I Hold My Own Hand

What's up, everybody? How's it going, pursuers?

Oh, wait, hold on. You remember we had a conversation

with someone this week, last week, recently,

and they said that they weren't sure if that

is the name of the group. They did. They did

say that. Do you remember the name that they

suggested? It was something culturally insensitive.

I can't remember. No, it was not. They think

they like dudes and dudettes. Dudes and dudettes.

What's up, dudes and dudettes? I mean, I say

dude all the time. It's a part of my cultural

lingo. Yeah, that's true. Dudettes is not something

I say very often. No, I have not said dudettes

ever. Truthfully, I feel like dude for me has

evolved to be like a gender neutral term. Yeah,

I agree. I agree. But every now and then you

run into somebody who is a lady who you refer

to as, oh, dude, what's up? And they're like,

I am not a dude. So when I was in college, I

had a habit of longboarding around the campus,

right? Oh, I did that in college too. Yeah? Yeah.

All that to say, I was bumping up against curfew

because Christian College, you had to be back

at the dorm by a certain time or else you were

a bad person. And I'm hauling timber trying to

get back in time. And I've got an umbrella because

it rains a lot in Cedarville. But it was Maddie's

umbrella. It was like an outrageously girly umbrella.

As it should be. As it should be, right? I think

it was like pink, you know? And so some chick

from the sidewalk shouts out, Nice umbrella,

dude! And I was like, Hey, thanks, dude! And

I kept on trucking, and I just hear from behind

me, I'm not a dude! Wow, like really offended

over calling her a dude. Of course, like, I think

I meant that a little dude -ish, too. Yeah, you

probably had a little oomph on the word dude,

you know? Thanks, dude! Yeah, I don't know. I

mean, I do like Pursuers. I think it's interesting.

I don't think we're fully settled on what we're

going to call our audience yet, but I'm just

glad they're here with us. I am also just glad

they're here with us. Also, I hear there's some

new people to the podcast. I've been hearing

some people on Sundays talk about how they've

recently started to join us. No way! And I think

that's amazing. I think that's amazing. But for

everybody, just for some clarification, because

even though this is Sean speaking right now,

I might not sound like the normal Sean. I am

recovering from Mission Serve that we had last

week and also some sickness that involved with

Mission Serve. And so if my voice is a little

crazy, let me apologize in advance for the sound

of my voice and then also whatever noises might

come out. missed the editing floor. Yeah, I what

I'm excited about what you've done here is it

gives me opportunity to insert other sounds that

you also don't make as man. Sean just like made

that noise. Yeah, podcast, you know, you're just

going to start putting random noises and they're

going to be like, oh, Sean is disgusting. It's

like the most massive belt you've ever heard

in your life and like and we're not going to

even mention it because it's not there for real,

but yet it's going to sound like we're just rude

people just going right by it. No, it'll sound

like you're just... Oh, you'll make sure of that.

That's true. That's true. Pursuing Jesus fam,

what's actually happening is I've actually fed

every clip of audio I have of Sean into an AI

agent, and Sean's not actually in the room with

us. I'm talking to a robot Sean who, based off

of his personality and my programming... And

this is the best the voice could get. This is

the best the voice could get. get exactly i will

say at least from my side of the room with headphones

on you sound relatively normal so you know what's

funny with you saying that okay because like

i've have you used chat gpt's voice yeah i have

on occasion like you can have almost human conversations

with the chat. Like, you know, cause if you have

conversations with Siri or like things like that,

it's very, it's very robotic, you know, and you

can't have a conversation, but you can have a

conversation. Once again, you realize it's not

totally human. It's still, it's getting there,

but man, it gets closer all the time. So anyways,

but he's saying that like there's a, there is

absolutely an AI program out there that you could

feed in information. Have a conversation with

it and make it mimic a person based on the algorithms

and the information you upload to it. And that's

kind of a scary thing. Isn't that so impressive

that the software actually knows about that and

is actually doing it? Because that's what we're

doing right now is I'm talking to you, a robot.

For it to have that discussion. See, here's the

problem, because you're a conspiracy theorist.

Yep, I am. You sure? I know we've got some in

the church as well. They're out there. They're

everywhere. Yep, they are. We grow in number

every day. They really have no idea right now.

If I'm real, that's we're going to leave it at

that. We're going to leave it at that. As the

AI would say. Yes. And so you want to share what's

going on with that? Where were you with the students?

Yeah. So for those who don't know the summer

schedule. that we have here at Memorial this

year. And actually, this is like the third year

in a row. It's been wild. But so we have two

major organizations that we partner with with

our student ministry. And one is Mission Serve.

We just did that last week. It was an incredible

week. Pause. And so Mission Serve. Ended up being,

like I said, it was just amazing. And next week

on Sunday, so Sunday morning, I am taking a smaller

group of students and we're going to SLU 101.

All right. And so 101 is the first leg of the

Student Leadership University, hence SLU, a journey

that we take with our students. And so Sunday

we will leave. We will be back Thursday. I'll

be back for a week. And then the next week, I

will leave on a Monday morning and take students

to SLU 201 in Washington, D .C. And so then those

are the major trips. But then we still got our

pre -teen campus center kids coming up. And so

I still have three major trips coming up this

summer, week -long trips. And these really are

like trips, conferences. This is not a vacation

by any means. No, and anybody who calls these

vacations, I'm not going to call it names because,

yeah, one of the very first phone calls I got

when I got back from Mission Serve, and once

again, and Mission Serve, the hardest one. We

are on the mission. We are doing construction

-based ministry. We're out in the sun. 24 hours

a day. I mean, it is just, and then it's a lot

of kids, so there's drama going on. Drama? It's

teenagers, so of course. And so, yeah, one of

the very first phone calls I got was like, hey,

Sean, how was your vacation? And I'm like, I'm

going to slap you, sir. You did give identifying

information. Now, Sunday, when I head down to

Orlando and I go to a student ministry conference,

I will get to spend some time in SeaWorld. I

will get to spend some time. You get to see Shamu?

No, I don't think Shamu's there anymore. What?

Yeah. What did they do with Shamu? There's orcas.

What did they do with him? Also, there's been

many, many, many Shamus. It's just different

whales, different orcas with the same name. I

know. Anyways, and then we'll also go to Universal

Studios. And so there are some fun aspects to

this trip. So it's a vacation? No. It all depends

on the students who are going. I don't know how

many students are listening to this podcast or

parents of students, but there is... This one

will not be a vacation. Let's just leave it at

that. Kids, think about the power that you wield

over your friendly neighborhood. Y 'all can figure

out who's going on this trip and figure out which

kid is the reason or kids are the reason that

this one will not be a vacation. Well, this is

a good information to have. We'll be praying

for you as you go. This will air in just a couple

days on Friday. And so as you listen, party people.

Be praying for Sean and the students as we go

to SLU. I will appreciate it very much. Well,

dude, as we jump into the text here, I was kind

of thinking a little text icebreaker thing. Okay.

What is the best gift or the worst gift you've

ever gotten, like for Christmas or for a birthday?

One gift comes to mind with worst and best. Okay.

So I don't remember how old I was. But the name

of the band is going to let it realize how long

ago this was. I never remember telling my parents

I liked this band. I never remember mentioning.

In fact, I remember vividly, and I don't remember

many things vividly from that long ago. Okay.

But I remember vividly looking at this neon yellow

fanny pack. of New Kids on the Block. Oh, man.

Yeah, and like I said, at this point in my life,

I don't think I had ever heard one of their songs.

Wow. But I think it was just like they were the

band of that time. Right. And my parents probably

just saw something and were like, oh, yeah, my

son must know about this or something. I had

no idea. And they might've just like bought it

thinking it wasn't merch maybe. And just like

cool phrase where graphic tees back then with

words on, but, uh, but yeah, so I just, so I

said, so that's like the immediate when it comes

to my mind where I'm just like, why did my parents

get me that? You know? Yeah. What's so funny

is they probably got me amazed. I probably got

like Ninja turtle stuff, Lego stuff. I don't

remember any of that that year. The only thing

that my brain remembers is the new kids on the

block. Fanny bag. But in that human nature, though,

they say that we are four times more likely to

remember something negative than something positive.

How disappointing in us. But it's true. It's

completely true. Following the same vein as your

story, this is not about a bad gift I received,

but about me receiving it poorly. When I was

young, I was like super duper into rescue heroes.

Right? There's like figurines and they have like

trucks, planes. It's like anybody who does like

a job where you're helping people and they have

action figures and stuff. All that to say, from

the animated movie, there's a scene where they're

on a volcano and the firefighter rescues people

from the volcano because that's what firefighters

do. You know, putting volcanologists out of a

job across the globe. 100%. And it's this big,

like massive volcano with the toys and the trucks

and all that. I saw it on Toys R Us and begged

my parents for it for Christmas. They got it

for me. And what did I do with it, Sean? I opened

it up and I played with the box. Yes, I played

with a box because it had to have been huge because

the box was massive. I could go in that thing

and like like like the half opened rescue hero

action figures are sitting on the floor of our

living room and I'm like in this box playing

with the packing peanuts and stuff like that,

but like like I think that's just how kids. sometimes.

I've heard of other people having that response.

You are describing Judah. To this day, anytime

we get a huge Amazon box or anything that comes

to the house, he is going to play with that box.

Now he's at the age where he will cut it and

turn it into toys. I love that. He has always

been a box kid. He's a box troll. Noted. I love

that. I love that. Well, so the reason I ask

you about gifts is because the text that really

spoke out to me from this week's reading was

the text from June 26th. So this is in another

three -peat where you see it in three gospels.

You get it in the Matthew account, the Mark account,

and the Luke account. And this is where Jesus

very famously says, let the little children come

to me. Tried to read this with fresh eyes because

it's a very famous account. It can be easy just

to autopilot. and read, reread, move on. But

a couple of things, really the main thing that

stood out to me was the notion of receiving something

like a child, or as it were, playing with the

box. So where we're going today is Mark 10. 13

through 16. I'm going to probably get a draw

from several of the accounts here. Rare that

we get a account in all three gospels, even more

so in all four when you get John. But this was

a really powerful passage for me. But so Mark

10, 13 through 16. And they were bringing children

to him that he might touch them. And the disciples

rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant

and said to them, let the children come to me.

Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom

of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not

receive the kingdom of God like a child shall

not enter it. And then he took them in his arms

and he blessed them, laying his hands on them.

I mean, there's so much here. Like, for me, seeing

the tenderness of Jesus towards children and

all that stuff, and knowing that that reflects

our Father's heart for us too, I could camp there

for a while. And even the opposite side of that,

the seriousness of his response to the disciples

trying to keep the children from him. Right.

Just to show that, man, it's incredible. It is.

First things first, the Luke account says, bringing

even infants to him that he might touch them

like like the the i love that the narrative voice

here reflects surprise like dude they were even

bringing kids to him because you have to remember

in jewish culture at the time that jesus was

walking the earth we didn't they didn't see kids

the way that they saw them today or the way that

we see them today kids were like second class

citizens. There's even a passage elsewhere in

the Pauline epistles where Paul talks about a

kid is essentially treated like a slave until

he comes of age, and then he can inherit all

his stuff. And so the fact that parents are beginning

to bring their kids to Jesus really shows how

much folks are trusting him as their Messiah.

But the disciples dismiss this out of hand. Like,

excuse me, the Messiah? God's anointed one has

better things to do. Right. And you can really

see that that is probably the attitude or something

around those lines that is going through their

mind right here. Well, so the disciples rebuke

them. And so like, dude, that word rebuke is

the same word that Jesus uses to talk to the

demons. Jesus rebuked the demons that like, and

when they're telling him to come out of them.

So this is not like a, hey guys, like now's not

a good time. This is like. Jesus got serious.

So the disciples were serious is what I'm saying.

Yeah. And so, but Jesus gets indignant, which...

Oh yeah, but I see what you're saying there.

Sorry, I missed that for a second. No, you're

good. But yeah, the disciples there, I mean,

like even the language that they're, the language

and attitude that they were using towards the

parents or the people bringing the children,

it really shows how much they were missing really

the heart of what Jesus wanted. Yes. Absolutely.

And so Jesus gets indignant and he says, let

the children come to me. Do not hinder them for

to such belongs the kingdom of God. So I'm not

a dad. I said that last week when I preached

on Father's Day and felt a little weird engaging

with that subject material anyways. But you're

a dad, Sean. You have had the opportunity to

at least partially parent three little humans.

None of them are fully baked yet. No, no. I've

got one that is – I've got an almost 16 -year

-old. That's terrifying. So I have made it into

this teenage aspect of parenting. Yes. Yeah.

But you're a dad, and so like – When you read

this text, let the little children come to me,

for to such belongs the kingdom of God. And then

15, when Jesus ups the ante and says, truly I

say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom

of God like a child shall not enter it. How do

you see childlikeness and faith in Jesus intertwine?

Whenever I think of childlike fake, whenever

I think of childlike faith, The thing that comes

to me is I remember my children as toddlers and

younger, right? It's a really fun age with kids.

There's these frustrating times because maybe

they're barely talking or they're speaking this

version of English that only the mother can understand,

not even the father, right? And so it's a really

fun age, but at the same time, they are reliant

on their parents for everything, right? You know,

there's a time where like, you know, they...

They can't change their own diapers. They can't

feed themselves. They can't close themselves.

They can't put themselves to bed. Literally nothing.

My children relied on myself and my wife to do

everything for them. Utterly dependent. Utterly

dependent. And so when I think of childlike faith,

it's this idea of realizing like... I am completely

dependent on something else over myself. I can't

do this. And so when I see Jesus here and he

says, truly, I tell you, whoever does not receive

the kingdom of God like a little child. So it's

once again going to this thing that we've been

talking about for weeks now, and that is there's

nothing we can do to earn it. You know, he says

you will not enter. And we won't enter if we

think we can do something to deserve this. It's

like, no, we are utterly dependent on our Father

in heaven. And that's what I think childlike

faith is very similar to. I'm completely with

you. And I think that even in listening to the

way that we've talked about this, with the utter

dependence on God, or even as we're going through

Galatians on Sunday mornings, the legalism of

the hypocrites, the Judaizers as we'll come to

see them in a couple of weeks. It's easy to go,

okay, cool. No, I believe in Jesus. And then

like kind of truck on. But I think that that

mindset of I have to earn my own salvation is

a tendency that all believers have to fight all

the time. Absolutely. It's subtle, man. I love

how the example of kids, and I think God designed

our natural life cycles in this way to use a

mundane, earthy thing to explain a spiritual

truth. But it seems a lot to me like that complete

and utter dependence is something that we have

to cultivate within ourselves. Because as you

grow up, right, you stop being a kid, you don't

need that kind of help anymore. Like, dude, I

got this. My sister has children, and I've gotten

to watch several of them grow up. I was walking

through a parking lot with my oldest nephew,

and it's the rules. If we're walking through

a parking lot, he was at the age that I still

had to hold his hand. We make it in okay. We

do whatever shopping we need to do. We come back

out, and I'm holding the bag of groceries in

one hand, and this kid's hand in the other, and

he yanks his hand out of my hand, and he goes,

I hold my own hand. Dude, bro, that's me. That's

me. When I sit down to read God's word, I have

to choose to open my heart to the Holy Spirit.

And if I don't... I'm looking at God and saying,

I hold my own hand. I'm smart enough and wise

enough and discerning enough to get what you

have for me today, which is ludicrous. But if

I don't stop to think about what is my heart

doing in those moments, I won't realize that

I have taken the course that I've set and shifted

it five degrees off, which seems small. at the

beginning, but can be disastrous the longer you

go. But I think that's why Jesus is using this

opportunity to teach this lesson, because it

is something that we tend to get away from, because

I think in all cultures, as we grow older, we

become more independent, and we're raised as,

like, what can I do? I can do this on my own,

especially in our American culture of I've pulled

myself up from the bootstraps type of mentality

that we have. We have to be reminded of when

it comes to the kingdom of God. No, it is. We

are children relying on our Father. Beautiful

truth. And then I love to see Jesus' tenderness

at the end. At the end of the Mark account, he

took them in his arms, and he blessed them, laying

his hands on them. And the wildness about this

is Jesus didn't do all this just for the kids.

Jesus did this for the disciples standing there

and the parents standing there. There are many

things that were very important in my life that

happened when I was very little that I have very

little recollection of. And so these kids being

taken into Jesus' arms, literally the God of

the universe, the arms that fashioned them, that

knit them together in their mother's wombs, and

he blessed them. That was for their benefit,

but it was also for the benefit of the people

that were standing there. And so Jesus even teaching,

like walking out what he's talking about. I can't

get away from it. Like approaching God like a

child. And it even says young children in the

Luke account too. Like, dude, like I'm an infant.

And spiritually, I feel like that fits so well

too. Like I've got no rights spiritually. Like

I'm completely dependent on... others for help,

both dependent on the Lord. And as I grow in

my faith, I have to be dependent on the people

who have gone before me and the men and the women

who have followed Jesus longer and or deeper

than I have to learn from them too. And also

like a child, I'm probably super annoying. You

know, like the way that I approach God is over

and over and over and over again. And I wrestle

with the same stuff day to day. And he's got

to tell me, a million times don't touch the stove.

But that's not how he responds to that kind of

childlike spiritual behavior. He picks us up

in his arms and he blesses us. You know, one

of the things that I've learned, and I think

this is something that comes from years of following

Jesus, as I've become more spiritually mature,

the closer I get to Jesus, the more I realize

I need him. And I think it's this... I get more

childlike. I realize more and more and more I

am dependent on Jesus for everything. Because

I think when you're young in your faith, when

you're spiritually young, it doesn't matter what

age you are, but when you're spiritually young...

you have more of the tendencies of what can I

do for Jesus and having this attitude of trying

to prove yourself or show off or whatever it

is, the terminology you want to use. But the

closer, the more time I spend, the more genuine

time I spend in God's word, the more genuine

time I spend in worship, and the closer I get

myself in a relationship with Jesus. the more

I want to be around him, the more I want to continue

to be in that spot, and also the more I realize,

like, I can do nothing. You know, it's no longer

is it like, oh, man, I just preached a great

sermon. It's like, no, I know what it's like

when I've gotten on stage, and it's been too

much of Sean. And I know that it is absolutely

Jesus speaking through me. And it's things like

that, or even things that go well in ministry

and things. It's like, okay, I've been on this

journey long enough now. I am in complete dependence

on Jesus for everything. You know what I hear

you saying, though? What? It's not that you're

becoming more childlike, Sean. It's that you're

recognizing how childlike you've always been.

Explain. Dude. It's the early spiritual mindset,

doing things for Jesus, oversubstituting with

our own resources rather than relying on the

Lord, constantly striving forward and striving

forward and striving forward. Those are all the

behaviors of kids. And then I think maturity

is recognizing that we have those things and

not even eliminating them, but putting them in

the right place. Which, dude, I'm still on the

journey of. That's not something I'm ever going

to arrive from, for sure. Well, yeah. I mean,

even the Apostle Paul, when he talks about as

we grow in maturity, we start with milk, but

we end up, as we get deeper, we get to the meat

and to the bread of life. And so, I mean, there's

aspects of our faith that are childlike, but

there's also a time when I become a man and the

man has to stand up and we have to put away childish

things, as the Apostle Paul says. Yeah. Real

question is, is like, you know, you get to the

meat and the bread, but what if like you've got

that tick disease or you're gluten intolerant?

Yep. Oh, man. Well, let's completely unforced

and super duper smoothly pivot to your text for

today, Sean. Yeah, sure. What am I talking about?

That was a great transition there, man. May I

tell you what? The more we do this, the more

professional we don't become. I resent that remark.

We do have good conversations. We do have good

conversations, man. I will say that. So, yeah,

this has been an interesting week. And there's

been some, you know, I'll be honest, we kind

of talked about this. There's been some very

difficult passages in this week's reading. Yeah.

You know? But there's one, the one that stood

out to me, the one that I cannot get away from,

the one that I have to talk about, is not one

of the more, like I said, it's not one of the

more difficult passages of the week as far as

interpretation. But the lessons and realizing

where we are in this parable, I think are important

and it's something to reflect on. And that is

the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

It's one of those parables that I believe is

Sunday School famous for sure. You know, if you've

grown up in church, you've heard this. You definitely

saw this on a felt board somewhere. It's been

a sermon illustration. Have you ever actually

seen a felt board, Benjamin? Yes, I have. You

have. In Sunday school, being used. Not ironically.

Not ironically. Okay, see, the last time I saw

it was Sardis Presbyterian Church, long, many,

many, many years ago. You were reformed? When

I first started going to church, my first church

experience, because I didn't grow up in church,

but we were Christmas Easter family when I was

young, and we went to Sardis Presbyterian Church

in Charlotte. Okay. That's where we went, yeah.

I forgot you were like a Charlotte kid for a

hot minute. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Born in Charlotte,

raised in Matthews until I was going into the

seventh grade. Wow. And then that summer before

my seventh grade year, we moved to Wilmington,

and that's where I spent the rest of my life.

So, yeah. So, yeah. So that was my church experiences.

But I can remember the few times I went to Sunday

school back then. I did get sprinkled, by the

way. So did I. Yeah, yeah. I got sprinkled at

the Presbyterian Church when I was a baby. Don't

remember it. I was an infant, but I've seen pictures.

Nice. But, yeah. But I remember the felt boards.

But this is definitely one of those stories that

even someone like me who barely went to church

growing up, even I probably might have heard

this one a time or two. But let me just read

the parable. It comes from Luke 18. It starts

in verse 9, and it's just an interesting parable.

So let me read it. He also told this parable

to some who trusted in themselves that they were

righteous and looked down on everyone else. Two

men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee,

and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee was

standing and praying like this about himself.

God, I thank you that I am not like other people,

greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like

this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give

a tenth of everything I get. But the tax collector,

standing far off, would not even raise his eyes

to heaven. but kept striking his chest and saying,

God have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you, this

one went down to his house justified rather than

the other, because everyone who exalts himself

will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself

will be exalted. When you look at the comparison

between these two guys, And even how Jesus, I

think how Jesus sets up this parable, because

this, once again, this is a parable. This is

a story, a spiritual story he's making up for

a reason. And he says he also told this parable

to some who trusted in themselves that they were

righteous and looked down on everyone else. So

the crowd he is speaking to. looks like the first

person, looks like the Pharisee. Okay, yep. At

least internally. Yes. Yeah, yeah. It doesn't

say that they are Pharisees, but he's showing

that this is their attitude that they have, and

he's probably using this because if these...

So just imagine, I don't think that they were

Pharisees. I think that would have been in the

description because Jesus isn't afraid to call

out the Pharisees. And so it says that he...

To some who trusted in themselves that they were

righteous. So imagine if these were the common

Jewish people, but this is the attitude they

had. And because they respected the Pharisees,

they would have learned that from them. Yes.

And so, but then they're being... they're being

compared to by these Pharisees and this attitude.

And so I imagine by them looking and seeing this

attitude that Jesus is portraying of what they

really are acting like. You know, it's one of

the things I think, you know, you hear like in

the SBC, people say, oh, Sean, you really stepped

on my toes today. You know, like it's like one,

I think they're getting one of those moments

where they're getting hit right in the heart

and they're realizing exactly what Jesus is trying

to do. But the difference between these two positions,

I mean, even physically how Jesus described him,

one is standing at the altar and the other...

is bowing and can't even bring himself to come

to the front. Yeah. I mean, even the physical

representation of the two people, not even looking

at the things that they do, but just how the

posture, the body posture is, you can see the

attitude that Jesus is trying to reflect. What

Jesus wants for us is for us to recognize who

we are. Yeah, 100%. I mean, we cannot come to

Jesus before we recognize our sin. Nope. You

cannot be saved unless you realize that there's

something you need saving from, which is why

sin is such an important part of the gospel.

It's unfortunate if people don't talk about sin.

Sin is one of those things that it is. We don't

like to talk about the bad things that we do

in life. We don't like to call out those things

sometimes. But it is what has separated us. from

God. Sin has caused the death of our Savior because

it is only through his death that we can have

redemption, that we can have salvation. And so

this tax collector, standing far off, would not

even raise his eyes to heaven. So he is back

in the back. So he can't even come to the altar.

He can't bring himself. He can't even come there

because he probably views that as this holy space.

He's like, I can't even enter into the presence.

And I'm just going to stand and just strike my

chest saying, God have mercy on me, a sinner.

And this is, once again, I think this is where

we talk about that spiritual maturity. Like a

title does not give you spiritual maturity. Come

on, somebody. The title of just because this

person had the title of Pharisee doesn't mean

that they have it all together. Doesn't mean

this is the person that you need to follow in

your life. The tax collector realized who he

was and is getting to a point where he recognizes

the sin that is in his life. And that's what

Jesus wants from all of us. He wants all of us

to look inside, not look at other people. And

even though you see that, the Pharisee is comparing

himself to others, trying to make himself feel

better about himself. Like, no, that's not what

Jesus wants. You know what's crazy, though? Dude,

the Pharisee is guilty of those sins. Yes. He

lists the extortioners, not like other men, he

lists extortioners, unjust, adulterers, tax collector.

Dude, the Pharisees did extort the people of

God. Yes. Of their wealth for their own purposes.

Yeah. Unjust. Jesus condemns the Pharisees for

neglecting justice and mercy and those things,

even though they're tithing 10 % of the spices

in their cabinet. Adultery. Jesus, one, he does

condemn the Pharisees for adultery, and he doesn't

ever say specifically what he's talking about.

Commentators assume that there was something

specific there. But spiritual adultery, putting

themselves on the throne, he does all those things.

He's just looking at the external. and looking

to justify himself. And it's like, dude, you're

doing the stuff. You're doing all the things

that you said that you are better because you

don't do it. And then I love how Jesus finishes

this off as he kind of puts a bow on this little

parable. He says, everyone who exalts himself

will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself

will be exalted. And that's what we need to look

at to realize that, listen, you know, the posture,

that we should have as Christians is humility.

Yeah. That's what we go before the throne, and

that's how we walk in this world, with humility.

You know what that verse 14 is? If he who exalts

himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself

will be exalted. That's a promise. Yeah. Like,

we can take that one to the bank. But I think

that those are the only ways that either of those

camps ever come to see things the right way.

If you humble yourself too much, which is a unique

kind of pride, by the way, if you're down on

yourself too much, the only way that you can

see that differently is if God raises you up.

If you see yourself as the stuff, as high and

mighty and the best, the only way that God can

bring you to a place where you see yourself rightly

is to humble you. And that's terrifying. But

we have to trust the hands of our master shepherd

that what happens and how we are treated and

what we experience is ultimately for our good.

But you're completely right. That is the heart

that God's looking for in his people. I think

it's 1 Peter or Hebrews or one of those books.

Humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty

hand of God that at the proper time he might

exalt you. Amen. Amen. Well, dude, this has been

fun. I feel like this one went particularly fast.

I don't know. Maybe it was the talk of Christmas

and Christmas presents. I feel like we've been

doing this for a while now. But yeah, Sean's

like, please let it end. But we have had some

good discussions today, man. So we have, well,

dudes and dudettes, pursuers, as it were. This

has been fun. I have been Ben Smith. Yeah, I've

been Sean Griffin. And I just want to remind

you guys real quick. Dude, you ruined our ending.

But I need to let them know. Okay, fine. Say

it again. So here's the deal. Because the blue

book, the quarter two book is almost done. So

for those of you following along with us, you

need to make sure next time you are in the sanctuary,

pick up the new purple quarter three pursuing

Jesus. Purple book. Purple book. Y 'all, this

is what I deal with on a daily basis. When you

work with a worship pastor, you deal with this

kind of stuff all the time. Okay, well, when

you work with a youth pastor, you work with him

walking into your office with a toilet paper

roll taped to a leaf blower, and he coats your

office with TP. It had to be tested before it

was done before BBS Kids. This has been Ben Smith.

That's Sean Griffin. We'll see you next week.

Have some tacos. Pursuing Jesus is a ministry

of Memorial Baptist Church in Norwood, North

Carolina.