:37.500 is marked by stability and chaos and generosity 00:31:37.500 --> 00:31:42.559 and scarcity and conviction without panic. Just 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:46.880 hear this, it's stability and chaos, right? In 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:50.720 2015, there were 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians. 00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:54.220 who were executed by ISIS on a beach in Libya. 00:31:55.460 --> 00:31:59.099 They were brought out one by one, one man after 00:31:59.099 --> 00:32:02.119 another, and they were given the opportunity 00:32:02.119 --> 00:32:06.640 to curse Jesus or renounce their faith in Christ 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:13.759 and convert to Islam or face death. And one by 00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:16.539 one, they were asked what they were going to 00:32:16.539 --> 00:32:20.519 do, and each one said, my Lord Jesus Christ. 00:32:21.399 --> 00:32:24.180 and were executed, one by one down the line. 00:32:24.779 --> 00:32:26.779 But the final guy in the line, his name was Matthew, 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:28.740 and Matthew was not a believer. Somehow he got 00:32:28.740 --> 00:32:31.420 caught up in the mess, killed by association, 00:32:31.539 --> 00:32:34.559 and he ends up on the beach, kneeling before 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:39.079 Isis. And they come to Matthew, and they ask 00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:47.059 him, renounce or die? Renounce or die? And seeing 00:32:47.059 --> 00:32:50.920 the response of the men who came before him, 00:32:51.049 --> 00:32:53.930 one after another, claim allegiance to Christ, 00:32:54.089 --> 00:32:59.990 even in the face of death. Matthew turns to the 00:32:59.990 --> 00:33:03.990 guys who hold his life in the balance, and he 00:33:03.990 --> 00:33:10.609 says to them, their God is my God, and is executed 00:33:10.609 --> 00:33:16.970 there on the beach. The only way that's possible 00:33:16.970 --> 00:33:21.680 is if you're anchored somewhere else. If, as 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:24.680 a consumer, everything is about me, my senses 00:33:24.680 --> 00:33:29.059 around me. And so things like even death, things 00:33:29.059 --> 00:33:30.779 like death are scary because that's the end of 00:33:30.779 --> 00:33:35.779 me. But when you're anchored in eternity, when 00:33:35.779 --> 00:33:37.680 your life is anchored in Christ, you can look 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:39.579 in the face of something like that and just say, 00:33:41.079 --> 00:33:44.119 hey, you just hasten the day. I get to go see 00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:46.960 him today, right? Today's the day I get to go 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:56.319 home. In the third century AD, there was a plague 00:33:56.319 --> 00:33:58.799 that swept through the Roman Empire. And during 00:33:58.799 --> 00:34:02.359 that time, whole cities of Rome were abandoned. 00:34:02.519 --> 00:34:05.339 Families were left. Families would leave family 00:34:05.339 --> 00:34:07.480 members who were suffering from the plague. You 00:34:07.480 --> 00:34:08.860 know, it's like, peace out, I'm outta here, I'm 00:34:08.860 --> 00:34:11.079 still healthy, right? And run for the hills and 00:34:11.079 --> 00:34:13.400 get outta town. And so there were all of these 00:34:13.400 --> 00:34:16.159 ghost towns that had only suffering people in 00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:18.980 the streets, in the homes, who had been abandoned 00:34:18.980 --> 00:34:21.260 in the middle of the plague. But do you know 00:34:21.260 --> 00:34:26.050 what Christians did? Third century, this is a 00:34:26.050 --> 00:34:29.630 couple hundred years after Jesus, the Christians 00:34:29.630 --> 00:34:33.050 stayed. The Christians stayed knowing that the 00:34:33.050 --> 00:34:35.730 plague was running rampant. The Christians stayed 00:34:35.730 --> 00:34:39.130 and they cared for the dying. And oftentimes 00:34:39.130 --> 00:34:41.730 those who were dying were the same people who 00:34:41.730 --> 00:34:44.650 had persecuted them regularly, day after day. 00:34:45.289 --> 00:34:48.849 The Christians stayed and many of them died doing 00:34:48.849 --> 00:34:51.920 it. Not because they were reckless, but because 00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:57.039 they believed death was not ultimate. And that 00:34:57.039 --> 00:35:01.820 conviction held even without panic in the face 00:35:01.820 --> 00:35:06.360 of imminent death. Peter says, live honorably 00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:09.960 so that those who see your life watch how you 00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:13.880 live. They may see your works and glorify God. 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:18.280 Your life becomes a signpost. The church is an 00:35:18.280 --> 00:35:21.199 embassy. An embassy is physically located in 00:35:21.199 --> 00:35:23.780 one country, but it represents another. It operates 00:35:23.780 --> 00:35:26.179 under different authority. It flies a different 00:35:26.179 --> 00:35:29.539 flag, and that's us. We live here, but we represent 00:35:29.539 --> 00:35:33.179 there. And when the world looks at us, it should 00:35:33.179 --> 00:35:36.179 not see frantic consumers trying to preserve 00:35:36.179 --> 00:35:39.840 comfort. It should see confident citizens of 00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:44.099 a coming kingdom. Never do we need to hear this 00:35:44.099 --> 00:35:47.300 more than with elections on the horizon, right? 00:35:48.360 --> 00:35:50.599 People are already starting to rumble about elections, 00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:53.920 right? And who's gonna run here in primaries 00:35:53.920 --> 00:35:55.340 and all kinds of stuff? And then just people 00:35:55.340 --> 00:35:59.940 get wound up into craziness for a couple of years 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:06.679 thinking this is home. This ain't home. Confident 00:36:06.679 --> 00:36:10.719 citizens of a coming kingdom. I can represent 00:36:10.719 --> 00:36:13.190 my king and kingdom no matter the case, and we'll 00:36:13.190 --> 00:36:17.650 see that with Jesus at the very end. Our ultimate 00:36:17.650 --> 00:36:21.929 hope is not located in this age. It is anchored 00:36:21.929 --> 00:36:24.190 in the age to come. The final point, the future 00:36:24.190 --> 00:36:26.769 loosens our grip. Paul says, our citizenship 00:36:26.769 --> 00:36:29.369 is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a savior 00:36:29.369 --> 00:36:32.110 from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform 00:36:32.110 --> 00:36:34.909 the body of our humble condition into the likeness 00:36:34.909 --> 00:36:38.389 of his glorious body. You notice the order of 00:36:38.389 --> 00:36:42.210 citizenship, waiting, transformation. Christians 00:36:42.210 --> 00:36:44.909 are not people who are trying to squeeze everything 00:36:44.909 --> 00:36:48.389 out of this life. We are people who are waiting. 00:36:49.630 --> 00:36:54.050 Not passively, but eagerly. And the consumer 00:36:54.050 --> 00:36:57.650 identity says, you must get everything now. Now 00:36:57.650 --> 00:36:59.929 is ultimate. Now is everything. Now is where 00:36:59.929 --> 00:37:02.250 fulfillment must happen, which is why everything 00:37:02.250 --> 00:37:05.789 feels catastrophic. If this life is ultimate, 00:37:05.949 --> 00:37:10.090 then suffering is intolerable. Aging will terrify 00:37:10.090 --> 00:37:13.670 you. Any decline is devastating, and death is 00:37:13.670 --> 00:37:16.949 ultimately defeat. But Paul says something else 00:37:16.949 --> 00:37:19.150 that's radical, that there is transformation 00:37:19.150 --> 00:37:22.829 coming. Bodies will be renewed, creation will 00:37:22.829 --> 00:37:27.929 be restored, Christ will visibly reign. See, 00:37:27.969 --> 00:37:30.730 our hope is not optimization of this, our hope 00:37:30.730 --> 00:37:35.409 is resurrection, life. And resurrection changes 00:37:35.409 --> 00:37:39.400 how tightly you grip this world. If you believe 00:37:39.400 --> 00:37:42.340 this life is all there is, you must cling to 00:37:42.340 --> 00:37:44.780 it. But if you know Christ is coming, if you 00:37:44.780 --> 00:37:47.159 know your body will be transformed, if you know 00:37:47.159 --> 00:37:49.980 the kingdom will be established, then you can 00:37:49.980 --> 00:37:55.340 lose things without losing yourself. You can 00:37:55.340 --> 00:37:59.380 lose all things without losing yourself. Because 00:37:59.380 --> 00:38:03.500 your future is secure. With resurrection coming, 00:38:03.760 --> 00:38:06.980 you don't have to squeeze eternity out of this 00:38:06.980 --> 00:38:12.280 moment. You don't need perfect circumstances. 00:38:12.900 --> 00:38:15.300 You don't need constant comfort or the newest 00:38:15.300 --> 00:38:18.659 stuff. You don't need the cultural or political 00:38:18.659 --> 00:38:21.500 dominance. You don't need everything to go your 00:38:21.500 --> 00:38:23.599 way because this is not the final chapter, but 00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:28.639 we know how the story ends. Amen? And this is 00:38:28.639 --> 00:38:31.000 why Christians throughout history could endure 00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:35.460 exile, persecution, loss, displacement with song 00:38:35.460 --> 00:38:38.860 and singing. Because they weren't settling, they 00:38:38.860 --> 00:38:43.719 were walking. walking toward a kingdom that cannot 00:38:43.719 --> 00:38:48.260 be shaken. And when that future is real to you, 00:38:48.639 --> 00:38:52.679 something shifts in here. Your grip loosens, 00:38:52.719 --> 00:38:57.599 your fears shrink, generosity grows, and your 00:38:57.599 --> 00:39:03.239 hope steadies. So what does this mean for us? 00:39:03.659 --> 00:39:06.000 Well church, we are pilgrims, not consumers. 00:39:07.530 --> 00:39:09.829 The question is not, does this serve me? The 00:39:09.829 --> 00:39:15.550 question is, does this honor my King? And in 00:39:15.550 --> 00:39:18.329 church, we gather as citizens, not consumers. 00:39:20.949 --> 00:39:24.849 In our money, we invest like eternity is a real 00:39:24.849 --> 00:39:29.449 thing. In suffering, we endure like resurrection 00:39:29.449 --> 00:39:34.150 is coming. In politics, we refuse panic because 00:39:34.150 --> 00:39:40.099 King Jesus is not up for reelection. And you 00:39:40.099 --> 00:39:44.340 know, you got to self -examine here on this consumer 00:39:44.340 --> 00:39:46.900 identity. You know that that identity at least 00:39:46.900 --> 00:39:49.980 has some root in you if as we hit any sort of 00:39:49.980 --> 00:39:52.619 political season, you know, anyone who knows 00:39:52.619 --> 00:39:55.059 you knows that you said your favorite candidate's 00:39:55.059 --> 00:39:57.820 name or the candidate you hate, you know, 10x 00:39:57.820 --> 00:39:59.599 time to the amount of time that you talked about 00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:04.300 King Jesus. That you have no problem evangelizing 00:40:04.300 --> 00:40:08.469 your candidate. But evangelizing King Jesus in 00:40:08.469 --> 00:40:11.630 the kingdom? Ah, it's a little weird, I don't 00:40:11.630 --> 00:40:22.650 know. That puts the center on you. We are pilgrims 00:40:22.650 --> 00:40:27.570 on a pilgrimage, waiting for King Jesus. This 00:40:27.570 --> 00:40:29.869 is not our home, but this is our assignment. 00:40:31.719 --> 00:40:34.400 And those who have built and sustained even this 00:40:34.400 --> 00:40:37.039 fellowship here at Village over the last 110 00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:40.559 years, they didn't labor all of that time and 00:40:40.559 --> 00:40:43.300 invest all of their blood, sweat, and tears into 00:40:43.300 --> 00:40:47.000 the kingdom so that they could get to us and 00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:52.300 say, have some comfort. Welcome to Village Day 00:40:52.300 --> 00:40:58.000 Spa, where all your needs are met. Did they? 00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:02.369 No, they wanted the kingdom to come. come in 00:41:02.369 --> 00:41:05.710 Sacramento as it is in heaven. They wanted the 00:41:05.710 --> 00:41:08.210 will of God to be done. They wanted to make much 00:41:08.210 --> 00:41:12.469 of Jesus. Consumers make much of comfort. Pilgrims, 00:41:12.570 --> 00:41:16.710 disciples make much of Jesus who left heaven, 00:41:18.369 --> 00:41:22.150 who walked as an exile without home or comfort. 00:41:22.909 --> 00:41:26.070 who spoke truth even when it cost him, who didn't 00:41:26.070 --> 00:41:28.550 need the approval of people or to have political 00:41:28.550 --> 00:41:31.690 power in his favor at all to do the will of God. 00:41:32.750 --> 00:41:35.750 He was perfect in faith. He was perfect in obedience. 00:41:35.929 --> 00:41:38.190 He was perfect in holiness. All the things that 00:41:38.190 --> 00:41:40.349 we think, if I'm perfect in these things, man, 00:41:40.349 --> 00:41:41.949 I should have a smooth, good life, shouldn't 00:41:41.949 --> 00:41:44.829 I? He was perfect. He was the perfect Christian, 00:41:44.989 --> 00:41:48.570 right? Jesus was. And what did that get him? 00:41:50.329 --> 00:41:55.380 Cross, death. suffering, rejection, a beating, 00:41:56.119 --> 00:42:01.159 spit on. He died outside the city. He died a 00:42:01.159 --> 00:42:03.960 criminal's death. But you know what? He rose 00:42:03.960 --> 00:42:07.719 on the third day. And you know why? He rose on 00:42:07.719 --> 00:42:10.880 the third day so that you and I would never mistake 00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:12.099 this world for home.