of the wood. The carpenter never looks at the wood and explains to the wood ahead of
time what it's going to become. The craftsman or the sculptor never specifically addresses
before I make you into a masterpiece, I want to let you know what I'm working on. No. All
the carpenter does is take wood and begin to work the wood without the permission of the
wood. I was in Bethlehem, that Bethlehem in the Holy Land just a few years ago. Every
couple of years my wife and I take a tour, to Israel a study tour with a group from the
church and we go down there and study together if you're interested, you're more than welcome
to join us in March. And we go to a artisan, a sculptor, a craftsman, a carpenter in the
city of Bethlehem. And in the city of Bethlehem this Christian carpenter specifically makes
these beautiful pieces to remind us of different Bible stories. And the last time I was there
I picked this one up. It's made out of olive wood directly from the Holy Land and made in
the Holy Land by this amazing Christian carpenter. This is the story, if you don't know, of two
Israelites who are about to enter into the Promised Land. They're carrying on a staff a cluster
of grapes. So large this cluster of grapes was according to the Scripture that they had
to take two men with a staff between them to carry it. And the Promised Land, though a real
place, is significant for us because it reminds us that God does not have you permanently where
you are at, but that He has a plan for your future, a hope for the future. A future kingdom
in which you are going to be blessed beyond what you could comprehend. You know, the Bible
talks a lot about this type of thing, what type of thing? Exiles. Exiles who are strangers
in a strange land. Adam and Eve, because of their sin, were kicked out of the Garden of
Eden, and they had to wander as strangers in a strange land for the rest of their lives.
Abraham was called by God out of the land of Ur into the Promised Land. And as a stranger
in a strange land, God bless him. He was an exile from what he knew into a world that he did not know.
Exiles. The children of Israel had to leave Egypt and head into the Promised Land as strangers
in a strange land. When the Israelites were in their home country, suddenly the Babylonians
in the Assyrians came and attacked, and they took young men like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego into captivity and exiled them into the Babylonian realm. They were strangers
in a strange land. And constantly these people were reminded that this exile is not what God's
best is for you. There is a promised kingdom to come. Stop.
Do you ever feel like you're a stranger in a strange land? Do you ever feel like there's
something wrong with the world? Do you ever look around and say, I'm not sure this is
supposed to work the way it's working. I'm not sure this is supposed to happen the way it's
happening. If that's true of you, you understand what the entirety of this theme in Scripture,
from Genesis through Revelation, this concept of being a stranger in a strange land, exiled,
looking forward to the day that the kingdom has been given to you, with that being the
case, today this passage is going to have special significance for you.
Look it with me, if you will, in the book of Luke, chapter number 18, verse number 15.
In the third sermon called Tools of the Carpenter, we're going to see this sermon we entitled
The Hand Plane. Let us pray. Father, in these next few moments as we study this passage,
give us clarity and insight as to what it said to the original inhabitants of the land and
what it says to us today, oh God, help these folks here today to see how you craft us to
have childlike faith. And as we see it, Lord, that you would allow us to trust you even more.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Luke chapter number 18, verse 15, look at what it says, one day some parents brought their
little children to see Jesus, so Jesus could touch them and bless them.
So it's a very simple story. It's the third story in Luke chapter 18.
The first one was a story by Jesus that he told the people so they would always pray and never give up.
The second story we talked about last week, and he talked about how you measure yourself,
not against the lowliest but against the highest, and you'll see that God can measure you and then cut you into shape.
Today's third story is not Jesus telling the story. It's Luke telling a story about Jesus,
and he said one day there were a bunch of parents who brought their children to Jesus to be blessed by Jesus.
By the way, good idea or bad idea, parents bringing their children to Jesus. Good idea or bad idea?
Good idea, yes. It's a good idea to bring your children to Jesus.
Can I just stop and say there are a lot of parents in this room who have children in the home and you bring your children to Jesus every single Sunday.
Why don't we as a church recognize this act of faith that goes back to this passage? Give them a round of applause. We thank you.
That's not easy. It's especially not easy for you. How many of you still have children in the home, by the way?
Raise your hand. You still have children in the home? Okay, very good. A lot of you. God bless you. You look tired. Yeah, all right.
And you have to get them up and ready for school and five days a week, and then you got to get them ready for church.
My children are older now. My youngest is 14. They get themselves up. They get themselves ready. They get themselves dressed and out the door.
It's fantastic. They're easy at this point. It's not so hard, but I remember the early days. I remember when they were, I remember the car seats.
Oh, I thank God I am not in the car seat phase anymore. It takes so long to put them in and out of the car, and they all smell the same.
Like they, a baby throw up, you know what I mean? Like it, and when we threw away that last car seat, I knew God was real.
And so a lot of you have kids right now in the home, and you bring them to church every single week. We see you. We recognize you.
And you are following the pattern of this original story where people bring their children to Jesus.
And as Southern Hills, by the way, as Southern Hills, we love children. Amen.
Okay, we're going to deal with that. All right.
Look what it says in Luke chapter 18 verse 15 again, one day parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could bless them and touch them and bless them.
Again, good idea or bad idea? Good idea.
But when the, wait a second, what? Do you notice the next word there? One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so they could touch them and bless them.
But, now if there's ever a verse in the Bible that does not deserve a but, it's this verse.
Who in the world could have a problem with people bringing children to Jesus?
But, say, well, but the enemies of Jesus didn't like it. Is that what it says? No.
But the Pharisees did not like it. Is that what it says? No.
It says, but the disciples of Jesus saw this and they scolded the parents for bringing the children and bothering Jesus.
Can you imagine that the disciples of Jesus did not understand the heart of Jesus, that Jesus loves the little children, that he wants the children to come?
This is why Southern Hills will always be a place where children are welcome and taught and loved and brought and taught at their level and their age group.
And we are so thankful for this. I got to tell you, there are a lot of people that are bothered by children. Jesus is not one of them.
We live in a society that is bothered by children. Whatever we can do to ship them away, get them away, get them out of our face, we will discount them.
And if we don't discount them, we will promote them and we will live off of their fame and take some sort of a pleasure as we live vicariously through them.
We misuse and abuse children in our society at every level. But Jesus Christ is not bothered by children.
He loves them, he pursues them, and in this moment we see this exemplified, but the story goes on.
Verse 16, then Jesus called for the children and he said to the disciples, Let the children come to me and don't stop them.
One of my favorite pictures of Jesus is Jesus surrounded by children.
I love this because I do believe this was his heart. And this is the story in which we get this picture.
Jesus surrounded by children, protecting them, loving them, caring for them, teaching them, getting down at their level.
Last Sunday, as I was preparing to teach and preach, I was walking in the second floor over here while some of the music was going on.
And I noticed in the window, in the kidopolis room, one of the teachers, we have master teachers to teach Jesus to the children at their level.
And there Kelly Murray was in front of about, I don't know, about a dozen or so six-year-olds.
And she was on her knees and she was telling the story, you could see, she was telling the story about Jesus and this and this and telling about how Jesus is and all these things.
And I saw in her eyes the love of God. And in that moment, what I saw was Jesus surrounded by children.
And Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.
Okay. Now in this passage, we just had a major shift. Jesus was talking about children, but now he's going to use the children around him as a metaphor to teach adults.
How many of you in this room love children, if you do say amen? This passage is not just about children.
How many of you in this room are an adult or an aspiring adult, say amen?
All right. This passage is for you. He uses the children as an illustration or metaphor to teach a bigger truth to the disciples and to all the adults around.
For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.
I tell you the truth, Jesus says, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.
This is a very serious phrase from Jesus. Not only does the kingdom of God belong to those who are childlike, you can't even get into heaven unless you become like a child.
Now for you, if you're like me, if Jesus says, Hey, there's a caveat about heaven, I want to know what the caveat is.
If Jesus is like, yes, there's heaven and there's hell and there's where you are and one of the days you're going to go to one of these places.
And he says, by the way, you can't get into this place unless you, I'd be like, what is it? What do you want? What do you want me to know?
Jesus says, not only does the kingdom of heaven belong to the children, you can't even get in unless you become like a child.
Now, some of you are like, become like a child. This is good news because my parents still pay my cell phone.
Like this is very, very good news because, you know, I still eat mac and cheese every day.
By the way, nothing wrong with a good box of macaroni and cheese right there.
Can I get a amen for Kraft macaroni and cheese? I love me some Kraft macaroni and cheese.
That's not all I can eat. Why? Because that is not childlike behavior. That's childish behavior.
So Jesus is not saying the way to heaven is being childish. He's saying the way to heaven is to be childlike.
Now, if you're thinking like I am, okay, I want to get to heaven. So how do I become childlike?
The beautiful thing about Jesus is he doesn't expect you to do all of this on your own.
He is going to work on you. He is going to mold you and make you. He's going to craft you and shape you.
He is going to help plane you down so that you can become like a child.
See, Jesus will not save anyone unless they come to Jesus as a child.
But this is a big job, and it is a big job for the carpenter, Jesus Christ.
He has to take a grown man, and he has to craft a childlike heart.
This is what's happening to you even though you may not know it.
As a grown man or a grown woman, you may not understand what's been going on in your life.
Here's what's been going on. The master carpenter has been crafting you,
and he's been planing you down. He's been shaving you down so that he can take a grown person and give them a childlike heart.
How does he do that? That's why I use the illustration of the hand plane.
The hand plane. How is it that Jesus prepares you for salvation and success in life?
Like a hand plane. The hand plane is not a finishing carpenter's tool.
A hand plane is a preparatory tool.
The hand plane shaves down the wood so it can prepare the wood for the perfect placement in the final act.
Jesus Christ is preparing you for salvation and success in the eternal kingdom
by transforming your heart from the cynical, self-reliant adult heart that you have.
And he is shaving you down, and he was sculpting you down,
and he is stripping away two primary things in your life.
You say, what exactly is Jesus stripping away? I believe that Jesus Christ, to prepare you to have a childlike heart, is stripping away.
Number one, he is stripping away your cynicism. And number two, he is stripping away your self-reliance.
I'm going to say number one, you say cynicism. Number one, come on, say it with me. Number one, cynicism.
Number two, self-reliance. I'm going to say number two, you say self-reliance. Number two, he is stripping away your cynicism and your self-reliance with all the things happening in your life.
How does he do it? I'll tell you how he does it. I'm going to brief you, and then I'm going to go back and teach it.
He strips away your cynicism by showing you beauty.
And he strips away your self-reliance by showing you troubles.
And that's what your life has been for as long as you can remember it.
Let's talk about that first one. How does Christ, how does God shave away, strip away your cynicism?
Well, by showing you beautiful things, the beauty of this world.
It's hard to be like a child because children are trusting, and as an adult it's hard to be trusting.
I remember as a child, man, you just, as a child you don't have any cynicism, you just believe whatever they tell you all the time, you just believe it, especially the people around you.
How many of you in this room had an older brother? Would you raise your hand? You have an older brother? How many of you have an older brother?
God bless you. God, I mean, God help you. You right now have an older, is this him? Wow.
What's your problem, man? I don't remember. I was probably like three or four years old. It's one of my earliest memories.
We had just gotten a haircut, and my mom would cut our hair, and all the hair, you know, is all on your clothes and all on your back, and you go over to the bathroom and get ready to clean it all off.
And my brother looked over at me, and he said, be careful. And I said, what? He said, be careful to get all the hair off of you before getting in the bath.
I said, why? He said, because cut hair when it falls into bathwater turns into spiders.
And you're like, well, come on, Josh, I mean, cut hair doesn't turn into a spider. I know, but I was four years old, and this was my brother, and I trusted him.
And he's a liar. Some of you know him. He's a liar. He's a lunatic. But I didn't know I was four. I'm like, really? He said, yeah, you got to be really careful.
So I'm like, wiping off all the hair, crawled inside. He said, you did a pretty good job, no spiders. That traumatized me for years.
I swear to you, I was nine years old, getting into the shower, and I'm like, I know, I know it's not true, but just in case, you know what I mean?
Like, there's no spider. Occasionally, even today, I'm like, looking around, you know. See a spider in the shower, I'm like, it must be my wife's hair. I don't know. It's not mine.
I brushed it off. I brushed it off. And so we as humans, it's really hard for us not to be cynical because the world is full of scams and shysters and scallywags and older brothers who are constantly lying to us, tricking us, scamming us.
So when I say, don't be cynical, don't be skeptical, your walls of defense go up because you think to yourself, I have to be to protect myself.
All right, let me stop and just say this. First of all, cynicism and skepticism are not bad traits when dealing with mankind. Some of you are too naive.
In fact, the book of Proverbs tells you, don't believe every word. It says the simpletons believe everything they're told, but the prudent carefully considered the steps they're about to take.
So I'm not saying skepticism and cynicism as a whole is bad. I'm saying you should be cynical when dealing with mankind, but do not bring that cynicism into your relationship with God.
Trust Him. Know His Bible. Get on your knees and pray to Him. Trust God, not man, is what I'm trying to say.
You say, well, how is it that I can trust God? Well, good news is that God is already teaching you how to trust Him. You say, how?
By stripping away your cynicism. How does He do that? He strips away your cynicism by showing you beautiful things.
Have you forgotten how beautiful the world is? I think we have.
The world is an ugly place. I get it. There's a lot of ugly things going on.
But in the midst of the brokenness of the world, there have been many moments where the Creator has broken into your life and unveiled a beautiful thing.
Like creation.
Like, do you remember the last time you were out in the middle of the desert at night and you look up into the sky?
You see the countless stars.
And something inside of you sings out to the Creator. Look at what you made.
You're not the first one. Psalm 19 was written 3,000 years ago by somebody just like you.
And the songwriter says, the heavens proclaim the glory of God and the sky displays its craftsmanship.
Day and to day, the sky, they continue to speak and night after night, they make God known.
He shows you beauty and that beauty strips away your cynicism.
For some of you, you love music. And a good piece of music just fills your soul.
It doesn't matter what's going on in life. The right song at the right time, it just comes in and you're like, it feeds you.
Some of you like nature, some of you like music, some of you like, talking about feeding, some of you like food.
Like me. And this food is a gift from God and you know it. There's a friend of ours, her name is Jamie Smith.
She and Akeem planted a church in Oakland, they're out of our church.
Every time you sit with Jamie, I love before the food comes because you can tell she's getting excited.
This is what happens and then the food comes and she does a little dance like this.
She's really excited about this moment.
What is happening to Jamie? Because of her appreciation for the gift from God, food.
Here's what's happening.
This adult person, because seeing of the beauty of the gift is transported to childlike wonder.
And that's awesome. And that's not something that's supposed to die.
Every man in this room who has become a father remembers one of these moments.
Because the moment they brought that baby into your arms and you held that child for the very first time.
You know the brokenness of the world and you know all the junk you have to deal with.
But that child in your arms is this moment of beauty and you know there is more to life.
What is God doing? What is the master craftsman doing? What is the carpenter doing?
He is stripping away your cynicism by showing you moments of beauty.
All these moments of beauty are a glimpses of what the eventual eternal kingdom is going to be like.
They are glimpses of what your next world will be like all of the time without the brokenness.
And so he keeps showing you moments of beauty in order to make you like a child with childlike wonder
saying, God, you are there and I love you.
How does God take a man or an adult woman and craft a childlike heart inside of them?
Well, he strips away their cynicism by showing beauty, but then he also strips away their self-reliance.
I said it earlier, does anybody remember? How does the carpenter strip away our self-reliance?
By showing us what? By showing us troubles.
It is not all beauty from God. All beauty from God would keep you in a childlike state that is not healthy.
Sometimes he strips away your self-reliance by giving you trouble.
Self-reliance by giving you trouble after trouble after trouble after trouble after trouble.
Why? Well, because children are dependent, aren't they?
They can't do it on their own, even though they think they can.
How many of you have a two, three or four-year-old right now in the home? Right now, two, three or four.
Raise your hand. They're the ones that are still kind of asleep.
All right, very good. All right, very good. Put your hands down.
When my children were this age, they all had the exact same catchphrase.
I do it myself.
You remember this one? How many of you have... I do it myself.
I don't know how many of you can remember two or three, four-year-olds and they said that catchphrase.
I do it myself. Raise your hand. How many of you? All right? Everybody, everybody.
Why? I think they have like conferences where they get together and talk about this.
I do it myself. I do it myself. I do it myself. I do it myself.
And they said if so much as a parent, I would be like, fine, go.
A little Kraft mac and cheese box and they're like, I do it myself. Let's go.
I'm going to sit down and watch this.
No, boil the water. Sure. Yeah, yeah. Turn it on. Mix the mac and cheese.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Use 2%. That's a mistake, by the way. Use whole milk.
Can I get an amen right there? Kid doesn't know that. Kid doesn't know that.
But you do.
Hmm. Dependence is a hallmark of a child.
Now, the problem is as an adult, you don't want to be dependent.
You want to be independent.
You don't want to have to rely upon others. So you want to have self-reliance.
And don't get me wrong. It is 100% a good thing to adult.
It is 100% a good thing to make sure you are not reliant upon other mankind.
But do not bring that into your relationship with God.
It's fine to be cynical against mankind. It's not good to be cynical against God.
It is fine to be self-reliant as it relates to mankind.
It is not good to be self-reliant as it relates to God.
I do it myself. And so what God says is, no you won't.
Here, let me show you. Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble.
God, I can't do this by myself.
You see? You see?
So patiently, He strips away your self-reliance by giving you trouble, after trouble, after trouble, after...
After, after trouble.
Proverbs 3 verse 5 and 6 says,
Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Do not lean upon your own understanding.
Seek Him in all that you do, and He will show you the path you should take.
So what is He doing? It's simple.
He's just stripping away your self-reliance, another word, pride,
by giving you trouble, after trouble, after trouble, after trouble.
That's why you're facing financial troubles.
That's why you're facing relationship troubles.
That's why you're facing medical troubles.
So that He can craft in you a heart of a child that says,
I'm not doing it myself. Can you help me?
Can you help me?
Do you remember I talked about
captivity and exile and the journey that is a theme in the Bible?
Stranger in a strange land.
In the book of Jeremiah chapter number 29,
Jeremiah is a prophet, a preacher.
But this is 2600 years ago now.
And the people of God were in exile in Babylon.
And they were going through trouble, after trouble, after trouble, after trouble.
So much trouble they got to a place where they're like,
so God like, will you ever save us?
God, are we always going to be in this situation?
And the prophet Jeremiah reminds them, this is temporary.
He says in Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11,
for I know the plans that I have to you, says the Lord.
They are plans for good and not for disaster.
If you've been facing trouble after trouble after trouble and you've been thinking yourself,
like what's the deal, God? Is this it forever?
No, I know the plans that I have for you.
They're good plans, not disaster plans.
My plan is to give you a hope and a future.
All of this is temporary to get you where you need to become.
I'm crafting you, molding you, making you, shaping you,
chipping you away, sanding you down, measuring and cutting you.
And I am at this point, making you.
He goes on and explains what to do in the, you say, well, what do I do?
If I know there's a future and a hope, what do I do now?
He says it in verse number 12,
in those days when you pray, I will listen.
If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
I just broke my thing.
I'll get all right. It's okay.
Whew.
If you pray and seek God wholeheartedly,
you will find the peace you're looking for.
I will be found by you, says the Lord.
I will end your captivity and I will restore your fortunes.
The struggle and the troubles are to give you a hunger and a dis...
I don't know. Maybe the third service will go well.
The third service will go well.
There to start a desire for the future kingdom.
So what is he doing?
He's situating you for maximum impact.
That's what God has been doing for you.
He is perfectly situating you
for maximum change in your heart.
Not to be childish, but to be childlike.
When my daughter Savannah and I were in SeaWorld,
probably she was seven or eight years old at the time.
We went to go see the Shamu show.
How many remember Shamu?
There's a big whale jump, got everybody wet,
then there was a documentary.
I don't know. We don't have it anymore.
I don't know. It's a thing.
It's a thing.
But we were really excited.
She was excited to see Shamu.
We lined up and we got in this giant arena.
I took her hand and we walked up about 12, 14, 15 rows back and sat down.
She noticed something.
She said, Daddy, what are the blue rows for?
How many of you know, have been to SeaWorld,
what the blue rows are for?
What are the blue rows?
Blue rows. It's the splash zone.
When you sit up front, it's the splash zone.
Some of you that sit up front know,
yeah, that is the splash zone pastor.
It's constantly, I apologize.
Splash zone.
We need a new auditorium or something.
I don't know.
And she said, Daddy, why can't we sit down there?
I said, because, honey, the big whale is going to come
and he's going to splash and all the water will gush out over
and it gets all those people wet.
And so that's why we came here early to sit here.
And when they get wet, we laugh at them.
It's part of the show.
And she said, but Daddy, I want to get,
I want to get, I want to get splashed in this splash zone.
Do you want to go with me?
And I said, no, you can go.
You, no, I didn't, I, I, okay, all right.
So we held hands and we, we moved out and we walked in.
Excuse me, excuse me.
We sat like row number seven, you know, and I'm like right there
in the middle of the splash.
She's like, we're going to get wet.
I'm like, yeah, we're going to get wet.
Then she looked up at me and I looked down at her.
She said, Daddy, there's two more seats right on the front row.
Do you want to go up there?
And I said, uh-huh.
So, okay.
So we grabbed hands, we walked to the front, we sat right there.
Now we get there and all I could see is a giant plexiglass wall with,
I could not see anything.
The show started, I could not see the performers.
The show started, I cannot see the dolphins and the whales.
All I could see is a giant blue wall and I knew what was coming for me.
The tidal wave of water all over my, and sure enough, here comes Shamu.
Didn't see Shamu, but I looked up and I saw a wave like I'm Peter on the Galilee.
You know what I mean?
And it came and it drrrrr.
I'm not talking about, what, drenched us.
And she's giggling and laughing and having the time of her life and,
and to be honest, I was having a good time too.
She perfectly situated us for maximum drenched.
Your father in heaven has been perfectly situating you for maximum change.
Don't resist it.
You are experiencing troubles and beauty all at the same time in order to help you
develop a childlike heart that will go to him in faith and say,
okay God, I know I can't save myself, will you save me?
I know you're beautiful, I've seen your beauty, but I also know that I am weak and I need you.
Salvation can be obtained from your soul only when this takes place.
The same is true of success in life.
Once you're saved, success can only be found when you see that he is the one who provides it and not you,
and you need him.
Do you see? Do you see?
If you see this passage, you have become like a child and he has been shaping you into that.
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Have a great week, bye.