Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Jesus bigger than your box- Minister Max Lucado
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Every day I thank God for Randy Frazee, for Roseanne,
- 0:05Speaker 1: for the opportunity that we're going to have as a
- 0:07Speaker 1: church to move forward with this solid foundation, excuse me,
- 0:12Speaker 1: of studying through God's Word as one family, one year,
- 0:16Speaker 1: the whole Bible together. I'm just so excited. I really
- 0:20Speaker 1: believe that our best days are ahead of us, don't you?
- 0:23Speaker 1: These are exciting times in which we live. Amen. Amen.
- 0:30Speaker 1: I'd like to invite you to open your Bible. I
- 0:31Speaker 1: hope you brought it to Matthew, the first gospel in
- 0:35Speaker 1: the New Testament. In just a moment, we're going to
- 0:38Speaker 1: read a passage from Matthew chapter 17. If you didn't
- 0:42Speaker 1: bring your Bible and want to follow along on the
- 0:44Speaker 1: outline that's in your handout, or if you want to
- 0:47Speaker 1: follow along on the screen, you can do that. A
- 0:52Speaker 1: woman ahead of me in the hotel check-in line was
- 0:57Speaker 1: holding a Max Lucado book under her arm. And I
- 1:00Speaker 1: was hesitant to introduce myself unless she explained to me
- 1:06Speaker 1: that the reason she had one of my books is
- 1:08Speaker 1: because she suffers from insomnia. And that the doctor had
- 1:14Speaker 1: prescribed it as treatment. But I went ahead and I
- 1:19Speaker 1: took the risk. And she actually said that she liked
- 1:22Speaker 1: the book. But then as she looked at me, she
- 1:25Speaker 1: looked back at the picture on the book. And she said,
- 1:31Speaker 1: I don't believe you're Max Licato. I said, I am.
- 1:36Speaker 1: I said, that's an old picture. It's been there a
- 1:40Speaker 1: long time. And she didn't smile. She looked back at
- 1:44Speaker 1: the picture and she said, no, Max Licato has a mustache,
- 1:50Speaker 1: no wrinkles, and a full head of hair. And I said, well,
- 1:55Speaker 1: he used to. Still didn't smile. She wouldn't budge. She said,
- 2:02Speaker 1: I don't believe you are who you tell me you are. Well,
- 2:06Speaker 1: I started to produce my driver's license. And then I thought, well,
- 2:11Speaker 1: there's worse things in life than for a person to
- 2:13Speaker 1: think you're still 30 years of age. So I lifted
- 2:17Speaker 1: at that. Besides, I understood what she was doing. I
- 2:21Speaker 1: understand her conflict. She had me pegged. And once you
- 2:28Speaker 1: have someone pegged, it's much easier to leave them there.
- 2:34Speaker 1: Once you have someone framed or boxed or locked in
- 2:38Speaker 1: or figured out, it's hard to let them out. She
- 2:42Speaker 1: had Max in a box. And once we put a
- 2:46Speaker 1: person in a box or a race in a box
- 2:50Speaker 1: or a nation in a box or a political candidate
- 2:53Speaker 1: in a box, we like to leave them there because
- 2:57Speaker 1: to allow them out demands energy on our part. We
- 3:02Speaker 1: love boxes. Boxes are wonderful gifts. Boxes bring a sense
- 3:07Speaker 1: of order to a very confusing world. Boxes are great
- 3:12Speaker 1: for moving from one city to the next. You put
- 3:16Speaker 1: everything in a box and when you get there, you
- 3:18Speaker 1: can unpack it. Boxes keep cereal from spilling all over
- 3:22Speaker 1: your cabinet. Boxes can keep clothes from pouring out in
- 3:27Speaker 1: the closets. Boxes are great when it comes to containing stuff.
- 3:32Speaker 1: But when it comes to explaining people, boxes just don't work.
- 3:40Speaker 1: They don't work with people. And they especially don't work
- 3:45Speaker 1: with Jesus Christ. His contemporaries really tried to put him
- 3:50Speaker 1: in a box. Some created a box called revolutionary and
- 3:55Speaker 1: they put Jesus in the revolutionary box, but then he
- 3:58Speaker 1: paid his taxes. They tried to box him in as
- 4:02Speaker 1: a Jew, but then he loved the Gentiles. They tried
- 4:07Speaker 1: to box him in as a rabbi, but then he
- 4:10Speaker 1: quit going to the synagogues. They tried to box him
- 4:14Speaker 1: in as a strong male leader, but then he recruited
- 4:19Speaker 1: females and In a very male dominated society. He spoke
- 4:25Speaker 1: like a king. And yet he lived like a simple man.
- 4:30Speaker 1: People tried to box him in. But they couldn't. Do
- 4:34Speaker 1: you think we try to box Christ in today? I
- 4:39Speaker 1: remember a friend of mine in Brazil. Who drove a taxi.
- 4:44Speaker 1: He kept Jesus in a box that you might label.
- 4:47Speaker 1: The Jesus who does me favors. And he had a
- 4:51Speaker 1: little plastic Jesus super glued to the dashboard of his taxi.
- 4:56Speaker 1: And whenever he needed a green light or a client
- 4:59Speaker 1: or a parking place, he would just reach up and
- 5:02Speaker 1: pet that little Jesus. The Jesus who does me favors.
- 5:08Speaker 1: I've been a part of churches who keep Jesus in
- 5:11Speaker 1: a box. Because we have the right doctrine. Or here
- 5:15Speaker 1: you experience the right emotion. Or we've understood Jesus. the
- 5:19Speaker 1: right teaching. We have cracked the code on Christ. Here's
- 5:23Speaker 1: where you find Jesus. We've got him in the box.
- 5:25Speaker 1: You won't find him in any other box. He's in
- 5:27Speaker 1: this box. The preacher I heard occupying the midnight slot
- 5:32Speaker 1: on television the other night preached a gospel that sounded
- 5:36Speaker 1: like the prosperity box. He said, if you pray this
- 5:41Speaker 1: way and keep this attitude, you'll for certain get a
- 5:44Speaker 1: pay raise. For certain get a pay raise. You might
- 5:48Speaker 1: call his view of Jesus the vending machine Jesus. You
- 5:52Speaker 1: put in the right quarters or the right amount, the
- 5:54Speaker 1: right input. And Christ has to respond. We've got Christ
- 6:00Speaker 1: in a box. This is the time of year politicians
- 6:03Speaker 1: tend to get very religious. And they begin bringing out
- 6:06Speaker 1: their boxes of Jesus. Assuring us that if Jesus were
- 6:10Speaker 1: alive today, he would certainly vote in a certain way.
- 6:15Speaker 1: Or support Jesus. a certain cause. The box says Jesus
- 6:19Speaker 1: of my cause. Jesus would vote green. Jesus would vote conservative.
- 6:25Speaker 1: Jesus would vote seldom. Jesus would vote often. Jesus would
- 6:29Speaker 1: vote like a hawk or like a dove. Certainly he
- 6:31Speaker 1: would vote like an American eagle. We have Jesus in
- 6:35Speaker 1: a box. But the problem with placing Jesus in a
- 6:39Speaker 1: box is the discovery that he has never been in
- 6:43Speaker 1: any of them. Were we to be able to study
- 6:46Speaker 1: the pantry of your heart do you think we would
- 6:49Speaker 1: find any boxes were we able to look at your
- 6:53Speaker 1: image and understanding of christ any chance we would find
- 6:56Speaker 1: the little two by three photo of christ that was
- 6:59Speaker 1: taken many years ago that he has long since outgrown
- 7:03Speaker 1: but you're still having locked someplace in history you see
- 7:08Speaker 1: the truth of the matter is jesus has never stepped
- 7:10Speaker 1: into anyone's box and whenever anybody thinks that they have
- 7:13Speaker 1: him in a box he does something that blows the
- 7:15Speaker 1: box apart like he did that day on the Mount
- 7:20Speaker 1: of Transfiguration in this box bursting story recorded in Matthew
- 7:27Speaker 1: chapter 17. It reads like this. Now, after six days,
- 7:32Speaker 1: Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, and he
- 7:35Speaker 1: led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And
- 7:38Speaker 1: he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun.
- 7:42Speaker 1: His clothes became as white as the light. And behold,
- 7:46Speaker 1: Moses and Elijah appeared to him, talking with him. And
- 7:49Speaker 1: then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is
- 7:52Speaker 1: good for us to be here. If you wish, let
- 7:55Speaker 1: us make here three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses,
- 7:59Speaker 1: and one for Elijah. And while he was still speaking, behold,
- 8:04Speaker 1: a bright cloud overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice came
- 8:07Speaker 1: out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son,
- 8:11Speaker 1: in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. And when
- 8:14Speaker 1: the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and
- 8:17Speaker 1: they were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them
- 8:22Speaker 1: and said, Arise and do not be afraid. And when
- 8:26Speaker 1: they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one
- 8:29Speaker 1: but Jesus only. Let's pray together. Have mercy on us now, Father,
- 8:34Speaker 1: as we seek to understand your word. We pray that
- 8:39Speaker 1: you'd forgive the sins of the one who speaks for
- 8:41Speaker 1: there are many. And we pray that we might see
- 8:44Speaker 1: Jesus and Jesus only. Through Christ we pray. Amen. This
- 8:51Speaker 1: story begins, if you want to follow on your outline,
- 8:54Speaker 1: with fire on the mountain. Have you ever noticed that
- 8:58Speaker 1: the high points of Scripture seem to occur on the
- 9:01Speaker 1: high points of earth? How the high points of Scripture
- 9:04Speaker 1: seem to occur on the high points of earth? You
- 9:06Speaker 1: have Abraham offering Isaac on Mount Moriah. Moses alone with
- 9:11Speaker 1: the burning bush on Mount Sinai. Elijah ascending to heaven
- 9:15Speaker 1: from Mount Horeb. Christ redeeming humanity from a hill called Calvary.
- 9:20Speaker 1: And here you have Christ unveiling his glory on a mountain.
- 9:27Speaker 1: Now most historians place this event on a mountain called
- 9:32Speaker 1: Mount Hermon. Some suggest Mount Tabor, but it's probably Mount
- 9:37Speaker 1: Hermon because it's That's about a six-day journey from where
- 9:41Speaker 1: Jesus was six days ago, according to Scripture, when he
- 9:46Speaker 1: was in Caesarea Philippi. And so if it was Mount Hermon,
- 9:50Speaker 1: it's a perfect setting. Because Mount Hermon is a 9,400-foot
- 9:55Speaker 1: peak in the northern area of Israel, north of the
- 9:59Speaker 1: Sea of Galilee. A gigantic snow covered mountain. Where Jesus
- 10:04Speaker 1: could take his disciples and they could retreat. And he
- 10:07Speaker 1: could take this inner circle. Peter, James and John. And
- 10:11Speaker 1: they could ascend the mountain. And they would have a
- 10:13Speaker 1: beautiful view looking south over the country of Israel. And
- 10:17Speaker 1: they would there see God. the Sea of Galilee, turquoise
- 10:21Speaker 1: and shimmering. They could see the distant plains, lumpy as
- 10:26Speaker 1: they were with vines and hills. They perhaps even could
- 10:30Speaker 1: look north and see Caesarea Philippi. This huge mountain, Mount Hermon,
- 10:36Speaker 1: was actually visible from the Dead Sea, a hundred miles
- 10:40Speaker 1: to the south. And so here Jesus and his followers
- 10:43Speaker 1: saw ascend Mount Hermon, away from the chattering crowds and
- 10:47Speaker 1: the clamoring controversies. And the reason they have come, according
- 10:52Speaker 1: to Luke's gospel, is so that Jesus can pray. Luke writes,
- 10:59Speaker 1: Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up on
- 11:03Speaker 1: the mountain to pray. You see, Jesus needed strength, just
- 11:08Speaker 1: like you and I need strength. He needed strength because
- 11:11Speaker 1: he knew the next stop on his itinerary Was the
- 11:14Speaker 1: city of Jerusalem. And he knew what awaited him in Jerusalem.
- 11:20Speaker 1: Was the cross. The spite of the people. And the
- 11:24Speaker 1: spikes of the soldiers. And he needed some strength. And
- 11:28Speaker 1: so he takes Peter and James and John. And they
- 11:31Speaker 1: ascend up on Mount Hermon. And there Jesus begins to pray.
- 11:35Speaker 1: And as Jesus begins to pray. Something box bursting happens.
- 11:42Speaker 1: He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the
- 11:48Speaker 1: sun and his clothes became as white as light. Jesus,
- 11:55Speaker 1: the gentle carpenter who ate matzos and shish kebabs and
- 11:59Speaker 1: spoke with a Galilean accent and had calluses on his hands. Jesus,
- 12:06Speaker 1: explodes into the divinity that he is and look what
- 12:10Speaker 1: happens light spills forth out of him light pours forth
- 12:16Speaker 1: from every pore of his skin he is radiant brilliant
- 12:22Speaker 1: explosive shocking to look at him as to look squarely
- 12:27Speaker 1: in the face of alpha centauri mark who also recorded
- 12:31Speaker 1: this event and whose gospel was probably the dictated thoughts
- 12:36Speaker 1: of Peter, who was there, adds this curious statement. Jesus'
- 12:42Speaker 1: clothes shimmered. Isn't that a great verb? Clothing so bright
- 12:48Speaker 1: it appeared to shake. Glistening white. And then he said,
- 12:53Speaker 1: whiter than any bleach could make them. As if to
- 12:58Speaker 1: say this was not the work of a laundry. This
- 13:01Speaker 1: is not the work of a person. But this is
- 13:04Speaker 1: something deep within. God is bursting forth out of Jesus.
- 13:10Speaker 1: Scripture consistently uses light as a metaphor to describe God.
- 13:17Speaker 1: John says that God is light and in him there
- 13:20Speaker 1: is no darkness at all. Paul says that God dwells
- 13:24Speaker 1: in unapproachable light. Look what is happening. In this box
- 13:30Speaker 1: bursting moment, Jesus is unveiling his true nature. Jesus is
- 13:36Speaker 1: unveiling his eternal wardrobe. This is how he has appeared
- 13:42Speaker 1: throughout all eternity. And with the exception of the 33
- 13:45Speaker 1: years on earth, this is how he will always appear.
- 13:49Speaker 1: Bursting forth as in light. Your relatives who have already
- 13:53Speaker 1: gone to heaven. The great saints who have already gone
- 13:55Speaker 1: into the heavens. This is how they see Jesus right now.
- 13:58Speaker 1: This very moment. As an explosive bonfire of glorious light.
- 14:04Speaker 1: Shot through with purity. No sin. No shadow. No regrets.
- 14:11Speaker 1: No mistakes. The only holy being in the history of
- 14:17Speaker 1: the universe. He's not a pale Galilean, but he is
- 14:21Speaker 1: a towering and furious figure who will not be managed.
- 14:25Speaker 1: The Hebrew writer says he is one who is holy, blameless, pure,
- 14:35Speaker 1: set apart from sinners. And so the disciples are given
- 14:40Speaker 1: this glimpse of Christ that they have never seen before.
- 14:44Speaker 1: Imagine how this struck them. Don't you know their eyes
- 14:48Speaker 1: widened like frisbees and their jaws hit the ground. They
- 14:54Speaker 1: had never seen anything like this. They have seen Jesus
- 14:58Speaker 1: walk on the water, multiply the bread, talk to the wind,
- 15:01Speaker 1: banish demons, raise the dead. You'd think they had seen
- 15:04Speaker 1: it all. But here they're discovering Jesus wasn't even warmed
- 15:09Speaker 1: up yet. And then all of a sudden two visitors appear.
- 15:15Speaker 1: Moses and Elijah, the giver of the law and the
- 15:21Speaker 1: prince of the prophets. They stepped through that thin veil
- 15:23Speaker 1: that separates paradise from earth. And here's what they do.
- 15:29Speaker 1: They were speaking of how he, Jesus, was about to
- 15:33Speaker 1: fulfill God's plan by dying in Jerusalem. Now, why did
- 15:38Speaker 1: Jesus go up on the Mount of Transfiguration? To pray.
- 15:43Speaker 1: And look how his prayer is answered. Moses and Elijah,
- 15:48Speaker 1: the hallmark figures of the two great dispensations of biblical
- 15:52Speaker 1: history come, and the three gather, Jesus, Moses, and Elijah,
- 15:57Speaker 1: and they discuss what's about to happen next. And all
- 16:00Speaker 1: of history is represented and gathered on the top of
- 16:03Speaker 1: the mountain. And I'm thinking that Peter and John and
- 16:07Speaker 1: James are looking at each other saying, again, what kind
- 16:10Speaker 1: of man is this? That when he prays, Moses and
- 16:15Speaker 1: Elijah show up. Moses and Elijah were the Washington and
- 16:21Speaker 1: Lincoln of Hebrew history. The mother Teresa and the Joan
- 16:25Speaker 1: of Arc. Who is this Jesus? That when he speaks,
- 16:29Speaker 1: the greatest historical figures of Hebrew history step out of
- 16:34Speaker 1: nowhere and encourage him. Who is this Christ? Don't miss
- 16:39Speaker 1: what is happening here. Any box, however respectable, that Peter, James,
- 16:45Speaker 1: and John may have used in which to place Christ
- 16:48Speaker 1: is no longer relevant. Christ outsteps, he outdates, he explodes
- 16:54Speaker 1: every box that has ever been built. He comes forth
- 16:58Speaker 1: as the Holy One through his light. The highest one
- 17:03Speaker 1: through the convening of the greatest figures in history. And
- 17:07Speaker 1: then because Peter can't keep his mouth shut, we begin
- 17:11Speaker 1: to see Jesus as the only one. Peter speaks up.
- 17:17Speaker 1: And fire on the mountain becomes foot in the mouth.
- 17:24Speaker 1: No one asked Peter his opinion. But that never kept
- 17:27Speaker 1: him from expressing it. He speaks up. Lord, he says,
- 17:35Speaker 1: it is good for us to be here. And if
- 17:38Speaker 1: you wish, let us make three tabernacles. One for you,
- 17:43Speaker 1: one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Now these words
- 17:48Speaker 1: might seem harmless to us, a good idea to some.
- 17:51Speaker 1: We love to memorialize moments, don't we? To create a
- 17:55Speaker 1: historical marker. And that's basically what Peter wants. Let's create
- 17:59Speaker 1: a monument, a basilica. Let's dedicate something and I'll head
- 18:04Speaker 1: up the building committee. I'll be in charge of it.
- 18:07Speaker 1: It is good that I'm here to do this, he says,
- 18:10Speaker 1: because we need to remember this with a monument. Well,
- 18:15Speaker 1: sounds somewhat acceptable, perhaps even a good idea, but not
- 18:21Speaker 1: from God's perspective. Peter's idea of three tabernacles is so
- 18:26Speaker 1: off base and so inappropriate that God won't even let
- 18:30Speaker 1: him finish his sentence. Look at the next line. While he, Peter,
- 18:35Speaker 1: was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Peter
- 18:40Speaker 1: doesn't even get to finish the sentence. God interrupts him.
- 18:44Speaker 1: And suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying,
- 18:47Speaker 1: this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
- 18:52Speaker 1: Hear him. You know, we only hear the heavenly father's
- 18:57Speaker 1: voice twice in the gospels. Once when Jesus was baptized
- 19:01Speaker 1: and here when Jesus was transfigured. And in both cases,
- 19:05Speaker 1: God makes it clear. Jesus is God's beloved son. The
- 19:10Speaker 1: word beloved carries with it the dual meaning of priceless
- 19:15Speaker 1: and unique. Beyond value and one of a kind. Peter's
- 19:22Speaker 1: trying to clump Christ in with Elijah and Moses. And
- 19:29Speaker 1: the heavens will have none of it. There is none
- 19:32Speaker 1: other like him. Not Moses, not Elijah, not Peter, not James,
- 19:37Speaker 1: not John. Not Zoroaster, not Buddha, not Mohammed. Not Elvis.
- 19:45Speaker 1: No one. Christ has no one. counterpart. Try to place
- 19:52Speaker 1: him in a box and he just won't fit. Even
- 19:56Speaker 1: if that box, as was Peter's case, is a box
- 19:59Speaker 1: of high regard. Boy, he shares the same box with
- 20:04Speaker 1: Moses and Elijah. And God says, no.
- 20:08Speaker 2: No.
- 20:09Speaker 1: He shares the box with no one. If you're going
- 20:12Speaker 1: to build tabernacles, build only one tabernacle. Because only one
- 20:17Speaker 1: on that mountain deserved to be remembered. And it wasn't Moses.
- 20:21Speaker 1: And it wasn't Elijah. God did not say, hear ye them.
- 20:27Speaker 1: But he said, hear ye him. Just one voice. He
- 20:33Speaker 1: alone is God's beloved son. My beloved, priceless and unique son.
- 20:47Speaker 1: It won't come to you as a surprise that no
- 20:49Speaker 1: one speaks after this. Peter, John and James don't say
- 20:53Speaker 1: anything else. No more discussions of basilicas or buildings or
- 20:57Speaker 1: tabernacles or memorials. No more talk. Who can talk at
- 21:01Speaker 1: a time like this? They are American Indians seeing the
- 21:04Speaker 1: Grand Canyon for the first time. They are Lewis and
- 21:07Speaker 1: Clark spotting the Pacific for the first time. They are
- 21:10Speaker 1: astronauts stepping on the lunar surface for the first time.
- 21:13Speaker 1: They are seeing what no one has seen, experiencing what
- 21:15Speaker 1: no one has ever experienced, and that is the blazing
- 21:18Speaker 1: presence of the cosmic Christ. And blood drains from their faces,
- 21:23Speaker 1: and their skin begins to ashen, and their knees begin
- 21:26Speaker 1: to wobble, and their pulses begin to race. And Matthew writes,
- 21:30Speaker 1: they fell on their faces, and they were greatly afraid.
- 21:35Speaker 1: And fire on the mountain has turned into fear on
- 21:38Speaker 1: the mountain. Friends, this is a good fear. There are
- 21:43Speaker 1: many fears in life that bring us harm. But this
- 21:46Speaker 1: is a fear that brings us health. A fear of
- 21:49Speaker 1: a holy God. We call this reverence. To bow before
- 21:54Speaker 1: a God who is so great he cannot be contained.
- 21:58Speaker 1: To bow before a God because no words do him justice.
- 22:03Speaker 1: To see Christ in such a fresh and blazing fashion
- 22:07Speaker 1: that it literally sucks the air and the arrogance out
- 22:14Speaker 1: of us and leaves us on our face before a
- 22:17Speaker 1: great God. This is a healthy fear. This is a
- 22:21Speaker 1: God-ordained fear. This is the fear of God that is
- 22:24Speaker 1: the beginning of wisdom. And this is the fear that
- 22:29Speaker 1: takes care of all your other fears. And I close
- 22:32Speaker 1: with this one thought. And that is to fear Jesus
- 22:35Speaker 1: is to fear nothing else. To fear Jesus is to
- 22:39Speaker 1: fear nothing else. How long has it been since you
- 22:43Speaker 1: had such a fresh encounter with Christ that it sucked
- 22:47Speaker 1: all the fear of everything or anyone else out? Has
- 22:51Speaker 1: it been a while since you saw Christ in such
- 22:54Speaker 1: a fresh, blistering, blazing fashion that you had to come
- 22:58Speaker 1: to your knees, that you had to bow your head,
- 23:00Speaker 1: that you've never seen anyone or anything like him? If
- 23:04Speaker 1: it has been a while, that explains your fears. Because
- 23:09Speaker 1: if you have a small view of Christ, then your
- 23:12Speaker 1: fears are big. If your view of Christ can be
- 23:17Speaker 1: placed in a box or super glued to a dashboard
- 23:20Speaker 1: or kept in a political opinion or limited to a
- 23:23Speaker 1: church building. If your view of Christ can be controlled
- 23:26Speaker 1: and limited and packaged and pocketed. then that Christ has
- 23:32Speaker 1: no say over cancer cells or global warming or world terrorists.
- 23:39Speaker 1: If your view of Christ is small, then your fears
- 23:42Speaker 1: in life are going to be large. But if your
- 23:46Speaker 1: view of Christ is great, then your fear of anything
- 23:51Speaker 1: or anyone else is going to be small. My hunch
- 23:55Speaker 1: is that Peter, James, and John had no fear of
- 23:58Speaker 1: anything or anyone on that mountain after they had seen Christ.
- 24:02Speaker 1: They knew he and he alone deserves to be feared.
- 24:08Speaker 1: In C.S. Lewis's second installment, Prince Caspian of the Chronicles
- 24:16Speaker 1: of Narnia, I'll probably be corrected on that. Lucy sees
- 24:21Speaker 1: Aslan for the first time. And when Lucy sees Aslan,
- 24:25Speaker 1: she acknowledges that he is larger, larger than he was
- 24:30Speaker 1: the last time he saw her. And she expresses this, Aslan,
- 24:34Speaker 1: you're bigger. And he says, oh, that's because you are older,
- 24:39Speaker 1: little one. And she says, not because you are. And
- 24:44Speaker 1: he says, no, every year you grow, you will find
- 24:48Speaker 1: me bigger. You see, it's not that Christ gets bigger.
- 24:55Speaker 1: It's just that our understanding gets better. Christ is already
- 25:00Speaker 1: as large as any being can possibly be. But as
- 25:03Speaker 1: we grow in Him, we simply see more of Him
- 25:07Speaker 1: that we had never seen before. That's what's going to
- 25:11Speaker 1: happen on this journey over the next nine months as
- 25:13Speaker 1: we grow in Christ. Every day, unpacking new understandings about Christ.
- 25:20Speaker 1: And we're going to watch every possible box be destroyed
- 25:25Speaker 1: as we see that he expands and extends beyond any
- 25:29Speaker 1: idea that we've ever had. And may God bring to
- 25:33Speaker 1: us these realizations that he brought to Peter, John, and James.
- 25:36Speaker 1: And may we also have those moments in which we
- 25:38Speaker 1: fall on our knees before Christ. That's the healthiest place
- 25:43Speaker 1: to be. But Christ doesn't leave us there. He dismisses
- 25:50Speaker 1: the Moses and the Elijah and he allows the light
- 25:54Speaker 1: to pass. And Matthew tells us Jesus came and he
- 26:01Speaker 1: touched them and said arise and do not be afraid.
- 26:08Speaker 1: You see once you stood before Christ with an honest
- 26:12Speaker 1: healthy fear you don't have to be afraid of anything else.
- 26:18Speaker 1: Let's pray together. Father, this is the encounter with Christ
- 26:22Speaker 1: that we request. We pray through the name of Jesus. Amen.
- 26:29Speaker 1: As long as you're somewhere out there.
- 26:49Speaker 2: That's enough for me.
- 26:55Speaker 1: I don't need to hold you near me.
- 26:58Speaker 2: Don't need promises to keep. Just the thought that you
- 27:02Speaker 2: are breathing somewhere in this world I see. Even if
- 27:08Speaker 2: I'm not beside you. Even if you never know. There's
- 27:15Speaker 2: a quiet kind of comfort just in knowing you still glow.
- 27:22Speaker 1: I don't need forever.
- 27:28Speaker 2: I just need you to exist. You don't have to
- 27:34Speaker 2: stay with me You don't have to feel the same
- 27:40Speaker 2: Just as long as you're still out there Calling softly
- 27:44Speaker 2: through my days You don't have.
- 27:47Speaker 1: To look my way.
- 27:50Speaker 2: You don't have to be my home It's enough to
- 27:55Speaker 2: know you're living In a world I'm not alone I
- 28:03Speaker 2: won't chase you through the distance Won't disturb your chosen life.
- 28:10Speaker 2: I'll just keep you in my silence like a star
- 28:14Speaker 2: that shines at night. Through the dark and through the blue.
- 28:24Speaker 2: I still think of you. with me you don't have
- 28:32Speaker 2: to feel.
- 28:34Speaker 1: The same just as.
- 28:36Speaker 2: Long as you're still out there calling softly through my
- 28:41Speaker 2: days you don't have to look my way you don't
- 28:46Speaker 2: have to be my home it's enough to know you're
- 28:51Speaker 2: living in a world i'm not alone I don't need
- 29:11Speaker 2: to be your light I don't need to cross your
- 29:15Speaker 2: mind All I need is just the truth That you're somewhere.
- 29:22Speaker 1: Still alive.
- 29:26Speaker 2: You don't have to stay with me.
- 29:29Speaker 1: You don't have.
- 29:30Speaker 2: To feel the same just as long as you're still
- 29:35Speaker 2: out there calling softly.
- 29:38Speaker 1: Through my days.
- 29:30Speaker 2: We'll be right back.