Our Roots

And this morning's passage is an especially tricky passage. And before we read it together, just to get us thinking, I want to ask some questions.

Firstly, really, what are your roots? What are your roots? I don't know if you've ever seen the kind of ancestry show on the BBC.

Who do you think you are? Where celebrities go on it to kind of discover what their roots are.

I watched an episode recently with the comedian Jack Whitehall, and he got all excited about one of his ancestors being from Birmingham.

He was expecting, I think, to be descended from like a Peaky Blinder or at least some minor aristocrat or something.

Instead, he discovered a man who had a taste for sleeping with prostitutes, who got syphilis, who gave it to his wife and who died in an asylum.

What are your roots?

One of my ancestors was the Bishop of London. I've always been quite proud of that fact.

And as far as I can tell, he was a pretty good guy, preaching passionately, working hard for social change in the East End of London.

But I discovered a couple of years ago that he wasn't just straightforwardly a good guy.

He was the Bishop of London during World War I, and he earned the nickname the belligerent bishop.

Apparently, he would regularly use awful xenophobic language about ordinary German people.

And he even promoted the idea that we should be bombing civilians, that that would be the best means of winning the war.

What are your roots?

If you're a Christian here today, I think it's also worth asking, what are your Christian roots?

I mean, you can think about the person who told you about Jesus and who told them and who told them and so on.

But go far enough back.

And if you're a Christian here today, it's probably partly because of this guy called Charlemagne.

You might have heard of Charlemagne.

He was the first man to unite Western Europe and Central Europe, the kind of first guy to do that since the Roman Empire.

And it was during his reign that the gospel was first brought to the shores of Britain.

If you're here today and you're a Christian, you've got a lot to be grateful to this guy for.

Sounds like a pretty good guy.

But really, things were very messy.

In the year 782, more than 4,500 Saxons were massacred by Charlemagne for refusing to convert to Christianity.

A bit like in our passage today, he had 18 children to seven different women.

And those are our roots.

If you're a Christian here today, it's also probably partly because of this guy, Oliver Cromwell.

Again, you've probably heard of Cromwell.

He was an important figure in the kind of continued reformation in Britain,

challenging the assumptions of divine monarchy and encouraging evangelical, independent Protestantism.

We've got a lot to be grateful to him for.

Sounds pretty good.

But again, in doing so, things were messy.

In Ireland, October 1649, and apologies for the history lesson here.

But in October 1649, troops under Cromwell's command killed more than 3,000 people, including 1,500 civilians.

As you can imagine, he was and in many places still is wildly unpopular.

But these are our Christian roots.

The Crusades, the 30 years war, transatlantic slavery, witch hunts, the Inquisition.

It was Christians that did all of that.

These are our roots.

In every century of Christian history, atrocity after atrocity has been committed.

And we can discuss whether these people really were Christians.

I'm sure some of them weren't, but I'm equally sure that some of them really were.

And either way, there's no denying it.

If you're a Christian here today, these are our roots.

As we look down the ages and as we assess the behavior of individual Christians,

maybe especially as we assess the behavior of the Christian church,

as we assess our roots, we have to say, don't we, there is something deeply rotten there.

In fact, friends of mine have often told me that this is exactly why they're not Christians.

Why they could never be Christians.

Just look at all the bad stuff that Christians have done.

And they're right.

And, you know, I think it's actually much worse than that.

Because those are our roots, but it's also true today, isn't it?

Friends of mine, they look at history and they say that.

But for them, it's also the hypocrisy in the church.

The hypocrisy of Christians.

You know, they look at us and they just see that we don't look like anything like the Jesus that we say we follow.

And again, they're right, aren't they?

They're right about me anyway.

Nothing like Jesus.

My friends know me well enough.

If they've ever seen me behind the wheel of a car, as simple as that,

they know that I can get very angry and that I'm extremely selfish.

And that in so many ways, I'm just like them.

Do your friends know that about you?

Maybe as you look around this morning, I guess it's possible that you feel like you're the dirtiest and rottenest person in this room.

And maybe you feel like if only they knew, they probably wouldn't have even let me in this morning.

Let me tell you that the truth is the person sitting next to you probably feels exactly the same way.

And if they don't, maybe you're here this morning and that's not you.

And instead, you think you're doing pretty well, that you actually deserve to be here,

that you deserve his grace, that you've done everything necessary for God to be kind to you.

Either way, whoever you are this morning, wherever you sit, I guess, on that spectrum, you need to know this.

As we look at our rotten roots,

we have to say that the Christian church could only possibly exist today by God's grace.

And as we look at our lives, we have to say the only way that it's going to continue is by God's grace,

his utterly undeserved kindness to us.

God establishes his people by grace in spite of their mess.

And God keeps his people by grace in spite of their mess.

Grace is the way in.

And grace is the way on.

We've been in this series in Genesis over the last couple of months when God's grace meets our mess.

It's the story of Jacob.

Just before we read our passage this morning, a little bit of context so that you know where we've got to in this story,

if you haven't been here.

We've seen that the key to understanding this story are God's promises to his people,

especially the promises he makes through this family, the promises to Abraham.

We've just seen one of those with Ian and then to Abraham's son and then to Isaac's son, now to Jacob.

So four things, really.

Promises of a place to call home.

Promises of his presence with them.

Promises of a glorious purpose that they would bless the nations.

And then most importantly for us this morning, and as Ian has read,

the promises that they would be a numerous people.

In Genesis chapter 15, we saw God's promise of that in that way to Abraham.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

In chapter 26, that promise is reaffirmed to Isaac.

He says, I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.

And that is a very unlikely promise.

And not least because both Abraham and Isaac struggle to have children.

But God does just enough to continue their family line.

And the promise continues, as we saw just a couple of weeks ago in chapter 28,

the promise to Jacob.

All four elements were there.

Place, presence, purpose, and people.

Especially for today, your descendants will be like the dust of the earth.

And so as we come to our reading this morning, that promise begins to be fulfilled.

But it's not exactly sunshine and roses.

And so turn to Genesis chapter 29 with me.

Genesis 29 · chapter mention

You'll find it on page 32 of the Pew Bibles.

Genesis chapter 29.

Genesis 29 · chapter mention

We'll mostly be in chapter 30, actually, but we'll start in chapter 29.

See with me how God's grace was at work, even in a massive, massive mess.

So chapter 29 from verse 31.

When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive.

But Rachel remained childless.

Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.

She named him Reuben, for she said,

It is because the Lord has seen my misery.

Surely my husband will love me now.

She conceived again.

And when she gave birth to a son, she said,

Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.

So she named him Simeon.

Again, she conceived.

And when she gave birth to a son, she said,

Now at last my husband will become attached to me,

because I have borne him three sons.

So he was named Levi.

She conceived again.

And when she gave birth to a son, she said,

This time I will praise the Lord.

So she named him Judah.

Then she stopped having children.

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children,

she became jealous of her sister.

So she said to Jacob,

Give me children or I'll die.

Jacob became angry with her and said,

Am I in the place of God?

Who has kept you from having children?

Then she said,

Here is Bilhah, my servant.

Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me,

and I too can build a family through her.

So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife.

Jacob slept with her and she became pregnant and bore him a son.

Then Rachel said,

God has vindicated me.

He has listened to my plea and given me a son.

Because of this, she named him Dan.

Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

Then Rachel said,

I have had a great struggle with my sister and I have won.

So she named him Naphtali.

When Leah saw that she had stopped having children,

she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

Then Leah said,

What good fortune?

So she named him Gad.

Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.

Then Leah said,

How happy I am.

The woman will call me happy.

So she named him Asher.

During wheat harvest,

Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants,

which he brought to his mother Leah.

Rachel said to Leah,

Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.

But she said to her,

Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband?

Will you take my son's mandrakes too?

Very well,

Rachel said,

He can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes.

So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening,

Leah went out to meet him.

You must sleep with me,

she said.

I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.

So he slept with her that night.

God listened to Leah and she became pregnant

and bore Jacob a fifth son.

Then Leah said,

God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.

So she named him Issachar.

Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.

Then Leah said,

God has presented me with a precious gift.

This time my husband will treat me with honor

because I have borne him six sons.

So she named him Zebulun.

Sometime later,

she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinner.

Then God remembered Rachel.

He listened to her and enabled her to conceive.

She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said,

God has taken away my disgrace.

She named him Joseph and said,

May the Lord add to me another son.

Earlier this year,

just a few months ago,

I read that section of Genesis with Ben,

Ben Vesa,

a member here at the church.

And we got to this passage literally the week

before he married Cater.

And so you can imagine how we felt

as we read this chapter together.

But before we go any further,

let's put ourselves in the shoes of the original readers,

the people that this was written for.

Let's ask how they were feeling

as they read it or heard it read.

Because this book,

it was written by Moses for the Exodus generation.

So it's something like 500 years after the action,

after Jacob.

God has rescued this people out of slavery in Egypt

and they're now in the desert.

Notice how those promises that we talked about are going.

They don't have a place to call home.

They certainly aren't fulfilling their purpose of nation blessing.

They are going to have God's presence with them.

That will be the tabernacle.

But really only one man once a year will get access to that.

But crucially,

they have become numerous.

From a family of around 70 people

when they first went into Egypt,

now over a million when they leave.

The people promise,

in many ways,

the people promise has been fulfilled.

But it's actually not going very well.

They're not having a great time in the desert.

They might have been slaves in Egypt,

but at least they were well fed.

At least they had a home.

And we're told about their grumbling

and their moaning and their infighting.

We're told about their idol worship

and their rebellion against God.

And so as they hear this story about Jacob,

as they hear about their roots,

the beginnings,

the genesis of their people,

the message was this.

God established you as his people by grace

in spite of their mess,

in spite of your mess.

And God will keep you by grace

in spite of the mess.

It is the way in

and it is the way on.

And so here's the story.

As we read it, did you see?

It's sort of like a twisted competition.

You've got Leah in one corner.

You've got Rachel in the other corner.

Two sisters,

each competing for what the other sister has.

Now have a look at verse 30 of chapter 29.

We didn't read it just before our passage.

Back in verse 30,

Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved Leah.

Really that's instead of,

in place of Leah.

So Rachel is odds-on favorite

in this competition for love.

But notice in verse 31,

Leah may not be loved,

but Rachel is childless.

And we'll see in chapter one of verse,

sorry, verse one of chapter 30,

that that is what Rachel desperately wants.

Children.

Leah wants love.

Rachel wants children.

Each competing, as we'll see,

for what the other sister has.

Competing really for their husband.

Both of them desiring happy families.

And so the competition begins.

The first point goes to Leah.

See in verse 32,

Leah became pregnant,

gave birth to a son.

She named him Reuben.

One nil.

And if you're not sure that this is a competition,

and I'm just making that up,

notice Reuben's name.

You probably have a footnote in your Bible.

I think in the Pew Bible,

it says that it means see a son.

So Leah has struck the first blow.

And this name is like a celebration.

And it's a celebration designed to kind of show off,

to make sure that everyone knows and remembers

that she is winning in this competition.

Every time they speak about Reuben,

it's look, a son.

Every time they call his name,

look, a son.

It's a celebration.

Leah is winning.

And yet in verse 32,

can you hear her heartache?

Surely my husband will love me now.

She desperately wants him to love her.

She desperately wants happy families.

And then immediately, verse 33,

another son, two nil.

Another in verse 34, three nil.

She's definitely winning,

but the heartache continues.

Now at last,

my husband will become attached to me.

Verse 35,

the sons keep coming.

It's four nil.

And then at the end of chapter 29,

then she stopped having children.

Halftime in the baby making competition.

And so Rachel is four nil down at halftime.

She goes in to have a chat with her husband

in verse one of chapter 30.

See what she says?

Give me children or I'll die.

Leah's desire for her husband's love is heartbreaking.

But so is this, isn't it?

Rachel desperately wants children.

She too desperately wants happy families.

And Jacob's response is really good theology.

Not that sensitive, but good theology.

Am I in the place of God?

He recognizes that conception

is ultimately in God's power.

Obviously, man and woman need to do their thing

and timing needs to be right and whatever else.

But ultimately,

whether a baby is produced is always a miracle.

And so it's not my fault, says Jacob.

Rachel isn't satisfied with that answer.

And so she makes a substitution.

In comes Bilhah, her servant.

Apparently, that was actually quite normal,

kind of ancient practice

for a servant to step in

and give it a go

when the couple aren't able to conceive.

And the resulting child

would actually legally belong

to the one that they serve.

And that's exactly what happens.

In fact, Bilhah has two sons.

Score is 4-2.

And notice again,

if you're not convinced

that this is a competition,

have a look at verse eight of chapter 30.

What does Rachel say?

I have had a struggle with my sister

and I have won.

She's very confident here

that the comeback is on.

But Leah, Leah remember,

has stopped having children.

She sees that the substitution

is quite a good tactic.

So she subs in her servant, Zilpar.

And Zilpar conceives twice as well.

So it's 6-2.

A time for another change of tactic then

from Rachel,

a kind of nutritional boost,

a performance enhancer.

In verse 14,

Reuben heads out to get some mandrakes.

That is, I think,

as if to underline Leah's

absolute dominance in this game.

She brings out her son

to help her have more sons.

See, in the ancient world,

the mandrake plant

was apparently good for fertility

and probably superstition.

Notice the text doesn't really deal

with any of that,

doesn't confirm

whether that's true or not.

It doesn't tell us

if mandrakes are a good thing

or a bad thing.

It just says,

this is what the woman did.

And it's a blunt reminder,

I think,

in the middle of this competition,

as Leah and Rachel

fight for their husband's love

and his babies,

as they fight for happy families,

there's an awful irony here,

as Leah uses Reuben in this way,

that children are caught

in the crossfire,

that children are literally

growing up in the mess

of this awful competition.

And worse than that,

because as Reuben gets

some of the performance enhancer,

Rachel makes this dreadful bargain

with Leah.

See in verse 15,

give me the mandrakes

and you can sleep

with Jacob tonight.

She essentially sells

a night of sex

with Jacob

in exchange

for these performance enhancers.

Notice how the author repeats

that Leah has stopped

having children.

We get it at the end

of chapter 29,

as we've seen,

but then again in verse 9 here.

I think we can assume

that she was probably

too old to have kids,

that nature had run its course.

And so Rachel thinks

it's safe enough

letting her sleep with Jacob.

Rachel can then get the mandrakes,

get the performance enhancer

and have children.

And her tactic

just massively backfires.

See in verse 16,

Leah with the ultimate chat up line,

you must sleep with me

because I have hired you.

She's basically turned her husband

into a sex slave.

It's so grim.

And then despite the repetition

that she stopped having children,

God gets to work

and she has another child.

Seven, two.

Somehow in verse 19,

she's persuaded her husband

back for another.

Nine, two.

And then she has a daughter

in verse 21.

Sorry, eight, two.

And then a daughter,

nine, two in verse 21.

It looks as though Leah

has well and truly won

this competition, doesn't it?

And yet her heartache

right at the end of the chapter

is still there in verse 20.

This time my husband

will treat me with honor.

Nine children later

and still Leah is crying out

for the love of her husband.

And then finally,

almost as a sort of

consolation prize,

Rachel does conceive herself

for the first time

in verse 23.

Final score,

nine, three.

It's quite a story, isn't it?

And it's a strange competition.

I think it's really hard to know

who we're supposed

to be rooting for here.

Because you can see

how Moses is giving us clues

all the way through

what these people are like.

Every character in this story

is sinning

and being sinned against

as they fight

for happy families.

And it is anything

but just broken,

messy relationships

everywhere.

If you've been wondering

through all of this,

why the Bible doesn't

just explicitly condemn

these things,

why doesn't it make a comment

on the fact that Jacob

has more than one wife?

Or the fact that

they're literally paying

for sex or using wives'

servants as sex slaves?

I hope you can see

that though the Bible

doesn't explicitly condemn them,

it is pretty clear.

It has always been God's plan, right?

From the first pages

of the Bible

in Genesis chapter 2,

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

God's plan is that

one man would marry

one woman

and that they would be

together for life.

That was always God's plan.

That remains God's plan today.

And I don't think

Moses needs to tell us

that Jacob and Leah

and Rachel aren't doing that.

I don't think he needs

to explicitly condemn it

because the consequences

of living out with God's plan

are just really clear

in this story, aren't they?

It's a mess.

And the truth is,

sin always leads to a mess.

The more you ignore God's plan,

the more you walk away from him.

You may get away with it

for a while,

but the more that you do that,

the more of a mess

you're going to end up in.

It's what we see here, isn't it?

And I think if we're honest,

we all know that's true,

even if it's just in small ways.

For that wilderness generation,

the people that we said

that Moses was writing this for,

the application is really clear,

isn't it?

You have become a numerous people,

but look at your roots.

Look at how much of a mess it is.

You need to know that God established

his people by grace,

not just in spite of,

but in and through their mess.

This is his wonderful,

undeserved kindness.

If you can see that about your roots,

then you will know

that God will keep his people by grace

in and through their mess.

It is the way in

and it is the way on.

Do you know,

God is more active in this section

that we've just looked at,

more active here

than in any other place

in the story of Jacob.

And so just two details quickly

before we put the whole thing

back together for ourselves.

See how God acts.

See his grace to the people

just in this story.

Firstly, God hears his messy people

and then we'll see that

he also helps his messy people.

So first, God hears his messy people.

And notice that both Leah and Rachel

make statements

about what they think God is doing

in the midst of their competition.

There are lots of examples of this.

Here are a couple.

In verse 32 of chapter 29,

Leah says,

the Lord has seen my misery.

Again in verse 33,

she says,

the Lord heard that I am not loved.

Rachel too does the same sort of thing

in chapter 30, verse six.

God has vindicated me.

He has listened to my plea.

Leah again in verse 18,

God has rewarded me

for giving my servant to my husband.

Over and over again,

these two sisters make statements

about what God is doing.

But I don't think we're supposed

to take their word for it.

In fact, I think we're probably

supposed to be skeptical

about what their theories

about what God is up to are like.

In their mess,

I'm pretty sure God

is not vindicating them.

And I certainly don't think

God is rewarding them.

But they are definitely right

that God is working.

I see in verse 17,

Moses, the writer,

he tells us in verse 17

that God listened to Leah

and she became pregnant.

And in verse 22,

he tells us,

God remembered Rachel.

He listened to her

and enabled her to conceive.

What can Moses possibly mean

that God listened to these sisters?

We don't see them pray.

These sisters who had bought

and sold their husband for sex,

these sisters who had pawned off

their own servants

as sex slaves for their husband,

these sisters who have been

battling with one another

for their husband's love

and babies,

these sisters,

like I say,

as far as we can tell,

have not uttered a single prayer

to their God.

And yet,

how is God at work?

He hears them.

He hears their unspoken pleas

to be loved.

It's the only thing

that Moses tells us

that God is explicitly

doing for them.

These unspoken pleas

for family.

And they may have sprung

from the worst of motives

and in the midst

of the worst of messes.

And yet we're told

God hears them.

It's the utterly undeserved

kindness of grace.

The way in

and the way on.

And that is wonderful news

for all of us

in the room today.

And maybe you think

you've got prayer sorted,

that you would never pray

with such twisted motives.

Your life definitely

isn't this messy.

But if we're honest,

certainly if I'm honest,

my life can be pretty messy.

Very often,

my motives get twisted

when I pray.

As our hearts cry out,

how wonderful then

is this promise

from Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

In the same way,

the Spirit helps us

in our weakness.

We do not know

what we ought to pray for,

but the Spirit himself

intercedes for us

through wordless groans.

when our motives stink,

when we pray

completely the wrong thing,

when we don't know

what to pray,

and despite all of our mess,

this is the utterly

undeserved kindness

of God to us.

It's grace

as God hears

our deepest hearts cry.

But not only does God hear,

he also helps

his messy people.

in verse 31

of chapter 29,

right at the start

of this competition,

how is it that

Leah is able

to conceive?

Not only does God

see that Leah

was not loved,

but he also helps her,

he enabled her

as the language

to conceive.

And more than that,

if you notice,

who is that Leah

gives birth to?

In verse 34,

she gives birth

to a son called Levi,

and in verse 35,

to Judah.

If you know anything

about the subsequent history

of the tribes of Israel,

Levi was the forerunner

to the priestly tribe,

Judah was the forerunner

to the kingly tribe.

You see what God does?

He takes Leah,

the unloved

and the unlovely,

and he gets to work.

And through her,

he produces the priests

and the kings

of his people.

And wasn't that way

of working

just exemplified

in Jesus?

When God became man,

who did he go towards?

Did he go towards

the powerful?

Did he go towards

empire or kings?

Did he go towards

the religious elites?

No, he relentlessly

pursued and loved

the unloved

and the unlovely.

The outcasts,

the crippled,

the sinners,

he loved them.

He had compassion on them.

He heard them

and he helped them.

Can I just make

a really quick

and very specific application

at this point?

Just to those in the room

who wish

that they could be parents.

Maybe you've been

trying for years.

Maybe you have tried

and it didn't work out

and those days

are well behind you.

Maybe you're single.

Maybe you're attracted

to people of the same sex.

Maybe you suffer

from a chronic illness.

If that's you,

if you desperately

want a family

and it isn't

or it hasn't happened

for you,

let me firstly say

how sorry I am.

And let me say,

please don't feel like

you can't mourn that here

just because it's something

that we can't see.

As a church,

we want to share

in each other's pain

like that,

that you would find

a family here.

And let me encourage you

that God hears

our cries in that.

He doesn't say

that you will definitely

have children.

He doesn't promise that.

But he does have a plan

and he does have

a purpose for us

and he does hear us

and he does help us.

God saw the unloved Leah

and he saw

the childless Rachel

and he got to work.

And God does continue

to work in the world today.

Just a little bit broader,

if you're here this morning

and you feel like

you've got very little

to offer,

if you feel unloved

or if you know

that if anyone

really knew you,

they couldn't possibly

love you,

that you wouldn't possibly

be welcome

in a place like this,

you need to know

this morning,

Jesus really does

know you.

And he knows

exactly how you feel.

And he also knows

all the ways

that you have rejected

the God who created you.

He knows the deepest

and darkest cries

and the deepest

and darkest secrets

of your heart.

And yet, by grace,

he loves you.

He doesn't promise

that that means

you'll have a totally

trouble-free life

or get all the things

that you want.

But he does promise

that he hears

his messy people

and he promises

that he will help

his messy people.

He gives us everything

that we need

so that we might have

the most wonderful gift

of all,

which is to know him.

That is the totally

undeserved kindness

of our God.

It's grace.

And so just before we finish,

let's go back

to the original readers.

this is what they needed

to hear.

As they stumbled about

in the wilderness,

convinced that they had

got things really

very badly wrong,

they were sure

that a return

to the comfortable life

of slavery in Egypt

would be the solution.

But Moses would say

to them,

see how God

has been gracious to you.

Look at your roots.

If you've tuned out now,

please tune back in now

just for the last few minutes.

This is really the key.

See your roots

and know

that God established

his people by grace

in and through their mess.

And so know

that God will keep

his people

in and through

their mess

only by his grace

because grace

is the way in

and grace is the way on.

And especially tune in now

because that remains true

for the Christian.

If you're here this morning

and you wouldn't call yourself

a Christian,

this is right at the heart

of it all,

it's grace.

God's utterly undeserved

kindness to us

and it is the way in.

As humans,

we need to recognize

we are not perfect.

That is true

as we think about our roots

but it's true of us today.

We have not lived

the way that our creator

intended us to live.

And the world

that we live in

is a mess

and we contribute

to that mess

in so many ways

we just can't avoid it.

And actually

there's also nothing

we can do

to clean it up.

Truth is

there are things

that we've done,

there are things

that I've done

that I know

that I could never

pay for.

And so the only way

to be accepted

by this God

is for someone else

to pay that price

on my behalf.

And his grace

to you and to me

is Jesus

paying that price

on our behalf.

That's the cross.

Grace is the way in.

But grace is also

the way on.

Right?

Our roots,

the bishop,

Charlemagne,

witch hunts and slavery,

this has always been true.

For God's people

to keep on being

God's people,

for the Christian church

to have continued at all

despite all of the mess

is only by his

wonderful grace to us.

Anything good

that the Christian church

has done over the years,

anything good

that we have done

here at Brunsfield

over the years,

that is not us.

It's only because

God has done it

by his grace

and because we are

privileged to be used

by him in that.

It's true in the big picture

like that,

but it's also true

individually for us

as the world remains

a mess.

And again,

as we continue to contribute

to that mess,

the message has always been

that yes,

grace is the way in,

that Jesus died for you

and now you're a Christian,

but the message is not

that you therefore need

to start acting like it.

Instead,

the message is that

grace is also the way on.

That each and every day,

living in and contributing

to a messy world,

we continue to desperately

need and rely on that grace

in Jesus.

Being a Christian doesn't mean

that we've been made perfect,

but it means that by his grace,

we continue to grow towards him.

In Philippians chapter 3,

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Paul puts it like this,

not that I have already

obtained all this

or have already arrived

at my goal,

but I press on

to take hold

of that

for which Christ Jesus

took hold of me.

You see what he's saying?

It's not that he's already perfect,

he's on a journey.

He's straining toward

what is ahead.

He's heading in the right direction.

This,

Paul says,

is what it means

to be a mature Christian.

Not that you are less sinful,

though you are really growing

in that sort of direction,

but actually that you're more aware

of your sin.

I think it's true

in conversations

with some of you

who have been Christians

for a lot longer than I have.

The further on you get,

the less sinful you actually are,

the more you grow.

And yet,

the more sinful you actually feel.

And as you experience

that strange paradox,

would you just let it drive you

back to the cross?

For grace is the way in,

but it is also the way on.

And just very practically,

last thing as we finish,

one thing that all of us can do,

what this means

is that this church

that we're part of,

this family that we're part of,

is the one place

where we should be able

to be most honest

about our sin.

because it is

and should be

the one place

where grace is readily

and always available for it.

You know,

if a brother or a sister

at church tells you

about some sin in their life,

what's the first thing

that you're going to do?

Do you immediately tell them

how foolish they are,

how stupid they've been?

Maybe more practically,

you're going to try

and find ways

that you can help them

to make sure

that this doesn't happen again.

There might actually be

a place for both of those

in time,

but the first thing

has got to be this.

If someone comes to you

and says,

I've been messing up

in this way,

the first thing

has got to be this.

Look to Jesus

because here is grace

for you.

He loves you

and we love you

because grace

is the way in,

but it is also

the way on.

These are your roots.

God establishes

his people by grace.

God keeps his people

by grace.

It is the way in

and it is the way on.

We're going to sing together

and so let me just invite

the band up

as we do that

and as they come up,

let me pray.

Heavenly Father,

we thank you so much

for your grace

to us in Jesus.

Lord,

we're so sorry

for the mess

of our lives

and the ways

that we contribute

to the mess

of the world.

Lord,

we're so sorry

for when we try

and do things

on our own steam,

try and clean up

our own act

and Lord,

I pray that for each

of us this morning,

if nothing else,

we would know

that in our sin

there remains grace

for us in Jesus,

that in every area

of our lives

you would help us

to repent,

to turn to him,

to look to the cross

and to experience

his grace,

your grace

for us in him.

in Jesus' name,

Amen.