WEBVTT 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:07.679 Well, it's great to be here. It's certainly been 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:10.720 on my list to get out to Fairview. I just want 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:15.419 to express my gratitude for your church supporting 00:00:15.419 --> 00:00:18.859 us generously during our time at Wofford. We 00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:22.600 really, RUF could not exist without so many churches 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:26.280 sacrificially and generously giving and individuals 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:30.030 as well. So just thank you for that. And again, 00:00:30.309 --> 00:00:32.929 as I mentioned, I got to share this morning in 00:00:32.929 --> 00:00:36.310 more detail about this new call that the Lord 00:00:36.310 --> 00:00:39.369 has laid on our family and has really captured 00:00:39.369 --> 00:00:43.929 our hearts. It's amazing that RUF is at 180 campuses 00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:48.270 all over this country. And that is a beautiful 00:00:48.270 --> 00:00:50.570 thing. We've seen how that's helped contribute 00:00:50.570 --> 00:00:54.719 to the growth of the PCA. But as I look at Europe 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:57.439 and see there's right now only one ministry, 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:01.079 one RUF global ministry there actually in Ukraine 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:04.400 and yet there are twice as many students. It's 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:07.900 just the fields are white for harvest and the 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:09.579 Lord has laid on our hearts to go out there. 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:12.099 So we appreciate your prayers. I would love to 00:01:12.099 --> 00:01:14.760 share more. I will be hanging out, sticking around 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:17.379 after the service. I can go in more detail. For 00:01:17.379 --> 00:01:19.159 those of you who weren't there this morning at 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:22.299 Sunday School, if you're curious about what God's 00:01:22.299 --> 00:01:24.879 doing in our lives and calling us there and what 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:28.099 it might look like to help us along there. But 00:01:28.099 --> 00:01:30.140 with that in mind, we're going to be looking 00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:34.439 at a text this morning that Troy said earlier. 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:36.799 You guys are a missionary church. This is a great 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:39.719 text to go to, to return to, to answer the question, 00:01:39.859 --> 00:01:43.780 why are we a missionary church? Why are we outward 00:01:43.780 --> 00:01:48.540 focused? Why is that the way God has called us 00:01:48.540 --> 00:01:51.140 to live? And why is that actually a good thing 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:55.159 for our own hearts and our own joy. So if you 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:58.420 want to look in your own Bibles this morning 00:01:58.420 --> 00:02:04.540 and read along with me Psalm 67, I'll read that 00:02:04.540 --> 00:02:08.599 for us and then pray for the Lord's blessing 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:23.579 on the preaching of His Word. So Psalm 67, a 00:02:23.579 --> 00:02:30.219 psalm, a song. Give you guys a moment. You're 00:02:30.219 --> 00:02:40.500 in some rustling. So Psalm 67. May God be gracious 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:44.939 to us and bless us and make his face to shine 00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:50.080 upon us. that your way may be known on earth, 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:54.120 your saving power among all nations. Let the 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:56.979 peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples 00:02:56.979 --> 00:03:00.240 praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:03.219 for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity 00:03:03.219 --> 00:03:09.180 and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples 00:03:09.180 --> 00:03:12.479 praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:16.460 you. The earth has yielded its increased God, 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:22.599 Our God shall bless us. God shall bless us. Let 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:26.659 all the ends of the earth fear Him. Join me as 00:03:26.659 --> 00:03:32.280 we pray the preaching of God's Word. Father in 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:35.900 heaven, we thank you for this day that you give 00:03:35.900 --> 00:03:41.560 us every week to come and to rest, to come and 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:45.699 to be in your presence together with your people. 00:03:47.629 --> 00:03:52.469 And we know many of us are coming to this service 00:03:52.469 --> 00:03:57.430 this morning with all kinds of baggage, with 00:03:57.430 --> 00:04:01.250 really hard things that we have had to go through, 00:04:02.150 --> 00:04:05.689 with tiring weeks, maybe with joyful weeks on 00:04:05.689 --> 00:04:08.889 the other hand. And yet we praise you, we thank 00:04:08.889 --> 00:04:11.849 you that we know that you will meet us with what 00:04:11.849 --> 00:04:15.530 we need in your word that you have promised to 00:04:15.530 --> 00:04:19.170 be. especially active by your spirit there and 00:04:19.170 --> 00:04:22.170 so we ask that that you might illuminate our 00:04:22.170 --> 00:04:25.290 minds that you might open our hearts by your 00:04:25.290 --> 00:04:28.350 spirit that you might refresh us that you might 00:04:28.350 --> 00:04:31.870 help us to pay attention to your word and to 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:36.290 receive the truth of it with faith and love and 00:04:36.290 --> 00:04:40.649 humility so that it would bear fruit in our daily 00:04:40.649 --> 00:04:44.670 lives. We ask most of all that you would help 00:04:44.670 --> 00:04:48.550 us to see the beauty and the glory of your son, 00:04:48.629 --> 00:04:51.389 the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. 00:04:52.170 --> 00:04:57.889 Amen. Well, if you are a human being here this 00:04:57.889 --> 00:05:01.370 morning, I can guess that you've had some version 00:05:01.370 --> 00:05:03.930 of this kind of experience. You've come across 00:05:03.930 --> 00:05:07.689 something in your life. It could be a musician. 00:05:07.870 --> 00:05:10.149 It could be a book. It could be some new hobby. 00:05:10.290 --> 00:05:12.610 It could be a place you went to on vacation. 00:05:12.709 --> 00:05:15.430 It could be a restaurant. It could be something 00:05:15.430 --> 00:05:18.750 even as simple as some video, funny video you 00:05:18.750 --> 00:05:22.410 saw online. Whatever it is, it's so interesting, 00:05:22.870 --> 00:05:25.850 it's so compelling, it's so beautiful, it's so 00:05:25.850 --> 00:05:28.970 funny that you just have to go talk to other 00:05:28.970 --> 00:05:32.610 people about it. And maybe it's not a thing, 00:05:32.649 --> 00:05:35.750 maybe it's even a person that you met. Many years 00:05:35.750 --> 00:05:39.449 ago when I was on a hike in the Nashville area, 00:05:39.629 --> 00:05:42.350 I went to undergraduate in Middle Tennessee State. 00:05:42.890 --> 00:05:46.689 And I was out hiking and suddenly I turn a corner 00:05:46.689 --> 00:05:49.509 and I never would have guessed what I was going 00:05:49.509 --> 00:05:53.129 to see. I saw the front man from one of my favorite 00:05:53.129 --> 00:05:56.670 bands at the time, the band Wilco, and his name 00:05:56.670 --> 00:06:00.470 is Jeff Tweedy, the lead guitarist and songwriter 00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:03.740 and singer. just walking along the path in the 00:06:03.740 --> 00:06:08.399 forest. It was such a surreal experience. I didn't 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:11.079 want to bother him as a fellow introvert. I knew 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:13.540 he probably didn't want to be talking with one 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:15.980 of his fans on the hike, but this was a once 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:18.019 -in -a -lifetime thing, so I had to go talk to 00:06:18.019 --> 00:06:20.620 him. He was very gracious with me. He even let 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:23.720 me do what so many of us do if we meet someone 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:27.800 famous. Got to take a selfie with them. Why? 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:30.420 Because we want to go show it to people we want 00:06:30.420 --> 00:06:33.259 to prove that we had this experience that we 00:06:33.259 --> 00:06:36.480 met this amazing Person and that's what I did. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:39.360 I went home to the house I lived at with five 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:42.079 other guys and showed all my roommates regardless 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:44.220 of whether or not they cared about the band Wilco 00:06:44.220 --> 00:06:48.079 or even knew What that band was I had to share 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:51.600 we can't help but share about the things or the 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:55.600 people that really excite us When our hearts 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:58.860 are truly thrilled with something We don't keep 00:06:58.860 --> 00:07:03.720 that inside. It inevitably overflows. And that's 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:09.019 what we see in this psalm. The psalmist has experienced 00:07:09.019 --> 00:07:11.500 a blessing, is longing for more of a blessing 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:14.980 that he is too thrilled with to keep to himself. 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:18.819 And so as we think through, consider this psalm 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:21.939 this morning, I hope that we can see that this 00:07:21.939 --> 00:07:25.699 same overflowing blessing that the psalmist has 00:07:25.699 --> 00:07:29.300 received We can experience it too, and it can 00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:32.899 have the same effect in our lives and overflow 00:07:32.899 --> 00:07:35.459 to those around us as well. And that's what our 00:07:35.459 --> 00:07:36.819 three points are going to be. We're going to 00:07:36.819 --> 00:07:40.959 look at what is this blessing? Why is it overflowing? 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:44.040 Secondly, and lastly, to what extent does it 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:46.980 overflow? So first, what is this blessing? What 00:07:46.980 --> 00:07:51.319 is the psalmist so thrilled with that he has 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:55.480 to share? Look back. those opening words in verse 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:59.420 one, may God be gracious to us and bless us and 00:07:59.420 --> 00:08:04.879 make his face to shine upon us. It's a short 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:07.740 verse and it's immediately followed by a say 00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:10.540 law, which is a little unusual. This was likely 00:08:10.540 --> 00:08:15.360 a deliberate musical pause or just silent pause 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:18.540 that was there for reflection. It was as if the 00:08:18.540 --> 00:08:20.839 psalmist said, wait, stop there. There's so much 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:25.370 to reflect about. In this first verse, I have 00:08:25.370 --> 00:08:27.449 to make everyone singing, praying this Psalm 00:08:27.449 --> 00:08:32.750 stop and think about it. Why? Because he was 00:08:32.750 --> 00:08:35.269 probably thinking about a very crucial, very 00:08:35.269 --> 00:08:38.289 familiar passage to the Israelites and maybe 00:08:38.289 --> 00:08:42.250 to many of you from number six, the Aaronic blessing, 00:08:42.730 --> 00:08:46.539 where the Lord told Moses, to tell Aaron and 00:08:46.539 --> 00:08:49.120 his sons, this is how you shall bless the people 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:51.600 of Israel. You'll say to them, the Lord bless 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:54.159 you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:56.840 upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift 00:08:56.840 --> 00:09:00.759 up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:06.240 The psalmist would have heard that again and 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:09.919 again, proclaimed over God's people. And it's 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:15.269 as if he, as he marinated in that promise, It 00:09:15.269 --> 00:09:19.269 turned from these dusty formal words into this 00:09:19.269 --> 00:09:24.149 living and active reality in his life and he's 00:09:24.149 --> 00:09:27.570 overflowing in this song of praise here as he 00:09:27.570 --> 00:09:31.850 meditates on it. But what is number six promising? 00:09:31.990 --> 00:09:35.830 What is this blessing from the Lord look like? 00:09:35.950 --> 00:09:39.110 Is the psalmist thinking, yes, I'm gonna have 00:09:39.110 --> 00:09:42.629 this big beautiful brand new house. I'm going 00:09:42.629 --> 00:09:46.490 to get that job that I love and also pays really 00:09:46.490 --> 00:09:49.490 well. I'm going to have plenty of friends. I'm 00:09:49.490 --> 00:09:52.330 going to have a beautiful neighborhood to live 00:09:52.330 --> 00:09:56.649 in, healthy kids, a perfect marriage. Those are 00:09:56.649 --> 00:09:59.210 blessings from God for sure, and we should thank 00:09:59.210 --> 00:10:02.789 God if we have those in our lives. But I don't 00:10:02.789 --> 00:10:04.629 think that's what the psalmist is really the 00:10:04.629 --> 00:10:09.529 most thrilled with here. The blessing that number 00:10:09.529 --> 00:10:14.070 six is really promising is the blessing of God 00:10:14.070 --> 00:10:18.529 Himself, His personal presence in our life, the 00:10:18.529 --> 00:10:24.049 reality of Emmanuel, God with us. The psalmist 00:10:24.049 --> 00:10:29.789 doesn't just want God's gifts. He wants God Himself. 00:10:30.909 --> 00:10:33.070 Because He knows that's the greatest thing you 00:10:33.070 --> 00:10:35.929 can receive. Every speck of joy and blessing 00:10:35.929 --> 00:10:39.809 in our lives comes straight from Him, is tied 00:10:39.809 --> 00:10:45.389 to Him. And so the Psalm is asking us this morning 00:10:45.389 --> 00:10:50.570 as we reflect, is this what we are seeking? Is 00:10:50.570 --> 00:10:52.129 this what we're seeking in the middle of the 00:10:52.129 --> 00:10:54.250 week? It's easy to say this is what we're seeking 00:10:54.250 --> 00:10:56.210 right now, but what about in the middle of the 00:10:56.210 --> 00:11:00.350 week? Maybe we're really, if we're honest, fixated 00:11:00.350 --> 00:11:03.389 on other things. Some of those things I mentioned, 00:11:03.649 --> 00:11:05.909 on the happiness and success of our children 00:11:05.909 --> 00:11:09.110 or our grandchildren, on the next home we might 00:11:09.110 --> 00:11:13.620 get, on the next renovation of that on the next 00:11:13.620 --> 00:11:17.779 vacation on just having more time to Have what 00:11:17.779 --> 00:11:23.720 I want and peace and quiet and comfort But do 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:27.740 those things really give us what we're seeking 00:11:27.740 --> 00:11:33.259 Do they deliver I'll be so bold to answer for 00:11:33.259 --> 00:11:36.120 all of us by merely looking at my own life that 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:39.519 I know so often I have had something on that 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:43.850 list just getting married, having kids, moving, 00:11:44.110 --> 00:11:46.090 buying a house for the first time, getting the 00:11:46.090 --> 00:11:51.509 job, buying a new guitar, and I'm always just 00:11:51.509 --> 00:11:55.350 moving on to the next thing. It never gives me 00:11:55.350 --> 00:12:00.129 deep soul satisfaction. And that's because the 00:12:00.129 --> 00:12:03.629 reality is the only thing that's going to give 00:12:03.629 --> 00:12:06.129 us that satisfaction, the most fundamental, most 00:12:06.129 --> 00:12:10.860 lasting blessing we could receive. is God truly 00:12:10.860 --> 00:12:15.120 being deeply present in our lives, in our hearts. 00:12:16.059 --> 00:12:18.000 And that's what I hope you're here this morning 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.059 seeking. That's why we're here, to sit in God's 00:12:21.059 --> 00:12:23.320 means of grace, to have communion with Him, with 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:27.500 His people, to experience more of His face shining 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:30.360 upon us so that we might go out into the week 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:35.460 with that more a reality of our lives. So this 00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:38.519 is what the blessing that the psalmist is fixed 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:40.960 on, and in some ways we could just stop there. 00:12:41.019 --> 00:12:44.919 That's such a profound reality in its own right. 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:47.580 You know, the psalmist could be like, okay, this 00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:49.679 is what I really need. I'm gonna be a monk and 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.679 just go off and spend my days in the wilderness 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:56.200 or in the monastery just being with God and being 00:12:56.200 --> 00:12:59.450 with His people. But the psalmist doesn't go 00:12:59.450 --> 00:13:02.129 that way. He shows us that actually this blessing 00:13:02.129 --> 00:13:06.090 has a very different effect in our lives. We're 00:13:06.090 --> 00:13:09.710 only on verse 1 and as we go on after that mid 00:13:09.710 --> 00:13:12.789 -sentence reflection, if you look back at verse 00:13:12.789 --> 00:13:15.590 2, this is what we hear. That your way may be 00:13:15.590 --> 00:13:20.289 known on earth, your saving power among all nations. 00:13:21.110 --> 00:13:23.909 The peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples 00:13:23.909 --> 00:13:28.779 praise you. Let the nations be glad. and sing 00:13:28.779 --> 00:13:36.019 for joy. It's as if, as he meditated on that 00:13:36.019 --> 00:13:41.419 promise, it suddenly hit him. This is too amazing 00:13:41.419 --> 00:13:44.799 to stay to us. This must go out. It's so massive. 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:48.659 It cannot stay in the walls of Jerusalem. It 00:13:48.659 --> 00:13:53.000 needs to go to the ends of the earth, to all 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:56.700 the nations. And maybe he was also reflecting 00:13:56.700 --> 00:14:00.399 on another crucial passage for the people of 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:03.899 God from Genesis 12, if you remember, where the 00:14:03.899 --> 00:14:07.620 Lord tells Abram, go from your country and your 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:09.980 kindred and your father's house to the land that 00:14:09.980 --> 00:14:12.840 I will show you. And I will make of you a great 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:16.179 nation and I will bless you and make your name 00:14:16.179 --> 00:14:24.389 great so that you will be a blessing. that priestly 00:14:24.389 --> 00:14:26.690 blessing that Israel was to hear again and again 00:14:26.690 --> 00:14:31.190 and to soak in was not meant to stop with them. 00:14:31.710 --> 00:14:35.029 It was meant to become this opening of this great 00:14:35.029 --> 00:14:38.850 fountain that would overflow to the ends of the 00:14:38.850 --> 00:14:42.450 earth. The people of God from the very beginning 00:14:42.450 --> 00:14:48.370 were blessed to be a blessing. Back when I was, 00:14:48.809 --> 00:14:51.970 before I was at Wofford, I was actually in Western 00:14:51.970 --> 00:14:55.769 Pennsylvania starting an RUF at a school that 00:14:55.769 --> 00:14:58.870 actually someone here went to, Indiana University 00:14:58.870 --> 00:15:02.370 of Pennsylvania. It's named after the town it 00:15:02.370 --> 00:15:06.090 is in, very confusing. But I was up there and 00:15:06.090 --> 00:15:08.190 we're always thinking of new events to do with 00:15:08.190 --> 00:15:11.129 students and we had heard about this. these falls 00:15:11.129 --> 00:15:13.090 that were up in the mountains kind of you had 00:15:13.090 --> 00:15:15.350 to go on a hike and there was this deep part 00:15:15.350 --> 00:15:17.870 of it where you could actually jump off the waterfalls 00:15:17.870 --> 00:15:21.190 into the water and so I went out to scout it 00:15:21.190 --> 00:15:23.970 out with another student and when we got up there 00:15:23.970 --> 00:15:25.649 there were some locals that were kind of hanging 00:15:25.649 --> 00:15:28.590 out and they said hey okay here's here's the 00:15:28.590 --> 00:15:32.029 way that you need to jump in the water and I 00:15:32.029 --> 00:15:35.289 remember when I jumped into that water It was 00:15:35.289 --> 00:15:39.090 so refreshing. I got out and it felt like I had 00:15:39.090 --> 00:15:41.750 just taken a shower. I walked back up to the 00:15:41.750 --> 00:15:44.289 top of the falls again and was talking to the 00:15:44.289 --> 00:15:47.070 locals there and they were like, yeah, this is 00:15:47.070 --> 00:15:49.789 fresh mountain water. It's constantly flowing. 00:15:50.350 --> 00:15:54.970 It's perfectly fine to drink. Now there was another 00:15:54.970 --> 00:15:58.049 body of water that those falls eventually flowed 00:15:58.049 --> 00:16:02.360 into that was down the way called Yellow Creek 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:04.860 or crick as they call it in western, Pennsylvania 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:07.700 I need people would fish there there be boats 00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:10.799 people kayaking But very few people were swimming 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:16.279 in it. No one would dare drink from it. It was 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:19.120 stagnant and gross and you'd see those large 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:25.639 bodies of algae everywhere floating around That 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:29.700 is the difference between having God's blessing 00:16:29.899 --> 00:16:34.299 flowing through us and us just stockpiling it 00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:38.639 up for ourselves. When we just keep it there 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:42.120 and stock it up, it gets stagnant, it begins 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:46.200 to rot, it grows the algae. That's not how God 00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:51.240 designed his blessing to work. The blessing that 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:53.980 we experience in knowing Jesus through the gospel 00:16:53.980 --> 00:16:57.059 is meant to transform us into the stream of water 00:16:57.059 --> 00:17:01.009 that's constantly fresh. Because it's flowing 00:17:01.009 --> 00:17:04.529 into the lives of other people around us There 00:17:04.529 --> 00:17:06.369 was actually a study that was done a while ago 00:17:06.369 --> 00:17:09.710 that looked at families that were really well 00:17:09.710 --> 00:17:13.609 -to -do White -collar professionals and they 00:17:13.609 --> 00:17:17.329 watched what happened to the kids over a 20 -year 00:17:17.329 --> 00:17:19.710 period in these families and the surprising thing 00:17:19.710 --> 00:17:22.529 they saw was just these escalating problems with 00:17:22.529 --> 00:17:26.670 mental health and Even teen suicides had doubled 00:17:26.670 --> 00:17:31.500 in that group And they concluded in that study, 00:17:32.339 --> 00:17:35.400 complete financial security, excessive freedom 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:39.140 to learn and explore, provision of very wide 00:17:39.140 --> 00:17:42.259 opportunities for entertainment, recreation, 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:47.359 and education. Good things. Things I think I'd 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:49.960 want for my kids that I'm often striving for 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:53.900 them. These things have been discovered to lead 00:17:53.900 --> 00:17:56.880 to apathy, laziness, inability to commit to goals, 00:17:57.299 --> 00:18:00.200 attitudes of entitlement, indecisiveness, moodiness, 00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:03.440 irritability, low self -confidence, and insecurity. 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:08.859 What? What in the world? What is that showing 00:18:08.859 --> 00:18:12.240 us? It's saying when we make all the blessings 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:16.420 that God gives us about us, about just our most 00:18:16.420 --> 00:18:21.740 intimate circle, it doesn't work. it backfires. 00:18:22.980 --> 00:18:28.119 The waters of blessings become a curse. And this 00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:32.160 is the case not because God just wanted to make 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:34.359 the world this way, this is the case because 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:40.559 it is his very nature as this overflowing triune 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:45.200 God. I love what the Puritan Richard Sibbes says 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.380 about this reality and God, he says the father 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:52.839 the Son and the Holy Spirit, were happy in themselves, 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:56.099 by themselves, and enjoyed one another before 00:18:56.099 --> 00:19:00.140 the world was created, but that God delights 00:19:00.140 --> 00:19:02.900 to communicate and spread his goodness, there 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:07.079 would have never been a creation or a redemption. 00:19:09.609 --> 00:19:12.410 The blessings that we have just been singing 00:19:12.410 --> 00:19:16.230 and praising God for, His beauty in creation, 00:19:16.589 --> 00:19:21.670 His beauty in redeeming us in Christ, they're 00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:25.170 not there because God had to love us, He had 00:19:25.170 --> 00:19:30.410 to create us. They're merely because He is an 00:19:30.410 --> 00:19:32.970 overflowing God, that it's not in His nature 00:19:32.970 --> 00:19:37.990 to keep His blessedness to Himself. He's not 00:19:37.990 --> 00:19:41.849 this stagnant pond. He's this infinitely pure 00:19:41.849 --> 00:19:48.329 flowing stream going outward. And so when we 00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:53.269 think of our call as a missionary church, a missionary 00:19:53.269 --> 00:19:58.950 people, we're really imitating the God who created 00:19:58.950 --> 00:20:02.150 us and redeemed us. We're designed to do this. 00:20:02.170 --> 00:20:04.470 That's what I was hitting at the beginning. When 00:20:04.470 --> 00:20:08.039 we delight in something, We want to share it 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:12.400 with other people. That's really what evangelism, 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:15.220 what missionary work is all about. We're all 00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:18.859 already evangelists and missionaries. It just 00:20:18.859 --> 00:20:21.819 happens to be for whatever you're really worshiping 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:23.940 at the moment, what you're really thrilled with. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.180 Maybe it is what's going on with your family, 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:29.740 some amazing thing your kid or grandkids did. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:32.279 You've got to post it on Facebook. You got to 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:34.980 tell people about it. Maybe it is the vacation. 00:20:35.420 --> 00:20:37.960 or even something as silly as just a football 00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:42.180 game or a play that you saw. We have no problem 00:20:42.180 --> 00:20:46.880 sharing about the things that we love. But why 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:53.700 then can it feel strange or not natural to share 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:59.720 about Jesus with others? Why do we often as Christians 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:04.529 feel faked and forced when we think about evangelism 00:21:04.529 --> 00:21:08.150 and trying to do that. Maybe we do need to think 00:21:08.150 --> 00:21:11.490 about how we do that, how we communicate, think 00:21:11.490 --> 00:21:14.210 about things from a practical, technical perspective, 00:21:14.269 --> 00:21:17.890 but I think, again and again, the most, the biggest 00:21:17.890 --> 00:21:20.170 problem when the church becomes not a missionary 00:21:20.170 --> 00:21:23.130 church, when we move away from an evangelistic 00:21:23.130 --> 00:21:26.970 posture, it's because we've stopped delighting 00:21:26.970 --> 00:21:32.390 in God and resting in his presence. How could 00:21:32.390 --> 00:21:36.210 we sell a product, to say it crassly, that we're 00:21:36.210 --> 00:21:38.329 not buying, that we don't want, that we're not 00:21:38.329 --> 00:21:42.269 delighting in? And so I know when I have found 00:21:42.269 --> 00:21:46.930 myself slipping into passivity, it is so often 00:21:46.930 --> 00:21:50.029 rooted in this. And what I need to do is to go 00:21:50.029 --> 00:21:55.769 back into prayer, into God's word, into relationship 00:21:55.769 --> 00:22:01.839 with God's people, and ask God to renew my heart." 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:04.279 That's what Jesus does. In Matthew 9, when he 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:07.599 sees that there's such a need for workers to 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:09.500 go in the harvest, he doesn't just say, you guys 00:22:09.500 --> 00:22:12.839 get out there, do that, work harder. What are 00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:17.700 you doing? No, he says pray. Pray that God would 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:23.819 send workers out into the harvest. So the blessing 00:22:23.819 --> 00:22:28.039 of God, when we truly experience it, it should 00:22:28.039 --> 00:22:31.390 flow out. to those around us. But what does it 00:22:31.390 --> 00:22:34.289 look like when it flows out and how far does 00:22:34.289 --> 00:22:37.190 it flow out? And that's what the psalmist gives 00:22:37.190 --> 00:22:40.369 us, the tail end of the psalm, a little glimpse 00:22:40.369 --> 00:22:44.210 of what this blessing looks like. That it is 00:22:44.210 --> 00:22:50.829 actually a very earthy blessing. God gets his 00:22:50.829 --> 00:22:55.650 hands dirty in blessing us. You see that in verses 00:22:55.650 --> 00:22:58.369 six through seven. The earth has yielded its 00:22:58.369 --> 00:23:03.210 increase. God our God shall bless us. God shall 00:23:03.210 --> 00:23:06.150 bless us. Let the ends of the earth fear him. 00:23:08.690 --> 00:23:12.430 I have to backtrack and actually qualify my very 00:23:12.430 --> 00:23:15.670 first earlier point that while the psalmist is 00:23:15.670 --> 00:23:19.390 not just seeking God's gifts, but God himself, 00:23:19.660 --> 00:23:23.160 God's blessing is connected to the real world, 00:23:23.259 --> 00:23:27.200 to material blessing. Maybe that's why it's so 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:31.920 easy to mistake God's gifts for himself. The 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:36.220 imagery here is harvest imagery. That language 00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:38.579 of the earth has yielded its increase. You could 00:23:38.579 --> 00:23:41.519 translate it, the earth has produced its harvest. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:44.960 And what the psalmist is showing us is that God 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.829 does not show up in this abstract way in our 00:23:48.829 --> 00:23:51.829 life. When He shows up, He's not at the door 00:23:51.829 --> 00:23:54.990 empty -handed. He's there with a giant bouquet 00:23:54.990 --> 00:23:58.250 of flowers and a lavish meal that He's brought 00:23:58.250 --> 00:24:03.549 for us to come and enjoy. The God, His presence 00:24:03.549 --> 00:24:07.029 in our lives and the world makes the world fruitful. 00:24:07.670 --> 00:24:11.509 It brings a harvest. And we see this in the just 00:24:11.509 --> 00:24:15.970 earlier Psalm, Psalm 65. This vivid picture of 00:24:15.970 --> 00:24:19.410 God's overflowing presence in the world, where 00:24:19.410 --> 00:24:22.349 the psalmist sings, God, you visit the earth 00:24:22.349 --> 00:24:25.250 and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river 00:24:25.250 --> 00:24:28.829 of God is full of water. You provide their grain, 00:24:29.230 --> 00:24:32.109 for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows 00:24:32.109 --> 00:24:34.980 abundantly. settling its ridges, softening it 00:24:34.980 --> 00:24:38.000 with showers, and blessing its growth. The pastures 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:41.819 of the wilderness overflow. The hills gird themselves 00:24:41.819 --> 00:24:45.079 with joy. The meadows clothe themselves with 00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:47.920 flocks. The valleys deck themselves with grain. 00:24:48.259 --> 00:24:56.579 They shout and sing together for joy. And the 00:24:56.579 --> 00:25:00.460 significance of this for us is that as we seek 00:25:00.460 --> 00:25:05.970 to Be these channels, be God's overflowing presence 00:25:05.970 --> 00:25:10.589 in this world out towards others. It's not only 00:25:10.589 --> 00:25:14.349 about merely evangelism and what we say to people, 00:25:15.069 --> 00:25:17.549 but it's about what we do. It's about how we 00:25:17.549 --> 00:25:19.690 use the gifts and talents God has given us. It's 00:25:19.690 --> 00:25:23.049 about how we cultivate this earth and serve others 00:25:23.049 --> 00:25:27.670 with it. That this adorns this message of the 00:25:27.670 --> 00:25:31.940 gospel, our good works. Again with the harvest, 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:37.000 God is not out there picking the grain. Ordinary 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:39.720 people like all of us in this room are doing 00:25:39.720 --> 00:25:44.240 that. And so don't undermine the really simple 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:46.720 things, all the simple things that went in this 00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:48.859 morning to make this service happen. All the 00:25:48.859 --> 00:25:52.619 people that are serving and ways that go unnoticed, 00:25:53.099 --> 00:25:56.400 God notices it. And that's you being a part of 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:58.980 this overflowing blessing to others through the 00:25:58.980 --> 00:26:05.259 practical things that you do. One of my favorite 00:26:05.259 --> 00:26:10.839 aspects of campus ministry so far is hospitality. 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:14.680 That is the heartbeat of our ministry that RUF 00:26:14.680 --> 00:26:19.819 does not show up to campus empty -handed. We 00:26:19.819 --> 00:26:22.640 show up at the beginning of the semester with 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:26.059 Wofford last year with a huge ice cream social 00:26:26.059 --> 00:26:29.069 and a barbecue. With our student leaders, we 00:26:29.069 --> 00:26:32.150 have them over every week and we make desserts. 00:26:32.390 --> 00:26:34.549 I'm pretty into cooking and always trying to 00:26:34.549 --> 00:26:36.789 come up with new desserts. In fact, when I had 00:26:36.789 --> 00:26:39.210 to tell them about this news that we're moving 00:26:39.210 --> 00:26:41.990 on and taking this new call in Belgium, I looked 00:26:41.990 --> 00:26:44.069 up very carefully and tried to make an authentic 00:26:44.069 --> 00:26:47.450 Belgian waffle recipe and had a Belgian waffle 00:26:47.450 --> 00:26:50.700 bar for them. And one of my, the events that 00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:53.839 I look forward to every single year is during 00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:58.019 Wofford's interim term in January where a lot 00:26:58.019 --> 00:27:00.940 of students are studying abroad and then some 00:27:00.940 --> 00:27:04.940 are here in town taking kind of... I call them 00:27:04.940 --> 00:27:07.099 kind of joke classes. There's like a class on 00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:11.539 coffee or a class on like scuba diving or something, 00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:14.539 all kinds of crazy things. They have a lot of 00:27:14.539 --> 00:27:16.259 more free time. And so what we do that month 00:27:16.259 --> 00:27:20.019 is we have students over every Monday night for 00:27:20.019 --> 00:27:23.079 dinner and have 30, 40 students in our house. 00:27:23.099 --> 00:27:25.619 And it's this beautiful moment, especially those 00:27:25.619 --> 00:27:27.640 on the fringes, those that would never come to 00:27:27.640 --> 00:27:29.880 church, would never come to large group. They'll 00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:33.779 come over for a free meal. And as we think about 00:27:33.779 --> 00:27:36.240 that, how we're going to do that, we could just 00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:38.619 be like, OK, how do we do this as quickly and 00:27:38.619 --> 00:27:42.259 cheaply as possible? But Kim and I don't do that. 00:27:42.299 --> 00:27:45.500 We want this to be a really great meal. That's 00:27:45.500 --> 00:27:48.559 a factor. But we want to put some effort and 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.579 energy and thought into it. And sure, maybe it 00:27:51.579 --> 00:27:54.220 is nice to get some compliments on our cooking 00:27:54.220 --> 00:27:57.890 some. But on a deeper level we do this because 00:27:57.890 --> 00:28:01.490 that is how our God shows up. He's a lavish, 00:28:01.490 --> 00:28:06.809 He's abundant. And that's what we see in the 00:28:06.809 --> 00:28:12.430 ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ too. When God 00:28:12.430 --> 00:28:16.349 wanted to communicate the blessing of His presence 00:28:16.349 --> 00:28:20.809 in the most profound way to send Emmanuel God 00:28:20.809 --> 00:28:25.109 with us. He sends his son not only to preach 00:28:25.109 --> 00:28:27.809 and to repent, though as central as that was 00:28:27.809 --> 00:28:31.369 to his ministry, but to heal the sick, to feed 00:28:31.369 --> 00:28:37.470 thousands. What was Jesus' first miracle? It 00:28:37.470 --> 00:28:40.910 was turning gallons and gallons of water into 00:28:40.910 --> 00:28:45.690 not just okay boxed wine, but fine, expensive 00:28:45.690 --> 00:28:48.160 wine. It was better than all the wine they had 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:51.180 had before to keep this wedding party going. 00:28:51.259 --> 00:28:54.900 That was the opening miracle of Jesus's ministry. 00:28:57.720 --> 00:29:01.680 Jesus is the answer to what this psalmist is 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:06.279 looking for, longing for. He brings God's presence 00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:09.480 with this fruitful harvest. It's interesting 00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:15.370 in Isaiah's prophecy about the Messiah in Chapter 00:29:15.370 --> 00:29:19.750 61, where we hear the voice of Christ, we also 00:29:19.750 --> 00:29:22.369 hear harvest imagery. We hear these familiar 00:29:22.369 --> 00:29:25.529 words, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because 00:29:25.529 --> 00:29:28.170 the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to 00:29:28.170 --> 00:29:31.650 the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 00:29:31.809 --> 00:29:35.630 to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening 00:29:35.630 --> 00:29:38.390 of the prison to those who are bound. As the 00:29:38.390 --> 00:29:41.930 earth brings forth its sprouts, And as the garden 00:29:41.930 --> 00:29:44.390 causes what is in sown in it to sprout up, so 00:29:44.390 --> 00:29:46.970 the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise 00:29:46.970 --> 00:29:52.549 to sprout up before all the nations. And that's 00:29:52.549 --> 00:29:56.769 what we see happening in the gospel in Jesus. 00:29:57.849 --> 00:30:00.150 That God the Father is pouring out the blessing 00:30:00.150 --> 00:30:03.650 of his presence through his spirit on Jesus and 00:30:03.650 --> 00:30:06.450 all its fullness. and through him that blessing 00:30:06.450 --> 00:30:10.029 is overflowing from God's people to the ends 00:30:10.029 --> 00:30:14.369 of the earth. He will cause the earth to yield 00:30:14.369 --> 00:30:18.029 its increase but not as just this temporary harvest 00:30:18.029 --> 00:30:21.509 but this eternal lasting one through his resurrection 00:30:21.509 --> 00:30:26.849 from the dead. Righteousness and praise sprouting 00:30:26.849 --> 00:30:29.710 out before all nations in Jesus. That's what 00:30:29.710 --> 00:30:32.769 we see at the end of the biblical story in Revelation. 00:30:34.410 --> 00:30:38.849 Yet in order for that to happen, the Father had 00:30:38.849 --> 00:30:43.670 to turn His face away from His Son. On the cross, 00:30:44.089 --> 00:30:48.009 what do we see happening? Jesus is not receiving 00:30:48.009 --> 00:30:51.490 the covenantal blessing of God's presence. He's 00:30:51.490 --> 00:30:54.630 receiving the answer to this prayer, to this 00:30:54.630 --> 00:30:59.690 psalm that we deserve because of our sin. No, 00:30:59.829 --> 00:31:03.279 I will not bless you. You are not worthy of my 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:05.640 presence. I will not make my face to shine upon 00:31:05.640 --> 00:31:10.200 you. You've rebelled against me. Jesus received 00:31:10.200 --> 00:31:13.299 that answer. He was rejected so that we could 00:31:13.299 --> 00:31:17.599 actually pray the psalm confidently and just 00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:20.940 know, say with the psalmist, God will bless us. 00:31:21.720 --> 00:31:25.740 Overflowing curse was poured out on Christ on 00:31:25.740 --> 00:31:29.500 the cross so that overflowing blessing might 00:31:29.500 --> 00:31:33.160 be poured out. on us when we have faith in him. 00:31:34.259 --> 00:31:37.059 And through him, through his death and resurrection, 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:41.519 this promise that Jesus himself gave in John 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:45.319 7 is true. If anyone thirsts, let him come to 00:31:45.319 --> 00:31:48.400 me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:52.000 scripture has said, out of his heart will flow 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:57.400 rivers of living water. Psalm 67, that is the 00:31:57.400 --> 00:31:59.279 message of it. That is what it is trying to get 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:04.319 us to, that through Jesus we can become these 00:32:04.319 --> 00:32:07.359 streams of living water and bless others as we 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:09.940 are blessed ourselves. Let me close as, join 00:32:09.940 --> 00:32:11.440 me in prayer.