What's up, everybody? How's it going, pursuers?
Oh, wait, hold on. You remember we had a conversation
with someone this week, last week, recently,
and they said that they weren't sure if that
is the name of the group. They did. They did
say that. Do you remember the name that they
suggested? It was something culturally insensitive.
I can't remember. No, it was not. They think
they like dudes and dudettes. Dudes and dudettes.
What's up, dudes and dudettes? I mean, I say
dude all the time. It's a part of my cultural
lingo. Yeah, that's true. Dudettes is not something
I say very often. No, I have not said dudettes
ever. Truthfully, I feel like dude for me has
evolved to be like a gender neutral term. Yeah,
I agree. I agree. But every now and then you
run into somebody who is a lady who you refer
to as, oh, dude, what's up? And they're like,
I am not a dude. So when I was in college, I
had a habit of longboarding around the campus,
right? Oh, I did that in college too. Yeah? Yeah.
All that to say, I was bumping up against curfew
because Christian College, you had to be back
at the dorm by a certain time or else you were
a bad person. And I'm hauling timber trying to
get back in time. And I've got an umbrella because
it rains a lot in Cedarville. But it was Maddie's
umbrella. It was like an outrageously girly umbrella.
As it should be. As it should be, right? I think
it was like pink, you know? And so some chick
from the sidewalk shouts out, Nice umbrella,
dude! And I was like, Hey, thanks, dude! And
I kept on trucking, and I just hear from behind
me, I'm not a dude! Wow, like really offended
over calling her a dude. Of course, like, I think
I meant that a little dude -ish, too. Yeah, you
probably had a little oomph on the word dude,
you know? Thanks, dude! Yeah, I don't know. I
mean, I do like Pursuers. I think it's interesting.
I don't think we're fully settled on what we're
going to call our audience yet, but I'm just
glad they're here with us. I am also just glad
they're here with us. Also, I hear there's some
new people to the podcast. I've been hearing
some people on Sundays talk about how they've
recently started to join us. No way! And I think
that's amazing. I think that's amazing. But for
everybody, just for some clarification, because
even though this is Sean speaking right now,
I might not sound like the normal Sean. I am
recovering from Mission Serve that we had last
week and also some sickness that involved with
Mission Serve. And so if my voice is a little
crazy, let me apologize in advance for the sound
of my voice and then also whatever noises might
come out. missed the editing floor. Yeah, I what
I'm excited about what you've done here is it
gives me opportunity to insert other sounds that
you also don't make as man. Sean just like made
that noise. Yeah, podcast, you know, you're just
going to start putting random noises and they're
going to be like, oh, Sean is disgusting. It's
like the most massive belt you've ever heard
in your life and like and we're not going to
even mention it because it's not there for real,
but yet it's going to sound like we're just rude
people just going right by it. No, it'll sound
like you're just... Oh, you'll make sure of that.
That's true. That's true. Pursuing Jesus fam,
what's actually happening is I've actually fed
every clip of audio I have of Sean into an AI
agent, and Sean's not actually in the room with
us. I'm talking to a robot Sean who, based off
of his personality and my programming... And
this is the best the voice could get. This is
the best the voice could get. get exactly i will
say at least from my side of the room with headphones
on you sound relatively normal so you know what's
funny with you saying that okay because like
i've have you used chat gpt's voice yeah i have
on occasion like you can have almost human conversations
with the chat. Like, you know, cause if you have
conversations with Siri or like things like that,
it's very, it's very robotic, you know, and you
can't have a conversation, but you can have a
conversation. Once again, you realize it's not
totally human. It's still, it's getting there,
but man, it gets closer all the time. So anyways,
but he's saying that like there's a, there is
absolutely an AI program out there that you could
feed in information. Have a conversation with
it and make it mimic a person based on the algorithms
and the information you upload to it. And that's
kind of a scary thing. Isn't that so impressive
that the software actually knows about that and
is actually doing it? Because that's what we're
doing right now is I'm talking to you, a robot.
For it to have that discussion. See, here's the
problem, because you're a conspiracy theorist.
Yep, I am. You sure? I know we've got some in
the church as well. They're out there. They're
everywhere. Yep, they are. We grow in number
every day. They really have no idea right now.
If I'm real, that's we're going to leave it at
that. We're going to leave it at that. As the
AI would say. Yes. And so you want to share what's
going on with that? Where were you with the students?
Yeah. So for those who don't know the summer
schedule. that we have here at Memorial this
year. And actually, this is like the third year
in a row. It's been wild. But so we have two
major organizations that we partner with with
our student ministry. And one is Mission Serve.
We just did that last week. It was an incredible
week. Pause. And so Mission Serve. Ended up being,
like I said, it was just amazing. And next week
on Sunday, so Sunday morning, I am taking a smaller
group of students and we're going to SLU 101.
All right. And so 101 is the first leg of the
Student Leadership University, hence SLU, a journey
that we take with our students. And so Sunday
we will leave. We will be back Thursday. I'll
be back for a week. And then the next week, I
will leave on a Monday morning and take students
to SLU 201 in Washington, D .C. And so then those
are the major trips. But then we still got our
pre -teen campus center kids coming up. And so
I still have three major trips coming up this
summer, week -long trips. And these really are
like trips, conferences. This is not a vacation
by any means. No, and anybody who calls these
vacations, I'm not going to call it names because,
yeah, one of the very first phone calls I got
when I got back from Mission Serve, and once
again, and Mission Serve, the hardest one. We
are on the mission. We are doing construction
-based ministry. We're out in the sun. 24 hours
a day. I mean, it is just, and then it's a lot
of kids, so there's drama going on. Drama? It's
teenagers, so of course. And so, yeah, one of
the very first phone calls I got was like, hey,
Sean, how was your vacation? And I'm like, I'm
going to slap you, sir. You did give identifying
information. Now, Sunday, when I head down to
Orlando and I go to a student ministry conference,
I will get to spend some time in SeaWorld. I
will get to spend some time. You get to see Shamu?
No, I don't think Shamu's there anymore. What?
Yeah. What did they do with Shamu? There's orcas.
What did they do with him? Also, there's been
many, many, many Shamus. It's just different
whales, different orcas with the same name. I
know. Anyways, and then we'll also go to Universal
Studios. And so there are some fun aspects to
this trip. So it's a vacation? No. It all depends
on the students who are going. I don't know how
many students are listening to this podcast or
parents of students, but there is... This one
will not be a vacation. Let's just leave it at
that. Kids, think about the power that you wield
over your friendly neighborhood. Y 'all can figure
out who's going on this trip and figure out which
kid is the reason or kids are the reason that
this one will not be a vacation. Well, this is
a good information to have. We'll be praying
for you as you go. This will air in just a couple
days on Friday. And so as you listen, party people.
Be praying for Sean and the students as we go
to SLU. I will appreciate it very much. Well,
dude, as we jump into the text here, I was kind
of thinking a little text icebreaker thing. Okay.
What is the best gift or the worst gift you've
ever gotten, like for Christmas or for a birthday?
One gift comes to mind with worst and best. Okay.
So I don't remember how old I was. But the name
of the band is going to let it realize how long
ago this was. I never remember telling my parents
I liked this band. I never remember mentioning.
In fact, I remember vividly, and I don't remember
many things vividly from that long ago. Okay.
But I remember vividly looking at this neon yellow
fanny pack. of New Kids on the Block. Oh, man.
Yeah, and like I said, at this point in my life,
I don't think I had ever heard one of their songs.
Wow. But I think it was just like they were the
band of that time. Right. And my parents probably
just saw something and were like, oh, yeah, my
son must know about this or something. I had
no idea. And they might've just like bought it
thinking it wasn't merch maybe. And just like
cool phrase where graphic tees back then with
words on, but, uh, but yeah, so I just, so I
said, so that's like the immediate when it comes
to my mind where I'm just like, why did my parents
get me that? You know? Yeah. What's so funny
is they probably got me amazed. I probably got
like Ninja turtle stuff, Lego stuff. I don't
remember any of that that year. The only thing
that my brain remembers is the new kids on the
block. Fanny bag. But in that human nature, though,
they say that we are four times more likely to
remember something negative than something positive.
How disappointing in us. But it's true. It's
completely true. Following the same vein as your
story, this is not about a bad gift I received,
but about me receiving it poorly. When I was
young, I was like super duper into rescue heroes.
Right? There's like figurines and they have like
trucks, planes. It's like anybody who does like
a job where you're helping people and they have
action figures and stuff. All that to say, from
the animated movie, there's a scene where they're
on a volcano and the firefighter rescues people
from the volcano because that's what firefighters
do. You know, putting volcanologists out of a
job across the globe. 100%. And it's this big,
like massive volcano with the toys and the trucks
and all that. I saw it on Toys R Us and begged
my parents for it for Christmas. They got it
for me. And what did I do with it, Sean? I opened
it up and I played with the box. Yes, I played
with a box because it had to have been huge because
the box was massive. I could go in that thing
and like like like the half opened rescue hero
action figures are sitting on the floor of our
living room and I'm like in this box playing
with the packing peanuts and stuff like that,
but like like I think that's just how kids. sometimes.
I've heard of other people having that response.
You are describing Judah. To this day, anytime
we get a huge Amazon box or anything that comes
to the house, he is going to play with that box.
Now he's at the age where he will cut it and
turn it into toys. I love that. He has always
been a box kid. He's a box troll. Noted. I love
that. I love that. Well, so the reason I ask
you about gifts is because the text that really
spoke out to me from this week's reading was
the text from June 26th. So this is in another
three -peat where you see it in three gospels.
You get it in the Matthew account, the Mark account,
and the Luke account. And this is where Jesus
very famously says, let the little children come
to me. Tried to read this with fresh eyes because
it's a very famous account. It can be easy just
to autopilot. and read, reread, move on. But
a couple of things, really the main thing that
stood out to me was the notion of receiving something
like a child, or as it were, playing with the
box. So where we're going today is Mark 10. 13
through 16. I'm going to probably get a draw
from several of the accounts here. Rare that
we get a account in all three gospels, even more
so in all four when you get John. But this was
a really powerful passage for me. But so Mark
10, 13 through 16. And they were bringing children
to him that he might touch them. And the disciples
rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant
and said to them, let the children come to me.
Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom
of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not
receive the kingdom of God like a child shall
not enter it. And then he took them in his arms
and he blessed them, laying his hands on them.
I mean, there's so much here. Like, for me, seeing
the tenderness of Jesus towards children and
all that stuff, and knowing that that reflects
our Father's heart for us too, I could camp there
for a while. And even the opposite side of that,
the seriousness of his response to the disciples
trying to keep the children from him. Right.
Just to show that, man, it's incredible. It is.
First things first, the Luke account says, bringing
even infants to him that he might touch them
like like the the i love that the narrative voice
here reflects surprise like dude they were even
bringing kids to him because you have to remember
in jewish culture at the time that jesus was
walking the earth we didn't they didn't see kids
the way that they saw them today or the way that
we see them today kids were like second class
citizens. There's even a passage elsewhere in
the Pauline epistles where Paul talks about a
kid is essentially treated like a slave until
he comes of age, and then he can inherit all
his stuff. And so the fact that parents are beginning
to bring their kids to Jesus really shows how
much folks are trusting him as their Messiah.
But the disciples dismiss this out of hand. Like,
excuse me, the Messiah? God's anointed one has
better things to do. Right. And you can really
see that that is probably the attitude or something
around those lines that is going through their
mind right here. Well, so the disciples rebuke
them. And so like, dude, that word rebuke is
the same word that Jesus uses to talk to the
demons. Jesus rebuked the demons that like, and
when they're telling him to come out of them.
So this is not like a, hey guys, like now's not
a good time. This is like. Jesus got serious.
So the disciples were serious is what I'm saying.
Yeah. And so, but Jesus gets indignant, which...
Oh yeah, but I see what you're saying there.
Sorry, I missed that for a second. No, you're
good. But yeah, the disciples there, I mean,
like even the language that they're, the language
and attitude that they were using towards the
parents or the people bringing the children,
it really shows how much they were missing really
the heart of what Jesus wanted. Yes. Absolutely.
And so Jesus gets indignant and he says, let
the children come to me. Do not hinder them for
to such belongs the kingdom of God. So I'm not
a dad. I said that last week when I preached
on Father's Day and felt a little weird engaging
with that subject material anyways. But you're
a dad, Sean. You have had the opportunity to
at least partially parent three little humans.
None of them are fully baked yet. No, no. I've
got one that is – I've got an almost 16 -year
-old. That's terrifying. So I have made it into
this teenage aspect of parenting. Yes. Yeah.
But you're a dad, and so like – When you read
this text, let the little children come to me,
for to such belongs the kingdom of God. And then
15, when Jesus ups the ante and says, truly I
say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom
of God like a child shall not enter it. How do
you see childlikeness and faith in Jesus intertwine?
Whenever I think of childlike fake, whenever
I think of childlike faith, The thing that comes
to me is I remember my children as toddlers and
younger, right? It's a really fun age with kids.
There's these frustrating times because maybe
they're barely talking or they're speaking this
version of English that only the mother can understand,
not even the father, right? And so it's a really
fun age, but at the same time, they are reliant
on their parents for everything, right? You know,
there's a time where like, you know, they...
They can't change their own diapers. They can't
feed themselves. They can't close themselves.
They can't put themselves to bed. Literally nothing.
My children relied on myself and my wife to do
everything for them. Utterly dependent. Utterly
dependent. And so when I think of childlike faith,
it's this idea of realizing like... I am completely
dependent on something else over myself. I can't
do this. And so when I see Jesus here and he
says, truly, I tell you, whoever does not receive
the kingdom of God like a little child. So it's
once again going to this thing that we've been
talking about for weeks now, and that is there's
nothing we can do to earn it. You know, he says
you will not enter. And we won't enter if we
think we can do something to deserve this. It's
like, no, we are utterly dependent on our Father
in heaven. And that's what I think childlike
faith is very similar to. I'm completely with
you. And I think that even in listening to the
way that we've talked about this, with the utter
dependence on God, or even as we're going through
Galatians on Sunday mornings, the legalism of
the hypocrites, the Judaizers as we'll come to
see them in a couple of weeks. It's easy to go,
okay, cool. No, I believe in Jesus. And then
like kind of truck on. But I think that that
mindset of I have to earn my own salvation is
a tendency that all believers have to fight all
the time. Absolutely. It's subtle, man. I love
how the example of kids, and I think God designed
our natural life cycles in this way to use a
mundane, earthy thing to explain a spiritual
truth. But it seems a lot to me like that complete
and utter dependence is something that we have
to cultivate within ourselves. Because as you
grow up, right, you stop being a kid, you don't
need that kind of help anymore. Like, dude, I
got this. My sister has children, and I've gotten
to watch several of them grow up. I was walking
through a parking lot with my oldest nephew,
and it's the rules. If we're walking through
a parking lot, he was at the age that I still
had to hold his hand. We make it in okay. We
do whatever shopping we need to do. We come back
out, and I'm holding the bag of groceries in
one hand, and this kid's hand in the other, and
he yanks his hand out of my hand, and he goes,
I hold my own hand. Dude, bro, that's me. That's
me. When I sit down to read God's word, I have
to choose to open my heart to the Holy Spirit.
And if I don't... I'm looking at God and saying,
I hold my own hand. I'm smart enough and wise
enough and discerning enough to get what you
have for me today, which is ludicrous. But if
I don't stop to think about what is my heart
doing in those moments, I won't realize that
I have taken the course that I've set and shifted
it five degrees off, which seems small. at the
beginning, but can be disastrous the longer you
go. But I think that's why Jesus is using this
opportunity to teach this lesson, because it
is something that we tend to get away from, because
I think in all cultures, as we grow older, we
become more independent, and we're raised as,
like, what can I do? I can do this on my own,
especially in our American culture of I've pulled
myself up from the bootstraps type of mentality
that we have. We have to be reminded of when
it comes to the kingdom of God. No, it is. We
are children relying on our Father. Beautiful
truth. And then I love to see Jesus' tenderness
at the end. At the end of the Mark account, he
took them in his arms, and he blessed them, laying
his hands on them. And the wildness about this
is Jesus didn't do all this just for the kids.
Jesus did this for the disciples standing there
and the parents standing there. There are many
things that were very important in my life that
happened when I was very little that I have very
little recollection of. And so these kids being
taken into Jesus' arms, literally the God of
the universe, the arms that fashioned them, that
knit them together in their mother's wombs, and
he blessed them. That was for their benefit,
but it was also for the benefit of the people
that were standing there. And so Jesus even teaching,
like walking out what he's talking about. I can't
get away from it. Like approaching God like a
child. And it even says young children in the
Luke account too. Like, dude, like I'm an infant.
And spiritually, I feel like that fits so well
too. Like I've got no rights spiritually. Like
I'm completely dependent on... others for help,
both dependent on the Lord. And as I grow in
my faith, I have to be dependent on the people
who have gone before me and the men and the women
who have followed Jesus longer and or deeper
than I have to learn from them too. And also
like a child, I'm probably super annoying. You
know, like the way that I approach God is over
and over and over and over again. And I wrestle
with the same stuff day to day. And he's got
to tell me, a million times don't touch the stove.
But that's not how he responds to that kind of
childlike spiritual behavior. He picks us up
in his arms and he blesses us. You know, one
of the things that I've learned, and I think
this is something that comes from years of following
Jesus, as I've become more spiritually mature,
the closer I get to Jesus, the more I realize
I need him. And I think it's this... I get more
childlike. I realize more and more and more I
am dependent on Jesus for everything. Because
I think when you're young in your faith, when
you're spiritually young, it doesn't matter what
age you are, but when you're spiritually young...
you have more of the tendencies of what can I
do for Jesus and having this attitude of trying
to prove yourself or show off or whatever it
is, the terminology you want to use. But the
closer, the more time I spend, the more genuine
time I spend in God's word, the more genuine
time I spend in worship, and the closer I get
myself in a relationship with Jesus. the more
I want to be around him, the more I want to continue
to be in that spot, and also the more I realize,
like, I can do nothing. You know, it's no longer
is it like, oh, man, I just preached a great
sermon. It's like, no, I know what it's like
when I've gotten on stage, and it's been too
much of Sean. And I know that it is absolutely
Jesus speaking through me. And it's things like
that, or even things that go well in ministry
and things. It's like, okay, I've been on this
journey long enough now. I am in complete dependence
on Jesus for everything. You know what I hear
you saying, though? What? It's not that you're
becoming more childlike, Sean. It's that you're
recognizing how childlike you've always been.
Explain. Dude. It's the early spiritual mindset,
doing things for Jesus, oversubstituting with
our own resources rather than relying on the
Lord, constantly striving forward and striving
forward and striving forward. Those are all the
behaviors of kids. And then I think maturity
is recognizing that we have those things and
not even eliminating them, but putting them in
the right place. Which, dude, I'm still on the
journey of. That's not something I'm ever going
to arrive from, for sure. Well, yeah. I mean,
even the Apostle Paul, when he talks about as
we grow in maturity, we start with milk, but
we end up, as we get deeper, we get to the meat
and to the bread of life. And so, I mean, there's
aspects of our faith that are childlike, but
there's also a time when I become a man and the
man has to stand up and we have to put away childish
things, as the Apostle Paul says. Yeah. Real
question is, is like, you know, you get to the
meat and the bread, but what if like you've got
that tick disease or you're gluten intolerant?
Yep. Oh, man. Well, let's completely unforced
and super duper smoothly pivot to your text for
today, Sean. Yeah, sure. What am I talking about?
That was a great transition there, man. May I
tell you what? The more we do this, the more
professional we don't become. I resent that remark.
We do have good conversations. We do have good
conversations, man. I will say that. So, yeah,
this has been an interesting week. And there's
been some, you know, I'll be honest, we kind
of talked about this. There's been some very
difficult passages in this week's reading. Yeah.
You know? But there's one, the one that stood
out to me, the one that I cannot get away from,
the one that I have to talk about, is not one
of the more, like I said, it's not one of the
more difficult passages of the week as far as
interpretation. But the lessons and realizing
where we are in this parable, I think are important
and it's something to reflect on. And that is
the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
It's one of those parables that I believe is
Sunday School famous for sure. You know, if you've
grown up in church, you've heard this. You definitely
saw this on a felt board somewhere. It's been
a sermon illustration. Have you ever actually
seen a felt board, Benjamin? Yes, I have. You
have. In Sunday school, being used. Not ironically.
Not ironically. Okay, see, the last time I saw
it was Sardis Presbyterian Church, long, many,
many, many years ago. You were reformed? When
I first started going to church, my first church
experience, because I didn't grow up in church,
but we were Christmas Easter family when I was
young, and we went to Sardis Presbyterian Church
in Charlotte. Okay. That's where we went, yeah.
I forgot you were like a Charlotte kid for a
hot minute. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Born in Charlotte,
raised in Matthews until I was going into the
seventh grade. Wow. And then that summer before
my seventh grade year, we moved to Wilmington,
and that's where I spent the rest of my life.
So, yeah. So, yeah. So that was my church experiences.
But I can remember the few times I went to Sunday
school back then. I did get sprinkled, by the
way. So did I. Yeah, yeah. I got sprinkled at
the Presbyterian Church when I was a baby. Don't
remember it. I was an infant, but I've seen pictures.
Nice. But, yeah. But I remember the felt boards.
But this is definitely one of those stories that
even someone like me who barely went to church
growing up, even I probably might have heard
this one a time or two. But let me just read
the parable. It comes from Luke 18. It starts
in verse 9, and it's just an interesting parable.
So let me read it. He also told this parable
to some who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and looked down on everyone else. Two
men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee,
and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee was
standing and praying like this about himself.
God, I thank you that I am not like other people,
greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like
this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give
a tenth of everything I get. But the tax collector,
standing far off, would not even raise his eyes
to heaven. but kept striking his chest and saying,
God have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you, this
one went down to his house justified rather than
the other, because everyone who exalts himself
will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself
will be exalted. When you look at the comparison
between these two guys, And even how Jesus, I
think how Jesus sets up this parable, because
this, once again, this is a parable. This is
a story, a spiritual story he's making up for
a reason. And he says he also told this parable
to some who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and looked down on everyone else. So
the crowd he is speaking to. looks like the first
person, looks like the Pharisee. Okay, yep. At
least internally. Yes. Yeah, yeah. It doesn't
say that they are Pharisees, but he's showing
that this is their attitude that they have, and
he's probably using this because if these...
So just imagine, I don't think that they were
Pharisees. I think that would have been in the
description because Jesus isn't afraid to call
out the Pharisees. And so it says that he...
To some who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous. So imagine if these were the common
Jewish people, but this is the attitude they
had. And because they respected the Pharisees,
they would have learned that from them. Yes.
And so, but then they're being... they're being
compared to by these Pharisees and this attitude.
And so I imagine by them looking and seeing this
attitude that Jesus is portraying of what they
really are acting like. You know, it's one of
the things I think, you know, you hear like in
the SBC, people say, oh, Sean, you really stepped
on my toes today. You know, like it's like one,
I think they're getting one of those moments
where they're getting hit right in the heart
and they're realizing exactly what Jesus is trying
to do. But the difference between these two positions,
I mean, even physically how Jesus described him,
one is standing at the altar and the other...
is bowing and can't even bring himself to come
to the front. Yeah. I mean, even the physical
representation of the two people, not even looking
at the things that they do, but just how the
posture, the body posture is, you can see the
attitude that Jesus is trying to reflect. What
Jesus wants for us is for us to recognize who
we are. Yeah, 100%. I mean, we cannot come to
Jesus before we recognize our sin. Nope. You
cannot be saved unless you realize that there's
something you need saving from, which is why
sin is such an important part of the gospel.
It's unfortunate if people don't talk about sin.
Sin is one of those things that it is. We don't
like to talk about the bad things that we do
in life. We don't like to call out those things
sometimes. But it is what has separated us. from
God. Sin has caused the death of our Savior because
it is only through his death that we can have
redemption, that we can have salvation. And so
this tax collector, standing far off, would not
even raise his eyes to heaven. So he is back
in the back. So he can't even come to the altar.
He can't bring himself. He can't even come there
because he probably views that as this holy space.
He's like, I can't even enter into the presence.
And I'm just going to stand and just strike my
chest saying, God have mercy on me, a sinner.
And this is, once again, I think this is where
we talk about that spiritual maturity. Like a
title does not give you spiritual maturity. Come
on, somebody. The title of just because this
person had the title of Pharisee doesn't mean
that they have it all together. Doesn't mean
this is the person that you need to follow in
your life. The tax collector realized who he
was and is getting to a point where he recognizes
the sin that is in his life. And that's what
Jesus wants from all of us. He wants all of us
to look inside, not look at other people. And
even though you see that, the Pharisee is comparing
himself to others, trying to make himself feel
better about himself. Like, no, that's not what
Jesus wants. You know what's crazy, though? Dude,
the Pharisee is guilty of those sins. Yes. He
lists the extortioners, not like other men, he
lists extortioners, unjust, adulterers, tax collector.
Dude, the Pharisees did extort the people of
God. Yes. Of their wealth for their own purposes.
Yeah. Unjust. Jesus condemns the Pharisees for
neglecting justice and mercy and those things,
even though they're tithing 10 % of the spices
in their cabinet. Adultery. Jesus, one, he does
condemn the Pharisees for adultery, and he doesn't
ever say specifically what he's talking about.
Commentators assume that there was something
specific there. But spiritual adultery, putting
themselves on the throne, he does all those things.
He's just looking at the external. and looking
to justify himself. And it's like, dude, you're
doing the stuff. You're doing all the things
that you said that you are better because you
don't do it. And then I love how Jesus finishes
this off as he kind of puts a bow on this little
parable. He says, everyone who exalts himself
will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself
will be exalted. And that's what we need to look
at to realize that, listen, you know, the posture,
that we should have as Christians is humility.
Yeah. That's what we go before the throne, and
that's how we walk in this world, with humility.
You know what that verse 14 is? If he who exalts
himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself
will be exalted. That's a promise. Yeah. Like,
we can take that one to the bank. But I think
that those are the only ways that either of those
camps ever come to see things the right way.
If you humble yourself too much, which is a unique
kind of pride, by the way, if you're down on
yourself too much, the only way that you can
see that differently is if God raises you up.
If you see yourself as the stuff, as high and
mighty and the best, the only way that God can
bring you to a place where you see yourself rightly
is to humble you. And that's terrifying. But
we have to trust the hands of our master shepherd
that what happens and how we are treated and
what we experience is ultimately for our good.
But you're completely right. That is the heart
that God's looking for in his people. I think
it's 1 Peter or Hebrews or one of those books.
Humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty
hand of God that at the proper time he might
exalt you. Amen. Amen. Well, dude, this has been
fun. I feel like this one went particularly fast.
I don't know. Maybe it was the talk of Christmas
and Christmas presents. I feel like we've been
doing this for a while now. But yeah, Sean's
like, please let it end. But we have had some
good discussions today, man. So we have, well,
dudes and dudettes, pursuers, as it were. This
has been fun. I have been Ben Smith. Yeah, I've
been Sean Griffin. And I just want to remind
you guys real quick. Dude, you ruined our ending.
But I need to let them know. Okay, fine. Say
it again. So here's the deal. Because the blue
book, the quarter two book is almost done. So
for those of you following along with us, you
need to make sure next time you are in the sanctuary,
pick up the new purple quarter three pursuing
Jesus. Purple book. Purple book. Y 'all, this
is what I deal with on a daily basis. When you
work with a worship pastor, you deal with this
kind of stuff all the time. Okay, well, when
you work with a youth pastor, you work with him
walking into your office with a toilet paper
roll taped to a leaf blower, and he coats your
office with TP. It had to be tested before it
was done before BBS Kids. This has been Ben Smith.
That's Sean Griffin. We'll see you next week.
Have some tacos. Pursuing Jesus is a ministry
of Memorial Baptist Church in Norwood, North
Carolina.