WEBVTT 00:00:10.669 --> 00:00:21.289 Well, hey now, saints, sinners, bootstrappers, 00:00:21.350 --> 00:00:23.690 and the blessedly burned out. Welcome back to 00:00:23.690 --> 00:00:26.780 the semi -seminarian. Where we've got one foot 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:28.679 in the book of Acts and the other planted in 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:31.440 a Waffle House parking lot at 3 a .m. Asking 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:35.679 God if maybe, just maybe, he helps the ones who 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:39.539 can't help themselves. Now listen, there's a 00:00:39.539 --> 00:00:41.799 phrase I grew up hearing like it came straight 00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:44.939 out of red letter scripture. God helps those 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:48.079 who help themselves. Folks stitch it on pillows, 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:51.759 print it on posters, and fling it. Like confetti 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.439 at the poor, the tired, and the worn out. But 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:57.299 here's the thing, friend. That ain't gospel. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:02.380 That's Franklin. So, tonight, we're taking that 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:08.379 phrase out back. Not to bury it, but to examine 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:12.420 the bones. And we'll talk about Aesop and Ben 00:01:12.420 --> 00:01:15.560 and Paul. And we'll see what the actual good 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:19.790 book says about help. Hope and the holy foolishness 00:01:19.790 --> 00:01:23.489 of grace. If you've ever felt ashamed for not 00:01:23.489 --> 00:01:26.709 being enough. If you've ever been told to quit 00:01:26.709 --> 00:01:30.209 praying and start working. If your soul's tired 00:01:30.209 --> 00:01:33.409 of being your own savior friend, pull up a chair. 00:01:33.969 --> 00:01:37.870 Because we've both got some unlearning to do. 00:01:38.590 --> 00:01:53.079 I'll see you on the other side. You guys mind 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:58.760 if I fire this in there? Okay. I'm going to begin 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:02.519 with just the phrase. So they say God helps those 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:06.260 who help themselves. You ever heard that one? 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:10.680 Of course you have. Folks say it like scripture, 00:02:10.840 --> 00:02:14.439 like it's carved into the back wall, the church 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:17.479 behind the baptistry. But let me tell you something 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:20.979 that might surprise you. It's not in the Bible. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:26.659 Not even close. Now, I know what someone might 00:02:26.659 --> 00:02:28.979 be thinking when they're hearing this, thinking, 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:33.159 yeah, but pastor, surely that's in Proverbs somewhere. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:38.840 Nope. Not Proverbs, not Psalms, not Paul, not 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:45.719 Jesus. It ain't scripture. It's sentiment. And 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:49.259 like a lot of sentiments, sounds good until we 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:52.349 hold it up to the light. So tonight we're going 00:02:52.349 --> 00:02:54.229 to talk about it. We're going to sit with this 00:02:54.229 --> 00:02:57.409 phrase like an old neighbor sitting on the porch, 00:02:57.469 --> 00:03:00.490 and we're going to ask difficult questions. And 00:03:00.490 --> 00:03:02.430 we're going to listen to what the Word of God 00:03:02.430 --> 00:03:07.889 actually says, not what culture says, not what 00:03:07.889 --> 00:03:11.969 our bootstraps say, not what the lie of self 00:03:11.969 --> 00:03:15.030 -sufficiency whispers in our ear. And instead, 00:03:15.210 --> 00:03:20.330 we're going to let grace talk. So God helps those. 00:03:22.219 --> 00:03:26.080 Let's look at where this phrase actually comes 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.819 from. It shows up for the first time in history 00:03:29.819 --> 00:03:33.919 in Aesop's fable, one called Hercules and the 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:37.319 Wagoner, and it was written in the 6th century 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:42.539 BC. The gods help those who help themselves is 00:03:42.539 --> 00:03:46.199 the actual quote. And this line comes at the 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:50.479 end of the fable. where Hercules tells a wagoner, 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:54.680 a guy who has a cart, a wagoner, that cart is 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:58.460 stuck in the mud, and the guy is praying for 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:02.599 the gods to get his wagon out of the mud. Hercules 00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:06.060 comes along and says, the gods help those who 00:04:06.060 --> 00:04:09.599 help themselves. The moral, don't rely on divine 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:12.180 help unless you're already making an effort. 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:18.259 Then we jump to the 17th century, barely, 1698, 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:23.339 Algernon Sidney, Discourses Concerning Government. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:26.779 He says God helps those who help themselves. 00:04:27.220 --> 00:04:30.980 However, Sidney was arguing for self -governance 00:04:30.980 --> 00:04:33.779 and individual liberty, not preaching a sermon. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:37.500 He meant it politically, not spiritually, not 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:41.959 theologically. And then, where we've probably 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:45.649 heard it, A poor Richard's Almanac, which was 00:04:45.649 --> 00:04:51.269 produced by Benjamin Franklin in 1736. God helps 00:04:51.269 --> 00:04:54.269 them that help themselves. Good old Ben was all 00:04:54.269 --> 00:04:57.889 about thrift and industriousness. And while there's 00:04:57.889 --> 00:05:00.970 nothing at all wrong with hard work, Franklin's 00:05:00.970 --> 00:05:04.370 quip wasn't divine revelation. It was colonial 00:05:04.370 --> 00:05:08.850 common sense. So it ain't divine revelation. 00:05:08.910 --> 00:05:13.250 It's folk wisdom. It's colonial bootstrap theology. 00:05:13.269 --> 00:05:16.649 And while there's a kernel of truth about personal 00:05:16.649 --> 00:05:21.269 responsibility in it, it turns real fast when 00:05:21.269 --> 00:05:24.470 we try to turn it into the gospel. Because here's 00:05:24.470 --> 00:05:28.009 the truth, my dear friends. The gospel is not 00:05:28.009 --> 00:05:31.389 about what we can do for ourselves. It's about 00:05:31.389 --> 00:05:36.550 what God has already done for us. So let's open 00:05:36.550 --> 00:05:38.889 the scriptures and actually see what does the 00:05:38.889 --> 00:05:44.069 Bible say. Romans chapter 5, 6 through 8. And 00:05:44.069 --> 00:05:47.329 if you somehow believe that that phrase, God 00:05:47.329 --> 00:05:49.769 helps them who help themselves, if you're still 00:05:49.769 --> 00:05:51.769 at this point thinking, nope, it's still in there, 00:05:51.910 --> 00:05:54.829 listen to the words of Paul and you tell me how 00:05:54.829 --> 00:05:57.870 we reconcile the two. Because Paul says in 5, 00:05:58.069 --> 00:06:02.810 6, and 8, for while we were still weak, at the 00:06:02.810 --> 00:06:07.990 right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For 00:06:07.990 --> 00:06:10.689 one will scarcely die for a righteous person, 00:06:10.769 --> 00:06:13.930 though perhaps for a good person, one dare even 00:06:13.930 --> 00:06:18.889 to die. But God shows his love for us in that 00:06:18.889 --> 00:06:24.810 whilst we were still sinners, Christ died for 00:06:24.810 --> 00:06:29.209 us. Notice the language here. Still weak. Still 00:06:29.209 --> 00:06:33.050 sinners. Ungodly. No one's pulling themselves 00:06:33.050 --> 00:06:37.730 up by their sandal straps here. Paul isn't describing 00:06:37.730 --> 00:06:42.430 people who got 90 % of the way there and then 00:06:42.430 --> 00:06:46.850 got a divine boost somehow. He's describing God 00:06:46.850 --> 00:06:49.850 who doesn't wait for effort but moves first. 00:06:50.970 --> 00:06:53.850 Well, I don't know, Jim. Is that true? Well, 00:06:53.910 --> 00:06:57.370 let me point you to Genesis 3. This is a biblical 00:06:57.370 --> 00:07:01.750 pattern from the very beginning. But the Lord 00:07:01.750 --> 00:07:05.129 called to the man, where are you? Genesis 3 and 00:07:05.129 --> 00:07:09.649 9. God rescues Israel not because they earned 00:07:09.649 --> 00:07:11.430 it, but because he made a covenant with them. 00:07:11.470 --> 00:07:14.209 In Deuteronomy chapter 7, it was not because 00:07:14.209 --> 00:07:16.230 you were more in number than any other people 00:07:16.230 --> 00:07:19.089 that the Lord set his love on you and chose you. 00:07:19.990 --> 00:07:25.009 For, he says, you were the fewest of people. 00:07:26.410 --> 00:07:29.189 But it's because the Lord loves you and is keeping 00:07:29.189 --> 00:07:32.449 the oath he swore to your fathers that the Lord 00:07:32.449 --> 00:07:35.370 has brought you out of a mighty hand and redeemed 00:07:35.370 --> 00:07:39.569 you from the house of slavery. God sends prophets 00:07:39.569 --> 00:07:44.550 to a people who continually fail and still says, 00:07:44.689 --> 00:07:49.230 return to me. Zechariah the prophet, first chapter 00:07:49.230 --> 00:07:52.040 of his prophecy, the third verse. Therefore say 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:54.519 to them, thus declares the Lord of hosts, return 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:57.120 to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:03.560 to you. The heartbeat of the Bible is not divine 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:08.639 reward for human effort. It's actually divine 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:15.000 mercy despite human inability. Psalm 72 and 12, 00:08:15.339 --> 00:08:17.899 for he delivers the needy when he calls the poor 00:08:17.899 --> 00:08:22.550 and him who has. No helper. Psalm 46 and 1, God 00:08:22.550 --> 00:08:25.750 is our refuge and strength, a very present help 00:08:25.750 --> 00:08:29.490 in trouble. This, friends, is the witness of 00:08:29.490 --> 00:08:36.149 Scripture. God is a present help. God is not 00:08:36.149 --> 00:08:40.070 some distant judge waiting for us to prove ourselves. 00:08:40.629 --> 00:08:45.210 He is not some cosmic employer looking at our 00:08:45.210 --> 00:08:52.809 resume. A help. A refuge. A savior. Now let's 00:08:52.809 --> 00:08:54.970 step back for just a moment and let's actually 00:08:54.970 --> 00:08:58.690 think about why does this phrase feel true to 00:08:58.690 --> 00:09:03.149 us? Because most of us were raised in systems 00:09:03.149 --> 00:09:06.830 that reward performance. School, sports, work, 00:09:07.029 --> 00:09:11.049 even the church. You show up, you do the work, 00:09:11.049 --> 00:09:14.889 you get the grade. It's cause and effect. Effort 00:09:14.889 --> 00:09:18.799 equals outcome. And somewhere along the way, 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:23.360 we began to mistakenly believe that God operates 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:26.960 on the same system. And it's the thing we've 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:29.840 talked about a gazillion times. We think of faith 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:32.960 like a vending machine. You put in the right 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:34.960 prayer, the right effort, the right sacrifice, 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:37.820 and out pops your blessing. But that's not faith. 00:09:38.259 --> 00:09:43.080 That's a transaction. That's superstition with 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:48.399 a cross stamped on it. This mindset is more deeply 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:51.539 ingrained in us than we care to admit. It shapes 00:09:51.539 --> 00:09:53.799 how we approach prayer, worship, even our sense 00:09:53.799 --> 00:10:00.740 of worthiness. When life goes wrong, the first 00:10:00.740 --> 00:10:06.279 question is often, what did I do wrong? It's 00:10:06.279 --> 00:10:08.539 the same system the elder brother lived in, the 00:10:08.539 --> 00:10:12.210 one in Luke 15. stayed home, everything right, 00:10:12.350 --> 00:10:15.210 followed every rule. And when the prodigal, the 00:10:15.210 --> 00:10:17.129 younger brother came home, the father threw a 00:10:17.129 --> 00:10:21.190 party. What did the older brother say? Look, 00:10:21.230 --> 00:10:23.269 these many years I've served you and I've never 00:10:23.269 --> 00:10:26.389 disobeyed your command, that you've never gave 00:10:26.389 --> 00:10:28.690 me a young goat that I might celebrate with my 00:10:28.690 --> 00:10:33.549 friends. And he's keeping score. And when the 00:10:33.549 --> 00:10:38.470 father acted out of grace instead of fairness, 00:10:39.950 --> 00:10:44.409 It didn't feel like love. It felt like a betrayal. 00:10:45.509 --> 00:10:49.830 And that is what performance -based faith will 00:10:49.830 --> 00:10:54.450 do to you. It will make grace feel like injustice. 00:10:55.570 --> 00:11:02.029 And it'll make mercy seem impossible. But the 00:11:02.029 --> 00:11:07.450 gospel is not capitalism. It's not karma. It's 00:11:07.450 --> 00:11:13.159 not merit. It's mercy. When we turn the kingdom 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:18.419 into a meritocracy, in other words, the smarter, 00:11:18.620 --> 00:11:20.460 the ones that are the achievers, they're the 00:11:20.460 --> 00:11:23.000 ones that rise to the top. When we put our focus 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:25.960 on that, when that becomes the currency of the 00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:31.740 kingdom of God, grace dies. And the cross becomes 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:37.029 a ladder. Church becomes a competition. And God 00:11:37.029 --> 00:11:41.049 becomes a taskmaster instead of a father. And 00:11:41.049 --> 00:11:43.870 the danger of phrases like God helps those who 00:11:43.870 --> 00:11:46.710 help themselves is they sound like wisdom. You 00:11:46.710 --> 00:11:48.570 know what they do? They teach us to trust in 00:11:48.570 --> 00:11:52.230 ourselves instead of God. They tell us that divine 00:11:52.230 --> 00:11:54.789 love is something we earn, not something we're 00:11:54.789 --> 00:11:58.490 given. And that lie, friends, it will wear your 00:11:58.490 --> 00:12:05.399 soul. Let's go deeper into Luke 18. Because Jesus 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:08.740 directly addresses this kind of thinking. Two 00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:12.320 men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:14.940 and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee prayed, 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:19.559 and this is Luke 18, 11, and 12. God, I thank 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:23.440 you that I am not like other men, extortioners, 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:27.279 unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:31.879 I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:34.480 I get, but the tax collector couldn't even raise 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:41.980 his head. God, be merciful on me, for I am a 00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:48.700 sinner. Luke 18 and 13. Next verse, Jesus says, 00:12:49.549 --> 00:12:51.889 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified 00:12:51.889 --> 00:12:54.570 rather than the other. The man who did nothing 00:12:54.570 --> 00:12:57.169 but beg for mercy, he's the one God declared 00:12:57.169 --> 00:13:03.269 right. You want to know who God helps? The ones 00:13:03.269 --> 00:13:07.970 who know they need it. This parable flips the 00:13:07.970 --> 00:13:12.570 script. It dethrones religious effort. It undercuts 00:13:12.570 --> 00:13:16.149 spiritual pride. It humbles this performative 00:13:16.149 --> 00:13:20.320 believer. And lifts up the broken one who can 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:24.960 barely speak. And this is not just a spiritual 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:31.139 point. This is a pastoral one. Because the truth 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:34.899 is half the folks in our pews don't feel like 00:13:34.899 --> 00:13:37.700 they're doing enough. And the other half are 00:13:37.700 --> 00:13:40.240 afraid someone else is getting something they 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:45.100 didn't earn. But grace is not given on a basis 00:13:45.100 --> 00:13:48.860 of comparison. It's poured out on the basis of 00:13:48.860 --> 00:13:52.519 need. The Pharisee helped himself. The tax collector 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:55.240 couldn't. One got applause from the crowd, and 00:13:55.240 --> 00:14:00.039 the other got mercy from God. Romans 8 and 26. 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:02.840 Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, 00:14:03.019 --> 00:14:06.379 for we do not know what to pray for as we ought. 00:14:06.460 --> 00:14:10.159 The Spirit herself, I like to use, intercedes 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:15.120 for us with groanings too deep for words. And 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:16.779 let me tell you something personal, friends. 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:20.720 I've been in moments where I didn't feel like 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:23.340 I had a single word left, if you can believe 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:27.320 it. I've stood in a hospital hallway with a friend 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:32.419 whose child had died. I've sat on a back porch 00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:34.080 with someone who confessed something they'd carried 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:37.700 around for 20 years. I didn't know what to pray. 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:43.720 And I didn't know how to fix it. But I do believe 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:46.720 this, the spirit was groaning right there, not 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:50.919 watching from a distance, not making a list, 00:14:51.019 --> 00:14:54.600 but weeping with us, praying with us, holding 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:57.259 the words we couldn't in the moment seem to find. 00:14:58.460 --> 00:15:01.679 The Greek word for help in this verse, it's this 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.100 long and I'm horrible at it, literally means 00:15:05.100 --> 00:15:09.840 to take hold together with someone. The Spirit 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:14.139 doesn't just do it for us. She kneels beside 00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:18.820 us. She carries it with us. This is what makes 00:15:18.820 --> 00:15:21.679 Christian help different from the world. It's 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.679 not advice from above. It's accompaniment from 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:28.360 within. And this is where I think theology meets 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:32.000 tenderness. Because our God doesn't just reward 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:35.659 the strong. She empowers the weak. She doesn't 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:37.919 cheer from the bleachers. She gets on the field. 00:15:39.690 --> 00:15:41.990 So if you're out of words, that's okay. The Spirit 00:15:41.990 --> 00:15:45.490 has some. Maybe she's praying them right now. 00:15:47.529 --> 00:15:50.129 The Gospels, friends, are a walking and talking 00:15:50.129 --> 00:15:53.470 contradiction to the phrase, God who helps them 00:15:53.470 --> 00:15:58.090 who help themselves. Okay? Now, I'm going to 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:02.029 pause here for one second because I'm about to 00:16:02.029 --> 00:16:05.590 throw down on what I am calling a hermeneutical 00:16:05.590 --> 00:16:11.600 blowtorch. I want to kill something with fire. 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:16.259 Because you might still be sitting there thinking, 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:20.740 I don't know, Pastor. I do know my Bible pretty 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:25.679 well. And there is something in there that sounds 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:31.159 a lot like this. And we're going to talk about 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:34.559 it. And I hope that when you leave here tonight, 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:39.580 you will fully understand. the absolute damage 00:16:39.580 --> 00:16:42.480 you can do to people weaponizing this verse of 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:45.759 scripture. So let's talk about the verse that 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:49.639 folks love to weaponize. Comes to us in 2 Thessalonians 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:56.320 3 and 10. Paul says, if anyone is not willing 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:01.960 to work, let him not eat. Gotcha, pastor. Oh, 00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:07.299 no, you did not. I drove over to Tulsa and seminary 00:17:07.299 --> 00:17:12.460 for too many times to get this one wrong. I've 00:17:12.460 --> 00:17:14.859 heard this verse tossed around to shame the unemployed, 00:17:15.099 --> 00:17:18.079 the mentally ill, the houseless, the ones in 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:21.099 the food line who can't give anything back. But 00:17:21.099 --> 00:17:25.339 let me set the record crystalline clear. First, 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:29.240 Paul is addressing a very specific issue in the 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:34.250 early church at Thessalonica. Some folks in that 00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:37.710 early church were so convinced that Jesus was 00:17:37.710 --> 00:17:41.869 literally coming back any day now, they quit 00:17:41.869 --> 00:17:45.009 their jobs and were freeloading off of the generosity 00:17:45.009 --> 00:17:49.890 of others in the church. Paul isn't rebuking 00:17:49.890 --> 00:17:54.309 the poor here. He's correcting idleness rooted 00:17:54.309 --> 00:17:59.329 in bad eschatology. Right? And you can actually 00:17:59.329 --> 00:18:03.950 kind of... get where they're coming from, right? 00:18:04.049 --> 00:18:06.569 Because they're first -generation Christians. 00:18:06.690 --> 00:18:11.829 It's likely they might have known somebody that 00:18:11.829 --> 00:18:17.549 said, I was there. I saw him alive. I saw him 00:18:17.549 --> 00:18:21.049 dead. And I saw him alive again. And then the 00:18:21.049 --> 00:18:24.529 last time I saw him before he went into the clouds 00:18:24.529 --> 00:18:31.799 was I'll be back. Why wouldn't I think it's next 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:36.759 week based on the pattern? So they quit working. 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:39.980 And you're like, okay, well, what are we talking 00:18:39.980 --> 00:18:42.559 about here? Well, first of all, I want to point 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:45.920 out also that Paul is not living a lavish life 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:49.460 of comfort when he says this. He was a tent maker 00:18:49.460 --> 00:18:53.400 by trade, and he often refused support so that 00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:57.180 he wouldn't be seen as a burden. But that didn't 00:18:57.180 --> 00:18:59.359 mean he expected everybody else to do the same. 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:03.960 Paul regularly encourages generosity and mutual 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:07.740 support in the body of Christ. This verse has 00:19:07.740 --> 00:19:11.799 been so twisted into a club to beat up the already 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:17.920 bruised. To say, you're poor, must be lazy. You 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:20.420 need help, you must not be trying hard enough. 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:24.420 But the whole of Scripture tells a different 00:19:24.420 --> 00:19:28.109 story. Isaiah says, is it not to share your bread 00:19:28.109 --> 00:19:30.029 with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into 00:19:30.029 --> 00:19:33.869 your house? The brother of Jesus, James, says 00:19:33.869 --> 00:19:35.710 if a brother or sister is poorly clothed and 00:19:35.710 --> 00:19:37.769 lacking in daily food and one of you says to 00:19:37.769 --> 00:19:40.190 them, go in peace, be warmed and filled without 00:19:40.190 --> 00:19:42.190 giving the things they needed for the body, what 00:19:42.190 --> 00:19:48.170 good is that? And since you brought up Proverbs, 00:19:48.309 --> 00:19:52.829 Proverbs 19 and 17, whoever is generous to the 00:19:52.829 --> 00:19:55.910 poor lends to the Lord. and he will repay him 00:19:55.910 --> 00:20:01.369 and or her for their deed. 2 Thessalonians 3, 00:20:01.730 --> 00:20:05.630 verse 10 was not written to justify our callousness 00:20:05.630 --> 00:20:09.490 towards others. It was a pastoral and a communal 00:20:09.490 --> 00:20:13.970 safeguard. Paul was trying to protect this fledgling 00:20:13.970 --> 00:20:16.690 church from totally collapsing under the weight 00:20:16.690 --> 00:20:19.670 of the few who had abandoned their responsibility 00:20:19.670 --> 00:20:23.940 to the larger group. In a community shaped by 00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:27.339 generosity and mutual care, Paul's warning was 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:29.880 meant to preserve the integrity of the whole, 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:34.880 not to shame the weak. And when pulled from that 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:38.240 context and aimed at the vulnerable, it becomes 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:43.130 a theology of cruelty. Right? So what I'm trying 00:20:43.130 --> 00:20:46.029 to say here is, and they talk about this in Acts. 00:20:46.190 --> 00:20:48.190 You guys know your Bible, right? I don't have 00:20:48.190 --> 00:20:50.329 to go to a specific verse. You guys get this, 00:20:50.450 --> 00:20:53.009 right? Beginning of the church, they talk about 00:20:53.009 --> 00:20:58.269 we all gave what we had and nobody was in need, 00:20:58.450 --> 00:21:03.200 right? Well, that requires everyone's participation 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:07.460 in some way, right? Because what happens if half 00:21:07.460 --> 00:21:09.579 the people are trying to give and be generous 00:21:09.579 --> 00:21:11.960 and the other half say, I don't want to work 00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:13.759 anymore because Jesus is coming back tomorrow. 00:21:13.980 --> 00:21:18.220 What happens to the church? It goes away. We 00:21:18.220 --> 00:21:20.480 don't talk about it 2 ,000 years later because 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:24.559 it dissolved. And Paul is very much trying to 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:27.359 present. Prevent this from happening in Thessalonica. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.599 Not trying to beat up on the poor and the unfortunate. 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:38.099 So let's bring that blowtorch. Let's burn the 00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:42.099 misuse. Not the scripture, but the way it's been 00:21:42.099 --> 00:21:47.140 twisted to hurt people. Guys, let's reclaim the 00:21:47.140 --> 00:21:52.339 gospel of help for the helpless. Bread for the 00:21:52.339 --> 00:21:55.609 hungry. Healing for the wounded, not judgment, 00:21:55.769 --> 00:22:04.190 not suspicion, just Jesus. So, maybe you've been 00:22:04.190 --> 00:22:07.049 trying to help yourself. Maybe you've been hustling 00:22:07.049 --> 00:22:10.529 for holiness. Maybe you thought if you just prayed 00:22:10.529 --> 00:22:12.470 harder, served longer, tied better, then maybe 00:22:12.470 --> 00:22:14.910 God would somehow know this. Friend, let me tell 00:22:14.910 --> 00:22:19.509 you, he already has. And he's not waiting for 00:22:19.509 --> 00:22:21.789 your perfection. He's just offering his presence. 00:22:22.650 --> 00:22:25.910 Grace is not earned, it's received. And you know 00:22:25.910 --> 00:22:29.589 what? It's scandalous. It's reckless. It's prodigal 00:22:29.589 --> 00:22:33.049 because it shows up in the least deserved and 00:22:33.049 --> 00:22:37.230 the most needed. So here's the truth. God helps 00:22:37.230 --> 00:22:40.930 those who can't help themselves. Or better yet, 00:22:41.029 --> 00:22:47.109 God helps. That's what makes him God. Amen? Amen. 00:22:48.210 --> 00:22:59.470 Thanks, guys. So, maybe that phrase we all grew 00:22:59.470 --> 00:23:02.730 up hearing was meant to motivate. God helps those 00:23:02.730 --> 00:23:05.609 who help themselves. But motivation without mercy 00:23:05.609 --> 00:23:10.829 ain't the gospel. And if the gospel don't sound 00:23:10.829 --> 00:23:13.569 like good news to the worn out, the wounded, 00:23:13.630 --> 00:23:16.630 or the ones too tired to help themselves, then 00:23:16.630 --> 00:23:21.269 that ain't Jesus talking. Scripture don't say 00:23:21.269 --> 00:23:24.150 God waits on the self -sufficient. It says while 00:23:24.150 --> 00:23:27.210 we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It 00:23:27.210 --> 00:23:29.950 says he gives power to the faint and to them 00:23:29.950 --> 00:23:33.410 who has no might, he increases strength. It says, 00:23:33.410 --> 00:23:38.509 come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, 00:23:38.509 --> 00:23:44.059 and I will give you rest. That's not bootstrap 00:23:44.059 --> 00:23:46.700 religion. That's blood and bone grace. That's 00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:49.799 mercy for the ones lying flat on the floor still 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:55.880 saying, I can't. So, if all you got today is 00:23:55.880 --> 00:24:00.200 a whisper, if your prayer sounds more like sighs, 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:04.420 if your faith is hanging by a thread held together 00:24:04.420 --> 00:24:07.220 with duct tape and disbelief, you're not disqualified. 00:24:07.220 --> 00:24:11.079 You are exactly the kind of person Jesus came 00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:14.700 for. Because God don't just help the strong, 00:24:14.779 --> 00:24:18.180 he helps the helpless. And thank God for that. 00:24:18.259 --> 00:24:23.539 Because most days, that's me. And I bet it's 00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:26.759 you too. Hey, I'll see you next time.