WEBVTT 00:00:01.979 --> 00:00:05.740 Howdy Well, happy Father's Day to everybody and 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:07.459 You know, hopefully everybody's gonna have to 00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:10.480 have a chance to go grab some lunch or do something 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:14.980 and make sure He gets exactly the right tie this 00:00:14.980 --> 00:00:17.559 year because last year's tie not nearly as good 00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:21.500 as this year's I assure you But you know, I have 00:00:21.500 --> 00:00:24.839 to tell you though a story from back in the day 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:29.640 My first vehicle was a 1981 Chevy Silverado It 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:34.320 was light blue, giant, boxy. I loved that truck. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:38.039 One day, my sister and I were leaving Whataburger 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:41.140 with a couple of cokes, and whoever designed 00:00:41.140 --> 00:00:44.420 the cup holders on the old Chevy Silverado, they 00:00:44.420 --> 00:00:47.039 apparently thought that gravity was optional 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:50.950 because they put them right up on the dash. instead 00:00:50.950 --> 00:00:53.829 of in the console so you know basically it was 00:00:53.829 --> 00:00:56.929 like daring you to drive it with that thing and 00:00:56.929 --> 00:00:59.130 I was still learning how to drive and at one 00:00:59.130 --> 00:01:02.969 point the Silverado hit a curb let's be clear 00:01:02.969 --> 00:01:06.030 the Silverado hit the curb it was not me okay 00:01:06.030 --> 00:01:10.150 all right now the truck rocked and I saw one 00:01:10.150 --> 00:01:13.670 of the coke starting to fall toward my sister 00:01:13.670 --> 00:01:16.629 and in the split second I thought oh no save 00:01:16.629 --> 00:01:20.140 the coke my sister was optional but I went ahead 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:22.579 and jerked the wheel, and I have no idea which 00:01:22.579 --> 00:01:25.140 way I turned, but it was the wrong way, whatever 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:28.480 it was. Because not only did that first Coke 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:31.159 still spill into my sister's lap, the other one 00:01:31.159 --> 00:01:35.019 came flying into mine. So in about five seconds, 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:37.459 both Cokes were gone, we were both soaked, and 00:01:37.459 --> 00:01:39.200 I discovered I needed to get a little better 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:42.379 at driving trucks. The funny thing about driving, 00:01:43.099 --> 00:01:47.239 most of us know that hitting a curb is bad. When 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:51.109 we don't realize... is often that over -correcting 00:01:51.109 --> 00:01:54.930 can be just as bad. Sometimes the thing we do 00:01:54.930 --> 00:01:58.150 to avoid one problem creates a whole new one. 00:01:58.930 --> 00:02:01.510 Martin Luther used to speak of the Christian 00:02:01.510 --> 00:02:04.590 life as a road with two ditches. Many of us think 00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:07.890 our greatest danger is one ditch. We're afraid 00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:11.090 of compromise. We're afraid of sin. We're afraid 00:02:11.090 --> 00:02:14.939 of a world that has forgotten God. And so we 00:02:14.939 --> 00:02:18.360 steer hard toward the rules and the performance 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:21.800 and what can become the self -righteousness. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:26.000 We fall into a ditch of legalism. But you see, 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:29.960 others are afraid of a judgmental religion. We 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:32.719 don't want to be Pharisees because they're not 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:38.780 fair, you see. Yes, you're welcome. You see, 00:02:38.780 --> 00:02:41.439 we don't want to be harsh. We don't want to seem 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:44.580 like we're intolerant. And so we steer hard the 00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:47.479 other way, and we fall into the ditch of license, 00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:50.979 where God's commands are just optional, and holiness 00:02:50.979 --> 00:02:54.340 is just an afterthought. The funny thing about 00:02:54.340 --> 00:02:57.939 ditches is that people sitting in one ditch usually 00:02:57.939 --> 00:03:00.000 congratulate themselves because at least they're 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:03.259 not in the other one. And the legalist may say, 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:05.500 at least I'm not like those worldly people, and 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:07.819 the libertine may say, at least I'm not like 00:03:07.819 --> 00:03:11.039 those judgmental Christians. and all the while 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:13.120 both of them have left the road that was given 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:16.539 by Christ. But recently I was thinking of something 00:03:16.539 --> 00:03:20.099 that was just as bad as ending up in one ditch 00:03:20.099 --> 00:03:22.620 or the other. You see, a week ago I pulled into 00:03:22.620 --> 00:03:25.840 the church parking lot and realized I had a screw 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:29.439 in the tire. By the end of the day, as I had 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:32.900 plenty of errands to run, like here on campus, 00:03:33.500 --> 00:03:37.400 I discovered it was losing air. Thankfully, our 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:39.620 neighbors at St. Thomas and Neighbor House helped 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:42.159 me get enough air in it that I could limp across 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:44.939 the street to go get it fixed. But then just 00:03:44.939 --> 00:03:47.300 a few days later, one of our church members was 00:03:47.300 --> 00:03:49.800 over at Panera and couldn't seem to leave the 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:52.939 parking lot because the wheel had fallen right 00:03:52.939 --> 00:03:57.439 off of the axle. As much as we worry about ending 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:00.819 up in one ditch or another, sometimes the greater 00:04:00.819 --> 00:04:04.039 problem spiritually is that we've made it impossible 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:07.819 to move forward at all. Some people say I never 00:04:07.819 --> 00:04:09.879 want to become one of those judgmental boring 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:13.699 Christians and But they may lose truth and holiness 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:16.240 and others see the brokenness and immorality 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.660 of the world and say I never want to become like 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:23.100 that But they may start acting like the self 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:25.500 -righteous without grace or mercy for others 00:04:25.500 --> 00:04:29.779 and still others the third group becomes so convinced 00:04:29.779 --> 00:04:32.540 that being offensive and winning every argument 00:04:32.910 --> 00:04:36.529 is the point that they make it nearly impossible 00:04:36.529 --> 00:04:40.029 for anyone else to move forward in knowing Christ, 00:04:40.850 --> 00:04:42.889 because they can't see the Christ of grace and 00:04:42.889 --> 00:04:46.649 mercy in the lives of Christians. If Martin Luther 00:04:46.649 --> 00:04:49.230 used to speak about the Christian life as a road 00:04:49.230 --> 00:04:52.170 with two ditches, maybe we should also add a 00:04:52.170 --> 00:04:54.189 disabled car sitting in the middle of the road 00:04:54.189 --> 00:04:56.990 as the third issue, because the question is not 00:04:56.990 --> 00:04:59.649 simply, how do we avoid one ditch or the other? 00:05:00.089 --> 00:05:02.850 The question is also, how do we keep moving forward 00:05:02.850 --> 00:05:06.149 with our Christian life and witness? And perhaps 00:05:06.149 --> 00:05:08.730 that's part of what fathers are called to teach 00:05:08.730 --> 00:05:12.170 us. On Father's Day, we give thanks for fathers 00:05:12.170 --> 00:05:15.269 who teach and guide, for uncles, for grandfathers, 00:05:15.430 --> 00:05:18.889 for older brothers, for mentors, teachers, friends, 00:05:19.569 --> 00:05:21.670 all of those who have been in the role of leading 00:05:21.670 --> 00:05:27.189 and guiding others, and frankly, all the parts 00:05:27.189 --> 00:05:29.920 that go to it. Because I could almost imagine 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:33.699 the verse of saying, you are worth many sparrows. 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:36.259 I could almost imagine my dad saying that to 00:05:36.259 --> 00:05:38.620 me and my sister. Don't worry, I love you at 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:41.939 least as much as many sparrows. Thanks dad, that 00:05:41.939 --> 00:05:47.860 means a lot. But you see, we tease because those 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:50.759 are the ones who are strong in our lives. And 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:53.819 they make it easy for us to feel that we can 00:05:53.819 --> 00:05:56.420 poke a little bit because we know they were the 00:05:56.420 --> 00:06:00.019 ones who endured it all. Today is for saying 00:06:00.019 --> 00:06:02.879 thank you to those who provided guidance in a 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:05.259 complicated world Because you see good fathers 00:06:05.259 --> 00:06:08.180 don't simply say do whatever you want. We wish 00:06:08.180 --> 00:06:13.060 they did sometimes but see Neither does he constantly 00:06:13.060 --> 00:06:17.500 compare one child against another and if he does 00:06:17.500 --> 00:06:21.800 not and also he would not Encourage those siblings 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:24.579 to look for reasons to fight with one another 00:06:24.579 --> 00:06:28.180 you see a good father guides He corrects, he 00:06:28.180 --> 00:06:32.040 humbles, he reconciles. Because the point is 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:35.779 not merely to obey. The point is being a family. 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:38.420 You see when children do something foolish and 00:06:38.420 --> 00:06:40.779 they will say to their dads, well dad technically 00:06:40.779 --> 00:06:43.480 you didn't say I couldn't do that specifically, 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:47.639 but a good father would say you should have known 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:50.959 better. Not because they'd written down every 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:53.720 possible rule, but because they expected their 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:56.459 children to understand what kind of people they 00:06:56.459 --> 00:06:59.800 were called to become. And that's what we see 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:02.600 Paul doing in Romans. You see, at the very beginning 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:04.959 of the book, Paul began with things that humanity 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.560 should already know. Before Moses and the laws 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.939 were written down, before circumcision, before 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:15.379 being Jewish had even been a thing. But you see, 00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:18.480 it wasn't just true for them back then about 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:21.819 acknowledging there are just things that typically 00:07:21.819 --> 00:07:25.189 stand out in the world. See, the same is true 00:07:25.189 --> 00:07:29.009 for us today. Even before our church traditions, 00:07:29.329 --> 00:07:31.910 even before all the debates happening between 00:07:31.910 --> 00:07:34.750 our denominations, there are things that people 00:07:34.750 --> 00:07:40.370 typically know. Deep down, we know. We know that 00:07:40.370 --> 00:07:43.649 greed destroys those who are not the oppressors. 00:07:44.329 --> 00:07:47.589 We know that exploiting the poor is wrong. We 00:07:47.589 --> 00:07:49.910 know that drunkenness enslaves those who are 00:07:49.910 --> 00:07:54.009 in the bottle and those who love them. We know 00:07:54.009 --> 00:07:57.009 that gossip tears people apart and hurts them 00:07:57.009 --> 00:08:00.750 unfairly. We know that abandoning responsibilities 00:08:00.750 --> 00:08:04.889 to family is wrong. We know that arrogance divides, 00:08:04.949 --> 00:08:08.790 and we know that envy poisons. We know sexual 00:08:08.790 --> 00:08:11.490 immorality and promiscuity are not God's design, 00:08:11.629 --> 00:08:13.649 and we know that God originally designed men 00:08:13.649 --> 00:08:16.750 and women to be together. But you see, notice 00:08:16.750 --> 00:08:20.189 that Paul doesn't distinguish any of these as 00:08:20.189 --> 00:08:24.180 somehow being worse. He puts all of these together. 00:08:24.839 --> 00:08:29.199 He puts pride with the sexual sins. He puts drunkenness 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:32.080 with the conceit. He puts immorality with the 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:36.080 arrogance. Different symptoms. The same disease. 00:08:36.740 --> 00:08:39.679 Because all of it came from the humanity that 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:42.220 rebelled against God since the time of Adam. 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:45.559 But just when religious people are sitting here 00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:47.799 and nodding their heads and saying, that's right, 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:52.360 Paul, you tell those people, chapter 2, Turns 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:55.379 the mirror around And one of the dangers that 00:08:55.379 --> 00:08:59.080 Paul exposes is that self -righteousness is oftentimes 00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:02.139 a cover Because it is very easy to point out 00:09:02.139 --> 00:09:05.159 what is wrong in someone else while quietly ignoring 00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:07.120 what we hope that no one will ever notice in 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:11.960 us Sometimes the loudest voices About morality 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:16.139 are not the purest hearts But the most carefully 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:19.820 hidden lives and the tragedy is that we can become 00:09:19.820 --> 00:09:22.879 experts at condemning the sins that we're not 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:26.159 personally tempted by but then we excuse the 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:29.799 ones that we are and Paul said you therefore 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:32.960 have no excuse you who pass judgment on someone 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:38.419 else because pride is sin too so is self -righteousness 00:09:38.419 --> 00:09:41.379 and by chapter 3 Paul just says none is righteous 00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:45.360 no not one not just those immoral people out 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:49.639 there and not just the religious not just the 00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:53.940 pastor not just the father, not just the child. 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:57.179 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of 00:09:57.179 --> 00:10:00.600 God. And chapters four and five point to faith 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:04.059 in Christ alone as our only hope, because God 00:10:04.059 --> 00:10:06.120 shows His love for us that while we were still 00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:10.139 sinners, Christ died for us. And that's what 00:10:10.139 --> 00:10:13.360 brings us to Romans 6. Because after all of this, 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.980 Paul asks, shall we continue in sin that grace 00:10:16.980 --> 00:10:19.419 may abound? I mean, if we're forgiven anyway. 00:10:19.909 --> 00:10:23.269 Shouldn't we just keep on sinning? Absolutely 00:10:23.269 --> 00:10:27.230 not. Grace is not permission, not even for the 00:10:27.230 --> 00:10:31.990 things we have excused in our minds. Grace changes 00:10:31.990 --> 00:10:34.750 us. Not because we're trying to become members 00:10:34.750 --> 00:10:37.590 of the family of God, but because we already 00:10:37.590 --> 00:10:42.769 are. Present yourselves to God as those who have 00:10:42.769 --> 00:10:47.649 been brought from death to life. Obedience to 00:10:47.649 --> 00:10:50.929 God That's not the wage that's required to become 00:10:50.929 --> 00:10:56.169 his child. Obedience is a child resembling their 00:10:56.169 --> 00:11:00.309 father. Because we begin to look like our father. 00:11:00.789 --> 00:11:03.330 We don't say, God forgives me, therefore I can 00:11:03.330 --> 00:11:05.889 do whatever I want. And we don't say, look how 00:11:05.889 --> 00:11:10.190 much better I am than everyone else. We belong 00:11:10.190 --> 00:11:13.750 to Christ. But because we belong to Christ, we 00:11:13.750 --> 00:11:16.970 present ourselves not as slaves to impurity. 00:11:17.450 --> 00:11:20.970 but as servants of righteousness. Not because 00:11:20.970 --> 00:11:22.889 we're earning a place, but because Christ has 00:11:22.889 --> 00:11:26.529 already given us one. For the wages of sin is 00:11:26.529 --> 00:11:30.009 death, but the free gift of God is eternal life 00:11:30.009 --> 00:11:34.450 in Christ Jesus our Lord. And the more we pursue 00:11:34.450 --> 00:11:37.610 things that God has given us, ways in which He 00:11:37.610 --> 00:11:40.950 designed our lives to be, with compassion, with 00:11:40.950 --> 00:11:44.570 equity, with purity, with courage, we start to 00:11:44.570 --> 00:11:49.840 see how they are not actually bondage at all, 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.779 but rather opportunities to live in spirit and 00:11:53.779 --> 00:11:57.200 in truth, with life, with joy. Now if you've 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:00.519 been following Paul's argument, you begin to 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:02.899 realize that chapters 2 through 5, they already 00:12:02.899 --> 00:12:06.460 warned us against the danger, because the Jews 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:09.340 had their own works of the law that they did, 00:12:10.419 --> 00:12:12.860 because they showed themselves to be dedicated 00:12:12.860 --> 00:12:16.080 to God, set apart from the other nations for 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:18.980 centuries. the circumcision, the dietary laws, 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:22.419 the holy days and the festivals. But performing 00:12:22.419 --> 00:12:25.539 those things, those were not the way that they 00:12:25.539 --> 00:12:29.700 were made right before God. It was always by 00:12:29.700 --> 00:12:34.299 faith. They were signs by which they showed themselves 00:12:34.299 --> 00:12:38.259 dedicated to the God who had already saved them. 00:12:39.539 --> 00:12:43.039 But Christians oftentimes do the same. We may 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:45.919 not argue about circumcision and kosher foods 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:48.820 and if you do Maybe I'll just leave myself out 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:51.399 of that conversation, but we do have our own 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:56.080 lists church attendance and offering envelopes 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.279 Listening to the right Christian radio station 00:12:58.279 --> 00:12:59.759 because there are two of them and you better 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:03.159 listen to the better one Listening and voting 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:06.080 the right way and going to the right school belonging 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.600 to the right denomination. I'm looking at you 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:12.940 LCMS knowing the right people being involved 00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:15.700 in the right programs. And none of those are 00:13:15.700 --> 00:13:18.240 bad, and most of them are typically pretty good. 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:23.480 But none of them is what makes us right in God's 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:27.639 eyes. And more than that, we sometimes use them 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:30.639 to ignore the sin that is actually in our hearts. 00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:33.080 And the ways in which we're actually betraying 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:37.340 God's commands. And all while saying, but look 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:40.279 at these good Christian things I am doing. I 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:43.440 must truly be a good Christian because if I'm 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:47.159 doing these Christian things, whenever we begin 00:13:47.159 --> 00:13:50.200 trusting in those things to be our identity, 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:53.740 we stop being vessels of grace and we become 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:57.399 inspectors of everybody else's lives. And that 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:00.360 means something very important for how we see 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:04.059 one another because not every struggle looks 00:14:04.059 --> 00:14:08.169 the same. Some people are caught in these patterns 00:14:08.169 --> 00:14:11.490 of sin that are visible and obvious, and we can 00:14:11.490 --> 00:14:13.970 easily look at them and say, look at that person. 00:14:15.070 --> 00:14:17.509 But others carry struggles that are quieter. 00:14:18.629 --> 00:14:21.909 They're more complicated. They're harder to untangle. 00:14:23.049 --> 00:14:26.230 And neither one is helped by just sitting there 00:14:26.230 --> 00:14:29.750 and condemning. Because what they need is truth 00:14:29.750 --> 00:14:34.889 spoken with compassion. To say, I hear you. I 00:14:34.889 --> 00:14:37.740 see you. I'm not here to pretend that your struggle 00:14:37.740 --> 00:14:41.679 is easy. I'm not here to excuse what God calls 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:45.620 us away from. But I'm also not here to crush 00:14:45.620 --> 00:14:48.899 you. The call of the Christian life is not just 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:51.200 to point people in the direction of God's will, 00:14:52.059 --> 00:14:55.279 but to walk with them toward it. Even when it 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:58.000 takes time, even when it's hard, even when the 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:02.059 struggles are real, even when others push against 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:07.940 us, mock us, harm us. Because without this, people 00:15:07.940 --> 00:15:09.799 begin to wonder whether Christianity is really 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:12.740 about Christ, or is it about Christians trying 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:15.779 to make themselves look better than others while 00:15:15.779 --> 00:15:20.080 ignoring their own flaws. Paul asks later in 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:23.000 Romans, how then will they call on Him in whom 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:25.759 they have not believed? And how are they to believe 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:27.960 in Him of whom they have never heard? Brothers 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:31.100 and sisters, this is not a message just about 00:15:31.100 --> 00:15:33.580 the need for more preachers, which we do need 00:15:33.580 --> 00:15:37.539 more preachers. How are people to believe in 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:41.460 the grace of Christ whom they have not seen if 00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:43.720 they do not experience grace from Christians 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:47.360 whom they have seen? This does not mean we stop 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:49.820 speaking truth. It doesn't mean we pretend that 00:15:49.820 --> 00:15:52.600 sin doesn't matter. Grace is not permission, 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:57.820 but righteousness by grace is not an exclusive 00:15:57.820 --> 00:16:01.559 club. Because how can we expect people in this 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:05.070 world to understand living their new life in 00:16:05.070 --> 00:16:08.190 Christ the way He commands before they've even 00:16:08.190 --> 00:16:10.350 understood the forgiveness that brought them 00:16:10.350 --> 00:16:13.009 into that new life in the first place. How do 00:16:13.009 --> 00:16:15.509 they understand sanctification before justification? 00:16:16.049 --> 00:16:18.009 How do they understand the beauty of obedience 00:16:18.009 --> 00:16:21.330 before they knew the mercy of the Savior? It 00:16:21.330 --> 00:16:23.509 would be like getting upset at someone for not 00:16:23.509 --> 00:16:26.070 knowing how to keep the car in between the lines 00:16:26.070 --> 00:16:28.730 of traffic while telling them they're not good 00:16:28.730 --> 00:16:30.809 enough to start practicing behind the wheel. 00:16:31.850 --> 00:16:35.740 We can't expect them to know if we haven't welcomed 00:16:35.740 --> 00:16:39.600 them in in the first place. And this is our joy. 00:16:39.899 --> 00:16:42.259 This is the joy because it's not our accomplishments, 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:46.240 it's grace. Joy is forgiveness. Joy is mercy. 00:16:47.700 --> 00:16:51.519 While we were still sinners, all of us, Christ 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:55.240 died for all of us. And that's something that 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:58.279 I continue to preach week after week here as 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:00.679 your shepherd, but frankly quite often it can 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.120 sometimes be like herding cats rather than herding 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:06.359 sheep. Some of you I know would love for me to 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:08.339 come up here every week and say, God forgives 00:17:08.339 --> 00:17:11.559 you, now have fun, yay. Put that on the billboard 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:15.400 out front. But Christ never said that. He forgives, 00:17:15.460 --> 00:17:19.380 He loves, He restores. But He never said, continue 00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:21.539 enslaving yourselves to the impurities of your 00:17:21.539 --> 00:17:24.779 heart. He said, present yourselves to God as 00:17:24.779 --> 00:17:27.420 those who have been brought from death to life. 00:17:27.769 --> 00:17:29.890 And then I know that there are those of you who 00:17:29.890 --> 00:17:32.490 are like, now pastor, you need to make sure you've 00:17:32.490 --> 00:17:34.950 shown the world how much you condemn all those 00:17:34.950 --> 00:17:36.890 things about them and explain how terrible the 00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:39.849 world is, how awful those people are, how broken 00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:42.349 society has become. And frankly, so much of that 00:17:42.349 --> 00:17:46.109 is true. But how can people understand new life 00:17:46.109 --> 00:17:49.369 in Christ if I haven't started by showing them 00:17:49.369 --> 00:17:52.309 what His forgiveness is? How can they understand 00:17:52.309 --> 00:17:54.009 what He calls them to if they don't know the 00:17:54.009 --> 00:17:57.019 one who calls them? How can they understand the 00:17:57.019 --> 00:17:59.339 forgiveness of sins when frankly, how many of 00:17:59.339 --> 00:18:03.200 us act like we've never sinned? Sometimes if 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:05.160 we're honest, we as Christians make it a little 00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:08.460 harder for people to move forward. We may not 00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:10.980 be in a ditch, but we're sitting right in the 00:18:10.980 --> 00:18:12.940 middle of the road with the flat tire blocking 00:18:12.940 --> 00:18:16.420 the way. Because sometimes our pride, our harshness, 00:18:16.700 --> 00:18:19.220 our desire to prove a point, our eagerness to 00:18:19.220 --> 00:18:21.799 win arguments and make the world suffer for all 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:25.210 their mistakes. We make it almost impossible 00:18:25.210 --> 00:18:28.369 for people to even hear the gospel. Sometimes 00:18:28.369 --> 00:18:31.990 we're not suffering for Christ like we think 00:18:31.990 --> 00:18:35.329 we are. Sometimes we're suffering just because 00:18:35.329 --> 00:18:38.970 we're normally obnoxious people. Sometimes we're 00:18:38.970 --> 00:18:41.970 not being persecuted for the gospel. Sometimes 00:18:41.970 --> 00:18:44.150 we're being called out for our own hypocrisy 00:18:44.150 --> 00:18:47.509 and corruption. And sometimes we're not defending 00:18:47.509 --> 00:18:50.849 the gospel. We're just defending our own biases 00:18:50.849 --> 00:18:56.039 and what we want. Because we're all sinful humans. 00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:59.440 And if our haughtiness makes people less willing 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:02.740 to hear about Christ, then we should not congratulate 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:05.900 ourselves when we pick every fight and then call 00:19:05.900 --> 00:19:09.480 it faithfulness. Because sometimes, sometimes 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:12.799 the cross we carry may be faithfulness, but sometimes 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:16.119 the cross that we carry is our own need for repentance. 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:19.599 Because we confuse our pride for faithfulness. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:23.160 Because Jesus never called us to create division 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:27.380 for division's sake. He never called us to become 00:19:27.380 --> 00:19:30.640 professional arguers. He never called us to make 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:34.539 enemies just to prove a point. But He also tells 00:19:34.539 --> 00:19:40.599 us in Matthew 10 that division will come. Not 00:19:40.599 --> 00:19:43.799 because we seek it, but because truth itself 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:47.680 is uncomfortable. Those who want permission to 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:51.720 commit sin, they will dislike repentance. Those 00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:54.019 who want superiority to other sinners, they're 00:19:54.019 --> 00:19:58.220 going to dislike grace. Those who want conflict 00:19:58.220 --> 00:20:02.640 itself will dislike humility and mercy. But Jesus 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:06.740 loves all of the repentance, the grace, the humility, 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:10.500 and the mercy that He brought. Because He doesn't 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:13.160 belong to all those other camps, even when those 00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:19.559 camps would reject Him. Sadly, we... often reject 00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:23.759 Jesus. Even us as Christians. Because along with 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:26.160 the rest of the world, we don't like how Jesus 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:29.259 expects us to follow Him even when we have to 00:20:29.259 --> 00:20:33.160 be humble about it. We may find ourselves very 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:37.400 alone because we realize that we cannot please 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:40.839 the world and then we can't seem to please the 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:44.099 other Christians when ultimately we're just asking 00:20:44.099 --> 00:20:48.759 them to follow Jesus. Jesus says, whoever loves 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:52.599 Father or Mother more than Me is not worthy of 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:55.940 Me. And frankly, that sounds harsh, especially 00:20:55.940 --> 00:20:58.839 on Father's Day, right before we all go off to 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:05.119 lunch together, right? But you see, fathers understand 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.240 this better than anyone, especially when they 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:11.160 have to be the ones to do what is right, even 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:13.759 when their children and others don't always know 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:17.259 how to feel about it. Because a good Father does 00:21:17.259 --> 00:21:19.400 not ultimately want His children living to make 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:22.119 Him happy. He wants His children to love what 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.299 is good. He wants His children to love what is 00:21:25.299 --> 00:21:28.339 true. He wants His children to love what is right. 00:21:30.039 --> 00:21:32.900 Ultimately, every good Father wants His children 00:21:32.900 --> 00:21:35.160 to love Christ more than they would love Him. 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:39.079 And the children who know their Father should 00:21:39.079 --> 00:21:41.460 know better than what others would lead them 00:21:41.460 --> 00:21:44.799 to believe. Not because they've arrived at perfection. 00:21:45.309 --> 00:21:48.309 They have it all figured out and all the answers, 00:21:49.109 --> 00:21:52.730 but because they know to whom they belong. See, 00:21:52.730 --> 00:21:55.670 there are three ways that we leave the dangerous 00:21:55.670 --> 00:22:00.470 road, and sometimes we say, I'll do whatever 00:22:00.470 --> 00:22:04.930 I want, but God says that our lives belong to 00:22:04.930 --> 00:22:07.730 Christ. And then other times we want to say, 00:22:07.789 --> 00:22:10.809 I'm better than everyone else, but God says, 00:22:11.009 --> 00:22:16.519 no, none of you are. And then some say, I must 00:22:16.519 --> 00:22:20.299 prove my point. But instead, God is saying, listen 00:22:20.299 --> 00:22:23.880 to me. And make sure that everyone knows that 00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:27.420 they matter to God and that they matter to His 00:22:27.420 --> 00:22:31.940 people. See, Christ calls us not to any of the 00:22:31.940 --> 00:22:36.619 pitfalls, but to Himself. Because discipleship, 00:22:36.660 --> 00:22:39.759 just like being someone's child, is not pretending 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:43.539 that we have it all together. It's being corrected. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:47.440 It's being humbled. It's because we're forgiven 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:52.039 and then we're able to survive the correction 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:57.220 we need. Because as children loved by God, we 00:22:57.220 --> 00:22:59.539 can be honest that we've fallen into those pitfalls. 00:23:00.579 --> 00:23:03.500 But then we can take joy in knowing that our 00:23:03.500 --> 00:23:07.099 God is still transforming us and leading us home. 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:13.319 So, maybe you all are... Not nearly as good of 00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:16.720 children as I am because you don't have a signed 00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:18.819 photo of Lou Ferrigno as the Incredible Hulk 00:23:18.819 --> 00:23:22.740 for your father. Sorry, you're just not going 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:28.180 to be as good today. But, in Christ Jesus, we 00:23:28.180 --> 00:23:31.339 all have what it is that our fathers truly need. 00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:34.599 To know that their children are following after 00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:38.140 the True Father because of the life given in 00:23:38.140 --> 00:23:41.509 Christ Jesus. In His name. Amen.