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Andy Stanley - Inconceivable · Andy Stanley Sermons

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Today, I want to do something a little different, and I want to
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take you back in time with me. And I'm going to ask you to
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use your imagination. I want you to imagine that you and I and five
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of your best friends you picked to people or family members, all six of
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us, and five of them, you and me, the seven of us,
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we are able somehow to go back in time to the city of Rome,
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and the year is eighty two. And in the year eighty two,
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when we show up in the Roman forum, of course people that are amazed
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that time travelers have shown up when we show up in this period of history.
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The emperor is a man called and named Emperor Domitian. You may remember
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him from school, Emperor Dumitian. Emperor Dumitian was the son of Vespasian.
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A little context here, and Vespasian was actually a Roman general that Nero sent
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to Judea to put down the Jewish rebellion. He was there about two years.
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When Nero is assassinated, Vespasian goes back to Rome and becomes the m
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Emperor. He leaves his son Titus to finish the work left undone to finish,
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taking over, basically besieging the city of Jerusalem, punching through the exterior
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two walls and destroying the temple. He eventually comes back and becomes the emperor
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as well after Vespasian dies, but he's only the emperor for about two years,
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and then his brother Domitian becomes the Emperor of Rome. So when we
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show up, he's the emperor, and word travels fast that there are time
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travelers that have come from the twenty first century to Rome, and word reaches
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Emperor to Mesian, and immediately he sends someone to invite us to a party.
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And the party is at the coliseum, because it's the end of one
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hundred days of games and they're celebrating the end of the one hundred days of
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games with this elaborate, elaborate party. And so the person they send us
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guides us out of the Roman Forum down toward the coliseum, and as we're
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going in that direction, we actually pass beneath the recently the very recently constructed
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Arch of Titus. The Arch of Titus was an arch that Domitian actually had
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constructed to commemorate his brother's victory over the Jews just twelve years earlier. And
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as we move underneath, we're able to look up and actually see inscriptions depicting
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the looting of the Jewish temple fourteen or fifteen hundred miles away. Eventually,
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we are escorted through the vip gate of the Roman Colisseum, where we are
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greeted by hundreds of people. There's a large patio, there is food everywhere.
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There are curious senators, there are slaves, there are escorts, and
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of course they are seated on a temporary throne is Emperor Domitian himself, surrounded
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by his praetorian guard, dressed in purple. It is a lavish, lavish
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meal. We are unfamiliar with most of the foods. It's exotic meats,
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exotic fruits, lots of eggs, and enough wine to float a ship.
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In fact, you ask for water, and I remind you that the water
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here would probably kill you, so we go thirsty. After the meal,
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Emperor Domitian sends someone to us. And by the way, the only reason
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we're able to communicate is because I took Latin in the eighth grade and I
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paid very very close attention, so consequently I can understand them and I can
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speak Latin because my Latin teacher in the eighth grade assured us. Mister Luduca
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assured us that Latin is not a dead language, and so it comes back
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to life in this particular episode. But you have no idea what's going on.
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You're just hearing the foreign language and trying to read the body language and
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the glances, and trying to follow what's going on based on what you see
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around you. And the Roman Emperor Domitian sends this message with a messenger who
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comes to our table and says, the Emperor would like a report from the
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future. He wants to know what is the state of the Roman Empire in
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the twenty first century. And you look at me, because I'm the only
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one that can communicate, and I realize that if I don't get this right,
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we may all become part of the gore on the arena floor. And
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so I begin, and I say, your excellency, to understand the future
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of Rome, I must first rehearse a bit of recent history. On our
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way to the Colosseum, we passed through the art celebrating your late brother's victory
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over the Jewish rebels. And while it's true that the Roman legions decimated the
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Jewish people, and while it's true that they destroyed the Jewish temple, the
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God of the Jews escaped unscathed. And as difficult as this will be for
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you to believe, eventually Rome the Empire will embrace the Jewish God as their
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god. Eventually Rome will come to believe and accept that the Roman gods that
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you currently worship are no gods at all. A future emperor will actually oversee
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the destruction of all your temples. A future Roman emperor will eventually oversee disbanding
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the priesthood and making it against the law to sacrifice an animal to any of
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your gods. Well, at this point, the crowd just erupts, and
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you're looking at me, wondering what have I said? And Domitian is leaning
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in as praetorian guard one by one drops their right hand to the hilt of
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their gladyus and looks for a signal from Domitian. But he leans forward and
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he raises his hand, and he calls for silence, and he asks this
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question, how, how how can this be? And I say, Emperor
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Domitian, in order to understand that, I have to take you even further
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back in time, fifty years ago, just fifty years ago, during the
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reign of Emperor Tiberius Caesar. In the land of Judea, a man came
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out of the wilderness named John, and he proclaimed that the Jewish God was
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about to do something in the world for the world. He was an unseemly
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character, but he attracted a large, large crowd. In fact, all
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of Jerusalem and all of Judea went out to hear John. He has a
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nickname, John the Baptist. In fact, I see in your group today
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Josephus. In our world, Josephus is a famous Jewish historian, and Josephus
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can confirm what I'm saying about John. Eventually, John got sideways with Herod
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Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, and Herod Antipas had him beheaded.
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But before he did, John the Baptist announced that one was coming after
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him that would be greater than him. And their leaders in Judea wondered,
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in fact, if John was claiming to be the Messiah, the one that
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the Jews had been waiting for for a long time, a king that would
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actually, in their minds, overthrow Rome. But John said, no,
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I'm not the one, but there is one coming after me. Keep your
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eyes open and sure enough, very quickly, before John was beheaded, Jesus
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of Nazareth appeared on the banks of the Jordan River. He began to preach,
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and he spoke as no man had ever spoken before. He announced a
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brand new kingdom. He announced a kingdom that was not of this world,
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but a kingdom that was going to touch down in this world and influence the
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entire world. He was a miracle worker. Like John the Baptist. He
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attracted crowds, but eventually he got sideways with his own people, the Jewish
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leaders. They had him arrested, they had him condemned, and he was
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crucified by Ponscious Pilot. I see as well that Senator Tacitus is with us
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in the crowd in our world. Senator Tacitus is known for being a famous
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historian in this era, and he can confirm what I've said about Jesus of
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Nazareth. He can confirm what I said that, in fact, under Ponscious
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Pilot, Jesus suffered the most severe kind of punishment. He can also confirm
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the fact that what should have been an end was actually a beginning, because
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after Jesus had been buried for three days, the way that Jewish people measure
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days after their passover, the tomb was found open and empty, and at
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first people assumed grave robbers, but that didn't make any sense because Jesus was
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poor, he was a rabbi. He had nothing to steal. And besides,
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it wasn't items that were buried with him that were gone. His body
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was missing. And within days there were rumors that he had been seen in
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Jerusalem, in the vicinity of Judea, and even in Galilee. And at
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first it was individuals, and it was groups, and it was tens,
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that it was dozens, and eventually hundreds of people claimed that Jesus was alive,
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and his resurrection galvanized the courage of his followers, and they spread the
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news that, in fact, as Jesus had said when he was alive,
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and had said again after his resurrection, the Kingdom of God has come,
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a kingdom not of this world, but a kingdom for this world, and
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Jesus, the resurrected Rabbi, is in fact the king, and his followers
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would declare that he was their lord. His closest followers were arrested, beaten,
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many of them were put to death, but they persisted. Their confidence
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was convincing their confidence was contagious because they had seen, had meals with,
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had listened to their resurrected friend and Rabbi, Jesus Dmitian. You know this.
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Even now in this city there are citizens, slaves, men, women,
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freedmen, visitors who are meeting all over this city in their own apartments,
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in gardens under trees by the river, who worship Jesus of Nazareth as
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their lord. And for the next two hundred and thirty years, for the
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next two hundred and thirty years, your great Empire will leverage all of its
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power, in all of its might, to stamp out this Nazarene sect.
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But your efforts will ultimately fail. And though Jesus of Nazareth never visited your
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grand and glorylarious city in the twenty first century, his name, his likeness,
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and his symbol will adorn buildings throughout the city, Emperor Dumitian. As
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impossible as it must be for you to imagine, one day, over the
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very gate that you entered into the Colisseum through just a couple of hours ago,
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there will hang an enormous cross, an enormous wooden cross that will no
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longer represent the ruthlessness or the power of Rome. But in the twenty first
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century it will represent the power and the love of God, the Jewish God.
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Yahweh, well I'm when I stop, I look around, and they're
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speechless. It's silent. This, this is impossible. The cross a symbol
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of love. All of their temples throughout the The empire destroyed, no more
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priesthood, no more animal sacrifice, Jupiter replaced by the God of the Jews.
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A Jewish rabbi who's been dead for fifty years will somehow be worshiped by
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the empire that executed him. Before they can respond, I continued, Oh,
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great Domitian, as for you, in the future, you will be
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known primarily for your reign of terror. In fact, Domitian, you,
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along with every other Roman emperor, will be reduced to a paragraph or two
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in our modern history books with one exception, and the exception will be the
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Great Caesar Augustus. His name will be referenced every single year in homes and
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places of worship throughout the world, but not in recognition of his great accomplishments.
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His name will be reference within the context of the story of the birth
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of the Jewish Savior. He will be a footnote in the story of the
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birth of the Jewish king Jesus, whose words will be collected and distributed more
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widely than all the Roman emperors combined. And as impossible as impossible. I'm
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sure this sounds to you. Jesus of Nazareth will be the most influential and
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revered man who ever lived. And this, Emperor Domitian, is the future
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of your glorious empire. Rome is not eternal, but there is a god
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who reigns eternal. It was his temple that your brother destroyed. It was
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his son that your governor crucified. But in the end it was his sovereign
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purpose that your empire advanced. And then I sit down, and there's silence.
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This is unimaginable. This goes beyond offensive. There's no appropriate response.
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But then slowly, ever so slowly, a smile breaks out on Emperor Domitian's
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face, and then he burst into laughter. And because everyone takes their cue
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from the Emperor, of the entire crowd burst into laughter, but no one
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knows why. And the Emperor hoists his cup and proposes a toast to the
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storytellers from the future. Brilliant, he says, brilliant. You had me
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believing you right up to the end of your tale. And then he calls
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free music, makes his way to our table, congratulates us, and then
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he says, I insist, I insist that you join me tomorrow night for
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dinner once again. But this time, no more fanciful stories. I want
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the truth. I must know what the future holds for our glorious empire and
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for this, our eternal city. You see, my friends, what happened
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not what was believed. What happened was absolutely inconceivable. What actually happened was
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impossible. What happened. No one could dream up what happened. No one
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could plan what happened, no one could orchestrate. But what happened was exactly
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what Jesus predicted. In the region of Cesarea Philippi, surrounded by a group
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of people with no future and no hope other than to simply survive, living
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under the heel of the Roman and over tax misled by their religious leaders,
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Jesus said, gentlemen, and all of those who came along with the gentleman,
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Because everywhere Jesus went there were the apostles, and then there was the
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crowd. He says to the apostles into that group, ladies and gentlemen,
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I will build my ecclesia. I will build my gathering, my congregation,
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my assembly, my movement. It is going to happen. And the gates
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of Hades, death itself will not overcome it. And these words must have
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sounded so hollow, so thin, so tried, so unbelievable standing out there
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in that blazing hot Syrian sun. But Jesus meant what he said, and
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the gates of Hades will not overcome it. And it didn't and it won't
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because what God began and what God continued through the ministry and the life and
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the and the resurrection of Jesus is linear. God showed up in history with
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a plan, and we have so much to look back on, We have
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so much to appreciate. And the thought that we are a small part of
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what God is doing in our generation, in the church that began all those
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years ago against insurmountable odds, is such a privilege. It's what wakes me
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up in the morning. It's what keeps me going when things get difficult.
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Because we all have a little bit of time, and we all have a
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little bit of opportunity and we have been invited into this grand narrative that no
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one could have imagined and no one could have orchestrated. But my friends,
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it happened. Jordan Peterson, in his book Twelve Rules for Life, says
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it so perfectly. I just want you to let him tell you a new
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book that basically says what people have been saying for generations but again, and
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he brings it to life in such a way that I just couldn't say it
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any better. Here's what he writes. He says, Christianity achieve the well
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nigh impossible. There it is the Christian doctrine elevated the individual soul, placing
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slave and master, and commoner and nobleman alike on the same metaphysical footing,
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rendering them equal before God and the law. This was unheard of, The
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implicit, the implicit transcendent worth of each and every soul established itself against impossible,
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impossible, impossible odds. It is, in fact, he writes,
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nothing short of a miracle that the hierarchical, slave based societies of our ancestors
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reorganize themselves. How why under the sway of an ethical religious revelation such that
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the ownership and absolute domination of another person came to be viewed is wrong.
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And then this next statement is so heavy, and it's so weighty, and
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it's so important. It's why I wanted to read this quote. Because what
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is so normal to us, what is so normal to us? What is
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so expected by us that we think it is just common sense? That it
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is so self evident? How could anyone miss it? We are absolutely wrong.
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Here's what he writes. We forget, and we forget because most of
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us never knew. We forget that the opposite was self evident throughout most of
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human history. That throughout most of human history, what made perfect sense was
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that might made right. The one with the gold makes the rules. Owning
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another person is just natural. Being able to enslave an entire population is natural.
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This is the way of nature, This is the way of things.
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It is so self evident. Why would anyone ever question it? But when
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Jesus came, everything got turned upside down, and we are stewards of that
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message. He continues. He says the society, the society produced by Christianity
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was far less barbaric than the pagan even the Roman ones it replaced. It
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objected, you've heard me talk about this before. I just want you to
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hear from someone else. It objected to infanticide, to prostitution, to the
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principle that might means right. It insisted that women were as valuable as men,
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unheard of in ancient times. It demanded, it demanded that even as
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society's enemies be regarded as human. All of this was asking the impossible.
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But it happened, But it happened, And it happened around the teaching of
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one Jewish rabbi whose words should never have survived the dusty first century. Once
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upon a time, what we consider normal, once upon a time, what
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we consider self evident, was in conceivable. And my friends, here's my
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concern. If we take it for granted, it might vanish from our culture.
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We take it for granted, and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren may
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not have it. Some of you, some of you, want to make
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America great again, and rightly so. Some of you are concerned about what
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does again mean? What is again in reference to? And rightly so.
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Of course, we want our nation to be a great nation. Of course,
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we want our nation to be as great as it can possibly be.
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And the key to our nation being as great as it can possibly be is
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a thriving church, because a thriving church that truly embraces the message of Jesus,
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both for this life and the life to come, is a message that
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impacts the culture and the conscience of a nation. A thriving church is how
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we get a great nation, because Jesus defined great for us and he turned
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it upside down. And he said to his disciples on their way to Jerusalem,
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when they were arguing about who's going to be the greatest among us,
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I mean, Jesus, we know that you're number one, but we want
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to know who gets to be number two and number three In the kingdom,
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when you rip off your rabbi robe and there's a big M and you're the
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Messiah, and you turn around on the back and there's a big K because
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you're the king. We want to know who sits at your left hand and
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who sits you're at your right hand. And Jesus said to them, all
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of you sit down, because you still don't understand. This isn't the way
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it works. And the rest of the world that's how the structures of power
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work, but not in my kingdom. And my kingdom is completely backwards,
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and my kingdom is completely upside down. I want you to follow me,
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he would say. But as you follow me, you remember this. Even
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the son of man, talking about himself, even the son of man did
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not come to be served, but to serve. Even the son of man
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did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his
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life a ransom for many. And he would say to them, if you're
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up for that, you follow me, and we will change the world.
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And they did. This is why be rich is such a big deal.
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This is why being generous in our communities is such a big deal. This
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is why creating new churches that get this is such a big deal. This
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is why you are so important. This is why we are so important.
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Jesus said it best, of course he did. He said it this way
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to his first century audience, and I think to us as well. He
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said, you, you, those of you who choose to follow me,
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you are the salt of the earth. And when he said this, the
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group of people he's talking to are looking around, going like, no,
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we're not. We're not the salt of anything. Nobody even knows we're here.
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We're Judeans, we're Galileans, we're you know, we're not even a
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sovereign state. We can't even make our own rules, we can't even trust
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our own leaders. We're not the salt of the earth. You're the salt
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of the earth, Jesus said. But if the salt loses its saltiness,
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that is, if you just blend in, if you just go with the
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flow, if you embrace the powers, the structure of power that the world
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models for us, if you decide that it means being number one to the
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demise of everyone else around you, if you decide that somehow living for yourself
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makes you someone, if you forget that the value of a life is only
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is always measured by how much of it's given away. If you lose your
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saltiness, he says, how can it be made salty again? It is
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no longer good for anything. It is no longer good for anything. It
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is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
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You, he says to his first century audience. You, he says to
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you, to us, And again this made no sense. Looking back,
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it makes all the sense in the world. Little did they know that they
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were on the verge of greatness little did they know that they were at the
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beginning of something that would truly revolutionize the world and topple an empire. You
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are the light the world, which they said, no, we're not.
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Rome is the light of the world. The city of Rome is the city
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sat on a hill where all the instructions come from, where all the power
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emanates from. Rome is the light of the world. Caesar is the light
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of the world. We're not the light of the world. And Jesus would
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smile and say, you have no idea what's in store, because I'm going
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to build my gathering and nothing, including Rome stop it. You're the light
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of the world. You let your light shine before us. What does that
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mean that they may see your good deeds? Nobody's even paying attention to our
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deeds, Jesus, Jesus, as you just wait, you follow me.
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And when people see your good deeds, when people see the way that you
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treat the sick, when people see the way that you honor women, when
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people see the way you honor children, When a plague comes through a village
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and you no longer fear death and you stay behind and take care of the
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sick, you let people see your good works and eventually they will glorify your
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Father in heaven, and together we will change the world. And you.
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It is not me you as we you is us. Think of it that
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we are the stewards. Think of it and our generation. We are the
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stewards of the church and the faith for our generation. And the question I
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have for you, the question I have to constantly ask myself, is,
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as stewards of the church for our generation, what am I going to do
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with it? What are we going to do with it? Will we just
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take from it? Will we take from it and get what we can get
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from it and leave it weak, are sidelined and ineffectual? Or will we
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or will we engage with it? And in engaging with the Church of the
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Lord Jesus Christ, ensure that the Church continues to shape the conscience of our
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communities and of our nation and of the world. It's impossible for us to
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get our hearts, in our minds and our emotions around. But two thousand
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years ago Jesus launched something for the ages. Two thousand years ago, Jesus
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launched something for you and for us. Twenty three years ago, we launch
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something for our communities. And I'm confident because history bears witness to the fact
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that I'm confident, and we can all be confident that God will complete what
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He's begun, and with your involvement at our churches, we will come what
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we've begun as well. Against all odds. It's impossible to even exaggerate.
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Against all odds. The Church changed the world once, and there is still
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a great deal that needs to be changed about our world. And by God's
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grace and with your help, perhaps we can be a small part of bringing
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about that change in our communities, in our nation, and maybe in the
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world. And so here's what I'm inviting you to do. Here's what I'm
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challenging you to consider, whether you have been with us for twenty three years
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or for twenty three minutes. And the words of the apostle Paul to a
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group of first century believers. They had no idea what hung in the balance
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of their faithfulness. He said to them, my friends, stand firm.
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Let nothing move you. This was battle ground language. Stand firm, don't
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retreat, Stand firm. Dig in your heels, stand firm, prepare for
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the assault. Stand firm, Let nothing move you. Always, he said
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to them, give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you
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know, even though they didn't know, because you know that your labor in
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the Lord is not in vain, and their labor in the Lord was not
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in vain. We are here as a result of their labor. We're here
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because of their labor. The question is will we take they're our queue from
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them, because just as we are here because of their tenacious labor, our
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labor will determine who's here tomorrow. Our label labor will determine what the Church
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of the future looks like, how it operates, and if it will continue
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to embrace the extraordinary command of Jesus. What he said, if you forget
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everything else, you remember this, because this is how people will know that
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you're my follower. You are to love not as you've been loved. You
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are to love not as you want to be loved. You are to love
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as I have loved you. And the morning after he made that statement,
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he put on a demonstration of love that would take his breath away and the
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world would never be the same. So for all of you, at all
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of our churches, engage and stay engaged. We have been given the opportunity
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of a lifetime assass