Pastor Brian and Jacque Lother
Brian: Pastor Jeff, why don't you come and lead us in prayer time.
Jeff: Good morning, everybody. We have a full house this morning. This is great. It's good to see everybody here. Good to have you joining us by live stream. It's so great, isn't it? Whether you are sitting in your living room or you are sitting here at the church, the presence of the Holy Spirit is the same. I found when I was watching live stream at home, that I would just be overwhelmed with his love and his presence just the same way as if I was here. He is real everywhere. It's not just something we watch. It's something that we live, isn't it?
I was reading my favorite devotional Saturday morning, and I had this kind of a little bit of an aha moment. It was kind of interesting. In John 6:47, Jesus said if you believe, or he who believes will have eternal life. I read that and we had just spent Thursday night, several hours with the engaged group with Joel Trowbridge, which is really... I really enjoyed that Zoom group. We just talk about issues that are somewhat maybe controversial and there is a lot of people with different opinions on that meeting. We all get to share respectfully and kindly and lovingly what we think. We were talking a lot about doctrine on Thursday night. That was kind of probably in the background of this, but I read those words- he who believes will have eternal life, and I thought Jesus was not making a doctrinal statement when he said that. Jesus never made a single doctrinal statement. What he said was true.
I realized every denomination, every faith, culture, Christian and not, Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox across the board, we all take the words of Jesus and the other writings of the scriptures and we create a book of doctrines that guide us in how we should believe, but what they also become as qualifiers. So we say, in order to have eternal life, you must believe because Jesus said he who believes has eternal life. So now it's a qualifier. And then of course, we get all hung up on all kinds of things that are said. Do you have to be baptized or not? Can you be baptized in infant or after you believe? That's just one of the many, many doctrinal things that we get hung up on. We end up trying to dance around what we think they mean and we ended up qualifying and disqualifying ourselves in each other from the grace of God.
But when Jesus said those words, he wasn't making a doctrine. He was saying the truth. It's transactional. It's not doctrinal. It's real. When you believe you get something, you get life. The word eternal there isn't just talking about heaven. It's talking about a quality of life. It's about stepping into a realm of life that is in Jesus. When we believe we receive that life and we know we did because it's real; so good. So when Jesus said that he wasn't making a qualifier, he was making an offer. Believe me, believe that I am from the father, believe that I'm the only one that understands the father, believe that I am the total representation of the father; believed that. At the moment that we believe we begin to trust and when we trust something happens, doesn't it? Something happens. It has happened to me, happens hopefully every day, not even just a one-time thing, not just when you were born again. It happens every day. We believe, and we trust and we receive eternal life. That life is real. Every time we need it, every trouble, every circumstance, every joy, every sadness. The life is real. Isn't that good?
Jesus is so good. He is so good and what he offers us is real. It's true. Everything he said is true. So on that basis, we get to pray for each other. What a good thing to do. If understand right, Trevor, you are here for prayer, right? You were in a car accident? A motorcycle... and you are still here. Thank you, Jesus. So God already was with you in the middle of that. Can you believe that? Is there anybody that would like to go and circle around Trevor? You don't have to touch him. You should probably keep your distance, but we can just gather around him within six feet. Don't get too close, Sarah-lee. You guys can pray for him. Is there a specific part of your body that needs...
Jacque: Shoulder.
Jeff: Your shoulder. Okay. Did you hear that guys? Okay. As you pray for Trevor, we are just going to lift up others. If there are other people in your life that need a touch from Jesus, they might need healing, they have may have had an accident, or they may be troubled financially, or they may be struggling with isolation during this quarantine pandemic period, or they may be struggling in a relationship, just lift them up before the father, because everything Jesus said is true and let's believe. Let's trust him for eternal life for the people that we care about.
Father, we thank you for your great goodness and how you see. You are present. You bring your grace to the people that we care about, people that you love. We release your goodness. We release your healing. We release the salvation of our Messiah to our friends and family right now, to Trevor. You are so good, Lord Jesus. And we do believe you. We do trust you. And we do know that what you said was true. So right here, right now, we just open our hearts and we receive your eternal life. We just drink it in, just let it do a work in each one of us, a work of transformation and healing and change, so that every day Lord, we become more like you, more like you.
You are so good, Lord Jesus. If you are at home right now and you have a need just right now, just say to the Lord, I believe you. I trust you. I receive your life. Let him come and meet your need. It's just amazing what he does. Every day I see these miracles happen. I can't explain how they happen, why they happen, where they came from. It doesn't even add up, but they are there and they are real. So we trust you, Lord. We trust you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
Good. That's good. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you everybody. Bless you, Trevor. We are going to move on to the offering now. We get so much, it's so easy to give back a little, isn't it? I mean, sometimes 10% seems like a lot, but compared to everything that he gives us, it's really just a little. So Lord, we just present our tithes to you. It's just another way that we can worship you, another way to express our trust in you, another way to say that we love you, and so we just do that. We are glad to do that. We want to bless your heart. Not that the money means anything to you, but we know what's in our hearts does. And when we give some of our treasure to you, we are giving part of our heart and we are glad to do that Lord. Thank you, Jesus.
There is going to be on your screens; if you are at home, you can text to give. It's probably on the screen up here. We have a kiosk over here for those who are present. Of course, you can leave a check in the box. We have an offering box for cash, lots of ways to give. Go ahead and take a minute and take care of that business. Brian is going to play for us and then we will move on. Bless you all.
Kelly: Hi, Hope Community Church. Do you know what a spray bottle, diapers and a picnic basket have in common? They are all part of the announcements this week. Let's go. Oh, hello. Pardon me. I was just washing some windows here at the church. Did you know that one of the easiest ways for you to help your church is to join the cleaning team? We are looking for three individuals or families to help clean windows on a rotation. So if you are interested contact the church office and we would love to have you. Now, excuse me. I have work to do. Babies! I love babies. Ever since I was little, I have loved baby showers. I think that has really not changed me. We are having a baby blessing, ladies for Bethany Adabola, formerly Bethany Staria and I'm so excited.
I just found out that Bethany was the third baby that was born at Hope Community Church when hope was started in 1997. Now that makes me feel a little old because the baby girl is having a baby girl and we are going to celebrate. Every life is precious and we are so excited to be able to celebrate Bethany, celebrate her mom, Marti, celebrate this little baby that's coming- August 24th, ladies. Sign up on Myhopecommunity.com or the church center app so we know how many people are coming. Hi! I'm here with my girl, Jen.
Jen: Hi.
Kelly: So Jen hope is doing a party at the park on August 30th. Do you know that?
Jen: Yeah.
Kelly: Are you going to go?
Jen: Yeah.
Kelly: Awesome. Why are you going to go?
Jen: I have not seen all my mom friends and my kids haven't seen their church friends in so long. It's just a good opportunity to hang out and get together and talk and just...
Kelly: It's going to be awesome.
Jen: Yeah.
Kelly: Yeah. Bring a picnic, lunch, bring a chair, blanket. Everybody is invited. It's going to be so much fun.
Jen: So fun.
Kelly: I'll see you there.
Jen: Yeah, I can't wait.
Kelly: There you have it- a spray bottle, diapers and a picnic basket. You didn't think I could do it. Find all the information and signups at Myhopecommunity.com, the My Hope Community app and the church center app. Hope to see you soon.
Brian: We are so thankful for our staff and the creativity that they are coming up with. Can you imagine, 50 years ago in church having something like that for announcements? Wouldn’t that have been really cool? Ernie and Flo, 50 years ago, they have something like that. So anyways, today is a very special day. We are celebrating, kind of; we are remembering. We are not so much celebrating, but we are remembering that 23 years ago today was our very first service at Hope Community Church over in Fernbrook Elementary School, just a couple of miles to the East of us here. Trevor, were you there at that service? Yeah, you were a little guy like this 23 ago. We are just so thankful for the history.
When I think of history, of course, I think of a couple of people who are no longer with us right now that were very important to us. There is more than a couple, but I'm thinking of my father and my father in law. My father was the site superintendent when we built our building here. Most of you remember his trumpet playing and just his enthusiasm for the Lord. And then of course, Ted, Jacque's dad helped pour the concrete and do the rebar and all that stuff in our facility here. Ernie poured probably thousands of yards of concrete in our facility here.
Jacque: Dad just walked around... Remember we had those rebar parties?
Brian: Yeah. We would have rebar tying parties. Yes.
Jacque: Yeah and he just walked around with his coffee telling us what to do.
Brian: Well, that's all that Ted ever really did. He would just tell people what to do. But there are a couple other special people I want to just draw our attention to this morning. One of them is my mother who is going to be 98, this coming Wednesday. If you would like to shoot her a little remembrance or card or something like that, I'm sure she would appreciate it. Hi mom. She's watching by live stream this morning. And then of course, Jackie's mom, Ruby will be 96 in just a couple of months. They are like our elder stateswomen, I guess.
Jacque: They are. They are the great-grandmas, the grandmas of the church.
Brian: I guess. I'm so thankful for my heritage, the parents that God gifted me with.
Jacque: Two women prayed for this body, this church like none other.
Brian: Yes. Yes. Let's just remember those who helped us get to where we are at. It's always good to remember that. Many of you probably are not aware that there was a prayer gathering out in this area many years before we ever came to this area. There were a group of ladies that met, I think almost every week to pray for the community that we are in. I believe God brought us here as a result of some of those prayers. We are not the only answer to those prayers. Of course, there are many other answers to those prayers, but I really do believe those prayers helped us to be able to get established here. So it's always important to remember what other people did to help us get to where we are at. Isn't that true?
Jacque: And to remember the miracles that God did to bring us to this place.
Brian: Yeah. So we'll talk about that sometime in the near future.
Jacque: We need to.
Brian: Yes. Yes. Presently we've been looking at the differences between the principles of the kingdom of God and how the kingdoms of this world operate. We know that the kingdom of God doesn't operate the same way that the kingdoms of this world, right? The earthly governments and businesses, and even our educational system, and we could go into a lot of specifics on how these earthly kingdoms operate and the principles that they operate in and on and the fact that the kingdom of God operates entirely differently. That's why it's really difficult at times when we try to make our world or our nation into the kingdom of God. It just doesn't work. It just doesn't work because the hearts of people have to be transformed in order to have that happen. As pastor Jeff was talking about earlier, just about just when you believe in Jesus, something very dramatically different happens in our lives.
I've shown... Hopefully I've shown anyways; I tried to show in the last few weeks how the kingdoms of this world operate in a power-over perspective. It's perspective of power. We know who has the biggest guns or the biggest might and so forth. They exert their power over other nations, other people, groups. We find in business, people operate in intimidation, manipulation, almost like holding people hostage; not literally, but emotionally and so forth, and how the kingdom of God operates from a power-under perspective, how the kingdom of God operates from a coming alongside or coming under somebody to help walk with them.
As I've been thinking about the differences between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of God, there are two words that actually come to mind to me to describe the difference between the two of them. One is pride and the other is humility, pride and humility. There is a lot of pride and arrogance in the kingdoms of this world. There is no place for pride and arrogance in the kingdom of God, none whatsoever. I want to read a portion of scripture for you today, have Jacque read it for you. We find this really interesting story that Jesus was talking about in Luke chapter 18. There are two main players in this story. One is the Pharisee and the other is the tax collector.
Now, 2000 years later, as the church, we've realized that the Pharisees and the religious leaders, they were not such nice guys. When we use the word Pharisee today, we are giving somebody a compliment, are we? When we call somebody a Pharisee we are not giving them a compliment, but we have to understand it in the context of this day when Jesus gave and was teaching this parable of this story that actually, Pharisees were probably the most respected and revered positional place that you could have in culture. At the very opposite end of the spectrum, were what?
Jacque: Tax collectors.
Brian: Say it in the microphone.
Jacque: Tax collectors.
Brian: Yeah, tax collectors. This is kind of like in our culture today, whoever would be like very highly respected. At one time ministers and priests were highly respected. Now, I think we are about 75 on the list, just one notch above defense attorneys. The fact of the matter is when we read this story, think of the Pharisee as someone who was the most highly respected in the culture and think of the tax collector as maybe a pimp or drug pusher, or the leader of hell's angels or something like that, because that was the perspective of the culture at the time. So now let's read this story. We find it in Luke 18, 9 through 14.
Jacque: From the NIV, to some who are confident of their own righteousness and look down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray one, a Pharisee and the other, a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evil doers, adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I give a 10th of all I get", but the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." I tell you that this man, rather than the other went home justified before God, for all those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Brian: There are a couple of things that kind of really jumped out at me in this portion of scripture. The first is about the Pharisee. The Pharisee obviously knew some things about God, didn't he? He knew some things about God. I would say he knew enough to just make himself dangerous. That's how I would put it. He just knew enough about God to be actually dangerous to the people that he allegedly was supposed to be serving. His focus was not on God at all, was it? You would think as a religious, you would think his focus would be on God. You would think his focus would be on worshiping the Lord. You would think his focus would be on being grateful to God for all that God has done, but instead his focus was on how good he was as well as on how bad everybody else was.
Jacque: That was his prayer.
Brian: Yeah, that was even as prayer. Thank you, God, I'm not like this thief, or I'm not like this robber. I'm not like this adulterer I'm not like this... fill in the blank, evildoers. We have the tax collector, this gang leader, this drug dealer, this hell's angel from our culture, and this guy is so painfully aware of his sins. He's painfully aware of his sins. He's painfully aware of his unworthiness before God that he can't even lift his eyes to heaven. That's all where he is of his condition. He actually stands at the back of the temple, because the scripture says he stood a far way off. He stands at the back of the temple far from the altar, far from the Holy of Holies. He pounds his breasts. Maybe in our culture, maybe we would grab our head like this, and say, "I can't believe what I've done."
He has sorrowful contrition over his sins. He has hardly enough strength to manage only one desperate plea and that plea is this, "God being merciful to me, a sinner. Be merciful to me, a sinner." As I read this story, I saw that the sinners, this tax collector, this drug dealer, this hell's angel, whatever description you want to use, this Taliban, whatever, his focus was on his sins, not the sins of others. His focus was especially on his need for God's mercy. Sometimes I fear that we in the church have forgotten our desperate need for the mercy of God.
In the end, it was the tax collector's prayer, it was the leader of the gang, it was the drug dealer, it was the pimp's prayer that was actually heard by God. As I've been preparing these messages the last few weeks, I felt the Lord really speak quite clearly to me about how he wanted me to be. I know that... I believe God speaks to us all the time. I would never say that everything that I hear in my head is God, because more of it is me than it is God. I don't know if you can relate to that. But I really do believe God spoke clearly to me recently. This is what I believe he said to me, he said, "Brian, I want you to go one week and only think about your sins and nobody else's. I want you to go one week. Do you think you can do that? You think you can go one week without thinking of anybody else's sins, just yours, just yours?
Don't think about how Jacque might have failed you, missed the mark. Don't think about how the staff didn't live up to something that you expected of them to do. Don't think about the politicians that are in the news every day and their failures, how they've missed the mark. Don't think about the media and the agenda that you think that they after to destroy our world and our country. Don't think about the looters and the rioters who are destroying property. Don't think about the educational system and how it's steering our young people's minds away from believing in God. Don't think about the movies that are coming out of Hollywood that are not living up to your expectation and your standard of morality. Don't think about Planned Parenthood and their agenda in our country. Don't think about anybody else's failures and sins. Just think about your own, just look at your own sins, just your own.
Because when I look at the sins of others, you know what I become? I become this Pharisee. That's what happens. I become this Pharisee and I start thinking, boy, God, am I thankful that I'm not this? I'm thankful, God, I'm not like that guy. I'm thankful I didn't do that. A few weeks ago, I talked about the fall and most of us, when we think about the fall, we really think about Adam and Eve, don't we? Because the scriptures talk about Adam and Eve in the fall, but I really believe that Adam and Eve was the mini fall. There was a much greater fall that happened before Adam and Eve. That was the fall of Lucifer, the fall of Lucifer.
Lucifer thought that he could usurp the position and power of God. He attempted to, in a sense, overthrow God. He attempted to take for himself, the praise and glory and honor and the adulation that only belongs to God and no one else. He coveted that. He wanted that. In his pride and arrogance, he thought he could do a better job. As a result, of course he and a third of all the angels were forcefully escorted out of heaven. The scripture says that they were cast down.
This whole incident happened because of one thing, and one thing only, and that's pride, pride. Is it any wonder why God despises it so much? He despises it so much. Maybe it's because it's that one sin that affected heaven more than anything else did. It started it all, didn't it? It started the whole mess. Pride started the whole mess. As I reflect on this, didn't even Satan have a judgment against God? Wasn't his judgment, I can do a better job than God can? Look how beautiful I am. I deserve to have this worship and praise. Look how capable I am. This was the rut of Satan or Lucifer's judgment against God. Pride always creates judgments against others. The prophet Micah actually spoke about one of the things or the things that were so dear to God's heart. We find it in Micah chapter 6 verse 8. Let's read that.
Jacque: He has shown you all mortal what is good, and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly.
Brian: I like that, to act justly. Let's just be just in all of what we are doing.
Jacque: From the little...
Brian: To the great.
Jacque: It's all the same. To act justly and to love mercy.
Brian: So when you love something... Let's just talk about this for a moment. When you love something, what does that actually mean? It's like you give your heart to it, don't you? You love classical music. What is what's going to be on your radio? Classical music. If you love bluegrass music, when you get in the car and you want to listen to music, you listen to bluegrass. Whatever you love, you give your heart to, right? I love chocolate. I’m speaking for Cataline now. He loves chocolate. He loves chocolate. It doesn't matter what we are celebrating, if I just give him a chocolate bar, he thinks he's on the top of the world. He loves chocolate. You give yourself to that, which you love.
Jacque: You love me.
Brian: I love you and I give myself to you and I'm glad to do it. I'm glad to do it.
Jacque: And I love you.
Brian: Thank you. But it says here to not only act justly, but we are to what? Love mercy. We are to love mercy. We are to give ourselves to mercy. I find in my experience that it's much easier to give myself to judgment than it is to give myself to mercy. Maybe it's because I love judgment more than I love mercy in my heart. But God is saying, I'm showing you, oh mortal... That's all of mankind, human beings, men and women, boys and girls. I've shown you, oh mortal, what is good. This isn't the first time he talked about it. He said I've shown you what is good and what do I require of you?
Jacque: Requires, not a suggestion.
Brian: It’s not. When I was attempting to go to the University of Minnesota years and years and years ago, I've got to go way back in the archives to remember that moment in my life, I had requirements to do. Not only did I have academic requirements because I wanted to major in piano performance, I had to play for the head of the piano department and some of the top piano professors over there. I had what was called an entrance exam. I had to go in and play and then they would say do this. And then they would say do that and then play this or play that. They wanted to know if I actually qualified enough to actually even be taken into the music program there. It was a requirement and there were many people who wanted to get into that school who never did because they didn't pass the requirements. This is a requirement. I've shown you, oh mortal, what is good and what I require of you. This is not an option. This is what he's requiring of us to act justly and to love mercy and then to what?
Jacque: To walk humbly, prudently.
Brian: Yes, to walk humbly or prudently.
Jacque: With your God.
Brian: With your God. You know, a person who lifts themselves and their views up while putting other people down, I think is a very poor reflection of Jesus. I think it's a poor reflection of Jesus. In reality, they are a distortion of who Jesus is and our lives are to paint a picture of Jesus. That's what our lives are supposed to do, reflect. What image are we reflecting? I don't know about you. I think you would probably be in the same boat as I am on this, but I'm drawn to people who give words of life and hope and peace. I'm drawn to... I like to hang out with people who give me words of life and give me hope and give me encouragement and give me peace in my life. I have a tendency… I'll just admit I have a tendency to resist, to stay away from or close my ears to those who tend to lift themselves up while putting other people down. There are some people that are just like that and they show up at my doorstep and I think, "Ugh, how long do I have to be here?"
I know that I need to have mercy for them. Don't get me wrong, but what are we naturally inclined to want to be around? People who have words that lift us up, aren't we? People who encourage us. As you know, we've said this in the past, we get a lot of different things sent to us, read this, watch that this, what have you. When I have a chance to talk to people, I ask them this question, they say, "Hey, I’ve got something I want to send you." And then this is a question I like to ask them. Will I be more in love with Jesus after I've watched or listened to what you sent me? Will I be more in love with Christ? Will I be more like Jesus after I've read what you want me to read or looked at what you want me to look at? Because if I'm not going to be more like Jesus… That is my quest, and I struggle with it. I have a lot of things inside of me as well as externally, that keep me from being like Jesus. I don't need more of those things in my life. I need less of those things in my life. Wouldn't you agree? We need more things in our lives that will cause us to become more like Jesus.
Jacque: So many times, so many of those videos are such distractions.
Brian: Very much so.
Jacque: There is such distractions and bring more worry, more fear.
Brian: No solutions.
Jacque: No solutions.
Brian: Real love is really marked by humility. There was a time in my life, painful to remember many years ago, where I believe that love was simply giving somebody the truth. And of course, the truth was what I believed was the truth. How it was delivered didn't matter. The only thing that matters was that, as pastor Jeff was talking about earlier, that this doctrinal view that I had was almost virtually forced down somebody's throat. It took a very big crisis in my life to get me to a place between the proverbial rock and the hard place and you are in this vice. It was God's vice and he kept turning it tighter and tighter. Jacque knows what I'm talking about. It was like the big divine squeeze.
Jacque: Thank you, Lord.
Brian: Yeah. What he was squeezing out of me was all of the stuff God hated.
Jacque: He was squeezing me at that time too.
Brian: But that was because I was the source of your squeezing.
Jacque: I said, thank you, Lord like the Pharisee.
Brian: Yeah. Anyways, real love is marked by humility, not the accuracy of what you are saying. I'm not invalidating speaking the truth and things that we believe are hopefully helpful to people. Paul makes it really, really clear, doesn't he in 1st Corinthians 13? How many of you when you are reading the book of Corinthians, you come to the 13th chapter and you said, oh, I've read that a dozen times or a hundred times. I'll just go to chapter 14? I think actually it's the one chapter that we probably should read on a more regular basis than almost any other chapter, because isn't the earmark of what we are to be is to be full of love and grace? Chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians really gives a great description of what love is really like.
I'm just talking about my own personal experiences. I read that. I've done... You know many weddings I've done that we read from 1st Corinthians 13 and yada yada yada. And so when I'm reading the book of 1st Corinthians, I've read that, I just go to something else and God is saying, no, I want you to go back and read that. Verse 4 of chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians says love does not boast and it is not proud. When we are proud, we can't be loving at the same time. It's just not possible. And so encouragement, I believe overflows from a humble heart, whereas boastfulness overflows from a prideful heart. By the way, there is a lot of ways to be boastful other than lifting your nose up in the air and walking around arrogantly. There is a lot of different ways to be boastful. A humble person is secure in who they are in Christ. When we are secure in who we are in Christ, there is no need to argue over whether I'm right or you are right, or who is right or someone is wrong. When you have a humble heart you have the capacity to feel other people up, because you are full of the grace of God and giving to other people takes nothing away from you.
How many know that? When we give to others, it's not taking anything away from us. It's actually filling us up when we give. This is why Jesus said you and I were designed by God to be givers. In the same way, I had a teacher that once use this illustration about a guy that went into a car dealership and he bought the most expensive car that he could buy in the town. And then he took that car and in the fall, there was this river that went through this town. It was actually Rockford, Illinois. There is a river that goes through Rockford. Guess what the name of the river is. Well, it's not Rockford, but it's the Rock River. It's the Rock River. Guess why it's called the Rock River, because it's full of rocks. In the fall, after all the rains have subsided and whatever, there were many dry places in this river where all you could see is rocks; all you could see is rocks.
He told this story. What would you think of a guy that goes into the car dealership buys the most expensive car in town takes this car, drives it down this river bed, rocks bumping up and smashing the window and maybe a hole in the radiator. He drives it for maybe a half a mile and the car is wrecked. And then he takes the car back to the dealership and he says, “What kind of a junk did you sell me? I only drove at a half a mile and it is completely broke.” The guy looks at the car and he looks at the guy and he says, “Well, where have you been driving it?” “Well down the Rock River.” Listen, this car is not designed to drive down the Rock River. It's designed to drive on good roads and maybe even a few bad dirt roads, but it's not designed to drive down the Rock River.
And you know what? You and I weren't designed to be full of pride. We were not made by God to be full of pride and arrogance. We were made by God to be humble. We were made by God to be givers, to be givers. The more we give, the more we actually will receive. This is why Jesus would say it's more blessed to give than to receive, because we were designed to be blesser, as we were designed to be givers. We weren't designed to be takers and to be at home there, shall we say.
Paul, as he's going through his life, and I touched on this briefly week or two ago, but Paul at the end of his life had an incredible, incredible perspective on his life, much different than what you and I would probably think of. We find his perspective on his life in 1st Timothy chapter 1 verse 15. Let's read that together.
Jacque: Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst.
Brian: I don't say this in any way to judge somebody, but I have come across a lot of Christians who don't have that perspective. Now, if the Apostle Paul's perspective... and I have a tendency to think this guy was really committed to Jesus, don't you? Isn't he like one of the top three guys that you would like to actually sit down and have a conversation with? What was it really like with that vision? What was it like to be transformed from this guy that was persecuting the church and killing people to now serving the Jesus that these people were dying for?
Jacque: I would say to him, how on earth did you be in prison, in jail so long and still teach the faith?
Brian: And sing hymns and whatever.
Jacque: And sing hymns. And ask him about those bars, the bars that broken open.
Brian: Yeah. Yeah. He's one of the top guys probably any Christian would want to have a conversation with. And yet at the end of his life, he called himself the worst sinner of all, the worst sinner of all. As I've been meditating on this whole lack of, you know, not fusing the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world and focusing and thinking of Paul, the reason the apostle Paul could say this is because he looked at only his sin. He didn't look at anybody else's sins. He didn't compare himself to other people and what they did and what they didn't do and what he didn't do and what they were doing. He didn't do that. There was no judgment in Paul.
I've got a couple of questions for us as we come down the home stretch here. Number one, do you find yourself looking down on others when they make poor choices? I have found myself doing that, look down on somebody else who has made a poor choice. Do you just shake your head, “I can't believe what they did”? Do you know what they did now? You know, the Pharisees actually stood at the foot of the cross and wagged their heads, shake their heads. Jesus had claimed to do certain things, being the Messiah and they had a perspective all wrong of course, about what the Messiah was going to be. But they were at the cross with the savior dying and they just shook their heads, "Can't believe, what a phony." What was at the heart of their wagging heads and their utterances of Jesus being a phony? It was their pride, wasn't it? Their pride. Do you find yourself looking down on others when they make poor choices? That's the first question that we need to ask ourselves.
The second question is this, do you tend to see your spiritual life and your walk with God as better than somebody else's? Do you have a tendency to do that? There was a time in my life I really did. In fact, I find myself that I can easily slip back into that if I'm not careful, that I think of my spiritual life and how I'm living my life spiritually, and my walk with God is so much better than that person's. And when I do that, I'm the Pharisee. I become the Pharisee who says, "I'm so thankful, God, I'm not like that person." So Paul in this incredible jail experience in Philippi with the Philippian jailer, he writes something incredible here that we can look at real quickly. It's found in Philippians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4.
Jacque: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility, value others above yourself.
Brian: Wow. Value others above yourself.
Jacque: Not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others.
Brian: So value others above ourselves. This is how the kingdom of God works, not just valuing those who think like us and act like us and are like us, but rather we are to look or to be interested in the interests of others. I had Jackie last week, quote from memory, the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. We sang this at our wedding. It has been something that God put in our hearts that had meaning almost 50 years ago. And we've held it since, but I want to go over this prayer one more time, just line by line and just make a couple comments on each line. And then we'll be done.
Jacque: I have not been able to get this prayer out of my mind the last year. We are trying to find the music so we can sing it again and...
Brian: It's so old, we can't find the music.
Jacque: I know. We are going to figure it out. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Brian: When you think of an instrument, think of a violin or a guitar, or maybe a piano. These instruments were created by God to make beautiful music. I don't know if any of you remember the Andy Griffith show where (1:30:00) the marching band... They had a band. They had a band in Maybury and the saxophone player was literally deaf. The two trumpet players were... They shouldn't have ever picked up a trumpet.
Jacque: The tuba player brought the tuba that day.
Brian: Yeah, the tuba player brought tuba that day to play.
Jacque: And he had never played it before.
Brian: And he never played it before, right. When you think of being an instrument that makes beautiful music, don't think of the Maybury band. That's not what God has in mind. But think of yourself as an instrument in the hands of God. There is a great story about this violin that was being auctioned at an auction. It started at $5 and $10. Nobody was really interested, and then one guy came out of the audience and he picked a violin up and he tuned it and grabbed it and he started to play it. This guy was a virtuoso violinist, and he took this little violin and made the most beautiful music out of it. After he got done playing the auctioneer said, "Who will bid a thousand? Who will bid two? Who will bid three?" Because that's what God wants from us, is to be that violin that some people think is only worth $5 or $10, but in the hands of the master, produces this beautiful music. This is the peace of God that he wants for us to be in our lives. So Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Jacque: I wanted to keep my instrument tuned, so it plays a sweet melody.
Brian: Yes.
Jacque: Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Brian: And not just hatred towards us, but wherever there is hatred in the world, let's do our best to sow love towards that.
Jacque: Where there is injury, sow pardon.
Brian: Don't hold it against them. That's what this is saying. We are not going to hold something against them. We've all been injured. We've all been abused in a sense, some worse than others, of course. We've all been on the short end of the stick. We've all been on the receiving end of unfairness. And yet let's not hold that against them. Let's not do that part. Let's bring pardon.
Jacque: Remember how quickly God forgives us.
Brian: Yes.
Jacque: Where there is doubt, sow faith.
Brian: Where there is doubt, whenever you encountered doubt, this is what we need to say. God is well able. Instead of looking at their sins and failures as to why they are in that situation, let's not look at that. Let's look at this. Let's look at God and let's say God is well able. Let's go on.
Jacque: Where there is despair, sow hope.
Brian: When people are in disparate, you know what we can say to them? Tomorrow will be a better day. Tomorrow will be a better day. God is going to be there with you tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a better day. I know today is not a good day. Today is a day that you feel despair, but tomorrow is a better day. Isn't that a better message than singing gloom, despair and misery on me?
Jacque: Even when we feel despair, ourselves, I need to be speaking words of hope to myself. Where there is darkness, light.
Brian: We know that the world is living in darkness. We know that there are people who are living in ways that are not how God designed them to live. They are driving their vehicle down the rock river of life. That's what they are doing. All sorts of consequences are now happening to them. Instead of saying to them, "Well, you made your bed, sleep in it." Instead of saying that them let's bring this word to them; let me help you find a better way. Let me help you find a better way. I'll walk with you to a better place. Let me help you find a better way. Wherever there is darkness, let's bring light, a better way.
Jacque: It just takes a little bit of light to dispel the darkness.
Brian: That's right.
Jacque: Where there is sadness, joy.
Brian: You know what; there are a lot of people with broken hearts today. What heals a broken heart the best? Love, love. It takes time, but if you just love someone whose heart is broken, it will get healed. It will get healed. Go on.
Jacque: Oh, divine master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console.
Brian: This is where we go back to Philippians 2, where we are to value others. Isn't it real easy to want to be comforted rather than to give comfort? And yet, let me not seek to be consoled as much as I will seek to console.
Jacque: We have to take our eyes off ourselves.
Brian: That's right. And we are going to look at the value of others. Go on.
Jacque: Not seek so much to be understood as to understand.
Brian: I find in our culture today, especially a lot on social media where everybody is trying to prove something. Everybody is trying to prove they are right and everybody is posturing. And you know what, when we have an attitude that I'm not going to be so focused on being understood as rather I'm going to try and understand. What that means is that we don't have to prove we are right, because if we are full of humility and our security is in Christ, I don't have to be proven right. I just don't have to be.
Jacque: We have to listen to do that.
Brian: That’s right. Just to listen. Let's go on.
Jacque: Help me not seek so much to be loved as to love.
Brian: Isn't that a perfect description of Calvary? Calvary was what? Others centered. That's what the cross was. The cross wasn't about... The focus wasn't on Jesus. The focus of the cross was on the world, on other people. That's why he went to the cross.
Jacque: So when we are feeling lonely or unappreciated, reach out to someone else.
Brian: Focus on the cross.
Jacque: Yes. For it is in giving that we receive.
Brian: That's the power-under, rather than the power-over again. It's in giving that we receive. That's that power-under, rather than power-over.
Jacque: It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
Brian: Forgiveness is never about the other guy, is it? Forgiveness is never about what you can do for the other guy. It's always about what happens in you when you forgive. So it's in pardoning that we are pardoned.
Jacque: And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Brian: Yes. So unless a seed fall into the ground and die, it won't produce fruit. So the only way that we can ever really produce fruit for the kingdom of God is for us to die to ourselves. This prayer really is the kingdom of God. And you know what? Our world does not live by these principles. Our world does not live by these principles.
Jacque: I don't always live by these principles.
Brian: Well, I think to be honest, I struggle to hit the mark on these as well. But the fact of the matter is there is not a government on the face of the earth that lives by these principles. There is not an educational institution, in my opinion, especially secular, university level that lives by these principles. Very, very few businesses, if any, live by these principles. There is a few that are trying. The fact of the matter is we can't fuse pride into the kingdom of God, because the more we look at our sins and not the sins of others, no matter who they may be, no matter who they may be, the more humility will grow in our hearts. The more I look at my sins, and I challenge you, I challenge you, those of you who are watching, and those of you who are here today, I challenge you try and go one week, one week without looking at anybody else's sins, just your own, just your own. And see what happens in your heart in a week?
I think what would happen is we would find ourselves being like this tax collector, wouldn't we? Where we would grab our heads or we would beat our breasts and we would say, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. But when we start looking at how this political candidate is disqualified because of this moral issue or this person over here is disqualified from this, or we need to separate ourselves from this person over there. Now we are looking at everybody else. What is happening is we are becoming like the Pharisee and we are judging and we are falling into an incredible slippery slope. It is the sin that started the whole mess. It's the sin that started the whole mess in the first place, pride. Somehow thinking, and of course, you and I, it doesn't even register on our spectrum of our brain that someone would think, some being would think that they are better or as great as God, but we have no trouble thinking we are better than this person. We have no trouble looking at their failures and saying, I could do better than that.
This is where pride begins. I'll just say it this way. Pride is pride, whether it was in the heart of Lucifer or whether it's in my heart, pride is pride. And so I pray today that we would look at something different. I've titled actually this message, be careful where you look. Be careful where you look. Remember we used to sing as children, be careful, little eyes, what you see? And of course, we sang it from the perspective that there is a God up above who is watching what's going on. Kind of, you don't want to be looking at something bad and God catching you, but that's not the perspective what this message is about. It's be careful what you look at. Be careful where you look, because when you look at everybody else, what will end up happening is we will become the Pharisee. But when we will look inward and we will look at my sin and when we stand a far off and we beat our breasts and we say, God, be merciful to me, a sinner, and may my sins always be before me.
Now, there is a challenge there, because it's not to be before us so that we can be condemned. It's not about that, because there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. May my sins ever be before me and not other people's sins before me. That's the context. That's the context. And I tell you what, when we start to see ourselves and not look at others, I can guarantee you the natural result of that will be you will have a greater love for everybody else, because they will become more valuable in your eyes than what you are.
I want to just pray real quick for all of you who are watching and for those of you who are here, that God would help us to look in the right direction. So father, I pray today that we would be careful where we look. Jesus, you look down upon the world with compassion. You didn't look at their sin, but you looked at what they could be with you and you also looked at the effects of sin. You looked at the effects of having driven down this rocky river bed of life and how the tires had become flat and how the radiator had sprung a leak and how the springs had been broken and the windshields had become busted. The car just wasn't working very good and there was hardly any miles on it because of where it had been driven. And yet Lord, you have a future for every single one of us and you looked at us and for the joy set before you, you endured the cross. What was that joy Lord? It was every man, woman, boy and girl being around your throne, worshiping you, in relationship with you.
And so I pray that today, Jesus, we would look at ourselves and not look at others, that we would find ourselves beating our breasts and just saying, God, be merciful to me today, a sinner and in so doing there will be a swelling up of our heart and love to the rest of the world. I thank you for the courage of St. Francis of Assisi to write this. I thank you for the courage of a tax collector, the gang leader, the hell's angel guy, the pimp who would recognize his need for you and he would come and he would kneel and he would say, simply, one simple prayer, be merciful to me., a sinner. May this be our prayer. May this be our cry. I pray this Jesus in your name for your sake. Let's lift our hands together. We bless you. Now may the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and may he give you his peace. May you look at your hearts and no one else and no place. This, we pray, Jesus in your name for your sake in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thank you so much for being here today. Hopefully, you can meditate on these things as we go forward this week. Hopefully, we can make it a day without looking at someone else's sins. And if we can make it one day, we can make it two. Let's just build on that. I love you. God bless you. Thank you for tuning in today. Keep praying for us. We are at a time of real need of prayer as the church, as the body of Christ today. A lot of challenges before us, but God is what, well able. He's well able. God bless you. Have a wonderful day. Thank you for being here.
Transcript taken from the Sunday morning service 8-16-20. If you would like to watch the full service, click one of the links below.