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Andy Stanley - Shining Through Part 2 Showing Love In the Midst of Suffering · Andy Stanley Sermons

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  Speaker 1: So here are three phrases that well, they're not my favorites,
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  Speaker 1: and I own the fact that, well, one hundred percent
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  Speaker 1: of this is on me. Okay, these three phrases they
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  Speaker 1: fuel my selfishness. They feel like an interruption, they forced
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  Speaker 1: me to detour, they impede my progress. So I'm I'm
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  Speaker 1: owning all of that. But maybe you can relate here
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  Speaker 1: they are while you're there, would you mind picking up?
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  Speaker 1: While you're out? Would you mind stopping at? And while
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  Speaker 1: you're at it, would you mind going ahead? And now
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  Speaker 1: over the years, over the years, I have taught myself
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  Speaker 1: to respond to these questions with happy to, happy to,
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  Speaker 1: And I am happy to once I get over the
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  Speaker 1: fact that there's no real reason not to be happy to,
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  Speaker 1: and since in most cases, Sandra is the one asking
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  Speaker 1: I should be happy to well because she does so
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  Speaker 1: much for me and in most cases, whatever I'm being
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  Speaker 1: asked to do isn't really that big of an inconvenience anyway,
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  Speaker 1: it just wasn't what I had planned to do. And
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  Speaker 1: when I'm being my very best version of me, I
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  Speaker 1: actually call her and say, hey, while I'm there, do
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  Speaker 1: you need anything else? While I'm out? While I'm at it. Besides,
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  Speaker 1: and you know this, like taking out the trash or
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  Speaker 1: cleaning out the dishwasher, it's a lot easier when it's
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  Speaker 1: my idea to begin with. So pray for Sandra. Anyway,
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  Speaker 1: we have been navigating the drama and the trauma facing
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  Speaker 1: first century Christians as described by Luke in the Book
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  Speaker 1: of Acts, and over the past couple of weeks we've
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  Speaker 1: discovered two really interesting and I think instructive characteristics of
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  Speaker 1: the early Church, two things that we should take to heart.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, and you'll remember this, when disaster struck,
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  Speaker 1: their first instinct was not to try to figure out
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  Speaker 1: what God was up to. Instead, they focused on what
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  Speaker 1: they should be up to in light of and in
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  Speaker 1: response to what was going on. Specifically, they asked what
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  Speaker 1: they should do to help the people most imp acted
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  Speaker 1: by the disaster. So when Jesus followers in Antioch heard
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  Speaker 1: that a famine would sweep through the entire Roman Empire, well,
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  Speaker 1: they immediately started collecting money for the people far away
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  Speaker 1: in Judea, a group that would have a really difficult
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  Speaker 1: time surviving a famine of that scale. And in an
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  Speaker 1: unprecedented move this is so amazing, they began collecting funds
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  Speaker 1: for people they had never met, in a part of
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  Speaker 1: the world that most of them would never visit, whose culture,
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  Speaker 1: whose culture was nothing like theirs. And never before this
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  Speaker 1: is historically accurate. Never before in recorded history had a local,
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  Speaker 1: multicultural group felt responsible and responsibility for a group of
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  Speaker 1: people with whom they virtually had nothing in common. And
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  Speaker 1: this unique approach to generosity was fueled and informed by
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  Speaker 1: the message of Jesus. God loved, so he gave, and
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  Speaker 1: Jesus instructed his followers to follow suit, to give not
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  Speaker 1: just to the people who could return the favor, or
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  Speaker 1: to people who would look and act like the people
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  Speaker 1: around them. He said, were to give to strangers, to
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  Speaker 1: gentile to Samaritans, even to Romans, even to our enemies.
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  Speaker 1: And as that brand of generosity mark the early Church,
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  Speaker 1: it should mark us as well, corporately and individually. Then
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  Speaker 1: the last time we were together, this was this was amazing.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, this was shocking. The last time we were together,
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  Speaker 1: we were confronted. We were confronted with their seemingly irrational
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  Speaker 1: faith in the face of random acts of violence, tragedy, persecution.
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  Speaker 1: I say irrational because when bad things happened, they turned
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  Speaker 1: to God for comfort, even though they were confident that
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  Speaker 1: God could have kept those bad things from happening in
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  Speaker 1: the first place. Like us, they wondered why, but they
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  Speaker 1: kept believing, and they kept praying. Things didn't always add up,
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  Speaker 1: things didn't always make sense, but they maintained hope. They
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  Speaker 1: maintained hope even when they didn't have explanations, and not
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  Speaker 1: because they were crazy, and not because they were desperate,
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  Speaker 1: and not because they were superstitious. Because their leader, Peter,
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  Speaker 1: to whom many bad things had happened. Peter assured them
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  Speaker 1: that their hope was not in vain because their hope
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  Speaker 1: was anchored to an event, the resurrection of Jesus. And
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  Speaker 1: as an eyewitness of both jesus crucifixion and his resurrection,
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  Speaker 1: Peter's words carried weight. They carried weight then, and they
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  Speaker 1: carried weight today. So natural disaster, political upheaval, religious persecution,
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  Speaker 1: it was just another day in not paradise. And their
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  Speaker 1: death defying confidence in God, fueled by the teaching of Peter,
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  Speaker 1: is why while there is no Roman Empire, there are
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  Speaker 1: churches and almost every major and minor city, town and
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  Speaker 1: village in the world today. And to the degree that
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  Speaker 1: our faith is anchored to what their faith was anchored to.
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  Speaker 1: We too can live with hope that, even though we
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  Speaker 1: don't always have good explanations, there is reason to believe.
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  Speaker 1: So when we left off last time, just to ca
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  Speaker 1: real quick in the narrative, when we left off last time, James,
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  Speaker 1: the brother of John, was executed by Harod. You'll remember
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  Speaker 1: that the crowd went wild. They wanted more Christian blood.
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  Speaker 1: So Harod had Peter arrested, but before he could be
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  Speaker 1: brought to trial, he was miraculously delivered from jail. Harod
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  Speaker 1: was embarrassed and went to the beach and was eaten
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  Speaker 1: by worms. You should read the Bible. It is very
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  Speaker 1: exciting anyway. So after Peter's miraculous escape from jail, you'll
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  Speaker 1: remember this, he immediately went to the home of a
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  Speaker 1: woman named no surprise, Mary. Now this is important when
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  Speaker 1: you read the New Testament. When you read the New Testament,
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  Speaker 1: it appears that every single woman in the New Testament
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  Speaker 1: is named Mary. And the question we should ask is
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  Speaker 1: what is up with that? I mean, think about it.
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  Speaker 1: If you were making this stuff up, you wouldn't confuse
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  Speaker 1: your audience by naming all the women Mary, and all
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  Speaker 1: the men either John or James right. But this is
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  Speaker 1: actually one of the reasons we believe the New Testament
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  Speaker 1: documents are reliable accounts of actual events as it turns out.
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  Speaker 1: As it turns out, Mary was in fact the most
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  Speaker 1: popular female name in Palestine in the first century. And
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  Speaker 1: if you were making this stuff up many years after
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  Speaker 1: these events from another part of the world, you wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: know that. Now for more information on this, because this
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  Speaker 1: is so fascinating, I want to recommend a book that
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  Speaker 1: I've actually recommended before. It's entitled Can We Trust the Gospels?
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  Speaker 1: Can We Trust the Gospels? By Peter Williams. This book
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  Speaker 1: is a fascinating look at the evidence for why we
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  Speaker 1: can trust Matthew, Mark Luke, and John the stories of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: I highly recommend that. Anyway, back to the story, so
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  Speaker 1: Peter high tails it to Mary's house. He tells everybody
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  Speaker 1: there what had happened to him in prison, but in
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  Speaker 1: order not to endanger Mary and her guest, he slips
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  Speaker 1: out while it's still dark. And here's his final statement.
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  Speaker 1: As he disappears into the streets, he says, tell James, James,
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  Speaker 1: the brother of Jesus. Tell James and the other brothers
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  Speaker 1: and sisters about what happened, he said, and then he
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  Speaker 1: left for another place. Now this is interesting, and we
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  Speaker 1: referenced this last time. Luke doesn't say where Peter went.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, nobody knows where Peter went. He lived his
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  Speaker 1: life on the run for about eight more years. He
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  Speaker 1: eventually makes his way to Rome, where he taught Christians
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  Speaker 1: living in the Shadow of the Emperor. He was eventually
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  Speaker 1: arrested again, and while he awaited his trial in Rome,
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  Speaker 1: he dictated his memories of the life and teaching of
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  Speaker 1: Jesus to his traveling companion John Mark. Interestingly enough, this
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  Speaker 1: is the same Mark whose mother Mary was hosting the
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  Speaker 1: prayer meeting that Peter interrupted after being sprung from jail. Apparently,
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  Speaker 1: here's what happened. Imagine this Mom's Apparently, when Peter slipped
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  Speaker 1: out that night, Mark went to his mom. Now mom's
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  Speaker 1: imagining this conversation, and Mark said to his mom, Hey, Mom,
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  Speaker 1: is it okay if I go with Peter. He's got
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  Speaker 1: a price on his head. You'll probably never see me again,
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  Speaker 1: but please write. As we've discussed before, Mark's account of
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  Speaker 1: Peter's exploits, as dictated in Rome, would eventually circulate around
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  Speaker 1: the Empire as the Gospel of Mark, but it was
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  Speaker 1: the story of Jesus, and I think Mark's mother was
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  Speaker 1: probably so proud. Anyway. Peter is eventually executed during the
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  Speaker 1: reign of Nero while in Rome, and the author of
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  Speaker 1: a late second century work claims that Peter, you may
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  Speaker 1: have heard this before, that Peter actually requested to be
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  Speaker 1: crucified upside down. But seeing as Roman soldiers didn't generally
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  Speaker 1: take request from condemned criminals, it's highly unlikely. But who knows.
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  Speaker 1: But here's what we do know. While he was on
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  Speaker 1: the run, Peter dictated at least two letters to Christians.
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  Speaker 1: They come to us as First and Second Peter, and
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  Speaker 1: they're written to first century Christians who have been scattered
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  Speaker 1: throughout the Empire because of the persecution that originated in Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: so all over the Empire, imagine this, these little house
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  Speaker 1: churches led by Christians or they're popping up all over
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  Speaker 1: the place, and no one knows exactly what to make
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  Speaker 1: of these things. I mean, these people, these Jesus followers,
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  Speaker 1: they weren't Jewish, but they weren't pagan. They worshiped the
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  Speaker 1: Jewish God, but they worshiped him on the wrong day
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  Speaker 1: of the week. They were good people, they were good citizens,
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  Speaker 1: but they weren't kosher. They formed their own little communities,
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  Speaker 1: but they weren't exclusive, they weren't elitist. They invited others in,
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  Speaker 1: and most amazing of all, they went out of their
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  Speaker 1: way to take care of people who nobody else was
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  Speaker 1: willing to take care of. But there was a problem,
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  Speaker 1: and this was the sticking point. One thing these Jesus followers,
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  Speaker 1: these followers of the Dead Galileean would not do, is
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  Speaker 1: they would not sacrifice to or acknowledge local deities, local gods.
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  Speaker 1: And that was a problem. Here's the thing. And ancient times,
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  Speaker 1: adding a god not a problem, right, people did that
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  Speaker 1: all the time, But ignoring the existing gods, big problem.
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  Speaker 1: The last thing, the last thing. Ancient people, living on
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  Speaker 1: the edge, as it was economically and nutritionally, the last
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  Speaker 1: thing they wanted to do was upset the gods. Because
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  Speaker 1: fundamental to Roman religion and fundamental to culture was the
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  Speaker 1: assumption that Rome Rome, the Empire of Rome, was eternal.
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  Speaker 1: But it was only eternal as long as Rome enjoyed
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  Speaker 1: the favor of the gods, and the gods were infamously
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  Speaker 1: fickle and easily offended. Maintaining the favor of the gods
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  Speaker 1: really was a national security issue for Rome. If too
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  Speaker 1: many Roman citizens neglected the old gods and the old
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  Speaker 1: ways to chase after some new god on the block,
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  Speaker 1: it would only be a matter of time before the
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  Speaker 1: old gods got angry and withdrew their favor. So, in fact,
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  Speaker 1: this was so embedded in the ancient conscience, the ancient
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  Speaker 1: conscience of the Roman Empire, that as Christianity began to spread,
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  Speaker 1: locals began blaming Christians for anything and everything negative that
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  Speaker 1: happened in their neighborhood or the empire, whether it was
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  Speaker 1: earthquakes or flood or military defeat, famine, plague. It's human nature, right,
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  Speaker 1: It's human nature to look for someone or some someones
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  Speaker 1: to blame when things go bad, and the last place
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  Speaker 1: we look is in the mirror, and ancient people were
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  Speaker 1: no different. In fact, scape goating Christians was so common
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  Speaker 1: that Tertullian, an adult convert to Christianity and the sun
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  Speaker 1: actually of a Roman centurion, made this observation. He wrote,
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  Speaker 1: if the Tiber rises too high now? The Tiber River
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  Speaker 1: was the river that ran through the city of Rome.
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  Speaker 1: It was the source of their fresh water. It was
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  Speaker 1: a source of trade, but it was also part of
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  Speaker 1: their sewage system, and when it flooded, which it did
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  Speaker 1: quite often, it created problems on multiple levels. He goes on.
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  Speaker 1: He says this if the Tiber rises too high or
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  Speaker 1: the Nile is too low. Now, the Nile basin in
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  Speaker 1: Egypt was where Rome purchased the majority of its grain,
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  Speaker 1: and the Nile River was the source of irrigation in
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  Speaker 1: that region of the world. So when the Nile River
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  Speaker 1: ran too low, it resulted in a bad harvest, which
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  Speaker 1: would drive up reigin prices and oftentimes trigger civil unrest
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  Speaker 1: and possibly even famine. And then here's what he says.
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  Speaker 1: He says, if the Tiber rises too high and the
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  Speaker 1: Nile too low, the remedy is always feeding Christians to
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  Speaker 1: the lions. In other words, when anything, when anything went
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  Speaker 1: wrong in the Empire, clearly the gods were upset, and
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  Speaker 1: the best way to appease the gods was to rid
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  Speaker 1: the empire of those who did not recognize the God. So,
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  Speaker 1: as you would imagine, this put these Christians in a
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  Speaker 1: very precarious position wherever they lived in the Empire. And
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  Speaker 1: Peter knew this, so he writes to Christians throughout the
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  Speaker 1: Empire to comfort and encourage them. We looked at a
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  Speaker 1: portion of his first letter last week where he assured
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  Speaker 1: them that their suffering was not God's judgment on them.
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  Speaker 1: They hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, on the contrary,
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  Speaker 1: he said, you're suffering. Your suffering and your response to
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  Speaker 1: suffering is a tool that God is going to use
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  Speaker 1: to draw attention to himself. Now, granted, you knoweking for
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  Speaker 1: me speaking for you, we would rather that God provide
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  Speaker 1: us with a different tool. Right, But think about it.
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  Speaker 1: You may or maybe a friend of yours or maybe
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  Speaker 1: a family member. But back to you, you may have
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  Speaker 1: actually been drawn to faith or back to faith after
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  Speaker 1: watching someone with faith navigate a difficult season or navigate
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  Speaker 1: a tragedy. So Peter wasn't wrong. So he says to
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  Speaker 1: these first century Christians, this suffering that you're going through,
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  Speaker 1: this uncertainty that you're going through, these difficult times, it
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  Speaker 1: is a tool that God will use if you will
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  Speaker 1: respond correctly. Here's how he wrote it. He said, these
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  Speaker 1: sufferings have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, he said, if you get this right,
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  Speaker 1: people will not have any margin to doubt the genuineness,
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  Speaker 1: the authenticity of your faith. These sufferings have come so
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  Speaker 1: that the proven genuineness of your faith is of which
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  Speaker 1: is of greater worth than gold, will result in something,
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  Speaker 1: will result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 1: is revealed. This was basically his version of what Jesus
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  Speaker 1: said when he said, Hey, let your light shine in
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  Speaker 1: such a way that people will see your good works
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  Speaker 1: and look up and discover and give glory to your
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  Speaker 1: Father in heaven. But and here's where we're going today.
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  Speaker 1: Not only did Peter try to explain or contextualize their suffering,
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  Speaker 1: then he gives these suffering saints something to do, something
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  Speaker 1: to do while they're navigating the suffering that came along
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  Speaker 1: with simply being a Jesus follower. These were his hey,
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  Speaker 1: while you're there, while you're out, and while you're at it, instructions.
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  Speaker 1: While you're suffering, while you're being mistreated, while you're being misunderstood,
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  Speaker 1: there's something you should do in the meantime, and there's
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  Speaker 1: something you should not do while you're suffering, while you're
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  Speaker 1: being mistreated. Don't circle the wagons and don't just sit
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  Speaker 1: around praying that Jesus returns soon instead, and this is
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  Speaker 1: what he asked them to do. And honestly, I think
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  Speaker 1: this is what our heavenly father is asking all of
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  Speaker 1: us to do. He said, while you're suffering. Therefore, since
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  Speaker 1: Christ also suffered in his body, and since you are
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  Speaker 1: following Christ, he says this, arm yourselves also. Arm yourselves
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  Speaker 1: also with And he says literally, I want you to
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  Speaker 1: go equip yourself with I want you to go find
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  Speaker 1: this particular tool, this particular weapon, this particular item, and
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  Speaker 1: I want you to arm yourselves with it, to which
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  Speaker 1: we would say arm ourselves with what. Listen to what
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  Speaker 1: he says. He says, while you're suffering, I want you
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  Speaker 1: to arm yourself with the same attitude, the same perspective,
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  Speaker 1: the same way of thinking, the same way of thinking
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  Speaker 1: that Jesus had. In other words, consider jesus approach to suffering,
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  Speaker 1: and ask how you can adopt that approach. But Peter
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  Speaker 1: does not leave it up to their imagination or our
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  Speaker 1: imagination as to what that looks like. He spells it out,
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  Speaker 1: skipping down to verse eight. That's what he says. He says,
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  Speaker 1: while you're suffering, while you're navigating the complexities of being
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  Speaker 1: a Christian in a pagan world where you're blamed for
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  Speaker 1: everything that goes wrong in the neighborhood and the empire.
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  Speaker 1: He says, while you're navigating all that, above all, above all,
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  Speaker 1: that is priority number one, And what comes next? Should
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  Speaker 1: it surprise us, especially coming from Peter, because what comes
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  Speaker 1: next he heard come from the lips of Jesus. He
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  Speaker 1: was there the night that Jesus established this command that
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  Speaker 1: replaced all the other commands. He was there that night
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  Speaker 1: that Jesus gave his apostles their marching orders, our marching orders.
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  Speaker 1: Peter says, while you're suffering, while you're navigating the complexities
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  Speaker 1: of what's happening around you, love each other deeply, unwaveringly, earnestly. Why, Peter, Well,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, what does that have to do with suffering?
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  Speaker 1: What does that have to do with what we're going through?
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  Speaker 1: I'll tell you, Peter says, because love of this unique
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  Speaker 1: kind of other one another, love, this deep love, actually
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  Speaker 1: covers over a multitude of sins. His point was this,
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  Speaker 1: sin will divide you. Love will unite you. Sin will
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  Speaker 1: divide you. Love the way that Jesus loves you will
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  Speaker 1: unite you. As a community of Christians. You can't afford
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  Speaker 1: to be divided, he would say, people are watching, and
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  Speaker 1: you need each other more than ever in this season
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  Speaker 1: of suffering. So while you're being mistreated, love each other
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  Speaker 1: deeply and don't let anything divide you. And then he
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  Speaker 1: gets painfully specific. He says this, and while you're loving deeply,
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  Speaker 1: here's what it looks like, offer hospitality to one another
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  Speaker 1: without grumbling. In other words, when you see a brother
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  Speaker 1: or a sister in need, whether it's food or a
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  Speaker 1: place to stay, provide them what they need and take
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  Speaker 1: them in as Christ took you in. And then he continues,
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  Speaker 1: and he says this, while you're suffering, while you're navigating
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  Speaker 1: the uncertainty, while you're being tempted to circle the wagons
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  Speaker 1: and focus only on yourselves, each of you, each of you,
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  Speaker 1: should use whatever gift you have received to serve others,
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  Speaker 1: to serve others as faithful stewards. That is, you have
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  Speaker 1: gifts that are on loan from God, as faithful stewards
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  Speaker 1: of God's grace. And it's various. For so as we say, wait, wait, wait, Peter, Peter,
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  Speaker 1: come on, do you have any idea what we're going
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  Speaker 1: through right now? I mean, that's a lot to ask right.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, Peter, we don't even know where you are.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not sure you really realize what's going on right now,
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  Speaker 1: to which Peter may have replied, Hey, it's true. I
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  Speaker 1: have asked a lot. I am asking a lot. Then again,
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  Speaker 1: the father ask a lot of the son on your behalf.
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  Speaker 1: While you were still a sinner. Christ died for you.
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  Speaker 1: And here's some good news. You don't have to die
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: for anyone. Just love them, deeply, serve them, and offer hospitality.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Love people in such a way that they look up.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: And here's what's amazing. And we know this from history.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: That's exactly what these Christians did. They did exactly what
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Peter instructed them to do, based on what Jesus had
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: instructed his followers to do, and without raising an army,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: without really even raising their voice, they raised the dignity
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: of the people around them. In the midst of the misery,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: the poverty, and the illness that characterized most ancient villages
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: and cities, Christians Christians in the early centuries provided an
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: oasis of mercy and compassion. Mercy and compassion are self
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: evident to us, but it was so counter cultural in
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: that culture, but they embraced it anyway again, while they
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: were yet sinners, while they were yet sinners, while they
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: were yet pagans, A God had died for them, and
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: it wasn't his threats that led them to repentance, as
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: Paul would write later, it was God's kindness that led
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: them to repentance. Now this changed. This shift was most
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: evident when a series of epidemics laid waste to the
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Roman Empire. Entire cities, entire villages became graveyards. In fact,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: these regions were abandoned for a generation for fear that
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: maybe the pestilence or the plague remained there. And during
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: one of these epidemics in the late second century, it's
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: reported that there were over five thousand deaths a day
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: just in the city of Rome. And when the pestilence
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: broke out, the pagan priests, the civic leaders, and the
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: wealthy they fled to the countryside, but many Christians chose
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: to stay. They had literally lost their fear of death,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: and when they stayed, they cared for one another, and
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: as a result, the Christian communities fared far better than
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: their pagan neighbors. But these brave Christians took things an
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: unprecedented step further. They took what Peter said about hospitality
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: to a level that no one expected. They cared for
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: their pagan neighbors whose families had abandoned them, neighbors who
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: in many cases had previously refused to have anything to
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: do with these Christians because they refused to worship the gods,
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: and they chose to worship a dead Galilean. And these
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: astonished men and women were stunned by the kindness of
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: this strange but powerful faith, these strange but compassionate people.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: In fact, at the height of the I guess it
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: was the second Great epidemic, which I'm sure in the
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: ancient world felt like a pandemic. Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria actually wrote a lengthy tribute commending
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Christians who had remained behind to care for the sick,
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: and in many cases had given their lives to do so.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Here's what he wrote. He said, most most of our
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: brothers showed unbounded love. There it is again, most of
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: our brothers loved deeply and loyalty, never sparing themselves, thinking
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: only of one another. Heedless. This is amazing, heedless of danger.
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  Speaker 1: They took charge of the sick, attending to their every
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: departed this life. He said. Many of the Christians stayed
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: behind and as a result lost their life. The best
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: of our brothers lost their lives in this manner, a
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: number of presbyters, deacons, and laymen, winning high commendations, so
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: that in death, in this form the result, this is amazing,
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: The result of great piety and strong faith, seems in
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: every way the equal to martyrdom. Now here's why this
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: is so powerful. These men and women, these brave early Christians,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: did not die for what they believed. They died because
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: they acted on what they believed. It's a reminder, as
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Jesus taught so often, that application, application is what makes
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: the difference. Application, application is what gets noticed. That's why
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: it's not enough for us to believe correctly. We must
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: act on what we say we believe. We must behave courageously, selflessly.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Our first century brothers and sisters took others first to
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: a whole new level. In fact, in the same letter,
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: Bishop Dionysius talks about the Heathens, the Pagans. Here's what
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: he writes about them. He said, the heathen behaved in
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: the very opposite way. At the first onset of the disease.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: They pushed the sufferers away and fled from their dearest,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: throwing them, throwing them into the roads before they were
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: even dead, and treated unburied corpses as dirt. The selfless
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: behavior of Christians became impossible to ignore. The pagan world
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: took note Christians. Christians showcased a category of compassion and
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: generosity that got the attention of those in need and
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: eventually grabbed the attention of those who had gotten tired
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: and grown tired of a culture characterized by greed, a
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: culture that reflected well reflected the values of their gods.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: The pagan gods had no interest in what people did
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: or how they fared. They were greedy for sacrifice. They
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: threatened famine and plagues and war if they weren't satisfied.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: But the God of the Christians, the God of the Christians,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: was different. The crucified God, the nailed God, as some
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: would later refer to him, had come to earth to
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: die for his subjects, and his subjects in turn gave
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: to and cared for those who could not care for themselves.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: Now eventually, and you know this with the conversion of
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: Emperor Constantine, which was like almost three hundred years after
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: the resurrection of Jesus. The Empire think of it that
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: crucified Jesus embraced him as a living god. And whether
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: Constantine's conversion was sincere or political, or maybe a combination
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: of both, we will never know. But what we do
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: know is that what began as a disenfranchised, persecuted minority
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: influenced the majority by refusing to employ the tools of
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: the kingdoms of this world. Instead, they employed the way
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: of their king. They gave, they served, and they loved,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: and the world changed. In fact, about twenty years after
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: Constantine's death, a relative of his, Julian, became emperor, and
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: at about the age of twenty Julian had abandoned Christianity
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: and he re embraced the Roman gods, the god godds
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: of his ancestors. In fact, he was convinced, like so
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: many were, that the problems in the Empire were the
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: result of the gods being ignored. So he defunded the
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: churches and he reinstituted the pagan priesthood. As well as
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: pagan sacrifice. In fact, he tried to create pagan charities.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Now there had never been a pagan charity, because the
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: pagan gods weren't charitable. But none of this worked. The
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: return to paganism never got traction because the roots of
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Christian compassion were already too deep in the culture of
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: the Empire. Julian, also known as Julian the Apostate, was
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: so frustrated by his failure. Nothing he instituted caught on.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: In fact, in a letter to the pagan high priest
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: in Galicia, he was insisting that they distribute free grain
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: and wine to the poor. And he said this noting
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: that those empious Galileans, that's what how he referred to Christians,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: the impious Galileans in addition to their own in addition
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: to taking care of their own people, they support ours
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: as well. It is shameful that our poor should be
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: wanting our aid. But there was no response to Julian's
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: proposals because there were no doctrines or traditions for the
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: pagan priests to build on. Others. First, give to those
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: who cannot or will not return the favor. Love your enemy,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: God is love These were distinctly Christian ideas, and they
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: appealed to the soul. They rang true, they pointed to
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: a better way, to a better world. But and this
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: is so important, this is so important. When Peter originally,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: way back before all of this, when Peter originally instructed
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: early Christians to practice hospitality and generosity and to love deeply,
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: it wasn't a strategy for change. It wasn't a way
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: to start a revolution. Peter did not. In fact, Peter
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: could not have envisioned Rome capitulating to Christian influence. I mean,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: that was unimaginable. In Peter's time, Rome was winning, and
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: as far as Peter knew, Rome would always win. I mean,
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: he didn't see compassion and virtue as a way to
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: gain influence or to topple an empire. Compassion, kindness, hospitality, love,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: for Peter, these were just the logical responses to the
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: teaching of Jesus. Jesus followers weren't instructed to be generous
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: and compassionate in order to gain something or to win something.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Peter was clear they had already won. They had already
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: gained something that you couldn't put a price on. Here's
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: what he said. Remember, this he said to these first
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: centuries suffering Christians. He says to you, he says to me,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: in God's great mercy, he has already given us new
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: birth into a living hope that cannot be taken away
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: there's more, and to an inheritance that can never perish,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: spoil or fade. But in the meantime, while you're there,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: while you're at it, while you're up, live as if
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: that's true, Live in response to God's gracious gift, eternal life.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Think of it. Are right standing with God, the freedom,
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: the freedom to forgive because you've been forgiven, the freedom
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: from bitterness and rage, knowing there is a just God
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: who will exact justice in his time and in his way.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: And in the meantime, while you're up, give, serve, love,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: not to change the world, although it might change. We give,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: and we serve, and we love because that's what our
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: heavenly Father did for us. That's what your heavenly Father
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: did for you. And that's all the reason that you
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: need now. At the end of Peter's letter, there is
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: something so subtle that most readers miss it, and I
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: don't want you to miss it. Here's how he he
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: closes this first letter that we call first Peter. He
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: says this, He writes this, He says, with the help
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: have written to you briefly. This means I didn't actually
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: write it. I dictated it. I've written to you briefly,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: of God. Stand fast in it. And then something really
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: interesting some first century code. Now remember this, Peter is
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: still on the run. He doesn't want anyone who intercepts
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: this letter to know where he is or who he
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: is with, lest they fall into the wrong hands. So
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: as he closes the letter, he closes with this, she
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: who is in Babylon, she who is in Babylon, chosen
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: my son Mark. Now when you get to this, of course,
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: the first question is who is she and Babylon? He's
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: in Babylon. Why would he be in Babylon By this
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: time that Peter wrote this letter, Babylon is now an
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: insignificant city hundreds of miles east of Jerusalem. So why
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: was he in Babylon. Well, he wasn't. This was all code.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Here's what he was saying. She refers to the Church,
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: and Babylon refers to Rome. He was hiding in the
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: last place anybody would suspect, because the Church was growing
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: like crazy, the Church in the city of Rome, the
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: heart of the empire, was growing like crazy. And long
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: after the miracles, and long after the miraculous escapes had subsided,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: the counter cultural generosity of the Church continued to erode
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: the old ways and to establish a better way, a
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: new kingdom, a different kind of king And thanks to
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: you and Jesus followers like you, that kingdom, the Kingdom
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: of conscience, the Kingdom of generosity, continues to expand to
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: this very day. And here's the thing. When it gets dark,
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: when it gets dark, it's easy for us to be
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: consumed by and distracted by the darkness. Right, That's when
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: I'm most tempted. That's when I'm most tempted to just
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: think about me, my family, my finances. The darkness, the uncertainty,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: the change. It tempts us all to pull up the drawbridge,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: to circle the wagons, to take a defensive posture, to
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: close our hands, and to close our hearts. And while
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: there's wisdom in planning for the future, while there's wisdom
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: in thinking ahead, there is nothing christ Like about allowing
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: uncertainty and instability to close our hearts and to close
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: our hands toward others. In the darkness the uncertainty, that's
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: when our light matters most. That's when our light shines
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: the brightest. Why because it stands in contrast to everything
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: around it. So Church, let's not withdraw. Let's look for
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: ways to shine even brighter, to give more, to serve more,
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: to love more when the only thing, when the only
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: thing that's certain is uncertainty, that is our opportunity. And
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: as I said on multiple occasions, if we the Church
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: get this right, people may always roll their eyes at
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: what we believe the resurrection of a first century rabbi, really,
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: but they should be envious of how well we treat
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: each other, and they should be amazed at how well
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: we treat them. According to Jesus, it is by that unique,
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: selfless expression of love, and by that alone that people
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: will know that we are in fact His followers, his disciples.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: And in that way, we, like our first century brothers
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: and sisters, will have allowed our light to shine in
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: such a way that people notice and look up and
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: perhaps come face to face with our father, their father
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: in heaven.