Howdy. So a question that I want you all to have
in your mind today is the idea of who are you
united with? And for the English teachers, please
forgive the preposition at the end. But you see,
today, we are celebrating Mother's Day. And in
many ways, what we see with that is how much
we have needed and leaned on and turned to our
mothers, the ones that we trust, the ones who
take care of bandaging up our wounds and telling
us that everything will be okay when somebody
breaks our heart, or occasionally telling dad
jokes and making us wonder why they've betrayed
us. I'm like, Mom, those are my dad's jokes.
Don't, no, I need some safe place. Help me out
here. But... The thing about our mothers, though,
is to know that it's not just them by themselves,
but also this question of who is it that our
mothers are united with as well? Because our
mothers are also the ones that we hope and pray
will be leading us to know God more fully, more
deeply. Because today, we're asking this question
of who it is that we are united with. As an example,
I have to be honest is that there have been different
times when if I've been united with this group
or that group, I've sometimes been more or less
proud to admit it. There was one job where any
time that I would introduce myself to people
and they would find out who my boss was, I almost
immediately had to say, I'm very sorry, I'm much
nicer than he is. And to the point where even
to this day, years later, if they introduce me
to people, they will also say, he used to work
for so -and -so, but don't worry, he's cool.
But then there was also a time I was teaching
at this one school, and as I was there, and I
would tell people that I was a teacher, and then
I'd start introducing my school, and they would
see and know... what type of a school it was
where children would be staying there and would
have all of these focuses on mentorship and personal
growth and making sure that different families
were provided for. And I was proud of it. I loved
being able to tell people that I was working
there. Because the distinction is this idea of
who are we united with? But sometimes we might
also see the same thing among maybe our relatives
and the like. See, I have a relatively large
family, but there might be this one aunt or uncle
of mine where, as I would see them interacting,
it was sort of like we'd say, oh, hey, is there
more of this to drink or more of that to eat?
And my aunt would say, did your uncle ask that?
And we'd be like, oh, no, we were just hoping
for some of it. And then she's like, oh, OK,
then I'll go grab that for you. And then realizing
that as soon as she found out that it was my
uncle who wanted it, she was like, well, he can
go get it for himself. You know that difference,
that one couple where you're like, it really
doesn't matter what comes up. But because it
came from the other spouse, they're just going
to already have an issue with it. But then I
have this other aunt and uncle where it did not
matter what came up. if they found out that the
other one had already made a decision, then they
already agreed with it. That difference there.
Because we have to ask about this idea of unity
among people. This idea of with whom are we united?
See, the thing is that oftentimes what we're
doing is that we're measuring what we do or don't
go along with based off of the people themselves.
we look at this question of whether we attack
or support because of who we're seeing. But we
can oftentimes ask this question of why that
we do that. Well, it turns out that one of the
things we've seen, there was a study especially
four years ago, but it's come up several times
before and after, is this idea that oftentimes
we base our perception not on what we can test,
or see, but rather on what we feel. Whatever
it is that we feel determines which direction
we want to go. And especially looking at which
people that we're focused on. Now, at the time
when Jesus is there, you notice at the beginning
it says that it was the time for the festival
of dedication. There's another term for this,
it's the festival of lights. Hint, hint. Anybody
know which holiday that we're referring to? Hanukkah.
So what we see here is that it's winter time
and Jesus is in the Colonnade of Solomon because
it's cold. I mean, he's not outside the way he
might normally be. But when we see this season,
we see that they are celebrating what happened
almost two centuries previous. is that at a time
whenever the people of Israel had been overwhelmed,
overcome by the Greek Empire, then they were
looking for someone to save them. See, what we
end up seeing is that Antiochus Epiphanes IV
had come along and had completely desecrated
their temple. He had burned pigs on the altar.
That may not sound like a big deal to us as we
go out today and maybe celebrate with sausage
and pork ribs with our mom, but for them, sacrificing
a pig was the most unclean thing you could do.
And not only that, but they put other idols in
the temple. Well, Judas Maccabeus had come along
and led a revolt, and they ended up pushing out
all of the Greek invaders. And so what ends up
happening is, they go and they cleanse the temple.
They get rid of all the idols. They have to actually
replace that particular altar. You have to put
on these new stones and the like. But also to
cleanse everything with purified water. But the
difficulty was that they were also supposed to
be having oil in the menorah, the lamp stand.
come to find out is that as much as they needed
to spend eight days purifying the temple, they
only had enough of the special oil for one day.
But the miracle of Hanukkah is that somehow,
by the grace of God, it lasted for all eight.
Now, knowing this though, is that the people
at the time are remembering this strong military
leader. This person who had taken back the land.
What was it that they were expecting when Jesus
comes along? They want somebody who is strong
and will push out the Romans. But what do we
end up seeing with Jesus? See, here's the thing
about this, is that the very fact that the Greeks
and the Romans were coming and dominating their
land already proved that things had shifted.
Instead of believing that land in an area belonged
to a particular deity or religion, instead people
realize now that it was more about who was there
and whom it was they were worshiping. It was
less about the land and it was now more about
the people. But then we end up seeing Jesus come
along. And what is it that we end up seeing about
Jesus? Well, the thing about Jesus is that Jesus,
time and time again, emphasizes and shows that
He is united with the Father. He is united with
God the Father, and He is showing it with not
only everything He does, but also with everything
that He says. Time and time again is that He
keeps pointing people back to the spirit of truth
and of wisdom, to bring people back to focusing
on worshipping God on the inside, not just on
the outside. To bring people to a place of restoration.
That He's able to heal in ways that nobody else
was able to heal. And it's so doing to say, even
as you have been healed, go rededicate yourself
to God. And then even looking at the parts where
He's going out and bringing grace and mercy.
And that was something that people desperately
needed from God. But the thing about this is
that even though He was unified with the Father
in being and in purpose, the people still didn't
want to hear it. And they end up trying to use
His words against them. You know what that's
like, right? Whenever there's that one person
and no matter what they say, it's always going
to be wrong. And you can end up having one person
saying something, and it's completely wrong,
and then somebody else says the exact same thing,
and it's totally okay. And you're just kind of
like, wait a minute, what's going on here? The
thing is that even though Jesus was being pointed
to as the Son of God, and they're saying, tell
us, are you the Christ? It really was not something
where His words were truly meant to be heretical
if they were actually looking for the true Messiah.
See, the thing is that we know, and Jesus would
later on in that chapter point out, hey, Psalm
82, it says that people will be gods or sons
of the Most High as they come into authority.
The term itself doesn't necessarily have to be
this terrible thing. Or even knowing the Christ
who is to come is the Son of God. But the problem
that was truly there was they just didn't want
it to be him. Not this guy. Not this guy. We
wanted someone who ended up puffing up and promoting
our goals and our purposes. Not this guy. He's
off doing his own thing. And the problem is that
he keeps doing it well. But the difficulty then
is that even as He is one with the Father, all
of those who follow Him are one with God as well.
Isn't it so true that whenever we see somebody
doing well, succeeding, and maybe in many times
even going in the right direction, and it's almost
like we want to look for reasons to be upset
with them? You know, the times whenever you're
like, why don't they like me? Ah, they're just
jealous of you. Oh yeah, they just can't stand
you because you're so great, you're so awesome.
I see that on Facebook all the time. I need to
post that more often, right? But when we see
this though, is that unfortunately it brings
out the worst in these particular religious leaders.
Because the truth is, is that it ends up showing
what is truly on the inside. They're not interested
in being united with God the Father because if
they were and they saw Jesus They would realize
that he is bringing them to the Father Because
that's the thing about those who follow Christ
is even as time and time again. He says They
were given to me by the Father But that's oftentimes
what we end up seeing in our struggles and unity
with the church as well. See, if we're spending
all of our time looking for unity with one another
just for its own sake, then we end up missing
the point. How often it is that we're trying
to figure out how we can be closer to the people
we worship with, closer to the people that we
want to make happy. The times whenever I remember
going through discussions at the seminary and
with other churches and this whole thing where
time and time again people might say well why
don't we do things this way if it works so well
and there'd be like this one person or this one
group that's like well we can't do it that way
and so then nobody wants to change things up
because you don't want to upset this one group.
But we end up seeing it not just in little individual
congregations, but even oftentimes what we end
up seeing throughout our world is that we can
oftentimes be so focused on making sure we sound
like, we act like, we work well with other Christians
that we sometimes get distracted in asking, yes,
but am I being united closer Christ. Because
whenever we're spending all of our time just
trying to make sure that we're getting along
well with others, but we forget who we were united
with in the first place, then we still end up
breaking and losing track. See, whenever we ask
these questions of who we're meant to be, then
we end up asking what are our true intentions.
Because what's funny is that We can be very much
in agreement with other people, but then the
things we do and say reveal what's in our hearts.
And even though we may sound like the other Christians,
who we are, betrays what's truly happening inside.
But when we're getting back to what God's purposes
are, and not ours, He's the one who changes our
intentions. Because that's the thing about Jesus.
Did Jesus say some things that were pretty extreme?
Absolutely. But the more you ask what God wanted
of you, it ends up drawing you even closer to
Jesus himself. And that's the hard part. Is that
where we are, at any point in time, it must always
be about Jesus himself. It cannot be about trying
to make sure that we look or act whatever we
think is Christian. It must always be a question
of is what we say and do more and more like Christ.
And as much as we wish that that distinction
were not there, the only way to truly bring the
church back to where we need to be is by continuing
to be unified with Christ. When we end up seeing
that a part of our community is going through
an illness, and instead of just saying, oh well,
that's really sad to hear, but instead make every
effort to be there with them, to care for them,
to provide what may be needed, because we know
that's exactly who Christ is. Or whenever we
realize that We're trying our best to do something
good and beautiful, and we realize that maybe
we have different ideas in our mind about what
that should be like. And instead of saying, which
one of us is going to win, and instead saying,
how is it that together we can do this in Christ's
name? Or even beyond that? Is even looking to
say, the words that come from my mouth, and the
emotions that come from my heart, are they being
led and guided by Christ instead of just by my
own desire? See, that's the thing about this
is that unity is not truly unity unless it's
unity in Christ. Because as much as we might
want to cling to other people, that's not the
kind of bond. that's unbreakable. As much as
we may be glad when we find others who agree
with us, it completely misses the point. Because
in reality, the true unity that brings life from
the Father, the true unity of life in the Spirit,
is only when we are united with Christ. Because
Jesus was united with us in our death. Jesus
was united in giving up everything for us. But
in so doing, He also united us with Him in His
new life. So wherever we may be, whatever in
our mind we may be thinking that we are pursuing,
if our unity completely misses being connected
in Christ, and we cannot point to Christ in what
we say and do, then it means we've missed the
point. So my hope and prayer for each one of
you, but also for everything we are here in this
place, is that we would continue to ask, is this
united with Christ? Because if it's not, let's
let it go. And let's go back and say, what is
Christ uniting with us to be and to do as children
of God? Thanks be to God.