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Transcript

The Power of Release · Faith at Work

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  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever tried to hold your breath for too long?
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  SPEAKER_00: My family each year would travel to Virginia Beach.
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  And anyone who has ever gone to Virginia Beach from this area
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  knows that you have
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  SPEAKER_00: to go through a very long tunnel.
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  SPEAKER_00: All right, getting some nods.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the game that you play
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  if you're a kid,
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  when you go through that tunnel,
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  is hold your breath all the way through.
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  SPEAKER_00: Anybody ever do that?
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh yes, thank you very much.
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  SPEAKER_00: So you know that feeling as you're getting about halfway,
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  SPEAKER_00: three quarters of the way through that Virginia beach tunnel.
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  SPEAKER_00: Eventually,
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  SPEAKER_00: your chest begins to tighten,
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  SPEAKER_00: your head starts to spin,
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  SPEAKER_00: and every fiber in your body longs to exhale.
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  The feeling of relief when your air finally escapes reminds us
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  that release is not
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  SPEAKER_00: only good,
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  SPEAKER_00: but it is necessary in our lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: We live in a culture that rewards holding on.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hang in there, baby.
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  SPEAKER_00: Holding on to our possessions, our opinions, our grudges, and our fears.
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  But the gospel calls us to a different rhythm,
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  and it is the rhythm of release.
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  SPEAKER_00: Harmut Rosa says,
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  SPEAKER_00: wrote a book called The Uncontrollability of the World.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in it,
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  SPEAKER_00: he observes that the modern life that we live,
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  and I would argue it seems like it's kind of always been like
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  this because we see
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  SPEAKER_00: references to it in the gospel this morning,
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  that people are obsessed with making everything in their lives
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  controllable,
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  predictable and efficient we try to control our time we try to
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  control outcomes and
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  we try to control our relationships there is an algorithm these
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  days for everything
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  including ovens believe it or not just bought a new oven it has
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  an algorithm in it
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  and it hooks to the wi-fi don't know why that's necessary but i
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  don't know we'll
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  SPEAKER_00: figure it out as we go along
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  In his book,
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  he writes this,
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  the world becomes mute when we try to make it controllable.
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  SPEAKER_00: In other words,
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  SPEAKER_00: when everything is managed,
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  SPEAKER_00: we lose our capacity for wonder,
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  SPEAKER_00: surprise,
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  SPEAKER_00: amazement,
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  SPEAKER_00: and what he calls resonance with the world,
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  SPEAKER_00: creation,
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  SPEAKER_00: and others in it.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I would add, we lose resonance with the divine.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus invites us to recover that resonance,
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  SPEAKER_00: that oneness with God,
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  SPEAKER_00: creation,
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  and humanity to loosen our grip so that we can once again hear
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  the living voice of
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  SPEAKER_00: God in our lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: So as we continue this journey through our money story,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is the series that we're engaged in right now,
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  SPEAKER_00: we move from remembering last week to releasing this week.
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  The first scripture for this morning is found in Deuteronomy
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  chapter 15,
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  one through 11.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in those verses,
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  we learn that every seven years that the people of Israel were
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  commanded to cancel
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  SPEAKER_00: all debts in their culture.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was called the year of release.
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  SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine that?
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  SPEAKER_00: No bank foreclosures.
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  SPEAKER_00: No debt collector.
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  SPEAKER_00: No relentless interest payments on credit cards.
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  SPEAKER_00: And most importantly, no systemic poverty.
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  SPEAKER_00: This was not an economic loophole.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was a spiritual practice for the people of Israel.
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  God knew how quickly human beings can forget that everything in
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  our lives and in
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  SPEAKER_00: our world is a gift.
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  SPEAKER_00: So God built release into the rhythm of community life.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that neither wealth nor poverty...
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  SPEAKER_00: would harden into permanent systems of abuse and lack.
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  When the Israelites left Egypt,
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  they carried the memory of slavery in their bones.
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  SPEAKER_00: Pharaoh's economy had defined them.
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  It was an economy of endless production,
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  hoarding,
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  exploitation,
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  extraction,
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  and fear.
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  SPEAKER_00: There we go.
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  SPEAKER_00: But now,
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  SPEAKER_00: as the Israelites move into the wilderness,
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  SPEAKER_00: God is inviting them to live into a new story.
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  SPEAKER_00: A story of enough.
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  SPEAKER_00: Systemic release was God's antidote to Egypt's anxiety.
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  SPEAKER_00: What would it look like
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  SPEAKER_00: If our world practiced that kind of release,
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  SPEAKER_00: imagine student loan forgiven,
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  SPEAKER_00: medical debts erased,
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  SPEAKER_00: predatory lending dismantled.
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  SPEAKER_00: Imagine rest for exhausted people and land.
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  SPEAKER_00: that's allowed to breathe.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is not fantasy.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's God's dream of jubilee.
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  SPEAKER_00: In Matthew chapter 19,
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  SPEAKER_00: verses 16 through 22,
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  SPEAKER_00: we meet a wealthy man who comes to Jesus asking,
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  SPEAKER_00: what must I do to have eternal life?
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  He comes knowing he's moral,
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  he's successful,
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  he's religious,
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  he's wealthy.
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  SPEAKER_00: But we also learn that he is restless.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus names the commandments about relationships,
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  SPEAKER_00: honor your parents,
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  SPEAKER_00: love your neighbor,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then he adds one more thing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sell your possessions, give to the poor, and follow me.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in the story, we learn that the man goes away grieving.
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  SPEAKER_00: He just can't let go.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the strategy of this story is not that he is rich.
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  It is that his wealth and the control of his life and his
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  environment that it
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  SPEAKER_00: provided had captured his heart.
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  SPEAKER_00: He had confused possessions with purpose,
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  SPEAKER_00: security with salvation,
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  SPEAKER_00: and personal piety with true discipleship.
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  He had built a fortress so tight around his life that not even
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  joy could get in.
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  SPEAKER_00: We read this and we shake our heads.
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  SPEAKER_00: But if we are honest, we know that feeling, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: We clutch at our calendars,
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  SPEAKER_00: our savings account,
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  SPEAKER_00: our habits of control,
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  SPEAKER_00: and we tell ourselves that we are just being responsible.
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  SPEAKER_00: But many times, it's really that we are being afraid.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we try to make life controllable,
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  SPEAKER_00: when we measure worth by productivity or possessions,
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  SPEAKER_00: we become alienated from life itself.
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  SPEAKER_00: The rich man's sorrow is the ache of disconnection.
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  SPEAKER_00: His abundance had become armor.
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  SPEAKER_00: His grasping had silenced the divine song.
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  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus does not shame the man.
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  SPEAKER_00: He loves him.
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  SPEAKER_00: In Mark's version of this story,
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus says,
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  SPEAKER_00: the scripture says that Jesus looked at him and loved him.
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  SPEAKER_00: Love invites us to release.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not because God wants to take from us, but because God wants to free us.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Hebrew word for release literally means to open the hand.
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  SPEAKER_00: Think about that image right there.
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  SPEAKER_00: The difference between a clenched fist and an open palm.
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  SPEAKER_00: A clenched fist cannot receive a gift, nor can it give one.
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  SPEAKER_00: Only an open hand can.
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  SPEAKER_00: In her poem, Sarah Eyre writes this.
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  SPEAKER_00: I want to practice release.
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  SPEAKER_00: Removing the stones that weigh down my wing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Stones of fear, shame, and grief.
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  SPEAKER_00: Stones that build walls between you and me.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is the invitation of this week, to practice release.
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  Because releasing isn't a one-time event,
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  it is a rhythm that we learn by repetition.
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  SPEAKER_00: We practice releasing our fear of not having enough.
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  We practice releasing our guilt when we've made mistakes with
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  money or in our relationships.
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  SPEAKER_00: We practice relief of our need to control how God will use what we have
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  SPEAKER_00: and what we give.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, release doesn't mean carelessness.
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  SPEAKER_00: It means trust.
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  SPEAKER_00: Many of us have played this game before.
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  It means loosening our grip so that God's spirit can move
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  through our lives like
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  SPEAKER_00: breath moves through our lungs.
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  SPEAKER_00: Both Deuteronomy and Matthew confront the same lie,
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  SPEAKER_00: that security and salvation come from control.
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  SPEAKER_00: God's economy says otherwise.
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  SPEAKER_00: Freedom comes from trust and from release.
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  imagine what would happen if our congregation practiced relief
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  together and i
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  believe frankly we do a lot of these things if we release shame
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  about our finances
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  and started honest conversations that's what we're doing with
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  these study journals
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  and the conversations that we are having here in worship if we
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  released fear
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  about the church's future that's a big fear right now and
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  instead embraced faith in
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  god's provision what if we released the myth that generosity is
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  only for those who
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  SPEAKER_00: have extra the truth is everyone has something to release some of us
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  SPEAKER_00: have possessions to release.
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  SPEAKER_00: But some of us need to release resentment.
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  SPEAKER_00: Some of us need to release the belief that our worth depends on our work.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we release, we make room for grace.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when grace moves in, we find peace.
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  SPEAKER_00: Remember the man who walked away sad?
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  SPEAKER_00: I like to think that was not the end of his story.
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  SPEAKER_00: I like to think that maybe grief became the doorway to change,
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  SPEAKER_00: that maybe later he found the courage to let go and to come home.
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  SPEAKER_00: We know he left thinking, and sometimes that's all one can hope for.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our stories can change too.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we practice relief.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we move from control to trust.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we begin to live in tune with God's melody in the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: Rosa goes on to write this.
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  SPEAKER_00: Resonance cannot be produced at will.
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  SPEAKER_00: It can only be received.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the same is true for grace.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can't force it.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can only make space for it in our lives by releasing things.
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  SPEAKER_00: God invites us to breathe easier,
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  to be relieved from what burdens us and to join in releasing
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  others from what
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  SPEAKER_00: burdens them.
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  SPEAKER_00: Release is that space, the unclenching where grace can breathe.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is not just a financial sermon.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a freedom sermon.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because when we release, we are released.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we forgive, we are forgiven.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when we give, we discover abundance.
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  SPEAKER_00: So let's just return one more time to that image of breath.
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  SPEAKER_00: I invite you, inhale deeply.
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  SPEAKER_00: Feel your lungs expand with God's goodness.
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  SPEAKER_00: And now exhale.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let go of fear, guilt, and the need to prove yourselves.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is holy work.
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  SPEAKER_00: Breathing in God's love and breathing out release.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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  So today,
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  may our hearts be found not in clenched fists,
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  but in open hands.
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  SPEAKER_00: May we practice release until generosity becomes our second nature.
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  SPEAKER_00: And may our lives tell the story God is writing.
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  SPEAKER_00: A story of liberation, joy, and peace.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.