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Andy Stanley - The Unsettling Solution for Just About Everything, Part 1 Undeserveable · Andy Stanley Sermons

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Now, I know I'm naive to wonder this, and you
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: can criticize me for this later, because I'm just owning
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the fact that this is kind of a naive, simplistic thought.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: But I don't know why, I don't know why everybody
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: wouldn't want Christianity to be true. Maybe not the version
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: other people grew up with or maybe not the version
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: that you grew up with. Maybe not Christianity, the way
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: we've made it or what we've turned it into. But
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: I don't know why everybody wouldn't want the original version
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: to be true. Jesus' irresistible version to be true. Because,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and you know this, but I'll just state the obvious.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: There's a difference.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: There's a big difference between I don't believe it's true
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: and perhaps you don't believe the message of Jesus or
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the story of Jesus is true.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I get that.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: But there's a big difference between I don't believe it's true.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: I don't believe it's true. Sometimes people just need more information.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Sometimes they need more evidence. Sometimes they need to have
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: a difficult question answered. Sometimes there's something they need to
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: read or see or a story they need to hear.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: So I get that.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: But there's a big difference between I don't believe it's
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: true and I don't want it.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: To be true.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: And I don't understand when people are confronted with the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: original version of Jesus and the claims of Jesus and
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the life of Jesus, why they wouldn't at least want
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: it to be true. You may never get to the
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: point where you can actually believe it's true because of,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: you know, for reasons that things I don't understand. But
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: when you hear the gospel presented or when you hear
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the life of Jesus explained or when you immerse yourself
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: in the first century context, I just don't know why
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: everybody wouldn't want it to be true. Blaise Pascal, 17th
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: century mathematician, philosopher, he was actually homeschooled, plug for those
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: of you who homeschool.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: He wrote this.
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  Speaker 1: He said, people, this is amazing, people almost invariably arrive
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: at their beliefs not on the basis of proof.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: And this is so true.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: This explains some of the conversations you have at in
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  Speaker 1: your home with your middle schoolers and your high school students.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: basis of proof, but on the basis of what they
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: find attractive. In other words, when something is attractive to us,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: we go looking for reasons to substantiate our belief. Now,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: he's not saying if something's attractive, therefore it's true, and
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: I'm not arguing if something's attractive, therefore it's true, and
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: I'm certainly not arguing, hey, since Christianity is attractive, it's true.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: That's not my point. My point is this. Christianity in
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: its earliest original form was so extraordinarily attractive that I
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: don't understand why people in modern times wouldn't want it
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: to be true even if intellectually they can't actually get
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: there because Jesus was attractive. People were attracted to Jesus.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Early Christianity was attractive, so attractive that eventually it became
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: the predominant philosophy and religious and worldview of the Roman Empire.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Christianity has shaped Western culture. There was something so attractive
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: about it And the thing that makes Christianity so attractive,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: at least the original version, is a single word. It's
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: the word that makes me want it to be true.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: But perhaps it's a word that wasn't in the equation
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  Speaker 1: for you.
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  Speaker 2: And the word is grace. It's grace.
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  Speaker 1: Grace is what we, this is what we all have
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  Speaker 1: in common, grace is what we crave.
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  Speaker 2: Most when our guilt is exposed, right?
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  Speaker 1: You come home late, your parents were sitting there, they've
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  Speaker 1: got the stuff on the table, they know it's yours,
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  Speaker 1: there's no excuses, there's no loopholes, there's no point in
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: saying it's my sister's, I don't know, you know that,
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  Speaker 1: we found it in your room. I mean, you are just,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: you are so busted, and in that moment, you're thinking
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  Speaker 1: about all the things they could take away and should
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: take away, and in that moment, what you crave is,
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  Speaker 1: you don't know, you didn't know the word maybe in
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: high school or middle school or college, but it was grace,
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  Speaker 1: or You know, you come home late and your wife's
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: waiting up. You come home late and your husband's waiting up.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you come.
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  Speaker 1: Home late and it's your kids who are waiting up.
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  Speaker 1: Or your boss walks in and sits down and boom,
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  Speaker 1: lays it out there. And you realize there's no excuse.
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  Speaker 1: There's no point in making excuses. There are no loopholes.
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  Speaker 1: There's no one to blame. It's just there it is.
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  Speaker 1: And in that moment, even if maybe you didn't think
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  Speaker 1: of the word, what you're looking for is grace, you
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  Speaker 1: are looking for someone to give something to you or
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  Speaker 1: extend something to you that you know you don't deserve.
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  Speaker 1: Grace is at the same time, this is the flip
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  Speaker 1: side and this is why there's so much tension, grace
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  Speaker 1: is what we're hesitant to extend when confronted with the
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  Speaker 1: guilt of other people, especially when they've hurt me or
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  Speaker 1: even more so when they've hurt someone I love. And
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  Speaker 1: therein lies the tension. That grace, when we're on the
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  Speaker 1: receiving end, is extraordinarily refreshing. But grace, when it's required
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  Speaker 1: of us, is extraordinarily disturbing. It is, in fact, as
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  Speaker 1: we're gonna see, as you think about how this settles
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: in on your relationships, your good ones and your bad
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  Speaker 1: ones and the ones that you're trying to repair or
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: the relationship that someone's trying to repair with you, that
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  Speaker 1: grace really is the unsettling solution for just about everything. Now,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: if you grew up in church, you may have been
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  Speaker 1: given a definition for grace, or maybe you know what
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  Speaker 1: grace is, but you've never thought of a definition. So
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: here's our definition for the next few weeks. It's simply undeserved, unearned,
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  Speaker 1: unearnable favor. It's someone leaning in your direction when they
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  Speaker 1: should lean away. It's someone that you know you should
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  Speaker 1: pursue because you've hurt them and they actually initiate the conversation.
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  Speaker 1: But grace is strange. You can no more deserve grace
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  Speaker 1: than you can plan your own surprise party, right? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: if you plan your own surprise party, the fact that
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  Speaker 1: you planned it voids the surprise. And the moment you
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  Speaker 1: think you deserve grace, you've actually voided the grace. You
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: can ask for grace, you can beg for grace, you
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  Speaker 1: can plead with someone to extend grace to you, but
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  Speaker 1: the minute you think you deserve it, it's no longer grace.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: And then here's the additional twist to the whole conversation.
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  Speaker 1: We can't recognize, this is so important for many of us,
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  Speaker 1: we can't recognize or receive grace for what it actually
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  Speaker 1: is until we're convinced we don't deserve it. You can't
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  Speaker 1: even recognize or experience grace for what it is until
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: you come to the place and I come to the
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  Speaker 1: place that I actually don't deserve it. It can only
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: be experienced within the context of a relationship. Grace is
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  Speaker 1: purely relational. It's always tied to a relationship. It can
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: only be experienced in the context of a relationship, ready
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  Speaker 1: for this, where there is an imbalance and you are
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  Speaker 1: on the negative side of the ledger because of your behavior.
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  Speaker 1: And this, my friends, This is what makes Christianity so unique.
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  Speaker 1: This is what makes the story and the narrative of
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  Speaker 1: Christianity and the arc of the story of Christianity so
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  Speaker 1: unique and so attractive. This is the reason that even
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: if you never get to the place intellectually where you
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: can believe it's true, this is why everybody should want
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  Speaker 1: it to be true.
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  Speaker 2: And this is why God had to show up.
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  Speaker 1: Because grace is 100% relational and you can't experience or
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  Speaker 1: understand grace apart from a relationship.
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  Speaker 2: This is why God had to show up.
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  Speaker 1: This is why we celebrate the way we do at Christmas.
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  Speaker 1: We would have never known the grace of God without
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  Speaker 1: and are apart from the presence of God.
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  Speaker 2: God.
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  Speaker 1: For God's grace to be seen, for God's grace to
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  Speaker 1: be known, there had to be a person.
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  Speaker 2: It had to be personal. It is the message of Christmas.
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  Speaker 1: Now, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the gospel writer John,
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  Speaker 1: who also wrote three letters in the first century called,
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  Speaker 1: not very creative, first, second, and third John. John, who
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  Speaker 1: was a disciple of Jesus. John, who saw the entire thing. John,
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  Speaker 1: who lives to be an old man. We talk about
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  Speaker 1: him all the time. He outlived Peter and Andrew. He
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  Speaker 1: outlived James, the brother of Jesus. John is an old man.
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  Speaker 1: He probably outlived all of his friends. With hindsight, looking back, decides, hey,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: I need to get my story out So he sits
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  Speaker 1: down with someone and he probably dictated this. Jesus' earliest
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  Speaker 1: apostles or followers were probably illiterate men for the most part.
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  Speaker 1: So consequently, sometimes we're criticized as Christians. There's no way
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  Speaker 1: that ignorant Galileans could have given us that kind of
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Greek literature. Well, hello, they probably didn't write it. They
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  Speaker 1: probably dictated it in every scribe in the first century
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  Speaker 1: we could speak at least two or maybe three languages.
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  Speaker 1: So John is an old man, no doubt, sits down
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  Speaker 1: and the Christians around him are saying, John, we gotta
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  Speaker 1: hear your story.
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  Speaker 2: You're an old man. We don't know how much longer
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  Speaker 2: you're gonna be with us. Tell us your story.
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  Speaker 1: And I can just imagine John as he begins trying
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  Speaker 1: to figure out, where do you begin this epic tale
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  Speaker 1: that's true? How do I make this so realistic that
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  Speaker 1: people will believe and yet it's so fantastic? It will
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  Speaker 1: be hard for people to believe. And so John begins
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  Speaker 1: his account of the life of Jesus. This way, and
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  Speaker 1: he goes right to the heart of what Christmas is about.
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  Speaker 1: He goes right to the heart of what grace is about.
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  Speaker 2: He says this. The word, the Greek word is logos.
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  Speaker 2: The word became flesh.
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  Speaker 1: This was his way of saying, I don't know how
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  Speaker 1: to describe it. Please don't ask me.
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  Speaker 2: To give you any details. All I know is this.
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  Speaker 1: God inhabited a body. God came to earth. I know
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  Speaker 1: it's hard to believe, but I'm just getting started. God
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  Speaker 1: became flesh and he dwelled, he made his dwelling among us.
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  Speaker 1: The explanation for all things took up residence among us.
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  Speaker 1: And then he says this, and we, and when he
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  Speaker 1: says we, he's not talking about you, we, or me, we,
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  Speaker 1: or even we, we. He's talking about him, we, okay?
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  Speaker 1: He's saying, look, this isn't something I heard about. This
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  Speaker 1: isn't something I read about. This isn't a story that
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  Speaker 1: I'm passing along to you. We, we as in Peter
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  Speaker 1: and Andrew and James and all the other apostles and
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  Speaker 1: dozens and dozens and hundreds of other men and women,
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  Speaker 1: we have seen, we didn't hear, about it. We didn't
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  Speaker 1: read about it. This is why I'm dictating this so
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  Speaker 1: that you'll know. We have seen his glory, the glory
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  Speaker 1: of the one and only son. Again, don't ask me
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  Speaker 1: to explain it, John. I would say all I know
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  Speaker 1: is this. God is our father and Jesus, he's the
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  Speaker 1: unique son who came into this earth to represent the
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  Speaker 1: presence of God and to.
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  Speaker 2: Explain to us what God is really like.
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  Speaker 1: Who came from the Father and then here's kind of
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: the punchline that he's gonna drag out his entire gospel.
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  Speaker 1: Who came from the Father full of grace and truth,
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  Speaker 1: not the balance of grace and truth. That's what we
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: try to pull off, not the balance of. Anytime you
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: try to balance grace and truth, you lose some grace
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  Speaker 1: and you lose some truth. Jesus was full on grace
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  Speaker 1: and full on truth. Jesus brought a full dose of
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: grace and truth. This is so powerful because you're on
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: one side or the other of the ledger.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Some of you are truth people. Some of you are
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  Speaker 2: grace people.
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  Speaker 1: This is why two people have to get married because
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: we need some grace and truth or our kid's will
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  Speaker 1: be crazy. This is why some of you are crazy
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: because both of your parents were grace or both are
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: from truth.
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  Speaker 2: We need a little grace. We need a little truth.
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  Speaker 2: Some of you were raised going to grace churches. Some
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: of you.
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  Speaker 1: Grew up going to truth churches and you didn't get
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: enough grace or you didn't get enough truth. Jesus shows
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  Speaker 1: up and he is full on grace and he is
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  Speaker 1: full on truth. Jesus never watered down the truth and
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: he never turned down the grace.
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  Speaker 2: It's amazing.
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  Speaker 1: He called sin, sin. He called sinners, sinners. And then
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: he laid down his life for the sinners. and paid
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  Speaker 1: for their sin. He was all grace, all truth, all
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  Speaker 1: the time. And John saw this, and he saw this
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: with people, and it's what led John as an old
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  Speaker 1: man to finally pen these words or dictate these words
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: that would change Western civilization, that would shape the way
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: that just about everybody in the world views God. This
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: was an idea that had never been introduced to the
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: human race until John was the first one to say
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: it and someone wrote it. And as crazy as it
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: sounded in the first century when the world was upside
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: down and all of his friends had been martyred, executed,
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  Speaker 1: or were lost, John is the one that brings this
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  Speaker 1: idea that God is love. And the reason John could
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: conclude that God is love is because Jesus is. was
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  Speaker 1: love and a body because Jesus was full on grace
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: and truth. And love, if you're a good parent, you
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: know this. Love, if you were raised by good parents,
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  Speaker 1: you know this. Love is grace and truth. Love is
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  Speaker 1: all grace and all truth all the time. John was
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: there that very awkward afternoon when Jesus and his apostles
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: And the crowds that follow Jesus everywhere went through an intersection.
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  Speaker 1: They had to stop and face down a tax gatherer.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: And after they did their business, Jesus leans in and
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: he says, Levi or Matthew, hey, I want you to
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  Speaker 1: follow me. And all the apostles were like, no, not, he's.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: A tax, he's a traitor. I mean, even his family
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: won't have him over for holidays. What do you mean?
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: He's not gonna be a part of our thing. Matthew,
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: I want you to follow me.
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  Speaker 1: And there's no indication that Matthew decided not to be
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: a tax gatherer anymore. He just got up and had
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  Speaker 1: one of his subordinates take over.
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  Speaker 2: Whatever he was doing. And he decided to follow Jesus.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: And Peter and all the guys are stepping back like,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: this is not gonna go well for us, okay? We're
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: gonna lose the crowd. And Matthew says, okay, I'll follow you.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: Where are we going?
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  Speaker 1: And then Jesus said something that offended everybody that could hear.
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  Speaker 1: He said, Matthew, we're going to go to your house.
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  Speaker 1: Peter's like, oh, I'm not going to go to his house.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said, yes, you are because you're following me too.
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  Speaker 1: We're all going to his house.
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  Speaker 2: Wait a minute.
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  Speaker 1: He's a tax gatherer. You haven't even asked him to repent.
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  Speaker 1: You haven't even asked him to give back the money
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: he's stolen. You're just going to ask him to follow
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: us just like that and go to your house?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. This is the most awkward moment ever.
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  Speaker 1: They go to his house and Matthew invites his tax
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: gatherer friends because Jesus says, I wanna have a dinner.
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  Speaker 2: I want you to invite your friends.
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  Speaker 1: And Matthew's thinking, okay, you're not gonna like my friends
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  Speaker 1: because my friends are nothing like you and you're nothing
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: like my friends and they're not gonna like you and
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: you're not gonna like them. And he invites his friends.
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  Speaker 1: We don't know how long this took. This may have
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: been the next day for all we know.
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  Speaker 2: We don't know.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: But he gathers all of his friends and all of
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: his friends are all the wrong people. And then there
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: sits Peter with a bad attitude and Andrews with a
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: bad attitude.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: It's so weird. And it's not a very good party.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: It would be like this.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: It would be like you being in a social setting
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: and maybe out with friends at a restaurant or maybe
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: you're having a party or an office party or whatever.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: And everybody has drank just a little bit too much
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: and I walk in.
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  Speaker 2: Why are you laughing?
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: And it's like, hmm, downer. We like him on Sunday.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: We don't like him on Saturday night. So it's like,
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: how long are he and Sandra gonna stay? I don't know,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: they'll leave pretty soon. As soon as we left, it's okay,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: let's get back to, right. That's how this was. So
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: there's Jesus, the rabbi, in the.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: House of Matthew, the tax gatherer.
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  Speaker 1: The whole thing is so ridiculously awkward and unsettling.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Because that's the nature of grace.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: It's the unsettling solution to just about everything, but it
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: is unsettling. And when the Pharisees, the Pharisees are the
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: protectors of the truth, they walk around like this so
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: their hands don't get dirty, they step around things, they
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: don't wanna touch anybody who's dirty, and they don't wanna
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: become ceremonially unclean, they represent God to the people, but
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: if God's anything like that, I'm not sure I wanna
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: go to heaven. That's kind of the thought in the
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: first century with some of the religious leaders. When the
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Pharisees saw this, because they weren't invited and they wouldn't
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: have gone anyway. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: his disciples, send a message into the house because they
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: weren't gonna go.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: He said, go inside and ask your teacher, why does
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: he eat with tax collectors and sinners?
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  Speaker 1: He should be eating, if he's a rabbi, if he's
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: a representative of God, he should be eating with us.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: So they go in, and I'm sure whoever delivered the
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: message delivered it out loud so Matthew and his friends
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  Speaker 1: could hear to shame them. My friend, you know, the
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Pharisees outside, you know, the leaders from the temple have come,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: and Jesus, they wanna know and announce it. Why are
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: you here eating with this rabble? Why are you here
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: with tax gatherers and sinners? And then Jesus, I think,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: answers equally as loud. He says, on hearing this, Jesus said,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: don't call Matthew and his friends sinners.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: That may hurt their feelings. they may raise your taxes.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Now, Jesus makes an awkward situation even more awkward. He
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: does that grace truth.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: Thing that he would do throughout his time on earth.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: He's at Matthew's house.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: He's invited Matthew to follow him. And then Jesus says
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: out loud, I'm sure within the hearing of everybody who
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: is very quiet at this moment on hearing this, Jesus
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: actually said, Tell the guys outside, it's not the healthy
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: who need a doctor, but the sick. Matthew's thinking, wait, wait, wait, wait. Jesus,
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: I mean, you're my guest. Are you saying I'm sick?
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: To which Jesus would have said, yes.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: You're stealing from your people. You're sick. But I still
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: want you to follow me. It's like, What? Yes, Matthew,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: you're sick. That's why I'm here.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: All of you, these are tax gatherers and sinners. Sinners,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: you have your own category because you don't even be
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: tax gatherers. I mean, you guys are the worst of
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: the worst. Thanks for inviting me over. Would you follow me?
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: It's like, no, no, no, wait. See, you've messed up
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: all the categories.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: If you want somebody to follow you, you should ask
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: people who are like you to follow you. You don't
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: ask people who are unlike you to follow you unless
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: they decide they're gonna be like you. You've asked someone
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: who's nothing like you to follow you. You're messing up
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: all the categories. I think Jesus would just smile. And
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: he said, oh yeah, by the way, tell the Pharisees
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: outside the following, tell them this.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: And this was so offensive. Go and learn.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Whenever you tell the smartest person in the world, in
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: the room to go and learn, you've offended them. What
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: you've said is you're so smart, I'm smarter. You need
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: to go learn something you don't know that I know.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: So this was Jesus.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: I think everybody in the room chuckled because they knew
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: this was such a dig at the learn, the teachers
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: of the law. Tell the Pharisees to go and learn
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: what this means. And then he quotes from their own scripture,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: the law and the prophets that they're supposed to be
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: the experts in.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: Go tell them to learn what this means.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for I have not come
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: to call the righteous. Then perhaps he swept his hand
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: around the room and said, but sinners, I'm not afraid
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: to call a sinner a sinner, and I'm not afraid
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: to go to their house for dinner.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: We should just probably all say that together.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: I'm not afraid to call a sinner a, and I'm
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: not afraid to go to their house So when I
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: show up at your party, I expect you to greet me.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: No.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: And please don't leave here saying Andy equated himself with Jesus.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: My children will tell you different. Then one day, and again,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: this is one of these emotional stories you've all heard.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: In fact, you don't have to even have grown up
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: in church.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: You know this story. but we can't, the.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Emotion is impossible for me to even convey it because
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: I can't even get my mind around it. One day
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Jesus goes up the southern steps to the temple mount.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: This is the epicenter of the presence of God. This
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: is the holy of holies. This is the holiest place
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: on the planet. This is the place that when the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: temple or when the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: the Romans, this was the last stronghold of the Jews
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: because we can't let them take the temple. This is
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: There's no way to even, for the way we think
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: as Westerners, there's no way to even ascribe the value
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: to the Temple Mount that these first century Jews ascribed
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: to this piece of real estate. I mean, right over
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: there is the altar and animals are being sacrificed and
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: right over there is the Holy of Holies that houses
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: God's word. And here we are on the temple mount
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: and Jesus is there, which always made everybody nervous.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: And he's teaching and they.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Drag a woman up to him and throw her down
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: in front of his feet. John is the one who
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: includes this story in his gospel. And apparently they'd held
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: her all night. Waiting for this moment. And they're like, no, no, no,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: not yet, not yet.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: Let's wait till he gets on the temple.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Let's wait till he gets all the way up next
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: to the Holy of Holies. And then we'll see what
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: he's gonna do. And they drag this woman up.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: You've heard this story. They throw her down.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: They say, Jesus, this woman was caught in adultery. And
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: the law, which is like right over there, like we
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: can go see it if you don't believe us. The
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: law says she must die. She must be executed. She
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: must be stoned to death. And Jesus is so brilliant.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: That's why I don't think people made these stories up.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: It's so brilliant. Jesus says, okay, well, you are the
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: experts in the law. Stone her.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: He knows that he calls their bluff. They're not gonna
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: stone her right there on the temple mount. She's terrified. Imagine,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: she's terrified. No mercy, no love, no compassion. No, hey,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: tell me your story.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: No, what's your background? She's terrified.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Then Jesus does that cool thing. He says, all right,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: you guys start. And oh yeah, one thing. Why don't
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: we start with a person who doesn't have any sin?
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: You go first.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: And then he kneels down and he starts writing in
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: the sand. And scholars, if you want to read something interesting, scholars,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: biblical scholars, they love to, you know, imagine what Jesus
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: was writing in the sand.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: You know, he's drawn in the sand. I think he
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: was writing, it takes one to know one. In Aramaic, okay?
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: I don't know what he was drawing in the sand,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: but he stoops down. And finally, the youngest, you know,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: the oldest guys in the crowd, they're like, ah, I
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: got this again. They're grabbing the young guys by the, no, no, no, don't, no, no, no.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: This isn't going to go well. And they all leave.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: And the woman, of course, is like, oh. And then
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Jesus ruins the moment.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: He leans down and looks into her eyes and he says,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: leave your life of sin.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Not, hey, you're fine. You had a tough upbringing. I
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: know your daddy. I know, I know everything. Just, you're
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: gonna be okay.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: No, no.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, leave your life of sin. It's grace and truth.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: You are guilty, but I don't condemn you. Wait, what?
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: If I'm guilty, you're to condemn me? No, I know
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: you're guilty, but I don't condemn you. Wait, if I'm innocent,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: you don't condemn me. If I'm guilty, you condemn me.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: How can I be guilty and you don't condemn me?
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Isn't it either or? Isn't it the other way around?
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: No, it used to be. But see, in this moment,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: for your benefit, for your benefit, for your benefit, for
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: my benefit, grace... has touched down.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: There is a new lawgiver. There is a new covenant maker.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: There is a new representative of God the Father. And
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: he was all grace, all truth, all the time.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: And over and over.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: This is why even if you never get there intellectually,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: you should want this to be true.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: Over and over, Jesus.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Leaned in toward pre-repentant guilty people and invited them to
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: follow him. Over and over, he leaned into people who
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: had not acknowledged their sin and initiated relationship and said,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: follow me.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: And then John was there at the very end.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: We know he was there at the very end because
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: at the very end of Jesus' life, he says to John,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: who brought us so much of this, He said, John,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: my mother, Mary, is like your mother.
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: That was his way of saying, care for my mother.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: And in fact, things were so difficult in Judea and
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: so difficult in Galilee that tradition tells us that John
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: took Mary, the mother of Jesus, and they went to Ephesus.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: And if you visit Ephesus today, they will show you
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: where they believe that John took care of Mary, the
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: mother of Jesus, until she finally left this life.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: So we know he was there.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: And when Jesus was crucified, John witnessed the ultimate expression
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: of grace. This was the most unsettling expression of grace
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: at all. This was the moment that put amazing in grace.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: Here's what he saw.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: The text tells us that there were two men crucified
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: along with Jesus.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: Both of them were criminals. They were led out with
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: him to be executed. First century murder.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: Religion, and first century politicians decided they had to get
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: rid of grace and truth in a body.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: It is so uncomfortable, isn't it? The text continues.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: When they came to the place called the skull or Golgotha,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: They crucified him there.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: And as we've said before, there's no detail.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: Given because everyone who heard this had seen it, smelled it,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: seen the aftermath of a crucifixion. There was no reason
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: to give details. None were necessary. Along with the criminals,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: one on his right and one on his left. Then
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: here's one of those phrases that if you read the
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: New Testament, you read right by it.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: But this is horrifying. This is so disgusting. And yet,
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: this is you. This is me. Because this is what
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: we do, isn't it?
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: This is a detail that reminds me that John is
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: not writing a fantasy. This isn't a once upon a time,
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: you know, in.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: A village far, far away. This is what he saw.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: And as he dictates his story, he says, and it
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: was horrible because a crowd gathered and the people stood.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: And they watched. And the rulers even sneered.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: And they said to Jesus and to each other, he
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: saved others, let him save himself if he's supposedly God's Messiah,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: the chosen one, because they understood that this is what
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: he either claimed for himself or the people closest to
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: him claimed for him. And then one of the criminals,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Jesus.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: He was gonna take his venom. He was gonna take
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: his vengeance. He was gonna take his anger all the
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: way to death with him. But the other criminal rebuked him.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: And he said the most interesting thing. And I believe
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: that these statements weren't together in a nice, neat.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: Paragraph of the period at the end.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Because of what we understand about crucifixion, there may have
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: been multiple seconds or maybe even minutes between each of
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: these utterances. Because you had to build up an extraordinary
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: amount of nerve to raise yourself up to take it,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: to inhale.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: And to speak was terribly painful.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: And to breathe was terribly painful. And he says, don't
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: you fear God enough since you are under the same sentence.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: We are punished, this is amazing, justly, for we are
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: getting what our deeds deserve.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: But this man, who they knew, had heard of, has
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: done nothing wrong.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: In other words, if the kingdom of heaven is reserved
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: for good people, if the kingdom of heaven is reserved
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: for righteous people, if the kingdom of heaven is reserved
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: for people who get it right every time, His acknowledgement
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: was we have no hope and no chance. His only
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: hope was what he deserved the least. Something he had
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: extended very little of to other people during his life.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: So in an act of desperation, Jesus, he says, when
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: you come to your kingdom, because there's no doubt in
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: my mind that where you're going is different from where
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: we're going. Jesus, there's no doubt in my mind that
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: you are a king. Jesus, when you come into your kingdom.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: Would you remember me?
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: To which the people in the audience who could overhear
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: these whispered conversations from the cross had to think, why? Why?
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, why? I mean, what a ridiculous thing to ask.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, is he repenting?
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, repenting from a cross is meaningless, right? Rededication,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: you know, from now on. Hey, from now on's about
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: 30 minutes, okay? There's no point in rededicating. There's no
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: way to make restitution. There's no way to do anything
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: good for the rest of your meaningless, despicable little life.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: There's nothing to promise. There's nothing to offer.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: You have no bargaining power with man or God. And
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: then in this moment, Jesus disturbs the order of things.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Jesus introduces that unsettling thing that his followers were so
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: accustomed to, but never did they imagine in their wildest
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: dreams that he would take it to this extreme. He
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: interferes with this man's karma and he does the unthinkable.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: He listened and he responded.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Jesus, the text says, answered him. Let me ask you
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: a question. Does God hear the prayers of sinners? Yes,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: those are the only kinds of prayers there are. Jesus
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: answered him, but why even acknowledge him? Every word cost
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: Jesus dearly. Every breath was combined with or associated with
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: excruciating pain.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: But he answers anyway.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: And do you know why? because that's what grace does.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Grace answers anyway. Truly I tell you, Jesus said truly
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: I tell you today you will be with me exhale
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: the criminal thought that's the problem I'm with you here.
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: In paradise Holiness with human hands.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: Promised a man who had done nothing good and had nothing.
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: Good to offer.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: Holiness with human hands offered a man who had no
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: bargaining power this promise. Where I'm going, you're going. He
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: grants a last minute request. He grants a request to
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: a last minute convert. He grants a request that essentially says,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: you are gonna have the same eternity as Stephen, who
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: will later be stoned because of his faith in me.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: You're gonna have the same eternity as Peter, who followed
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: me these last three and a half years.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: And why? Why would Jesus do this?
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: I think this was mind boggling to John and to
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: Peter and the other men in the crowd. I mean,
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: the woman in adultery, that's one thing. I mean, asking
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Matthew to follow is one thing. This is like a
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: whole nother thing.
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: And here's what I want you to hear if you
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: don't hear anything else I say today. Because like life,
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: grace is not fair. Like life, grace is not fair.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: It is better than fair. It is disturbingly better than fair.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: It is unsettlingly better than fair. I mean, Jesus would
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: continue this. After his resurrection, this is unbelievable if you
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: know the narrative, after the resurrection, Jesus pulls Peter aside,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: and Peter is overcome with shame and guilt. I mean,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: when Jesus was arrested, Peter fled. When he was asked,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: do you even know who Jesus is, Peter denies even
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: knowing Jesus. And Jesus pulls Peter aside and says, Peter,
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: I'm putting you in charge of the whole thing. Nobody
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: was less deserving. Very soon after that, maybe a few
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: months after that or a year after that, Jesus recruits
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: Saul of Tarsus, who was trying to dismantle and destroy
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: the entire Jesus movement. And Jesus recruits Saul of Tarsus,
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: calls him Paul. We know him as the Apostle Paul.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: And he allowed him to write about half the New Testament. Why?
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: This was Jesus' way of saying over and over and
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: over that I am a person who brings grace and truth,
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: not in half measure, not the mix of, not the
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: blend of, full on grace, full on truth. I'm all
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: grace and all truth all the time because that's what
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: love is.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: And I am love personified.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Now, your pushback on this, we'll talk about this next week,
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: so don't miss next time. Your pushback on this and
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: my pushback on this is simple. This is why it's
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: so unsettling. Wait, did Jesus not, I mean, those are
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: cool stories, Andy, and you've made it emotional, I get
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: all that, but hey, was Jesus not concerned about justice?
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: And was Jesus not concerned about consequences?
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: No, that's not the issue.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: Jesus knew better than anyone about justice and consequences.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: You know what he knew?
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: He knew that God's justice was, would crush us because
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: all have sinned and nobody can pay God back. And
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: Jesus wasn't unaware of consequences. He knew better than anybody
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: that consequences, the consequences of sin were already crushing us.
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: Because every single sin, every single sin, whether you believe
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: in sin or not, whether you believe in New Testament
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: sin or not, regardless of how you view the world,
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: every single sin, and if you're an adult, you've experienced this.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: Maybe you didn't use these words. Every single sin comes
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: pre-packaged with a gotcha. Every sin has a gotcha, every
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: single one.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: And so Jesus, in his grace and in his mercy,
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: at Christmas, came. to get you. See, this is why.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: This is why.
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: I don't know why everybody wouldn't want it to be true.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Because when grace is on display, And if you would
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: open yourself up to even consider the possibility, you don't
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: have to admit it to anyone, to consider the possibility
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: that there is a creator God who has invited you
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: to talk to him and to reflect with him and
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: to communicate with him as if he is a perfect
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: heavenly father and that he is known for his grace
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: and truth that drop down in the person of Jesus.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: Why wouldn't we want this to be true?
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: When grace is on display, people will want it to
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: be true before they ever believe it's true.
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: Jesus said it this way. It's one of my favorite
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: verses in the New Testament, Luke 16, 16. This is
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: so powerful.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: This is Jesus kind of summarizing the transition between the
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: Old Testament and the new covenant that he came to establish.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: He said this, the law and the prophets, that's what
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: we would call the Old Testament, The law and the
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: prophets were proclaimed until John, not John who wrote the
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Gospel of John, John the Baptist. He said up until
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: the time that John the Baptist showed up to announce
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: my coming, up until that time, the law and the
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: prophets were proclaimed. But since that time, Since the end
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: of the old covenant, since the day I stepped foot
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: on planet Earth as an adult, since that time, this
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: is so powerful, the good news of the kingdom of
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: God is being preached and everyone is forcing their way
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: into it. And that is exactly what happened historically. It's
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: why 2,000 years later we are here.
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: That when people caught a.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: Glimpse of what was actually being offered, They leaned in, hoping,
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: looking for evidence of the fact that this is in
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: fact an act of God in the course of human history.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: The good news that Jesus referred to is embodied in
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: a person, Jesus. And the good news is summarized in
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: a word, and it's our word, it's the word grace.
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: And grace is an invitation It's an invitation very much
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: like the invitation that Jesus extended to Matthew. It's an
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: invitation that goes like this. I know all about you,
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: the good and the bad, and I want you to
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: follow me. But be warned, if you follow me, I
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: will lead you away from your sin. And no, I
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: have not forgotten what you've done. It's better than that.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: I remember all of it And I love you anyway.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: Now come, follow me.