Latest / The Wesley Word / [WW] Blueprint: Perfect As Your Heavenly Father Is Perfect

Transcript

[WW] Blueprint: Perfect As Your Heavenly Father Is Perfect · The Wesley Word

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Wesley Word.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: We began to talk last week about wanting to get back to the basics, right?
0:19
SPEAKER_01: I mentioned we first week we talked about Clemson Wesley's mission statement.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: And I mentioned that, you know, you can find community in a lot of places.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: You can find places to serve in a lot of places.
0:30
SPEAKER_01: You can hopefully be challenged to grow as an individual in a lot of places.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: But what separates us, or what should separate us as a campus ministry, is that we want this to be a Christ-centered community.
0:39
SPEAKER_01: And we want to focus on following in the ways of Christ.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: And I mentioned that one of the best ways to look at that is to look at Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: It's his most prolific piece of work, his most prolific sermon.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: The beginning of Matthew in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7, he draws the crowd up to him on the mountain.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: We got a picture of that, Gracie, in there?
0:54
SPEAKER_01: The mountain, the Sermon on the Mount.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: We think this is the mount, not that one, give me another one.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: The real life one.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: There we go.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: We think this is the mount that Jesus would have invited the disciples and the crowds to come up and to gather and to hear his words.
1:06
SPEAKER_01: And at the very end of the Sermon on the Mount, as I mentioned last week, Jesus says in chapter 7, he says, now if you hear these things and you do them, you'll be like a per No, I'm not there.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: You'll be a person, you good.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: This is just like straight scripture memory.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: You're okay.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: Go to blank screen.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what's happening.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: He says in Matthew 7, right, if you do these things, you're like a person who builds their house on solid rock.
1:28
SPEAKER_01: And when the storm comes, it won't be washed away.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: But if you hear these things and don't do them, you're going to be like the person who builds their house on sand, and when the storm comes, it'll be washed away.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: And we began to look at that, and we talked about the beatitudes and how we're supposed to take on this beatific attitude of Christ, and that we're called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and let our lights shine.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: Right?
1:49
SPEAKER_01: And the basic thing from our talk last week, as we look up at the Sermon on the Mount, is that we are called to be a people of action.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: To claim the name, to be a follower of the way, means that we are a people of action.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: So here's our text today.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: We looked at the first part of chapter five.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: Today we're going to look at the second part of chapter five, beginning in verse 20, and I'm going to read it on the off the screen because yeah, the preacher forgot his Bible today.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: So here we go.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: All right.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: For I tell you, this is Jesus talking, unless your righteousness exceeds that of all the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: That's a bummer.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, you shall not murder, and whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.
2:33
SPEAKER_01: But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: And if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the counsel.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: And if you say you fool, you will be liable to the hell of fire.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: Jesus goes on to say, in the next set of verses that are in there, there we go.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.
2:56
SPEAKER_01: I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart, or vice versa.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: It is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: You have heard it s you have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: Right?
3:30
SPEAKER_01: What does this mean for us?
3:33
SPEAKER_01: I was uh several years ago, I think maybe Christopher was the only one that was on that trip.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: Um we took a Wesley trip to Alaska, right?
3:40
SPEAKER_01: It was incredible.
3:41
SPEAKER_01: Pre-COVID, we did some cool stuff.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: We went out to Alaska, and I remember being on top of this mountain.
3:45
SPEAKER_01: We were probably like three miles up above sea level.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: Not really, but that's what it felt like.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: And it started snowing out of all the, like, imagine snowing in Alaska, right?
3:52
SPEAKER_01: Uh I had like my little rain jacket on, all of a sudden, boom, snow.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: There's a video of me somewhere.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: I was so cold I couldn't even make words, right?
3:59
SPEAKER_01: That's a video of me saying, I'm your minister.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, we'll find that somewhere, right?
4:03
SPEAKER_01: Remember being on the mountain, freezing, snow is coming down, trying to figure out where to go, and we get up and we're starting, and like the trail ahead just looks daunting, right?
4:13
SPEAKER_01: There's like ice everywhere.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: We're pretty sure there's like a family of grizzly bears waiting over their edge to come and like eat us, right?
4:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so I'm sitting there and I'm like, guys, we we gotta go this way.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: We can't go that way.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: That that is like like that's death.
4:27
SPEAKER_01: Like we're gonna end up on a document, like that's dateline up the hill, right?
4:30
SPEAKER_01: And they were like, nah, we gotta go that way, Steve.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: I was like, you know, I'm I'm going this way.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: This looks a little bit safer.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: And but half the group was like, nah, I'm going this way.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: Nah, we gotta go this way.
4:39
SPEAKER_01: And we had this moment, right?
4:41
SPEAKER_01: And here I am, like campus minister, I'm like mostly responsible for these people.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they're all adults, so whatever.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: But I remember saying, look, I think the words were, you know, I got kids, so if you want to go that way, you go that way, but I'm coming, I'm going this way, right?
4:54
SPEAKER_01: And thankfully, everybody followed me, right?
4:57
SPEAKER_01: And we ended up going down, and of course, we lost the path, and we were sliding down ice and all this stuff.
5:02
SPEAKER_01: We passed the grizzly bears, we wrestled them, and eventually we made it home, okay?
5:05
SPEAKER_01: Slight exaggeration.
5:06
SPEAKER_01: But there was this moment on the mountain, right?
5:08
SPEAKER_01: There was a moment on the mountain where like things looked a little dicey, they really did.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: And we had to make a decision.
5:15
SPEAKER_01: Which way would we go?
5:17
SPEAKER_01: Who would we follow?
5:19
SPEAKER_01: Right?
5:19
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not putting myself in Jesus' spot, right?
5:21
SPEAKER_01: But we had to make a decision on who we would follow.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: And what it means to be a disciple, what it means to be a person of faith, ultimately is that we make a decision of who it is that we're gonna follow.
5:30
SPEAKER_01: What way are we gonna go about living?
5:32
SPEAKER_01: Whose example set before us are we gonna follow in?
5:35
SPEAKER_01: Are we gonna go up?
5:36
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it looks more treacherous.
5:38
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes following Jesus looks like going up through the grizzly bears and up the ice path.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: The question remains for every disciple is who will you follow?
5:46
SPEAKER_01: Who will you follow when the fork comes?
5:48
SPEAKER_01: You look at your name tag, there's a little fork there, right?
5:50
SPEAKER_01: Who will you follow?
5:51
SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: All right.
5:53
SPEAKER_01: Who will you follow, right?
5:54
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to be a Christian?
5:55
SPEAKER_01: So, what does it mean to be a Christian?
5:56
SPEAKER_01: For some people, right, you gotta pray the sinner's prayer and you do that sort of stuff.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, you want to learn the scripture, but I've seen uh it's said over and over again, which I agree with, right?
6:04
SPEAKER_01: You can make an A in the Bible, but completely fail Christianity.
6:08
SPEAKER_01: You can know all the scriptures through and through, but if you're not following, if you're not living, you're not acting in a certain way, you'll be failing Christianity.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: To be a disciple means to learn from, to follow, to walk in the way.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: And we, uh big assumption here, choosing to follow Jesus, right?
6:27
SPEAKER_01: Or you're at least here, maybe you're just here, you're a taco night and you're like, I'm in, whatever, right?
6:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, but maybe at least a little bit, you're like, I'm a little curious about this Jesus thing.
6:35
SPEAKER_01: I'm not all the way in, but I want to learn a little bit more.
6:37
SPEAKER_01: And so we see in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins to lay out his ethic, his way of life.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: And I gotta tell you, it's it's it looks a little difficult, right?
6:45
SPEAKER_01: Uh let's look uh 520 back on the screen, the first verse that we read.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: Yep, maybe.
6:52
SPEAKER_01: Or I tell you, unless your righteousness, oh come on now, all right.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: Or unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, right?
7:01
SPEAKER_01: Unless your righteousness exceeds like the most righteous, holier than the holy people, you will never enter the kingdom of God.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: That sucks.
7:12
SPEAKER_01: All right, let's look at verse 48.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: Right?
7:16
SPEAKER_01: Anyway, it says be perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect, right?
7:19
SPEAKER_01: That's what it's in there, right?
7:20
SPEAKER_01: Be perfect.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: I got it close, close enough, right?
7:23
SPEAKER_01: Those two things, you look at that and you're like, come on.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: I gotta be more righteous than like some of the holiest people, and I've got to be perfect, just like Father in Heaven is perfect.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: This is what I'm called to be.
7:33
SPEAKER_01: That's difficult.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: That could be depressing.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: That could be you could like check out and be like, nah, I'm I'm good, right?
7:38
SPEAKER_01: There's a couple different ways we can go with that.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: Some people just look at that and it leads them to grace because they realize they can never get that, and so they want to you know, need to rely on God's grace there.
7:49
SPEAKER_01: Other people, if you look at that word there, um, appropriate telios there, is more this idea of this goal, this aim, this ideal that we strive towards, right?
7:58
SPEAKER_01: Um Clemson, uh no, Clemson Wesley, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, right, um, which where we get our name from here, he talked about this idea of Christian perfection, of sanctification, this idea that we continually go on to perfection.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: We're not perfect today, we won't be perfect tomorrow, but hopefully our actions will look a little bit better tomorrow than they did today.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: We'll choose love a little bit more tomorrow than we did today.
8:23
SPEAKER_01: When I'm when I was ordained many years ago, they ask you, they say, Are you going on to perfection?
8:27
SPEAKER_01: Right?
8:28
SPEAKER_01: And everybody's like, ah yeah.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: No.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: Our answer is always yes, with God's help.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: They ask you, Are you going to perfection?
8:35
SPEAKER_01: Yes, with God's help.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: We as a people of faith, we the people who follow Jesus, are striving for perfection, knowing that we need God's help and God's spirit along the way.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: So I want to look at a couple of these things that he talked about, um, because they're kind of like, they're kind of daunting here.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: But remember, right, a little sidebar here.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: Jesus often teaches in prophetic hyperbole, right?
8:54
SPEAKER_01: Prophetic hyperbole.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, what is hyperbole, right?
8:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm so hungry, you know, I could die.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: Or I'm so hungry I could eat a horse, right?
9:01
SPEAKER_01: You really just want two tacos, but you say that, right?
9:04
SPEAKER_01: You make this big deal, you overblow it a little bit, okay?
9:06
SPEAKER_01: And most of the time it sort of works most of the time.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: But let's look at once again, uh, keep on your toes back there.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: Verses 5, 20, chapter 5, 21, and 22, right?
9:16
SPEAKER_01: Once again, it says you've heard that it was said, those who live long ago don't commit murder.
9:20
SPEAKER_01: All who commit murder are in danger of judgment.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: Y'all can't read, I'm blanking out.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: Right?
9:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but don't even say you idiot.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: They will be in danger of being condemned by the governing council.
9:34
SPEAKER_01: And if they say you fool, you'll be in danger of the fiery hill.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: That's a whole lot of stuff, right?
9:38
SPEAKER_01: Now, most of us are not gonna be, right?
9:42
SPEAKER_01: We're not gonna be charged with murder.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: That's the goal, right?
9:45
SPEAKER_01: Yes, all right, good.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: Nod your head, yes.
9:47
SPEAKER_01: We do not want to be known for that, right?
9:48
SPEAKER_01: So you're not gonna be, you know, you're not gonna actually go out and murder someone, but Jesus says it goes deeper than that, right?
9:53
SPEAKER_01: What has your heart said to that person that you're upset with?
9:56
SPEAKER_01: How is your anger?
9:58
SPEAKER_01: How is your anger and what do you say to people, right?
10:01
SPEAKER_01: What are your feelings toward one another, and how does that what does that say about you, right?
10:07
SPEAKER_01: We live sometimes in an angry world, right?
10:10
SPEAKER_01: Where people are going at it, you're right.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: The the polarization is huge.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: We talk about that often, right?
10:15
SPEAKER_01: But there just seems to be anger everywhere.
10:18
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus reminds us here in the Sermon on the Mount says, if you're gonna be a follower of me, you're gonna be a person of the way, what does your heart say about that other person?
10:27
SPEAKER_01: Are you keeping your anger in check?
10:29
SPEAKER_01: What names are you calling that person that you can't stand?
10:32
SPEAKER_01: What names are you calling them out loud, and what names are you calling them in your heart as you put on a nice little smile and say, Oh, it's all good.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: Right?
10:42
SPEAKER_01: We're called to be a people that keep our anger in check.
10:45
SPEAKER_01: We're called to be a people who pray to God, God, help me to be gracious, help me to find that grace in my heart.
10:51
SPEAKER_01: Lord, forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me is a prayer that we say often.
10:57
SPEAKER_01: But what does our heart say about the people around us?
10:59
SPEAKER_01: Well, we see in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is more concerned not only with our actions, but also where our heart is also.
11:05
SPEAKER_01: And then in verse 27, he goes on and says, You've heard it was said, Don't commit adultery, but I say to you that every man who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: And if your right eye causes you to fall into sin, tear it out and throw it away.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: It's better that you lose part of the body than that, then your than your whole body is thrown to hell.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: And if your right hand causes you to fall into sin, chop it off and throw it away.
11:26
SPEAKER_01: It's better that.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: Y'all have been at church since 830.
11:29
SPEAKER_01: Chop off the hand so you don't lose your whole body, right?
11:31
SPEAKER_01: That's what it says, okay?
11:33
SPEAKER_01: Now, here's what we see in scripture, right?
11:36
SPEAKER_01: Adultery has been a struggle forever, right?
11:40
SPEAKER_01: King David struggled with it, people struggle with it.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: Jesus talks about it because it's there.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: And what God is getting at here, what Jesus is telling us is that once again, God cares about your thoughts.
11:48
SPEAKER_01: He's concerned with what's on your heart, right?
11:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and it's sort of this hyperbole, right?
11:55
SPEAKER_01: Like obviously committing the actual act of adultery is a lot worse than being like, right?
12:02
SPEAKER_01: There's a difference there, right?
12:04
SPEAKER_01: But what Jesus is saying is control, yeah, I said that right, control your heart, right?
12:09
SPEAKER_01: Control your heart.
12:10
SPEAKER_01: He's saying that don't even get yourself caught up in that moment.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: Run away from that.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: Whether it be adultery or whatever sin it is, control your heart and get out of that situation, right?
12:18
SPEAKER_01: If your hand is causing you to sin, cut it off.
12:21
SPEAKER_01: If your eye is causing you to sin, causing you to lose, plug it out.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: Be serious, this stuff matters.
12:27
SPEAKER_01: Run quickly away from it.
12:30
SPEAKER_01: There's a guy named Walter Wanger, and he wrote a book, Um Ast for Me in My House, and in it, he talks about adultery, but he talks about this concept of the moment of the maybe.
12:39
SPEAKER_01: And he says, no one wakes up, right?
12:41
SPEAKER_01: No married couple or a person in a relationship wakes up and says, you know what?
12:45
SPEAKER_01: Today's the day I'm gonna go cheat.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: Right?
12:49
SPEAKER_01: If that happens, so help me, I'll slap you, right?
12:51
SPEAKER_01: But that's not what happens, right?
12:53
SPEAKER_01: But instead, what Walters talks about is this what happens is you you begin to have this moment of the maybe.
12:59
SPEAKER_01: Right?
13:00
SPEAKER_01: You begin, you're dating someone serious, or you or you're married, and then you got this great relationship, but then you start meeting someone and you start getting kind of close with them, and in this one little moment, like, well, maybe, you know, maybe I could date them instead.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: I've been married to my wife a long time.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: Maybe.
13:17
SPEAKER_01: He says that moment of the maybe, when we don't turn from that, when we don't run, right there in that first moment of the maybe, we begin to give ourselves permission to take a little bit step, step closer towards the actual action.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: A little step closer.
13:31
SPEAKER_01: And here Walter Winger is talking about adultery.
13:33
SPEAKER_01: But what about other things that go in our life that you know are wrong and things that you don't want to get caught up in, right?
13:37
SPEAKER_01: That you come to college like, I'm not doing that, no way.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: But maybe.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: And before long, your maybes, you're all the way there in bed with him or her or in bed, whatever that is that you never wanted to be in the first place.
13:52
SPEAKER_01: He reminds us, and Jesus reminds us here, right?
13:55
SPEAKER_01: Right, avoid the moments of the maybe.
13:58
SPEAKER_01: Pay attention to what your heart is saying, and when there's danger around, don't play with it.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: Run, run, run.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: Not just in adultery, but all areas of your life.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: And lastly, we see in Matthew 5, 43 through 44, the last one there, he says, You've heard it said, you must love your neighbor and hate your enemies.
14:19
SPEAKER_01: Sweet, I'm on board with that.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: Here comes Jesus messing it up.
14:21
SPEAKER_01: But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you, right?
14:26
SPEAKER_01: Lord, can we just talk about adultery again, right?
14:28
SPEAKER_01: Like, why I gotta love my enemies?
14:30
SPEAKER_01: Why I gotta pray for them?
14:31
SPEAKER_01: That's an easier cut and dry thing, right?
14:34
SPEAKER_01: But we're reminded again, there's a lot of division these days.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of anger.
14:39
SPEAKER_01: Jesus asks the question when is the last time you prayed for somebody that you are angry with?
14:45
SPEAKER_01: When's the last time you prayed for the person that you can't stand?
14:49
SPEAKER_01: When's the last time you prayed for the person that you hoped would not show up as somewhere that you were gonna be because you just they just make your blood curl?
14:58
SPEAKER_01: When's the last time you prayed for that person?
15:02
SPEAKER_01: Right?
15:03
SPEAKER_01: Because love can begin to bridge the gap in between that.
15:07
SPEAKER_01: Prayer, when you pray for someone, you put them on your heart, you allow not just you're praying for them, but you're allowing God's grace to work within your own self and in your own struggle there.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: When's the last time you prayed for that person that you would consider an enemy or that you've been super angry with?
15:21
SPEAKER_01: To begin to ask God the question, God, should I really be angry with them?
15:24
SPEAKER_01: Is it really worth what's happening here?
15:26
SPEAKER_01: Because here's the flip side, right?
15:28
SPEAKER_01: Uh as we sort of like wrap this up for tonight.
15:30
unknown: Right?
15:30
SPEAKER_01: It says, Don't be angry, um, forgive, don't commit adultery, for you know, pray for your enemies, all this sort of stuff.
15:37
SPEAKER_01: Like that's happening in Matthew 5, but also in John, one of my favorite verses, John 10, 10.
15:41
SPEAKER_01: And that's not back there, don't freak out.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, John 10, 10, Jesus says, Look, I came that you might have life and life abundant, right?
15:50
SPEAKER_01: The same dude that's giving us all these rules in the Sermon of the Mount is also saying, I've come that you might have life and have life abundant.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: So why are you talking about all this other stuff, Jesus?
16:00
SPEAKER_01: Like, are you gonna match up your messages here?
16:02
SPEAKER_01: What's going on?
16:04
SPEAKER_01: But maybe there's something to it, right?
16:06
SPEAKER_01: If we're called to live a life and a life abundant, Jesus realizes that anger can deteriorate you.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: When you're holding on to anger, your blood pressure rises like you are just physically not healthy when you hold anger in your life, right?
16:22
SPEAKER_01: When you don't pray for your enemies and you avoid conflict and you don't seek resolution and reconciliation, right?
16:27
SPEAKER_01: That forgiveness that you're withholding will poison your own body and your own life.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus says, forgive, move on so that you might have life and life abundant.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: Don't hold on to that anger so that you might have life and life abundant.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: And for some, this might be closer than you want me to get, but like you've seen firsthand perhaps how adultery can ruin and wreck families and relationships deeper than that person who said, maybe ever thought of.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: It can destroy families.
16:59
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, I want you to have life and life abundant.
17:02
SPEAKER_01: So when he lays out this idea of praying for your enemies and releasing that forgiveness, is for you, your own life.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: When he says, Don't be angry, he's wanting it for your own life so that you might have an abundant life and you've seen what can happen when we give into that moment of the maybe and things proceed.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: The cool thing is that grace abounds always.
17:25
SPEAKER_01: Right?
17:25
SPEAKER_01: And so if you've taken that moment of the maybe, whatever that may be, hopefully it's not adultery, but whatever it might be, that you start creeping down, or you've held that anger on for a long time, or you're that you've got so many enemies stacked up that like you've got more enemies than friends, and you feel like you constantly have your body armor on, go into battle with people.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, Grace is still present.
17:45
unknown: Right?
17:45
SPEAKER_01: You might have decided you weren't gonna follow Jesus, but you're still going up that mountain like I was in Alaska that day, and you just carried all the anger, all the all the all the stuff with you, right?
17:54
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, when can I turn around?
17:57
SPEAKER_01: Every moment Jesus offers you the opportunity to say yes and to choose him, to lay down the anger, to lay down the enemies that you're holding on to, to lay down the times when the wasn't just moment of the maybe, you're like, hell yes, right?
18:11
SPEAKER_01: Every time Jesus gives you the opportunity to turn around and to come to him and to follow him along the way.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: The grace is available.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: Now you may not be able to keep up, right?
18:23
SPEAKER_01: But you can set right on that path, right?
18:25
SPEAKER_01: Like I walk with Julie all the time, and what I mean by walk with Julie is I walk about 15 yards behind her because she's like, You want to go for a walk?
18:30
SPEAKER_01: I'm like a stroller walk.
18:31
SPEAKER_01: She said, and she burns it, right?
18:33
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like trying to keep up, right?
18:35
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of that same way I feel like following Jesus.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: We make the decision, yes, I want to stroll with you, Jesus.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: I want to walk with you and talk with you along with Mary's way, right?
18:42
SPEAKER_01: That's a hymn there, right?
18:44
SPEAKER_01: But like Jesus sometimes flies by, but we follow.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes foot step for step, oftentimes he's in front, but we know the path and we go and we seek there.
18:54
SPEAKER_01: Right?
18:54
SPEAKER_01: Lastly, completely wrapping up.
18:56
SPEAKER_01: Now that Pastor saying almost done, like I am done.
18:58
SPEAKER_01: Verse 48 in the CEB, the other versions talks about being perfect.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: Here, the version language says, Therefore, just as your heavenly father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also must you be complete.
19:12
SPEAKER_01: Jesus isn't calling us to be perfect to never mess up.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is calling us as a people who claim to be a people of the way to find a way to be complete in our love.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: That more often than not we get it right because we love him, we love our neighbors with the way that we say, the way that we act, and all that we do.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: This is the path that Jesus has laid out before us.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: You have the opportunity to say yes and to follow.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: Holy and gracious God, we give you thanks for this day, for this time.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: God, I'm not gonna lie, sometimes your stuff is hard to preach.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray wherever we may be today that we give you thanks that you meet us there.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: We give you thanks that your grace abounds.
20:01
SPEAKER_01: And I pray, O God, that if for those of us that are holding on to anger, for those of us that are holding on to enemies and not willing to give forgiveness, I pray, oh Lord, that you will begin to soften our hearts.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: That maybe not today, but soon, O Lord, we can choose to follow you and to release that anger and to give that forgiveness.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: God, the times that we have messed up and we have blown by the moment of the maybe and we have gone all the way, yes, yes, yes.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: God, I'm thankful that we can never be too far gone, that you continue to offer your grace, continue to offer us the opportunity to repent and to turn around and to walk into the ways.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: God, help us to be complete, complete in you as we seek to love you with all of our heart and soul and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
20:41
SPEAKER_01: We ask all this in Christ's name.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: The Wesley Word is a production of the Clemson Wesley Foundation.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: For more information about Clemson Wesley, check out our website or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, get out there and love your neighbor.