Latest / The Wesley Word / [WW] Letters to Wormwood

Transcript

[WW] Letters to Wormwood · The Wesley Word

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Wesley Word.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Happy Easter.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: Alright.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: So tonight I'm gonna do two things.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm gonna read a lot of scripture because what God has to say is a lot more important than what I have to say.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm also gonna try and talk slow so you can understand me and what God has to say.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: So if I don't if I'm if I'm rambling and I'm going on, someone just give me a little chill out or something like that, and and then I'll I'll try reading in.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know you guys will.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not worried about it.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: So to start out, if anybody is in Lauren's small group or saw Jake's even tide, um Jake's not here, sad.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're gonna hit some of the same verses again, so you guys you guys are gonna know them by now.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: You got them, you got them on loop.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um so to start out, has anybody read the book Screw Tape Letters?
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: No?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Cool, cool.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, one in the back?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: This is by C.S.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Lewis, the same guy who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um he wrote a lot of theological books, and he's pretty well known and renowned um in that area.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: I've made it about halfway through this book about four or five times.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: But it is a really good book.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I promise it's really good.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: I just get distracted, and um we're working, we're working our way through it slowly but surely.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um but in this book, it's written a little differently than most books are.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's written from the perspective of a demon, an older demon named ScrewTape, his letters as such.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: And he's writing to a younger demon named Wormwood.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um Wormwood's new to the whole demon thing.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um and in this realm of demons, their goal is they each get assigned a human, and their goal is to get that human to turn away from God, essentially.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so ScrewTape has all these experiences and knowledge of how to get humans to turn away from God.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um they call God the enemy in the book.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so ScrewTape is giving all this knowledge to Wormwood in different letters throughout different things.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um he's trying to encourage Wormwood to like make the humans, oh, I'm too smart for Christianity, like I know better than that, I can't get fooled.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Or um make them feel like other people around them are all fake in it, so it's okay what they're doing, and that sort of thing.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um and Screwtape is just kind of trying to encourage Wormwood along the right path to get people to turn away from God.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it's a really convicting book.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Sentence after sentence as you go along, you're like, ooh, like that's a little too close to home.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: CS like like calm down.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um that one hurt a little bit.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so one of the things that convicted me, and I feel like we can all be a little bit convicted of sometimes, is what I'm gonna focus on tonight.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it goes with starts out with this.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Screwtape says, keep his mind off the most elementary duties by directing it to the most advanced and spiritual ones.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Aggravate that most human characteristic, the horror and the neglect of the obvious.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's pretty obvious, I feel like, what he's saying here.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's the same thing that Jesus says later.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um Screwtape's saying, don't let them focus on the important things, the main things, the the big things we're supposed to work on.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Keep them on the little things.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: The um we'll get into that in a second.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: So in in Matthew, um, the one you all know, because we've read it three times in the last week now, um, the Pharisees and Sadducees are talking, and then one of them goes up to Jesus, and they're trying to trick them up as they always are.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: They're trying to mess them up so they can get him and throw them in the prison.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: And they say, um, one of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: This is the first and the greatest commandment.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And the second one is like it love your neighbor as yourself.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um so Jesus very quickly just responds to these are the two main things we need to focus on.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um Scrooge Tape says, keep them away from that, and Jesus says, This is what they are.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: So now we know what we should focus on.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: We should focus on loving God and loving our neighbor and saying, Bless these people when they sneeze.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um Jesus says these are things we should focus on, not get distracted.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so then you may think, what are some of the things we get distracted by?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um and some of these are things that are good to do, but are not the main focus.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Not everything on this list is something that we should avoid at all costs and that sort of thing.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: The first one is biblical arguments, like, is this a sin?
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: What did Jesus mean by saying that?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Those are good things to do, but Jesus is saying, not as important as loving God and loving your neighbor.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um so you shouldn't do that in spite of that.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um we shouldn't just make ourselves seem like good Christians.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: We should love God and love our neighbor.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we shouldn't worry about finding the right church for us, um, otherworldly things, about our worries, our jobs, our appearance, um, always making it to church and Bible studies and filling up your sketch with that sort of stuff, um, or only hanging out with church people and only good people who keep you in the right place.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: All a lot of those are good things to do, but not as um important as loving God and loving your neighbor.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they are secondary to that.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so now we know what we should do.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: We should love God, we should love our neighbor.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: Cool, it's easy, right?
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Just two things to do.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but they're kind of ethereal, right?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: We can love each other, we can love God, that's awesome.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: But how do we do that?
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's it's such a big in our mind thing, um, but we need to focus on how we should do that.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're gonna go back to scripture, because once again, Jesus knows a lot more and a lot better than I do.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um how to love our neighbor.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know what's coming, 1 Corinthians 13, 4 through 8.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy or boast, it is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Love never ends.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's the classic what is love?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: And very quick to say how to love your neighbor.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um in Leviticus 19, 18, you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: Luke six twenty-seven through thirty.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: But to you who are listening, I say, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Do to others as you would have them do to you.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Romans 13 9.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: And any other commandment summed up in this word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: And lastly, James 1 27.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: So all of these things are true.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: They're very clear.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: This is what we do, this is how we love our neighbor.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And they're also literal.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: We should love widows, we should love orphans, we should seek them out.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we shouldn't adulter, we shouldn't murder, we shouldn't steal.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Those are all good.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: But those are also archetypes that Jesus is giving us for more things to do.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: When he's saying love your orphans and love your widows, he does mean love the orphans and love the widows.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: But he also means seek out people who are alone and hurting and people that can't help themselves.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: We should help the defenseless.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um when he's saying don't adulter, don't murder, don't steal, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, I do mean don't adult, I do mean don't murder, I do mean don't steal.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: But also, if you have hate in your heart, you've already committed murder.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Avoid hate, avoid lust.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: So while these things that we are reading are very literal, we should we shouldn't steal, we shouldn't murder, we should also take those and build upon those and make it Jesus is making it evident to us how to love our neighbors.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so what Jesus says is more important than that is loving God.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we'll hop over to that.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: And it's hard to love somebody you don't know, right?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: You can you can love, like you can treat them with kindness and you love them, but it's hard to love somebody you don't know.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so, in my opinion, I think the first step to loving God is to get to know God.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: And how do we get to know God?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we've got to read our Bibles, we've got to spend time with God, we've got to pray to Him and meditate on what He says.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so we can't love God completely without knowing Him.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um but also the Bible has some great ways on how to love God.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um in Matthew 22, 37, um, and he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: John fourteen, fifteen um says, If you love me, keep my keep my commands, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever, the Spirit of truth.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um John fourteen twenty-one, Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: First John 2 4 through 6.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Whoever says I know him, but does not keep his commandment is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: But whoever keeps his word in him truly, the love of God is perfected.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: By this we may know that we are in him.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um the last thing I think we should look at for how to love God is to look at the life of David.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um David was known as man after God's own heart, and so if we want to love God, right, we should follow the example of the guy who is known as being after God's own heart.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: Makes sense.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so David made mistakes, and the Bible is full of David's mistakes.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: We all make mistakes, that's part of the fun.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um but David also trusted and followed God completely.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um he longed for God to the end of his life, and um that's what he says we should do.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: In Psalm 42, 1 through 2, David's saying, As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: I thirst for God, the living God.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: When can I go and stand before him?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's the Bible telling us how to love the neighbor and um and love God.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it's Easter today, right?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh the day that Jesus rose from the dead after dying for us.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um and this is a day I think it's an important thing to come back to what isn't important.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um Jesus said we need to love God and love our neighbors.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then he told us how to do it.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he didn't just say do this and then you're on your own.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Good luck.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: He he laid out a book for us, he gave us the rules, he told us how to love our neighbor.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's pretty clear for the most part what to do, but also it can be challenging in different situations to know what is love.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so to conclude this and to challenge you guys as you go about, um, focus on loving your neighbor and God before all the minutiae.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it can be easy to get wrapped up in the small things, um, worried about whatever's going on in life.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: But if we can put loving God and loving our neighbor before that, we're gonna lead a much more fulfilling life.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um so focus on loving God and your neighbor.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: And secondly, find real ways to love God and our neighbor.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Again, it's a very ethereal thing sometimes.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um so if you guys can spend some time in prayer and spend some time with God, I'm sure he won't hide from you the ways to love God and love your neighbor.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: He's gonna he's gonna tell them to you in the ways you don't want to hear them.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um so take some time this week.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um go and pray to God and and he'll tell you what to do, and then dive into the word and he's gonna speak to you through that as well.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um if y'all bow your heads with me as the band comes up.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: God, we thank you for giving your son for us on this Easter, God, that um, he died and suffered for our sins, and that you raised him back from the dead, God, and he defeated death for us.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um God, we thank you for taking away that last of our fears and that we can be only dependent on you.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we thank you for this opportunity to worship you, this opportunity to spend time at community, God, and this opportunity that we can learn from what you want for us.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: God, please bless us as we grow about the rest of this semester, summer, and year so that we may live our lives for you.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: We love you so much and we thank you.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: The Wesley Word is a production of the Clemson Wesley Foundation.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Clemson Wesley, check out our website or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, get out there and love your neighbor.