WEBVTT 00:00:04.039 --> 00:00:07.440 Howdy God has delivered us from the domain of 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:10.480 darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:14.140 his beloved son in whom we have redemption the 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:18.879 forgiveness of sins Colossians 1 13 of 14. I 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:23.339 love a good story Marvel movies definitely a 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:27.600 favorite decades of stories being piled one on 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:31.780 top of another trilogies that complete a story 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:36.299 Extended series. I am excited that after nine 00:00:36.299 --> 00:00:39.359 years I finally get to see the ending of Stranger 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:43.640 Things. Any good story that lasts a long time 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:47.039 just pulls me in. Even how I met your mother 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:50.820 had me as a sucker. I may be okay at telling 00:00:50.820 --> 00:00:53.439 stories in a sermon that I've prepped in advance, 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.780 but I wish I were better at telling stories off 00:00:56.780 --> 00:00:59.820 the cuff. And one of the things I find exciting 00:00:59.820 --> 00:01:03.259 about entering a story, I mean, really entering, 00:01:04.420 --> 00:01:06.640 is that when you focus long enough on a character, 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:10.719 something in you begins to pull for them. Even 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:14.239 the worst ones. The longer that you pay attention 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:17.500 to them, the more you focus on them, the more 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:21.280 likely you are to be rooting for them. Even the 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:25.000 ones you would never trust to even water your 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.269 plants. You spend enough time with any character 00:01:28.269 --> 00:01:30.989 and your heart starts whispering, come on, maybe 00:01:30.989 --> 00:01:33.609 this is the moment that they turn it around. 00:01:33.969 --> 00:01:37.769 No matter how flawed, how broken, how wildly 00:01:37.769 --> 00:01:41.129 unqualified they are to be any sort of hero, 00:01:41.890 --> 00:01:45.489 once you pay attention, you start wanting redemption 00:01:45.489 --> 00:01:48.870 for them. And that's how it is with this man. 00:01:49.370 --> 00:01:52.750 This man named Dismas. I mean, what a name, right? 00:01:52.989 --> 00:01:55.549 He's either a precious metal or someone who definitely 00:01:55.549 --> 00:02:00.489 owes you money. He's a, well, how we say it, 00:02:00.590 --> 00:02:03.250 he's not a great character. If you're choosing 00:02:03.250 --> 00:02:05.370 teams, you wouldn't pick him. If you were casting 00:02:05.370 --> 00:02:07.750 him in a movie, he'd be somewhere toward the 00:02:07.750 --> 00:02:10.530 end as thug number three who gets knocked out 00:02:10.530 --> 00:02:13.150 before the opening credits even finish rolling. 00:02:14.110 --> 00:02:16.030 Whatever shady things he's done in his life, 00:02:16.169 --> 00:02:17.689 they're not the sort of things that you're gonna 00:02:17.689 --> 00:02:21.389 brag about at Thanksgiving dinner. And yet... 00:02:21.389 --> 00:02:25.409 The longer we start watching the thug, the criminal, 00:02:26.150 --> 00:02:29.969 paying attention to him, something in us can't 00:02:29.969 --> 00:02:33.210 help but hope for him to make something of himself. 00:02:34.289 --> 00:02:36.710 Even though his story seems headed toward disaster, 00:02:36.810 --> 00:02:39.669 even though nothing good seems likely to come 00:02:39.669 --> 00:02:43.030 of it, even though he is corrupt, compromised, 00:02:43.189 --> 00:02:47.330 and honestly undeserving, something in us keeps 00:02:47.330 --> 00:02:50.389 whispering, maybe, maybe there's still a chance. 00:02:50.780 --> 00:02:54.319 Maybe grace will find him. Because when you enter 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:56.879 a story deeply enough, redemption stops being 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:01.120 a plot twist and starts becoming a longing inside 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:05.719 the audience. And if we're honest, we want redemption 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:09.680 too. Not just for the criminal, but for ourselves. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.060 And it's not really about wanting to be in the 00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:16.319 kingdom of God, though. It's expecting forgiveness 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:20.900 to be in our own dark world, on our terms. to 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:23.979 redeem us without needing to change anything. 00:03:24.740 --> 00:03:27.979 Isn't that the thing about people? We love the 00:03:27.979 --> 00:03:32.219 grace, but we hate dwelling in the new kingdom. 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:36.539 Colossians 1, 15 through 16. Jesus is the image 00:03:36.539 --> 00:03:39.599 of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:43.099 For by him all things were created, all things 00:03:43.099 --> 00:03:46.479 were created through him and for him. And maybe 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:49.719 that's the strangest twist of all. We don't ever 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:53.620 actually want the perfect hero. Not really. We 00:03:53.620 --> 00:03:56.520 want the one who limps the way that we limp. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:03:59.539 We want the one who panics at the wrong moments. 00:03:59.819 --> 00:04:02.280 We want the one who snaps at the wrong people. 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:05.300 We want the one who breaks promises and gets 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:09.620 caught because deep down we know that we would 00:04:09.620 --> 00:04:13.199 have gotten caught too. It's like when the flawless 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:16.620 hero walks onto the stage And we know how perfect 00:04:16.620 --> 00:04:18.720 he is and we think, well, that must be exhausting 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:22.240 being that perfect all the time. We hate it when 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:24.720 the girl chooses the good guy. We make up in 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:27.259 our heads reasons why he deserves to be ignored 00:04:27.259 --> 00:04:30.480 and rejected. But then the camera cuts to the 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:34.519 side character, who's sweating, confused, and 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:37.579 morally questionable. And suddenly we're like, 00:04:37.779 --> 00:04:42.459 there he is. That's my guy. The one who clearly 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:44.860 has nothing redeeming about him and makes things 00:04:44.860 --> 00:04:49.439 worse, but hey, at least he's honest. Dismas 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:52.860 is that guy. A man who is something of a mystery, 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:55.740 except we know he deserves to be punished as 00:04:55.740 --> 00:05:00.139 a criminal. Because he is one. And Jesus, well, 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:04.379 he's Jesus. Does anyone really want a root for 00:05:04.379 --> 00:05:07.680 the perfect person? Come on. Does anyone really 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:10.339 want to pay attention to Jesus as an actual human 00:05:10.339 --> 00:05:13.879 being? as someone to connect with on a personal 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:18.540 level. Yes, be our savior, but don't be our buddy. 00:05:19.660 --> 00:05:23.839 Colossians keep shouting as, you don't understand. 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:28.459 Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the 00:05:28.459 --> 00:05:32.339 firstborn. That's the guy to be like. Follow 00:05:32.339 --> 00:05:37.319 him. But let's be honest. When Paul says, in 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:40.319 him all things hold together, Most of us hear 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:42.399 it kind of like a refrigerator magnet or one 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:45.259 of those stitched pillows at Hobby Lobby the 00:05:45.259 --> 00:05:49.220 Jesus store it doesn't really quite hit it doesn't 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:52.879 really mean anything it just looks pretty and 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:57.699 We're far more aware of How we're coming apart 00:05:57.699 --> 00:06:01.079 And that's what it is that we keep looking for 00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:04.939 in others So we gravitate toward the characters 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:08.709 who are coming apart as well The more we watch 00:06:08.709 --> 00:06:12.350 Jesus, the more we admire Him. But the more we 00:06:12.350 --> 00:06:16.949 watch Dismas, the more we understand Him. And 00:06:16.949 --> 00:06:19.149 nine times out of ten, the person you understand 00:06:19.149 --> 00:06:22.689 is the one you root for. He gives us a place 00:06:22.689 --> 00:06:25.949 to hide our hope. If that guy could be saved, 00:06:26.730 --> 00:06:31.089 then maybe someone like me could too. Colossians 00:06:31.089 --> 00:06:36.290 1, 17 -18. Jesus is before all things, and in 00:06:36.290 --> 00:06:39.709 Him, All things hold together. And He is the 00:06:39.709 --> 00:06:43.870 head of the body, the Church. But here's our 00:06:43.870 --> 00:06:47.930 tension. Colossians insist that Jesus is the 00:06:47.930 --> 00:06:51.870 one who holds reality itself together, yet we 00:06:51.870 --> 00:06:56.589 keep trying to rewrite the story. We complain 00:06:56.589 --> 00:07:00.449 when stories turn out exactly the way that they 00:07:00.449 --> 00:07:05.509 were designed. We say well, I didn't want that 00:07:05.509 --> 00:07:08.870 to happen as if the universe somehow owed us 00:07:08.870 --> 00:07:13.389 a gentler episode We watch nine episodes of a 00:07:13.389 --> 00:07:16.970 sitcom We see two characters fall in love exactly 00:07:16.970 --> 00:07:20.569 as the writers set up in episode one And then 00:07:20.569 --> 00:07:22.930 when they end up together at the end we roll 00:07:22.930 --> 00:07:25.230 our eyes and say well that was a terrible ending 00:07:25.230 --> 00:07:29.389 We want our own version that makes us feel better 00:07:29.389 --> 00:07:33.040 about ourselves our own arc, our own ending, 00:07:33.699 --> 00:07:37.220 when we see the ones who are corrupt and terrible, 00:07:37.579 --> 00:07:40.620 who continue to fall down a moral decline, and 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:43.319 they lose in the end, there's still a part of 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:47.339 us that's still a little bit upset. But you see, 00:07:47.379 --> 00:07:49.300 that's exactly what happens with the man that 00:07:49.300 --> 00:07:53.399 we keep trailing through the shadows, Dismas. 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:58.459 He did what we do. He ignored what God had designed 00:07:58.459 --> 00:08:01.319 people to do. He took the storyline built on 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:05.240 God's design and said, no thanks, I'll improvise. 00:08:05.779 --> 00:08:10.420 Steal, maim, kill. It makes a bit more sense 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:15.040 to me. I need to look out for number one. Me 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:18.959 first. But even when we try to scribble all over 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:22.899 the script and ruin the original story, the author 00:08:22.899 --> 00:08:27.180 does not abandon the story. The author does not 00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:32.600 abandon us. Dismas doesn't know it yet. But as 00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:35.799 much as he has tried to escape a story that God 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:38.860 would have originally wanted for him, God is 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:41.399 about to sweep him up into a redemption that 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:45.580 he never could have imagined. For in Jesus, all 00:08:45.580 --> 00:08:48.539 the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and 00:08:48.539 --> 00:08:50.980 through him to reconcile to himself all things, 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:54.340 making peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians 00:08:54.340 --> 00:08:57.960 1. 19 through 20. And this is where the whole 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:03.259 thing cuts open. If God's story only worked when 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:06.419 characters behaved properly and followed the 00:09:06.419 --> 00:09:09.860 right person, we wouldn't have a story. We'd 00:09:09.860 --> 00:09:14.679 have a pamphlet. A very, very short pamphlet. 00:09:15.740 --> 00:09:19.480 If the story only worked out because everyone 00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:22.799 and everything had done everything exactly right, 00:09:23.210 --> 00:09:26.210 there would be no story at all. Because the fullness 00:09:26.210 --> 00:09:29.330 of God, it doesn't show up in the scenes where 00:09:29.330 --> 00:09:33.149 everything is tidy and perfectly done. It shows 00:09:33.149 --> 00:09:36.909 up right when the story derails. Spectacular. 00:09:38.750 --> 00:09:41.830 Look at the cast around Jesus. Disciples who 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:44.070 blurt out the wrong answer at the wrong time. 00:09:44.990 --> 00:09:47.370 Followers who can't stay awake long enough through 00:09:47.370 --> 00:09:51.009 a prayer meeting. Betrayer who thinks the perfect 00:09:51.009 --> 00:09:54.220 moment to hand Jesus over is the exact moment 00:09:54.220 --> 00:09:56.899 when Jesus has finally revealed who he really 00:09:56.899 --> 00:10:00.399 is. If this were a movie, the same audience that 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:03.019 was excited to see all those characters mess 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:05.620 up and ruin things would then be yelling, what 00:10:05.620 --> 00:10:08.720 are you doing? He was getting to the good part. 00:10:08.820 --> 00:10:11.700 He was so close to making everything finally 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:18.210 work. And then it gets worse. as Jesus is betrayed 00:10:18.210 --> 00:10:21.070 as his story is ruined by the characters we were 00:10:21.070 --> 00:10:24.710 originally excited to see the ones whose character 00:10:24.710 --> 00:10:27.750 flaws were just like ours even while we didn't 00:10:27.750 --> 00:10:31.730 want to admit it two thieves appear on the hill 00:10:31.730 --> 00:10:35.690 with Jesus about to be executed for crimes that 00:10:35.690 --> 00:10:39.330 they really did commit as much as we look at 00:10:39.330 --> 00:10:43.409 those pictures time and time again let's be clear 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:46.799 These are not two cute little characters on either 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:50.179 side. This isn't Statler and Waldorf from the 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:53.039 Muppets heckling Jesus from some pretend balcony. 00:10:54.460 --> 00:10:57.179 These were not charming old men making snarky 00:10:57.179 --> 00:11:01.279 commentary. These were hardened criminals, genuinely 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:05.500 dangerous, genuinely guilty. And that's the point. 00:11:06.059 --> 00:11:08.220 These were not actors sitting around the casting 00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:11.360 table discussing who was going to play each part, 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:14.519 making an amazing story that would win the Academy 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:18.580 Award. These were people taking the beauty of 00:11:18.580 --> 00:11:22.419 God's world and destroying it, betraying it, 00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:27.179 ruining it. As much as we look back and find 00:11:27.179 --> 00:11:31.639 it fascinating and lovely, the ones who lived 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:36.080 it had no loveliness at all. But the fullness 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:38.600 of God means that while their sinful rebellion 00:11:38.600 --> 00:11:42.529 was never how it should have been, God would 00:11:42.529 --> 00:11:46.809 still step into the ruined story and find a way 00:11:46.809 --> 00:11:50.809 to redeem it. God says, you broke the narrative, 00:11:51.289 --> 00:11:54.289 you mangled the plot, you took the only perfect 00:11:54.289 --> 00:11:57.730 character and threw him away for the others, 00:11:58.750 --> 00:12:02.629 but I'm still going to set it right. How does 00:12:02.629 --> 00:12:06.850 he do it? By letting the only sinless character 00:12:06.850 --> 00:12:10.740 in the narrative. Carry the consequences of everyone 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:15.340 else's improvisation Being blamed for things 00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:18.600 that he didn't do while others lived according 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:24.179 to the lie So two others who were criminals were 00:12:24.179 --> 00:12:27.419 led away to be put to death with him One of the 00:12:27.419 --> 00:12:30.460 criminals began to mock him, but the other rebuked 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:33.559 him saying Jesus Remember me when you come into 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:37.159 your kingdom, and he said to him today You will 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:41.500 be with me in paradise. And that's what we find 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:44.460 with the two thieves who were given names in 00:12:44.460 --> 00:12:49.320 early Christian tradition of Guestus and Dismas. 00:12:50.179 --> 00:12:53.820 Because Guestus was the one who mocks Jesus and 00:12:53.820 --> 00:12:57.519 Dismas is the one who turns to him. And everything 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.980 in the story, all of Colossians cosmic claims, 00:13:01.139 --> 00:13:04.580 the ones that we hear but we keep glazing over, 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:08.639 every time we get to that passage, all the brokenness 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:12.059 and improvisation and rebellion that we keep 00:13:12.059 --> 00:13:17.519 using to knock away everything God has done suddenly 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:21.820 collapses into a single moment. Because the man 00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:25.740 whose resume is nothing but failure puts all 00:13:25.740 --> 00:13:29.320 his hope in the one whose resume is nothing but 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:33.039 faithfulness. The one who deserves nothing asks 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:38.210 for everything. He asks for paradise. He asks 00:13:38.210 --> 00:13:45.350 for all of it. And Jesus gives it to him. See, 00:13:45.350 --> 00:13:49.649 that's the scandal of grace. This is not how 00:13:49.649 --> 00:13:53.190 the story would normally make sense. But you 00:13:53.190 --> 00:13:56.309 see, that's the punchline. That's the upside 00:13:56.309 --> 00:13:58.690 -down kingdom that Paul keeps shouting about 00:13:58.690 --> 00:14:02.649 in Colossians is that the worst character gets 00:14:02.649 --> 00:14:07.820 the keys to the kingdom. The worst choice is 00:14:07.820 --> 00:14:12.340 the one who gets it all. And that's the only 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:17.399 reason we have life everlasting because that's 00:14:17.399 --> 00:14:23.000 us. We do not deserve paradise. We did not choose 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:25.580 the right path. We did not cling to the right 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:29.399 storyline. We threw away the only one who ever 00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:32.399 followed it perfectly. Because we thought we 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:36.460 saw a timeline that just looked a lot more fun. 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:41.740 And yet, by His mercy, He still hands us the 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:45.860 Kingdom today. Holding the keys does not mean 00:14:45.860 --> 00:14:48.820 that we earned them. That we didn't create a 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:53.240 story that brought joy and beauty to God's Kingdom. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:58.440 But we still have the keys anyway. Because God 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:04.269 let His Son suffer. and earn the keys for us. 00:15:06.049 --> 00:15:10.789 So here is my hope. My plea, if you will, as 00:15:10.789 --> 00:15:14.169 you realize that this morning I am once again 00:15:14.169 --> 00:15:19.250 giving you the keys to the kingdom. My hope is 00:15:19.250 --> 00:15:22.649 that we stop trying to rewrite the story to fit 00:15:22.649 --> 00:15:26.509 what we want it to be. That we stop insisting 00:15:26.509 --> 00:15:29.509 on the versions that flatter us and our biases. 00:15:30.250 --> 00:15:33.210 That we stop returning to paths of corruption 00:15:33.210 --> 00:15:38.009 self -protection and self -creation Is that as 00:15:38.009 --> 00:15:41.950 we hold the keys that we never deserved? We have 00:15:41.950 --> 00:15:45.690 the time now to say more than Dismas ever did 00:15:45.690 --> 00:15:49.590 Lord change me Help me understand why I chose 00:15:49.590 --> 00:15:52.570 what was wrong before I enter your kingdom. I 00:15:52.570 --> 00:15:56.450 will never deserve it But let me follow you now 00:15:57.580 --> 00:16:00.799 Because as much as we look at Dismas and we know 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:03.440 that at that moment his story is coming to an 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:07.120 end We also know that that is the moment that 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:13.360 led into eternity so maybe that moment for us 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:17.220 The moment where we surrender where we look at 00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:19.980 everything that we have done and the consequences 00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:24.019 of it all As we cry in the ruins of what we've 00:16:24.019 --> 00:16:27.840 done and we turn to the firstborn of all creation, 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:32.940 maybe that becomes the chapter in our lives that 00:16:32.940 --> 00:16:36.299 stands for all of eternity. Maybe that's the 00:16:36.299 --> 00:16:40.899 chapter that we present to others as our testimony. 00:16:41.539 --> 00:16:43.799 And maybe that's the chapter where the author 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:49.379 himself rewrites our own ending forever. So today, 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:54.009 here are the keys. My hope is that you receive 00:16:54.009 --> 00:16:57.549 them from the one who loves you enough to give 00:16:57.549 --> 00:17:00.110 himself. Thanks be to God.