1 00:00:00,118 --> 00:00:01,650 On here. But 2 00:00:02,101 --> 00:00:03,926 I am... And if you come in the 3 00:00:03,926 --> 00:00:04,322 fall, 4 00:00:04,798 --> 00:00:06,623 you might not know at all because I'm 5 00:00:06,623 --> 00:00:09,025 gonna go on sa bad, so We're getting 6 00:00:09,025 --> 00:00:11,525 ready for me to be somewhere else, but 7 00:00:11,825 --> 00:00:11,985 anyway, 8 00:00:13,185 --> 00:00:14,865 it's not a here there. I'm just killing 9 00:00:14,865 --> 00:00:16,225 time when we all find our seats. 10 00:00:17,517 --> 00:00:18,074 Let's pray. 11 00:00:21,417 --> 00:00:23,169 Father, we thank you for your word. 12 00:00:25,734 --> 00:00:28,214 We thank you for the life that you 13 00:00:28,214 --> 00:00:28,454 lived. 14 00:00:31,095 --> 00:00:33,115 And for the kingdom that you have ina. 15 00:00:35,030 --> 00:00:36,950 And we asked Lord that as 16 00:00:39,030 --> 00:00:40,789 as we think on these things this morning 17 00:00:40,789 --> 00:00:42,549 as we meditate on who you are and 18 00:00:42,549 --> 00:00:43,189 what you've done, 19 00:00:45,202 --> 00:00:46,797 that you would move us and shake us 20 00:00:46,797 --> 00:00:48,471 deep within that you would wake us up, 21 00:00:50,863 --> 00:00:52,457 that you put a fire in her hearts 22 00:00:52,457 --> 00:00:52,957 lord 23 00:00:54,542 --> 00:00:55,814 for the things that bother you, 24 00:00:56,610 --> 00:00:57,643 that they would bother us. 25 00:00:58,677 --> 00:00:59,813 For the things that 26 00:01:00,586 --> 00:01:02,256 fill you with joy would fill us with 27 00:01:02,256 --> 00:01:02,494 joy. 28 00:01:04,502 --> 00:01:05,960 That we might know your peace 29 00:01:07,935 --> 00:01:08,733 and be your church. 30 00:01:10,010 --> 00:01:11,288 We ask this in Jesus name, 31 00:01:12,326 --> 00:01:12,645 amen, 32 00:01:14,977 --> 00:01:17,693 Well, this morning is the second part of 33 00:01:17,693 --> 00:01:20,490 probably like a 12 part sermon series. It 34 00:01:20,490 --> 00:01:22,332 just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I thought 35 00:01:22,332 --> 00:01:23,603 it was just gonna be a 2 part 36 00:01:23,603 --> 00:01:26,144 service series, but man, I could just keep 37 00:01:26,144 --> 00:01:28,209 b on this thing. It's like my favorite 38 00:01:28,209 --> 00:01:30,210 jam. It's like, playing fun or something. I 39 00:01:30,210 --> 00:01:32,355 don't know. I can't can't quite, you know, 40 00:01:32,593 --> 00:01:34,659 how it is. Drummer and fun gets kind 41 00:01:34,659 --> 00:01:35,215 of that way. 42 00:01:35,930 --> 00:01:38,334 I I love this thing. It we're talking 43 00:01:38,334 --> 00:01:40,174 about the Kingdom of God. We've been talking 44 00:01:40,174 --> 00:01:41,694 about it for a couple of weeks now. 45 00:01:41,855 --> 00:01:43,295 This will be week 2 of that. And, 46 00:01:43,534 --> 00:01:45,135 I guess Tim was talking about the Kingdom 47 00:01:45,135 --> 00:01:47,466 of God too. So It's not the last 48 00:01:47,466 --> 00:01:49,242 you'll hear of it, but it's the primary 49 00:01:49,381 --> 00:01:49,779 theme 50 00:01:50,258 --> 00:01:52,491 throughout the bible. And the last week, we 51 00:01:52,491 --> 00:01:54,485 talked a lot about kind of the historical 52 00:01:54,485 --> 00:01:56,732 precedent of the kingdom of God. Where it 53 00:01:56,732 --> 00:01:59,038 was at in the old testament, how Jesus 54 00:01:59,038 --> 00:02:01,266 kinda would have understood that, how the Jews 55 00:02:01,266 --> 00:02:03,747 of his day would have understood that, And 56 00:02:03,747 --> 00:02:05,895 now I wanna talk about what it means 57 00:02:05,895 --> 00:02:07,191 for us today 58 00:02:07,725 --> 00:02:10,749 right now in this moment because there are 59 00:02:10,749 --> 00:02:13,628 some complications that we have. That we faced 60 00:02:13,628 --> 00:02:15,219 because we talk about the kingdom of God. 61 00:02:15,378 --> 00:02:17,924 It's here. It's among us. Everything's good. It's 62 00:02:17,924 --> 00:02:19,117 all good in the hood. Right? 63 00:02:19,768 --> 00:02:21,617 But then we have other problems. 64 00:02:22,545 --> 00:02:24,132 Like in 2004 65 00:02:24,132 --> 00:02:26,592 on boxing day, the day after Christmas, 66 00:02:27,004 --> 00:02:29,716 an earthquake registered in the Indian ocean off 67 00:02:29,716 --> 00:02:31,412 of the northern coast of Sum. 68 00:02:33,385 --> 00:02:35,538 The earthquake hit 9.2 69 00:02:35,538 --> 00:02:36,575 on the Richter scale. 70 00:02:37,709 --> 00:02:39,546 Around here, we have hundred year floods. 71 00:02:40,825 --> 00:02:43,782 Earthquakes of that magnitude are so large that 72 00:02:43,782 --> 00:02:47,167 they're given a regular interval, of 800 years 73 00:02:47,620 --> 00:02:48,255 on average. 74 00:02:49,129 --> 00:02:51,773 And when they hit the results are catastrophic, 75 00:02:52,385 --> 00:02:54,132 especially when they occur in the Indian ocean, 76 00:02:54,291 --> 00:02:55,219 like this 1 did, of 77 00:02:56,219 --> 00:02:59,040 When that happens, even islands like Sri lanka 78 00:02:59,259 --> 00:03:01,099 off of the southern tip of India over 79 00:03:01,099 --> 00:03:04,219 a thousand miles from the epicenter of that 80 00:03:04,219 --> 00:03:07,889 quake. Have reason to fear the approaching tsunami, 81 00:03:10,271 --> 00:03:12,495 which broke shore in Sri lanka only 2 82 00:03:12,495 --> 00:03:15,931 hours after the quake, Imagine that, thousand miles, 83 00:03:16,170 --> 00:03:18,241 2 hours, how fast that thing is moving, 84 00:03:19,038 --> 00:03:20,733 and it brought a death toll 85 00:03:21,284 --> 00:03:23,365 to Sri lanka of 46000 86 00:03:23,365 --> 00:03:24,805 people, just in Sri lanka. 87 00:03:25,525 --> 00:03:27,444 And it took time for the news to 88 00:03:27,444 --> 00:03:29,125 get out for information to get out to 89 00:03:29,125 --> 00:03:30,004 the rest of the world, 90 00:03:31,057 --> 00:03:32,642 and over the days and the weeks that 91 00:03:32,642 --> 00:03:35,812 followed, that death coal continued to rise and 92 00:03:35,812 --> 00:03:37,794 eventually over a quarter million people, 93 00:03:38,524 --> 00:03:39,082 were killed, 94 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,514 and countless others displaced from their homes and 95 00:03:42,514 --> 00:03:45,227 all of it on the day after Christmas, 96 00:03:47,633 --> 00:03:49,225 This is a bummer of a wade to 97 00:03:49,225 --> 00:03:50,181 introduce a sermon. Right? 98 00:03:51,535 --> 00:03:53,764 And you might be reasonably asking why is 99 00:03:53,924 --> 00:03:56,560 Kyle doing this? Rest assured. I'm asking myself 100 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:57,274 the same question. 101 00:03:58,068 --> 00:04:00,131 But what I'm hoping to address by pointing 102 00:04:00,131 --> 00:04:01,900 all of this out is the question 103 00:04:02,273 --> 00:04:02,987 that was raised, 104 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:04,520 in the days, 105 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,400 weeks and months following the tsunami, which is 106 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:07,639 this? 107 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:09,080 How could this happen? 108 00:04:10,774 --> 00:04:12,444 This is not an active war that we 109 00:04:12,444 --> 00:04:15,547 could simply point to selfish sinful broken humanity 110 00:04:15,547 --> 00:04:18,688 or human motives. We can't blame corrupt governments 111 00:04:18,747 --> 00:04:19,407 or mis 112 00:04:19,785 --> 00:04:21,780 countries for this kind of a thing. It 113 00:04:21,780 --> 00:04:24,255 leads us instead to cry out to God 114 00:04:24,255 --> 00:04:26,091 and ask them the question, why? 115 00:04:27,301 --> 00:04:29,286 Why God, when you have the power to 116 00:04:29,286 --> 00:04:31,906 stop such an event, would you allow such 117 00:04:31,906 --> 00:04:34,074 horrific and seemingly ind inexperienced 118 00:04:34,527 --> 00:04:35,638 suffering to occur. 119 00:04:37,490 --> 00:04:38,629 Sadly enough 120 00:04:39,009 --> 00:04:41,009 people began to offer responses. 121 00:04:41,569 --> 00:04:44,150 Many of them poorly thought out and theological 122 00:04:44,210 --> 00:04:45,090 pretty un compelling. 123 00:04:46,784 --> 00:04:49,425 Some use the tsunami as proof for the 124 00:04:49,425 --> 00:04:50,944 non existence of God, 125 00:04:52,384 --> 00:04:53,264 especially a good God, 126 00:04:54,157 --> 00:04:57,743 Others less thoughtfully weaponized the tsunami, claiming god's 127 00:04:57,743 --> 00:05:00,770 wrath against sin and claimed every death every 128 00:05:00,770 --> 00:05:02,762 man, woman and child on that day after 129 00:05:02,922 --> 00:05:03,320 Christmas, 130 00:05:03,733 --> 00:05:06,705 a reasonable target of God's wrath with apparently 131 00:05:07,161 --> 00:05:09,814 no consideration for the fact that Christ satisfied 132 00:05:09,952 --> 00:05:11,068 that wrath once all. 133 00:05:13,552 --> 00:05:15,782 David Bentley Hart wrote what I found to 134 00:05:15,782 --> 00:05:17,931 be a really thoughtful and I think deeply 135 00:05:18,091 --> 00:05:21,049 Christian response to this in his book. Called 136 00:05:21,049 --> 00:05:22,238 the doors of the sea. 137 00:05:23,189 --> 00:05:25,329 It's a small book. I don't have time 138 00:05:25,329 --> 00:05:27,810 to address the whole thing entirely 139 00:05:28,359 --> 00:05:29,478 you can read his book if you want 140 00:05:29,478 --> 00:05:30,596 to, You can borrow it for me if 141 00:05:30,596 --> 00:05:33,153 you want, for his fuller treatment. But I 142 00:05:33,153 --> 00:05:35,630 wanna introduce this sermon on the kingdom of 143 00:05:35,630 --> 00:05:38,593 god, with the Indian ocean tsunami because I 144 00:05:38,593 --> 00:05:40,902 believe it asked a challenging question about the 145 00:05:40,902 --> 00:05:41,619 kingdom of God, 146 00:05:42,256 --> 00:05:43,689 especially for those of us who hold at 147 00:05:43,689 --> 00:05:46,012 the kingdom of God is among us even 148 00:05:46,012 --> 00:05:46,250 now. 149 00:05:47,364 --> 00:05:50,068 How is it that if God's kingdom has 150 00:05:50,068 --> 00:05:51,284 come with Christ 151 00:05:51,754 --> 00:05:53,586 as we begin to establish and as we 152 00:05:53,586 --> 00:05:54,861 kind talked about last week, 153 00:05:55,657 --> 00:05:57,569 that we still exist in a world where 154 00:05:57,569 --> 00:06:00,118 an act of god as it's categorized by 155 00:06:00,118 --> 00:06:00,756 insurance companies, 156 00:06:01,328 --> 00:06:03,952 can still eradicate a quarter of a million 157 00:06:03,952 --> 00:06:05,701 people on the day after Christmas. 158 00:06:06,893 --> 00:06:08,642 But of course, it doesn't take a once 159 00:06:08,642 --> 00:06:11,384 and every 800 year level earth quake 160 00:06:11,757 --> 00:06:14,456 slash tsunami event for us to ask that 161 00:06:14,456 --> 00:06:15,329 kind of a question. 162 00:06:16,838 --> 00:06:19,818 Yesterday, I presided over a graves side service 163 00:06:19,877 --> 00:06:21,872 for Brian Hunter, who I baptized a couple 164 00:06:21,872 --> 00:06:23,229 of months ago, you guys don't remember. 165 00:06:24,666 --> 00:06:27,435 His body eventually came to the cancer for 166 00:06:27,954 --> 00:06:29,954 And in those moments, we cry out to 167 00:06:30,035 --> 00:06:31,394 God with the injustice. 168 00:06:32,194 --> 00:06:32,754 Why Brian? 169 00:06:33,794 --> 00:06:34,615 Why cancer 170 00:06:35,885 --> 00:06:37,712 Why death at all for that matter, if 171 00:06:37,791 --> 00:06:39,221 Christ has beaten this thing. 172 00:06:40,650 --> 00:06:42,898 From a biblical perspective, death is 173 00:06:43,271 --> 00:06:44,622 the consequence of sin. 174 00:06:45,675 --> 00:06:48,475 And Sin came about through Adam and Eve 175 00:06:48,475 --> 00:06:50,634 when they chose freely to eat the fruit 176 00:06:50,634 --> 00:06:52,050 that they were forbidden to eat 177 00:06:52,646 --> 00:06:54,976 Sin and death were never part of God's 178 00:06:55,669 --> 00:06:55,987 design. 179 00:06:56,623 --> 00:06:58,930 There are to be understood as negative things. 180 00:06:59,584 --> 00:07:02,621 Shadows of the actual substance that God created. 181 00:07:03,100 --> 00:07:06,137 God is the creator God. He brings something 182 00:07:06,137 --> 00:07:08,947 out of nothing. He brings light, out of 183 00:07:08,947 --> 00:07:12,212 darkness. He creates S or peace out of 184 00:07:12,212 --> 00:07:14,863 the chaos waters. He speaks into the silence 185 00:07:15,239 --> 00:07:17,332 and out of that word life 186 00:07:17,644 --> 00:07:19,478 and substance and creation abound. 187 00:07:20,755 --> 00:07:22,828 When we see sin in this way as 188 00:07:22,828 --> 00:07:26,758 the inverse, the undoing of creation, the negative 189 00:07:26,976 --> 00:07:27,215 side, 190 00:07:29,535 --> 00:07:32,316 If human flourishing is found by participating in 191 00:07:32,395 --> 00:07:35,176 God's created order as we talked about last 192 00:07:35,176 --> 00:07:35,335 week, 193 00:07:36,464 --> 00:07:37,841 Human flourishing was 194 00:07:38,616 --> 00:07:40,689 participating in God's created order in the way 195 00:07:40,689 --> 00:07:43,161 that we were created to do so, filling 196 00:07:43,161 --> 00:07:46,121 and doing creation with the capacities he gave 197 00:07:46,121 --> 00:07:46,756 us to do, 198 00:07:47,550 --> 00:07:50,114 then sin is simply a refusal 199 00:07:50,964 --> 00:07:53,266 to be fully who god created us to 200 00:07:53,266 --> 00:07:53,425 be. 201 00:07:54,634 --> 00:07:57,032 It's a limitation of our greatest freedom. 202 00:07:59,669 --> 00:08:00,169 Sin 203 00:08:00,628 --> 00:08:03,845 is like the chains holding humanity in captivity. 204 00:08:04,958 --> 00:08:07,193 In heart's book, he describes Evil in this 205 00:08:07,193 --> 00:08:10,327 way. He says, evil consists not in some 206 00:08:10,386 --> 00:08:13,394 other separate things standing alongside the things of 207 00:08:13,833 --> 00:08:15,986 creation, but it is only a shadow, a 208 00:08:15,986 --> 00:08:18,139 turning of the hearts and minds of rational 209 00:08:18,139 --> 00:08:18,639 creatures 210 00:08:19,096 --> 00:08:21,248 away from the light of god back toward 211 00:08:21,248 --> 00:08:21,988 the nothingness 212 00:08:22,539 --> 00:08:23,894 from which all things are called. 213 00:08:25,886 --> 00:08:28,276 He explains that because humans are created to 214 00:08:28,276 --> 00:08:30,927 fill and subdue the earth, we stand as 215 00:08:31,144 --> 00:08:33,791 gatekeepers or a priest. In his word and 216 00:08:33,791 --> 00:08:35,547 and also in the words of the author 217 00:08:35,547 --> 00:08:36,026 of Hebrews, 218 00:08:36,665 --> 00:08:39,059 bridging the gap between the physical and the 219 00:08:39,059 --> 00:08:42,285 spiritual realms between creation, and our creator. 220 00:08:42,896 --> 00:08:43,849 And that, therefore, 221 00:08:44,326 --> 00:08:45,064 when that 222 00:08:45,596 --> 00:08:48,533 intermediary person that person that stood in the 223 00:08:48,533 --> 00:08:49,986 gap fell to sin 224 00:08:50,932 --> 00:08:53,880 all of creation, all of material creation fell 225 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:56,589 with us and became subject to death with 226 00:08:56,589 --> 00:08:58,820 us. And now the change of sin not 227 00:08:58,820 --> 00:09:01,935 only enslave us, but all of creation along 228 00:09:01,935 --> 00:09:02,332 with us. 229 00:09:02,967 --> 00:09:05,029 This is the world that we live in, 230 00:09:05,823 --> 00:09:08,362 but it's also the world Jesus lived in. 231 00:09:09,574 --> 00:09:10,213 And died in, 232 00:09:10,932 --> 00:09:12,211 and was resurrected him. 233 00:09:13,969 --> 00:09:15,167 This is the chaos. 234 00:09:15,567 --> 00:09:17,565 God is still sovereign over. 235 00:09:18,216 --> 00:09:21,069 The kingdom that Jesus is now king of. 236 00:09:23,051 --> 00:09:25,325 Hopefully, and I don't know if this is 237 00:09:25,603 --> 00:09:27,912 successfully or not yet. But hopefully, we're beginning 238 00:09:27,912 --> 00:09:31,256 to see the connection between Jesus kingdom and 239 00:09:31,256 --> 00:09:33,667 our own mission calling or our role 240 00:09:33,979 --> 00:09:35,253 with inside of that kingdom. 241 00:09:35,811 --> 00:09:38,143 Paul and his letter to the Romans establishes 242 00:09:38,201 --> 00:09:40,272 our relationship to the rest of creation, and 243 00:09:40,272 --> 00:09:41,228 he says this. He says, 244 00:09:42,263 --> 00:09:43,162 creation weights 245 00:09:43,475 --> 00:09:44,215 an eager 246 00:09:44,674 --> 00:09:47,235 expectation for the children of God to be 247 00:09:47,235 --> 00:09:47,475 revealed. 248 00:09:48,914 --> 00:09:50,595 And who are these children of God that 249 00:09:50,674 --> 00:09:51,475 Paul speaks of, 250 00:09:52,205 --> 00:09:54,114 He tells us, they are those who are 251 00:09:54,114 --> 00:09:56,022 led by the spirit of god are the 252 00:09:56,022 --> 00:09:56,818 children of god. 253 00:09:57,454 --> 00:09:59,362 We're not able to find our way through 254 00:09:59,362 --> 00:10:00,953 or out of the darkness on our own. 255 00:10:01,112 --> 00:10:03,359 We can't get over this sin problem on 256 00:10:03,359 --> 00:10:05,672 our own. Through our own evil desires, each 257 00:10:05,672 --> 00:10:08,065 1 of us has been dragged away and 258 00:10:08,065 --> 00:10:10,457 bound up by sin. We've returned back to 259 00:10:10,457 --> 00:10:11,277 that nothingness 260 00:10:11,747 --> 00:10:14,843 that God spoke us out of. Right? We're 261 00:10:14,843 --> 00:10:17,701 unable to do what we were intended to 262 00:10:17,701 --> 00:10:20,416 do. We have been starved of the good 263 00:10:20,416 --> 00:10:22,028 and we're unable to offer 264 00:10:22,481 --> 00:10:24,308 to the rest of creation what we are 265 00:10:24,308 --> 00:10:25,181 lacking ourselves. 266 00:10:26,611 --> 00:10:28,041 But there is good news. 267 00:10:29,330 --> 00:10:31,490 In Christ, we've been showing the good thing 268 00:10:31,490 --> 00:10:32,129 once again. 269 00:10:34,529 --> 00:10:35,029 Recently, 270 00:10:37,183 --> 00:10:37,982 I Don't know, 271 00:10:38,702 --> 00:10:41,259 maybe not the last 20 years recently, but 272 00:10:41,259 --> 00:10:43,017 maybe in the last couple hundred years of 273 00:10:43,017 --> 00:10:45,335 the whole historic picture of Christianity, 274 00:10:46,146 --> 00:10:48,550 Christianity has a tendency to skip over 275 00:10:49,081 --> 00:10:51,541 the examination of the life of Jesus in 276 00:10:51,541 --> 00:10:54,572 favor of developing a theology around his Death 277 00:10:54,572 --> 00:10:57,354 and resurrection and ascension. Right? When you look 278 00:10:57,354 --> 00:10:59,341 at all of the creed, you you hear 279 00:10:59,341 --> 00:11:01,090 about the birth, when you hear about the 280 00:11:01,090 --> 00:11:01,647 birth of Christ, 281 00:11:02,219 --> 00:11:04,691 and then you hear about the death resurrection 282 00:11:04,691 --> 00:11:06,287 and ascension of Christ. And you're hearing a 283 00:11:06,287 --> 00:11:08,440 lot of theology that's being developed around there. 284 00:11:08,839 --> 00:11:10,753 But because it was very important at the 285 00:11:10,753 --> 00:11:13,715 time those creed are developed, to hand that 286 00:11:13,715 --> 00:11:15,943 theology out because they ref a lot of 287 00:11:15,943 --> 00:11:18,251 heresy that was in the church. They've skipped 288 00:11:18,251 --> 00:11:21,036 over the whole life of Christ inside of 289 00:11:21,036 --> 00:11:23,125 their. Because it's hard to do a summary 290 00:11:23,125 --> 00:11:25,119 of the whole life of christ and a 291 00:11:25,119 --> 00:11:26,156 theology around it. Right? 292 00:11:26,874 --> 00:11:28,491 But it's very important 293 00:11:29,042 --> 00:11:31,987 that we do understand what's happening inside of 294 00:11:31,987 --> 00:11:32,146 there. 295 00:11:33,181 --> 00:11:34,773 So these creed are really important, 296 00:11:35,489 --> 00:11:37,081 but if we set aside the life of 297 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:39,244 Christ, how we chose to spend his time 298 00:11:39,244 --> 00:11:41,870 on earth, we're actually going to skip over 299 00:11:41,870 --> 00:11:44,415 the only example of a human who actually 300 00:11:44,415 --> 00:11:46,483 lived as he was created to live. 301 00:11:47,770 --> 00:11:50,175 Jesus life was a picture of flourishing 302 00:11:50,787 --> 00:11:51,184 humanity. 303 00:11:52,057 --> 00:11:53,351 He was the example 304 00:11:53,883 --> 00:11:54,383 Par. 305 00:11:55,485 --> 00:11:57,153 And he lived the good life in the 306 00:11:57,153 --> 00:11:58,820 midst of a world and chains. 307 00:11:59,455 --> 00:12:02,099 And this is why we see Jesus as 308 00:12:02,154 --> 00:12:04,868 master and commander of this brook world. He 309 00:12:04,868 --> 00:12:05,661 walks on water. 310 00:12:06,931 --> 00:12:08,834 He commands the wind and the waves. 311 00:12:09,469 --> 00:12:10,524 He heals sickness 312 00:12:11,056 --> 00:12:14,203 fucking and is generally about the business of 313 00:12:14,421 --> 00:12:14,921 reconciling 314 00:12:15,458 --> 00:12:18,511 all of this broken creation to God 315 00:12:19,301 --> 00:12:20,096 In Jesus, 316 00:12:20,653 --> 00:12:22,164 we see not only a king, 317 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:25,267 but the return of the king, 318 00:12:26,077 --> 00:12:28,303 He's coming back to this thing that he's 319 00:12:28,303 --> 00:12:28,803 always 320 00:12:29,417 --> 00:12:31,484 had. He's reclaiming his kingdom. 321 00:12:32,041 --> 00:12:34,427 When Jesus walks on water, he demonstrates his 322 00:12:34,427 --> 00:12:35,324 own capacity 323 00:12:35,714 --> 00:12:37,144 to subdue creation. 324 00:12:38,098 --> 00:12:40,244 He is not however, about the business of 325 00:12:40,244 --> 00:12:41,834 doing this entirely on his own. 326 00:12:43,915 --> 00:12:46,563 When god created man in Genesis, he commanded 327 00:12:46,619 --> 00:12:49,164 him and the command was fill the earth 328 00:12:49,164 --> 00:12:49,800 and subdue it. 329 00:12:50,754 --> 00:12:51,254 Therefore, 330 00:12:51,803 --> 00:12:55,368 the job of steward over creation rightly has 331 00:12:55,368 --> 00:12:56,423 always been 332 00:12:56,953 --> 00:13:00,228 our task as human beings. A capacity that 333 00:13:00,228 --> 00:13:01,746 we lost through the fall. 334 00:13:03,265 --> 00:13:05,363 If the earth is going to be restored 335 00:13:05,742 --> 00:13:06,962 and God's kingdom 336 00:13:07,421 --> 00:13:07,921 established, 337 00:13:08,713 --> 00:13:11,888 it has to begin with the restoration of 338 00:13:11,888 --> 00:13:12,364 humanity. 339 00:13:13,396 --> 00:13:15,539 When Jesus walks on water, it's more than 340 00:13:15,539 --> 00:13:17,127 a cool party trick. 341 00:13:17,936 --> 00:13:20,184 Jesus is establishing his authority 342 00:13:20,637 --> 00:13:21,432 as our king. 343 00:13:22,783 --> 00:13:23,100 Hence, 344 00:13:23,975 --> 00:13:25,746 Peter seems to think it's reasonable, 345 00:13:26,695 --> 00:13:28,315 to walk out to Jesus 346 00:13:28,695 --> 00:13:29,414 on the water. 347 00:13:30,534 --> 00:13:31,495 Isn't that kinda wild? 348 00:13:32,455 --> 00:13:34,534 Peter's like, oh, this is what humanity is 349 00:13:34,534 --> 00:13:37,097 supposed to do. This is how we're made 350 00:13:37,097 --> 00:13:39,243 to be able to live in existence inside 351 00:13:39,243 --> 00:13:39,878 of this world. 352 00:13:40,514 --> 00:13:42,342 We see this as natural because of our 353 00:13:42,342 --> 00:13:44,822 fallen condition, but I believe Peter, is in 354 00:13:44,822 --> 00:13:49,200 fact, reclaiming something profoundly true about humanity in 355 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:50,576 those few fa 356 00:13:51,111 --> 00:13:51,907 steps of faith. 357 00:13:52,639 --> 00:13:56,220 Peter is practicing his early understanding that Jesus 358 00:13:56,220 --> 00:13:58,311 is in fact leading humanity 359 00:13:58,687 --> 00:14:00,676 out of darkness and death and helping us 360 00:14:00,676 --> 00:14:03,638 to reclaim the light. And the life of 361 00:14:03,638 --> 00:14:05,253 our original created 362 00:14:05,789 --> 00:14:06,028 intention. 363 00:14:07,223 --> 00:14:07,462 Now, 364 00:14:08,100 --> 00:14:09,215 I'm not gonna do it. 365 00:14:10,026 --> 00:14:11,935 Demonstration and walk on water today or anything 366 00:14:11,935 --> 00:14:13,844 like that. And that's not what I'm saying, 367 00:14:14,003 --> 00:14:15,514 but I'm thinking, Peter, 368 00:14:16,563 --> 00:14:19,530 Peter is seeing that Christ is really representing 369 00:14:20,224 --> 00:14:21,815 who we were created to be. 370 00:14:23,407 --> 00:14:23,884 And this, 371 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:25,180 this 372 00:14:25,969 --> 00:14:29,079 Being able to subdue creation. This ruling and 373 00:14:29,079 --> 00:14:30,754 being the master over it, this like, 374 00:14:31,472 --> 00:14:34,264 putting all things back in order is the 375 00:14:34,264 --> 00:14:35,242 connection between 376 00:14:35,954 --> 00:14:38,026 tsunami in the Indian ocean and the kingdom 377 00:14:38,026 --> 00:14:38,505 of God. 378 00:14:39,541 --> 00:14:41,078 Jesus came as a king 379 00:14:41,534 --> 00:14:43,528 amid a broken and hurting world. 380 00:14:44,738 --> 00:14:46,886 He understood the broken ness, but he also 381 00:14:46,886 --> 00:14:49,511 knew what things were like in that first 382 00:14:49,511 --> 00:14:50,942 week when God said it's good. 383 00:14:52,554 --> 00:14:54,634 And got created all of these things out 384 00:14:54,634 --> 00:14:56,174 of the chaos and the 385 00:14:56,875 --> 00:14:57,375 wild 386 00:14:57,754 --> 00:14:59,995 expanse, and he just says this is good. 387 00:15:00,968 --> 00:15:03,201 And there was somebody there. Jesus was there 388 00:15:03,201 --> 00:15:05,275 and he was going, oh, I know what 389 00:15:05,275 --> 00:15:07,029 that is. I know what that's like. We 390 00:15:07,029 --> 00:15:08,784 don't know what that's like. We don't know 391 00:15:08,784 --> 00:15:09,980 what it was to be good. 392 00:15:11,593 --> 00:15:13,751 Through Jesus and the study of Jesus life, 393 00:15:13,911 --> 00:15:15,589 we come to know the love through which 394 00:15:15,669 --> 00:15:18,226 God created us and the rest of creation. 395 00:15:18,466 --> 00:15:21,031 As Paul says, For now, we see only 396 00:15:21,031 --> 00:15:22,621 a reflection as an mirror. 397 00:15:23,815 --> 00:15:26,495 As we take these first few sinking steps 398 00:15:27,250 --> 00:15:28,761 we walk on water sort of, 399 00:15:29,477 --> 00:15:31,171 but we keep our eyes on Jesus 400 00:15:31,784 --> 00:15:32,761 standing confidently. 401 00:15:33,709 --> 00:15:36,100 The pioneer and the perfect of our faith. 402 00:15:36,897 --> 00:15:37,216 Now, 403 00:15:38,092 --> 00:15:40,165 we know in part, but on the day 404 00:15:40,165 --> 00:15:41,201 of Christ's return, 405 00:15:41,932 --> 00:15:44,473 we will know fully even as we are 406 00:15:44,473 --> 00:15:45,188 fully known. 407 00:15:46,221 --> 00:15:47,277 What we see 408 00:15:48,842 --> 00:15:50,668 we have an obligation to pro. 409 00:15:52,745 --> 00:15:55,519 David Bentley Hart says this about the renewed 410 00:15:55,519 --> 00:15:58,055 vision of the creation. Sorry of the Christian. 411 00:15:59,103 --> 00:16:01,016 Because we see this thing differently now. Right? 412 00:16:01,255 --> 00:16:02,690 See the eyes of Christ. We see the 413 00:16:02,690 --> 00:16:04,842 world differently. He says the Christian, he says, 414 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,045 should see 2 realities at once. 1 world 415 00:16:08,045 --> 00:16:10,514 as it were within another. 1, the world 416 00:16:10,514 --> 00:16:12,266 as we all know it. In all of 417 00:16:12,266 --> 00:16:15,214 its beauty and terror, grandeur and dr, 418 00:16:15,612 --> 00:16:18,573 delight, once and anguish, and the other, the 419 00:16:18,573 --> 00:16:21,121 world in its first and ultimate truth, not 420 00:16:21,121 --> 00:16:22,793 simply nature, but creation. 421 00:16:23,669 --> 00:16:26,629 And endless sea of glory radiant with the 422 00:16:26,629 --> 00:16:28,857 beauty of God in every part, innocent of 423 00:16:28,857 --> 00:16:29,494 all violence. 424 00:16:31,006 --> 00:16:33,075 To see in this way is to rejoice 425 00:16:33,075 --> 00:16:35,321 and mourn in at 1 he says, to 426 00:16:35,321 --> 00:16:37,794 regard the world as a mirror of infinite 427 00:16:37,794 --> 00:16:40,346 beauty, but is glimpse through the veil of 428 00:16:40,346 --> 00:16:42,202 death. It is to see 429 00:16:42,659 --> 00:16:43,616 creation and chains. 430 00:16:44,428 --> 00:16:45,246 But beautiful 431 00:16:45,621 --> 00:16:47,451 as in the beginning of days. 432 00:16:48,723 --> 00:16:49,598 I love that quote. 433 00:16:51,524 --> 00:16:52,823 Because when I look around 434 00:16:54,081 --> 00:16:54,721 the world, 435 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,595 you... This resonates doesn't it. But especially so 436 00:16:59,595 --> 00:17:00,370 when we look 437 00:17:00,806 --> 00:17:02,475 into the face of the people that we 438 00:17:02,475 --> 00:17:02,975 love 439 00:17:04,699 --> 00:17:05,517 of this 440 00:17:05,891 --> 00:17:06,867 creation and chains 441 00:17:09,163 --> 00:17:10,439 If this is how we are to see 442 00:17:10,518 --> 00:17:11,656 God's creation 443 00:17:12,033 --> 00:17:14,025 on account of Christ, how must we view 444 00:17:14,025 --> 00:17:16,735 1 another as the pinnacle of that creation? 445 00:17:17,708 --> 00:17:19,624 If in the world of tsunami, we are 446 00:17:19,624 --> 00:17:22,019 to see an endless sea of glory radiant 447 00:17:22,019 --> 00:17:24,195 with the beauty of God in every part 448 00:17:24,494 --> 00:17:25,452 innocent of all violence, 449 00:17:27,063 --> 00:17:27,622 play it through. 450 00:17:28,260 --> 00:17:30,655 It's not easy. Right? But if somehow, 451 00:17:31,453 --> 00:17:33,129 because of Christ, we're supposed to be able 452 00:17:33,129 --> 00:17:34,805 to see through the tsunami, 453 00:17:35,220 --> 00:17:37,220 an endless sea of glory radiant with the 454 00:17:37,220 --> 00:17:39,059 beauty of God in every part innocent of 455 00:17:39,059 --> 00:17:41,379 all violence, how might we see our fellow 456 00:17:41,379 --> 00:17:42,579 so here on earth? 457 00:17:43,709 --> 00:17:46,174 Indeed, to see in this way as to 458 00:17:46,174 --> 00:17:48,401 rejoice in more at once as heart says, 459 00:17:48,799 --> 00:17:50,469 But let's remember Christ's words, 460 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:53,680 blessed are those who mourn for they will 461 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:54,240 be comforted. 462 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,000 If the world could reflect the beauty of 463 00:17:58,000 --> 00:17:59,974 its creator such that we may 464 00:18:00,334 --> 00:18:02,569 regarded as a mirror of infinite beauty, 465 00:18:03,048 --> 00:18:05,203 but as glimpse through avail of death as 466 00:18:05,203 --> 00:18:05,682 heart says, 467 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,556 how much more are we to view 1 468 00:18:08,556 --> 00:18:08,795 another. 469 00:18:09,448 --> 00:18:11,761 The image bearer of God with the same 470 00:18:11,761 --> 00:18:12,240 charity. 471 00:18:13,995 --> 00:18:15,611 Creation and chains, but beautiful 472 00:18:16,068 --> 00:18:17,424 as in the beginning of days. 473 00:18:19,194 --> 00:18:21,266 To this end, we know that the whole 474 00:18:21,266 --> 00:18:22,403 creation has been groan 475 00:18:22,940 --> 00:18:24,932 as in the pains of childbirth right up 476 00:18:24,932 --> 00:18:25,888 to the present moment. 477 00:18:26,845 --> 00:18:29,019 To not only so, but we ourselves who 478 00:18:29,019 --> 00:18:31,359 have the first fruits of the spirit grown 479 00:18:31,420 --> 00:18:33,900 inward as we wait eagerly for our adoption 480 00:18:33,900 --> 00:18:36,474 to sun, the redemption of our bodies. For 481 00:18:36,474 --> 00:18:38,786 in this hope we were saved, but hope 482 00:18:38,786 --> 00:18:40,461 that is seen is no hope at all, 483 00:18:40,940 --> 00:18:43,252 who hopes for what they already have. But 484 00:18:43,252 --> 00:18:44,767 if we hope for what we do not 485 00:18:44,767 --> 00:18:45,326 yet have, 486 00:18:45,819 --> 00:18:47,178 we wait for it patiently. 487 00:18:48,616 --> 00:18:49,415 When we mourn, 488 00:18:50,693 --> 00:18:51,812 we're mourn with Christ, 489 00:18:52,691 --> 00:18:53,650 and we groan, 490 00:18:54,064 --> 00:18:55,178 with the holy spirit. 491 00:18:56,132 --> 00:18:58,860 Our eyes are set on Jesus, the pioneer 492 00:18:58,917 --> 00:19:01,463 and perfect of our faith, who for the 493 00:19:01,463 --> 00:19:03,029 joy set before him 494 00:19:03,467 --> 00:19:05,771 endured the cross, scoring it shame and sat 495 00:19:05,771 --> 00:19:07,837 down at the right hand of the throne 496 00:19:07,837 --> 00:19:08,394 of God. 497 00:19:09,188 --> 00:19:10,698 This is all a part of what it 498 00:19:10,698 --> 00:19:11,834 looks like to be 499 00:19:12,383 --> 00:19:13,580 flourishing humanity. 500 00:19:14,138 --> 00:19:15,733 And if it doesn't line up with what 501 00:19:15,733 --> 00:19:18,525 our expectations are, then we're in a different 502 00:19:18,525 --> 00:19:18,844 kingdom, 503 00:19:19,721 --> 00:19:21,396 we gotta come around to this kingdom, 504 00:19:22,129 --> 00:19:23,906 He's calling us today 505 00:19:24,683 --> 00:19:25,720 just as he called Peter, 506 00:19:26,678 --> 00:19:28,354 out of the boat and into the water. 507 00:19:28,912 --> 00:19:29,710 Onto the water. 508 00:19:31,001 --> 00:19:32,995 As we approach comm this morning, 509 00:19:33,713 --> 00:19:35,069 I want us to think about this, 510 00:19:36,026 --> 00:19:38,839 the body and blood of Jesus is our 511 00:19:39,056 --> 00:19:39,556 invitation 512 00:19:39,869 --> 00:19:41,250 back into a kind of 513 00:19:41,710 --> 00:19:42,210 humanity 514 00:19:42,910 --> 00:19:45,630 that we can't actually know apart from Jesus. 515 00:19:46,430 --> 00:19:47,869 We don't know what it looks like to 516 00:19:47,869 --> 00:19:48,430 be alive, 517 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:50,825 apart from the study of the life of 518 00:19:50,983 --> 00:19:51,300 Jesus. 519 00:19:52,172 --> 00:19:54,336 The kind of humanity we wouldn't recognize 520 00:19:55,184 --> 00:19:56,135 without his example, 521 00:19:57,424 --> 00:19:58,322 and it leads 522 00:19:58,778 --> 00:20:00,132 to unspeakable glory, 523 00:20:01,168 --> 00:20:03,159 which is the glory of being like Christ, 524 00:20:03,637 --> 00:20:04,137 loving 525 00:20:04,593 --> 00:20:05,230 like Christ, 526 00:20:05,961 --> 00:20:06,700 our king 527 00:20:07,552 --> 00:20:08,427 and our redeem room. 528 00:20:09,222 --> 00:20:09,859 Let's pray. 529 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:16,237 Father. 530 00:20:22,626 --> 00:20:24,004 We're guilty of just 531 00:20:24,541 --> 00:20:26,057 biting our time and waiting. 532 00:20:27,268 --> 00:20:28,223 For you to come back. 533 00:20:29,894 --> 00:20:31,963 Ignorant or cow to the fact that you've 534 00:20:31,963 --> 00:20:33,634 got a plan for us, A mission for 535 00:20:33,634 --> 00:20:34,134 us 536 00:20:35,638 --> 00:20:37,229 a life for us, a kingdom, 537 00:20:38,025 --> 00:20:39,855 a new way of flourishing a new way 538 00:20:39,855 --> 00:20:43,037 of living of radically re our lives, 539 00:20:43,608 --> 00:20:45,753 to live the way that you lived, Christ. 540 00:20:50,757 --> 00:20:51,893 Help us to see 541 00:20:53,473 --> 00:20:54,982 what it looks like to live, help us 542 00:20:54,982 --> 00:20:55,720 to trust 543 00:20:56,570 --> 00:20:58,238 that we can live like you, 544 00:21:00,065 --> 00:21:02,210 not just in walking on the water, though 545 00:21:02,210 --> 00:21:03,257 that day make come. 546 00:21:04,607 --> 00:21:05,504 But in the 547 00:21:06,195 --> 00:21:08,261 in the trust and obedience that you modeled, 548 00:21:08,975 --> 00:21:11,143 and the kind of self official love 549 00:21:11,453 --> 00:21:12,351 that you modeled 550 00:21:14,556 --> 00:21:16,067 to know what it is to be good. 551 00:21:18,549 --> 00:21:19,903 Would you show us Lord and would you 552 00:21:19,903 --> 00:21:22,213 give us the strength and the courage to 553 00:21:22,213 --> 00:21:22,851 follow you? 554 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:27,392 Give us faith lord we thank you for, 555 00:21:27,790 --> 00:21:29,184 would living this life 556 00:21:30,125 --> 00:21:31,964 for dying on our behalf that we might 557 00:21:31,964 --> 00:21:33,644 know this life, even now, 558 00:21:34,444 --> 00:21:35,893 in part through veil, 559 00:21:36,529 --> 00:21:37,800 this creation and chains, 560 00:21:38,674 --> 00:21:40,343 god, fill our hearts with your love. 561 00:21:42,091 --> 00:21:43,124 May your kingdom come, 562 00:21:43,933 --> 00:21:45,043 in Nelson in the world. 563 00:21:46,074 --> 00:21:47,264 We asking Jesus name. 564 00:21:48,374 --> 00:21:48,612 Amen.