Walking in the Fear of God

Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Father, we are now going to look at your word written.

And Lord, as always, in some ways, your word comforts us.

In some ways, your word convicts us and confronts us.

And Father, we ask that, we just ask that we would trust Jesus more

and that we would trust the Holy Spirit to do his work

and that your word would come deeply in our lives to speak into us and to form us

so that we might, Father, grow in knowing you and the Son and the Holy Spirit

and that we might walk in the fear of God.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, I was in Calgary this week for some meetings, three days of meetings.

One day to spend with my son Jacob and his wife and kids in Calgary.

And then due to airplane turmoil, Air Canada let me stay an extra day in Hal, Calgary.

I guess that's how you could look at it positively.

But on the day that I spent with my son, his wife went to work.

He took the day off.

And his three boys and I went and did some exploring around Calgary.

And one of the things he wanted me to see, and if you've never been to Calgary and you go,

you should go see their main branch of their library.

It's really, it's a beautiful building inside and sort of interesting place.

And Jacob's boys, my grandsons, they love going there.

They love going to the library for all the things that kids can do.

Anyway, I have a coffee addiction, as some of you know.

And so we get to the library about one o'clock and I need a coffee.

So I cut across the street to the city hall where there's a cafe, get my coffee and I'm walking back across the street.

And you sort of, from that place where you're getting into the main door,

there's probably about 25, 30 steps up to the plaza that allows you to get into the library.

And I'm up about, I guess I'm about 20 steps from the top.

And there's a guy beside me, about, he's like, you know, a few feet beside me.

On the other side of the rail, about 15 stairs from the top.

So he's five stairs ahead of me.

And all of a sudden, out of the blue, I see this, I'm thinking it's a young guy, all dressed in black, with a hoodie on.

And the hood's coming up to about here.

And he has a mask on his face up to here.

And he comes running this way to a group of two guys.

And he sprays them with bear spray.

Like he has a big container like this.

It's a huge cloud of bear spray.

It covers these two guys who start screaming.

People start running.

And then he comes running down the stairs.

And, I mean, this is a terrible thing.

I'm glad it wasn't me.

But he bear sprays the guy five stairs ahead of me on my right-hand side.

Because he comes down about five stairs.

Gives him a full blast.

A huge cloud of bear spray.

I get sort of caught in the side of it because the wind's blowing.

You know, my eyes start to sting.

My nose hurts.

My mouth hurts.

I wish I could tell you that I was so courageous that I went to try to tackle him.

But I didn't.

I run down the stairs.

I'm worried that he's going to come after me.

And I'm running down the stairs.

I turn and see that he's gone back up the stairs and has gone somewhere that way.

And I go to the bottom of the stairs and sort of the other side.

And I'm standing there.

My eyes are watering, you know, my tongue, everything.

And I decide that the safest place, the sanctuary, so to speak, is in the library.

So I hold my breath, run up the stairs.

And by this point in time, there's about three security guards, four security guards barring the door on their radios, I guess, to the police.

And I run up the stairs holding my breath, trying to keep my eyes, like, to slits.

And they let me in and ask me if I'm all right.

And I say, well, I mean, I was fine.

I mean, it takes a while to get that out of your system.

But I see the library as a sanctuary.

There's security guards there.

They're manning the door.

They have, you know, their walkie-talkies or their radio systems to the police.

And there's this random bear spray attack.

It's, like, really weird.

But I run in to the library, and the library is a place of sanctuary.

Now, I mention this because it dawned on me that this is actually a very helpful way for you to understand what's going on in the book of Nehemiah.

That in the book of Nehemiah, the Jewish people have been cast, brought in.

They've been defeated by the Babylonians.

Babylon's now been defeated when Nehemiah's been written by Persia.

But they're a distant empire controlling everything.

When Babylonia came, they depopulated the whole region.

They took most of the Jewish people away.

So lots of the countryside, they brought in some other people as well,

but lots of the countryside just became wild and unkempt.

Think of an abandoned house and what happens to the nice gardens if you abandon them for a long period of time.

It's not that the place becomes more fruitful.

It becomes less fruitful.

And the city is in rubble, and the other towns are in rubble,

and a group of Jewish exiles come back.

And first they establish the altar so they can worship God, then the temple.

But what they want is a sanctuary.

Sanctuary.

That's what he's trying to do by building the wall.

That's what the book of Nehemiah is about,

is that Nehemiah and the people understand they need a sanctuary,

a place where they can worship God,

where they can start to develop economics and other types of things,

rebuild houses, have some type of prosperity,

and something that helps them to be safe from their enemies

that have encircled them and hate them and want to kill them.

They don't just want to bear spray them.

They want to kill them, and they need a sanctuary.

So in many ways, what's going on in the book of Nehemiah speaks very deeply

to the longings and desires of lots of people in Canada today.

Many people in Canada, what they want is a sanctuary.

But we're caught in Canada because often,

well, first of all, certain places we just think aren't going to be sanctuaries whatsoever,

but there's also, in a sense, almost like this utopian idealism

that a certain place will be a sanctuary,

yet a skepticism and a cynicism as to whether you can ever find a sanctuary.

Because, as we know, families let you down, friends let you down,

institutions let you down, people who support you let you down.

I don't know how many of you have watched any of the testimonies

testimonies of people who've detransitioned,

but they have a very common theme, how their heart is broken,

that the psychologists, the psychiatrists, and the doctors

that have been so affirming and giving them lots of time,

the second they say they want to detransition

or they want to stop the procedures and they want to detransition,

they're abandoned.

They're just abandoned.

No more favorable time and counsel.

They just abandoned them.

They're just dropped.

Nowhere to go.

And so it's important to see that the book of Nehemiah,

in some ways, it's not just about a wall.

It's like me and the bear spray attack.

I want to go to a place of sanctuary where I'm not going to be sprayed.

That's what I want.

That's what's happening in the book of Nehemiah.

But now we see here, in a sense, the fears of our culture

that sometimes the place that we think of as a sanctuary

isn't a sanctuary because evil is there.

And that's what we see being addressed in Nehemiah 5.

It's a very, very contemporary story.

In some ways, it touches our deepest fears.

The place of sanctuary isn't a sanctuary.

So let's look at what happens.

If you have your Bibles, it's Nehemiah 5,

and it's good if you do have your Bible so you can follow along.

And once again, I'm going to use some of the imagery of scenes

as if it's a Netflix production to help us go through it.

So scene 1 is verses 1 to 4,

and the title of the scene is a good, positive title,

Poverty, Oppression, and Slavery.

And that's what this first scene is.

Look at this.

Now, chapter 5, verse 1,

Now there arose a great outcry of the people

and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.

Now, just sort of pause here for a second.

Brothers is the literal accurate word.

But there's two things here we need to understand.

First of all, it doesn't mean, like, I have one brother.

His name is Stephen.

It's not talking about that, you know, sense of biological connection.

It's really we see the entrance into human consciousness.

That's literally what's happening.

It's the entry into human consciousness

of the idea of human beings being brothers and sisters to each other.

Many people in Canada think this is a secular idea,

but it's not a secular idea.

It's a Christian idea.

It's not something that just comes from mere human reasoning.

It's a Christian idea.

And in this particular case,

they haven't quite understood that all human beings are brothers,

but they're talking now of their fellow Jews in the community.

And all the way through this story,

that's what's being referred to almost always.

Okay?

So read it again.

Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives

against their Jewish brothers, the Jewish community.

For there were those who said,

here's part of the outcry,

with our sons and our daughters we are many.

So let us get grain that we may eat and keep alive.

There were also those who said,

we are mortgaging our fields and our vineyards and our houses

to get grain because of the famine.

And there were those who said,

we have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards.

Now just sort of pause there.

We're going to see in a moment that what's this causing is slavery and oppression.

And there's a combination of famine and some type of crop failures.

And maybe because of the encircling armies,

there's not been able to get,

you know,

the food.

But what happens is the people,

we're going to see it now in the next couple of verses as it makes it very clear.

There's this combination of illegal and illegal things that the well-off are doing.

And what they're suffering under is the price of things is going up and up and up.

Food is scarce and taxes are going higher.

Nothing any of us can relate to with a cycle of things costing more and more,

less economic opportunity and taxes going higher.

We can't relate to that at all.

It's just,

this doesn't happen in Canada,

obviously.

Just as an aside,

never mind,

I won't do it.

Years ago,

we had a person who was the admin person,

and her name was Amy Van Hemmen.

And I would say things in staff meetings,

and she'd always look me right in the eye and say,

that's why we're not going to ever allow you to have a Twitter account.

So,

anyway,

let's see what happens.

So,

what we're going to see next is,

just as I said,

this idea of brothers is the entry into human consciousness of this idea of human beings being brothers.

It's definitely not a pagan idea.

For the pagans,

human beings aren't all equal.

They're not the same.

The emperor is a god.

The king is a god,

or a semi-god,

and human beings are slaves.

This is a radical new idea.

If you talk to our friends here who are from India,

they will tell you that they might believe that all human beings are equal.

But because of the strong belief in karma,

if you're poor,

if you're starving to death,

well,

that's just bad karma.

Like,

sucks to be you.

I've had good karma,

you had bad karma.

You have to all just work it out.

And this next cry is part of this entry,

how the Bible has changed the world.

Listen to what it says.

The next chapter is just one verse.

It's scene number two,

and it's called equally human.

Listen to verse five.

Now,

our flesh,

this is what they're complaining.

Our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers,

the other Jewish people.

Our children are as their children.

Yet,

we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves.

And some of our daughters have already been enslaved.

But it is not in our power to help it.

For other men have our fields and our vineyards.

Now,

I mean,

the fact of the matter is,

is that at a purely scientific level,

human beings aren't equal.

Some of us are smarter than others.

Some of us are stronger than others.

Some of us are old and close to death.

And some of us are young and hope we have decades left.

And at a completely objective scientific level,

human beings aren't equal.

But this is a Christian idea that has changed the world.

Listen,

we're all human.

We're all human.

And why is it that in this situation,

that there's these terrible things that are going on,

that are forcing some of us into poverty,

and some of us into slavery,

and some into death,

because of a lack of food?

Now,

it's very,

very interesting

that one of the common things of people outside of Christianity

would say that Christianity is oppressive,

without realizing that actually,

even their understanding,

even your understanding of what oppressive means,

is actually something you learn from the Bible.

And the Bible,

rather than just having an idealistic view of sanctuary,

it understands our need for sanctuary.

But it also understands that humans being humans,

if it's going to be a sanctuary,

steps have to be taken

to make it a true place of sanctuary,

because things keep going wrong.

And that's what we see next,

in the next scene.

Scene number three,

verses six to eleven,

and I've called it,

Good Anger.

Good Anger.

Look at what it says.

I was very angry

when I heard their outcry,

and these words.

I took counsel with myself,

and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials.

I said to them,

You are exacting interest,

each from his brother.

I'm going to explain what that means in a moment.

And I held a great assembly against them,

and said to them,

We, as far as we are able,

have bought back our Jewish brothers,

who have been sold to the nations.

But you even sell your brothers,

that they may be sold to us.

They, that is,

the people who are guilty of this,

were silent,

and could not find a word to say.

Because it's true.

They got confronted with the truth.

So I said,

The thing that you are doing is not good.

Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God,

to prevent the taunts of the nations,

our enemies?

And I'm going to come back at the end to look at this.

This is a very odd thing.

He explains his concern

to deal with the hungry,

and oppressors,

and economic injustice,

that what, in a sense,

motivates and grounds that

is the fear of God.

Verse 10.

Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants

are lending them money and grain.

Let us abandon this exacting of interest.

Return to them this very day

their fields,

their vineyards,

their olive orchards,

and their houses,

and the percentage of money,

grain, wine,

and oil that you have been exacting from them.

Now, what's going on is this.

The Old Testament has two different types of categories

of low-income people,

and two different ways of dealing with them.

And I can't remember the politician

who said that the best welfare program

in the world is a job.

Well, that's actually a Jewish and Christian idea.

So the first group that are dealt with

in the Old Testament law

is that it's told that when,

let's say,

I owned a grain field

and I owned,

I owned,

you know,

an olive orchard.

And when I and my workers go and harvest,

we're not allowed to keep going over the field

and over the field

and over the field

until we get every last speck of grain

and every last olive.

You do a,

you know,

you do a,

you go through it,

but you intentionally leave

some of the grain

and some of the olives that are there.

And if you have a vineyard,

some of the grapes.

And if you have a fig tree,

some of the figs.

And you intentionally leave some of it there

so that those who don't have land,

those who are displaced,

those who are poor,

they can go and harvest it.

They have to work,

but it's left there intentionally

for them to take.

And the Old Testament doesn't forbid interest.

The medieval church was wrong about this.

They were wrong.

The Old Testament doesn't forbid interest.

What it does say is that for low-income people,

you don't charge them interest.

That's what it says.

It's part of the two-pronged attempt

to help low-income people.

So in other words,

you know,

one of you folks,

you have a chance to maybe get a field.

If I was to lend you the $50,000,

and, you know,

later on,

if you look in all the notes,

they're probably charging about 12% interest a year,

which in those days was very,

very, very high.

But if they have to pay me 12% a year,

it's going to be unaffordable for you.

Once again,

young people want to buy houses.

Nothing here we can relate to.

Nothing here we can relate to at all.

But the interest is going to kill you.

And so that was part of how they helped the low-income.

The other aspect of the low-income

were those who,

because of age or infirmity,

couldn't work.

And there it was required

that your heart would be moved

to have compassion

and give alms,

give them money.

But two different classes.

And so what's going on here

is that there's something both elite or improper,

and, but, you know,

two things are going on.

First of all,

they're not helping their low-income people

because they're charging them interest.

And the other thing what they're doing

is they're seizing,

when they miss a payment,

they seize the collateral

or they seize part of the property

so that they get their interest,

so to speak.

And so what that's doing to them

is we now have a cycle of poverty going on.

They're trying to work the land,

but they can't work the land

because they have less land.

And because they have less land,

they can't make the payments.

And when they can't make the payments,

the people take more land.

You see the thing?

And so there's this downward cycle

that's going on for the people,

and Nehemiah hasn't been aware of it.

And so he's fighting about it,

and he just confronts them.

And the other thing he's saying is,

listen, it sounds as if

they've been pulling their resources

to buy people out of slavery.

And he said, listen,

you've been pulling money

to buy people out of slavery

only so you can make them a slave?

Like, how does that make any sense?

How does that make any sense?

Like, how can that possibly be good?

And so he confronts them.

He has good anger.

You see, the fact of the matter is

you should be angry at injustice.

You should be angry at oppression.

You should be angry at the poor being,

you know, having things taken from.

We should be angry about that.

That's good anger.

But it's not, he's not driven by anger.

He's driven by justice.

And, you know, in many cases,

the best thing is to have a person's heart pierced

so they desire repentance and amendment of life.

And that's what Nehemiah's goal is.

He wants to see the suffering relieved,

a change of heart of the oppressors,

and something costly happen.

And that's what we see.

Look at what happens in the next scene,

verses 12 and 13,

which I'm calling true repentance.

And it goes like this.

Find verse 12.

Then they said,

this is the people who are the rich,

we will restore these

and require nothing from them.

We will do as you say.

And I called the priests

and made them swear to do as they had promised.

I also shook out the fold of my garments and said,

so may God shake out every man from his house

and from his labor who does not keep this promise.

So may he be shaken out and emptied.

And all the enemies,

all the assembly said,

amen and praise the Lord.

And the people did as they had promised.

This is a very, very important text.

What he's doing here is,

when he's shaking out his garment,

is he's saying,

this is a symbolic prophetic act

to show that this is what God thinks of them.

You see this,

you know,

once again,

in the world of their time,

God is the God of the powerful,

the king,

and the higher you get towards,

in a sense,

the hierarchy of the culture,

the more God-like or semi-divine you are,

and the people are slaves.

And so in a sense,

oppression is built right into the system.

Just as in a sense,

all Marxist system of thought

builds within it,

tragically,

a type of oppression.

Because in all types of Marxist thought,

it's completely and utterly valid

to do whatever you want

to the people who happen to have power.

You can be as evil as you want towards them,

and the end justifies the means,

and that creates profound hardship.

And it doesn't matter

whether it's full-on Marxism

or whether it's other types of soft Marxism.

I'll say it,

like you see in critical theory.

It always ends up

furthering the cycle of oppression.

And what Nehemiah wants,

he obviously wants things to be just,

but what he's getting out of these people

is even better.

They see that it's wrong.

They see that God,

in fact,

hates oppression.

And they give everything back.

And they promise

that they will start going back

to not doing right to the edge

and lending loans to money,

giving people loans

and not exacting interest

so people can work their way

out of the cycle of poverty

and work themselves back into a place

so that within the walls,

when the walls are finally finished,

because this is going on

while the walls are still being built,

that this can be a sanctuary.

sanctuary.

This can be a sanctuary.

But you know,

that by itself is still not going to create

a true sanctuary.

And what you see in this next bit

are two beautiful illustrations

of the beautiful life.

The next section is

A Beautiful Ambition.

A Beautiful Ambition.

Scene 4,

verses 14 to 16.

Now, this is just Nehemiah talking.

It's part of his memoirs.

Moreover,

from the time that I was appointed

to be their governor

in the land of Judah,

this is now where we discover

that he's actually the governor

of the area.

He hadn't revealed it earlier.

Sorry,

be their governor of Judah

from the 20th year

to the 32nd year

of Artaxerxes the king,

12 years.

Neither I nor my brothers

ate the food allowance

of the governor.

The former governors

who were before me

laid heavy burdens

on the people

and took from them

for their daily ration

40 shekels of silver.

Even their servants,

that's the governor's servants,

lorded over the people.

But I did not do so,

and note here again

the second reason.

Why is he going to do

something like this?

It's because of the fear of God.

I also persevered

in the work on this wall

and we acquired no land

and all my servants

were gathered there

for the work.

Now, just sort of pause there.

This is a beautiful ambition.

It's not anti-money.

As we're going to be able

to see in a moment,

Nehemiah obviously

had some means,

some financial means,

and he did own some fields.

And as we're going to see

in a moment,

he obviously

was quite well off.

And so this isn't

an anti-money text.

But what it's doing

is showing something

which is very,

very significant.

So the Bible doesn't want

to dishearten you.

If you're younger

and you'd like to have

a steady job

and you'd like to have

some promotions

and you'd like to be able

to have some day

where you own a house

of your own,

you'd like to complete

your degree,

the Bible doesn't say

shame on you.

You shouldn't have

those ambitions.

But it wants to warn you

and it warns you

in a very, very subtle way

that once you go down

that path,

it can end up leading you

to oppress people.

That in fact,

the goal shouldn't just be

that I come to that point

in time when I have,

let's say,

10 fields,

but I always want

one more field.

I always want

one more field.

I always want

one more field.

That there comes

a point in time

when you should,

in a sense,

just also be content.

And it's not that

owning fields are bad.

if nobody owned fields

and nobody were farmers,

we wouldn't be able

to eat.

Like,

we should pray

that lots of people

want to become farmers.

We should pray

for full employment

in our economy.

These are good things

for us to pray for.

We should pray

that our government

doesn't do

monetary policy

and taxation things

and other types

of things

that hampers

productivity.

We should want

productivity.

There's nothing wrong

with productivity.

It's a good thing.

But it's not

the end all.

There's a point

in time

when you can just say,

you know,

I'm not going

to lord it over people

and I see,

you know what,

I don't have to look

at the world

and say,

you know,

I have this

$100,000 car

but if I just

worked a little bit

harder,

I could have

a $150,000 car

because I know

people have

$150,000 cars.

And then once

you have that

$150,000 car,

you're not satisfied

with it

because you see

people with

$200,000 cars

and you see,

I'd like to have

that $200,000 car.

And you know what,

then you're not

satisfied with that

because you see

somebody who has

a $300,000 car

and a $250,000 car

and you see,

I've got to work

harder and harder

to get that.

Well,

that's just,

that's just a trap.

And so he does

with less.

He forgoes,

in a sense,

a raise.

What?

He forgoes

a raise.

Why?

Because he could

have that raise,

that tax,

but it would just

add to the burden

of all the other

people.

And he chooses

not to do it.

He chooses

to have less.

Let me tell you,

I think the Bible

calls people

who are followers

of Jesus,

if you're not

a follower of Jesus,

you can just listen

to this and file it away,

probably not going

to surprise you,

that we don't want

to have money

rule our lives

and we don't want

to have power

rule our lives.

We want to be

characterized

by generosity

and we want to be

characterized

by compassion.

And you can't

be characterized

by generosity

of your compassion

if sometimes

you don't give up

some of your power

and if you don't

give up some

of your money.

To think that

you're generous

and you only want

more money,

you never give

money away,

I hate to tell you

this,

but you're actually

not generous.

You're generous

in your mind,

you're a legendary

generous person

in your mind,

but you're actually

miserly

and consumed

with a love

for money.

I hate to say that,

but I'm going

to say it

because that's true.

And if you're

generous

to the cause

of the gospel

and if you're

generous to the poor,

you're going

to have less money.

It might mean

that you can't

drive the latest

Lexus,

you have to drive

a Lexus

which is five years

old

because you're

going to have

less money.

But you know

what?

It's a lot better

to have Jesus

as Lord of your life

than money and power

as Lord of your life

because money and power

doesn't care

a hoot about you

and will only

leave you

discontented

and unhappy,

always looking

for more.

And it's not just

that Nehemiah

forgoes

some money

and some financial

opportunities.

He's also

actively generous.

Look at the final scene.

A beautiful life,

scene six,

verses 17 to 19.

Here's what it says.

Moreover,

there were at my table

150 men,

Jews and officials,

besides those

who came to us

from the nations

who are around us.

He practiced

costly hospitality.

Every day

he'd feed over

150 people

at his own expense.

Now what was prepared

at my expense

for each day

was one ox,

six choice sheep.

You vegetarians

have to block

your ears

for this little bit,

by the way.

Six choice sheep,

a variety of birds,

and every day

and every 10 days

all kinds of wine

in abundance.

Yet for all this

I did not demand

the food allowance

of the governor

because the service

was too heavy

on this people.

In other words,

the taxation

was too heavy.

Remember for my good,

oh my God,

all that I have done

for this people.

Just one last thing

before we try to,

I tie it up

with the fear

of the Lord.

One of the problems

we have in this country

is that we want,

see what Nehemiah does

is he confronts people,

but he himself

personally

cuts back

to help other people live.

We want the government

to fix things

with other people's money.

That's what we want.

The average,

not the average,

almost all Canadians

think the government

should do something

about that

and I think,

the government

should do something

about that

and I think

you should take

the money

from all these people

to do that.

Me,

I want all my money.

That's how Canadians think

and the gospel

is a very,

the Bible

is confronting us.

If we want a sanctuary,

if we want to have

a place,

not just where there are walls

where enemies

can't attack us,

we need to deal

with oppression,

we need to see

that we put in place

things that allow

people to be prosperous

and we need

to hate oppression

and we need to have

a heart for those

who are weak

and those who are poor

and most of all

we need to be generous.

It's not going

to be a sanctuary

if we're not generous.

It's just not going

to happen.

Now what's all this stuff

about the fear of God?

Like that just seems

like the weirdest idea

in the world

and you'll see

that what motivates him

in both parts

is his fear of God.

What motivates him

to confront oppression

and deal with

the cycle of poverty

and what confronts him

to be content

with less

and not only

to be content

with less

but within his wealth

and he's a wealthy man,

only a wealthy person

can feed 150 people

every day.

So he's wealthy.

It's not an anti-wealth text

but it's a pro-generosity text

and it's a pro-cycle

of prosperity

rather than a cycle

of poverty text

but it's the fear

of God

that motivates this.

So it's very counterintuitive.

It sounds terrible.

I'm going to do this briefly

but here's the prayer.

I'm going to say this

at the beginning

and the end

and it's a prayer

that I hope you will want

to pray by the end

of the sermon.

Father,

first point,

Father,

please make the person

of Jesus,

his completed work

and his words

ever more precious

to my heart

so that in the power

of the Holy Spirit

I will walk free

in the fear of God.

Notice it's Trinitarian.

By the way,

it's Trinity Sunday.

I made it as a Trinitarian prayer.

All real good prayers

should be Trinitarian.

Father,

please make the person

of Jesus,

his completed work

and his words

ever more precious

to my heart

so that in the power

of the Holy Spirit

I will walk free

in the fear of God.

Now,

so what's going on here

with the fear of God?

Well,

to understand the fear of God

we have to understand

something about

the human condition

and that is that

as human beings

we are sinners.

We sin

and the Bible

doesn't use sin

just to talk about sex

as if all sex is bad.

It's talking about

something more objective

that we see in the world

and it's a unique doctrine

of Christianity.

It's the only,

it's an empirically

proven doctrine

that all human beings

do things which are evil

and here,

if you could put up

the second point,

it's this.

Sin is an ever deeper descent,

descent,

going lower,

into the vain

and ruinous belief

that you are God.

Sin is an ever deeper descent

into the vain

and ruinous belief

that you are God.

Now,

one of the things

that we understand

as Christians

is that God

in his common grace

doesn't allow sin

to consume us.

That it's part

of his common grace

that we sin in areas

but we still have

some human freedom.

we don't come completely

and utterly consumed

by sin

and in fact,

in both the Old

and the New Testament,

there is a whole other sermon

but sometimes

what God does

to try to wake us up

is he,

in a sense,

he removes part

of his restraints

from us

so that we experience

the full tug

of our desires,

our evil desires.

but what happens

when this takes place

in a human being,

this type of pride

that we are God,

it's a vain belief,

it's self-flattering

and it's something

which is never going

to come true

and it's ruinous to us,

is this becomes

more real to us

than a human being

becomes an equivalent

of a black hole.

A black hole

is a star

where the matter

has become so dense

that the gravity

is so strong

that life can't

escape from it

and it sucks

in a sense

the life

and everything else

back into its mass

making its mass

even more dense

and that's in a sense

what can happen

to human beings

and as we,

in a sense,

become just more consumed

with being,

you know,

seeing ourselves

almost like God

then what that does

is it makes

the whole universe

out of order for us

because we become

so important,

people have to become

less important,

the more important

we feel

we need to be,

we deserve to be,

we have to be,

you know,

the more concerned

we are about manifesting

and about the secret

and all of this stuff,

that's all just stuff

that furthers our pride

and then when that happens,

people become,

seem like they're farther away,

they become,

they seem like they're smaller,

it becomes easier

to hurt them,

it becomes easier

to say a hard word

to them,

it becomes easier

to oppress them,

we can get away

with saying whatever

we bloody well want

about other people

and it's because

we just,

the world becomes weird,

when I was in Calgary

I went and spent a day

with my son in Airdrie,

we went into Calgary

and then went back to Airdrie

and if you've ever been

to Calgary or to Airdrie,

when you're coming

along the road

there comes a time

when you can see

the big skyscrapers

in Calgary

off in the distance

and if you were the passenger

don't do this

while you're driving,

keep your eyes on the road

and both hands on the wheel

but you know

you could put your fingers

like this

and you could put

your fingers like this

and they're bigger

than the buildings.

Of course that's not really,

the buildings are 30,

40 stories tall,

they're not this big,

you're not so big

that you can put

your fingers around them

but the buildings

seem far away,

you seem so big

and it's just a matter

of perspective

and that's what pride

does to you,

makes things,

other people,

makes the real world

seem small,

other people

and their needs

real small,

it becomes effortless

to slide

into oppressing them.

So what is the fear of God?

Well the fear of God

is this,

the fear of God

is an ever deepening

existential knowing

of the difference

between the triune God

and you

so that there is

no confusion

or imagined

commingling

on your part.

I'll say it again,

the fear of God

is an ever deepening

existential,

like a knowledge

at the level

of your existence,

that's what I mean by it,

knowing of the difference

between the triune God

and you

so that there is

no confusion

or imagined

commingling

on your part.

How does this work out?

Well,

it's very easy

for a parent

to think that

what's good for them

is going to be good

for their kids.

Well that's not always true.

It's very easy

for a parent

to think that

what makes me happy

is going to make

the kids happy.

Well that's not always true.

And it's not only

just true with our kids,

it's true with the spouse,

it's true with our neighbors,

it's true with our society.

We consistently confuse

what I desire

for what others desire.

And in particular

that what I desire

obviously is what God desires.

What's going to make me happy,

well obviously

that's going to make God happy.

What I think is good

is obviously God

is going to think that's good.

What I think is just,

obviously God

is going to think that's just.

What's,

you know,

and that's what happens

is we lose sense

of our boundary with others

and our boundary with God.

We just lose those things.

We don't have a sense

of those boundaries.

Sin constantly is confusing us

about these things.

And so the fear of God,

and here we see

Christians understand

that God in his common grace

gives all human beings

a certain degree of this.

And maybe even some people

an exemplary degree of this,

but it's this growing knowledge

that this is George

and these are my boundaries.

And this is Louise

and those are her boundaries.

But more than that,

this is God.

And God is,

God begins and ends here

and George begins and ends here

and George is not God.

He's never God.

He's always different than God

and God is always different than him.

And that is good

and that is necessary

and that is important.

And I have a,

the fear of God

is a growing horror

that I would ever transgress

and start to think

that somehow my happiness

is God's happiness,

that that would be

a horrible thing to me.

It would be repulsive.

And it's why in the Bible

you get all these weird texts

about how the fear of God

is connected with

an intense longing

and yearning for God

and a love for God.

And that can only happen

if you understand

that God is different from you.

And when he's different from you,

then you can long for him.

You can yearn for him.

You can delight in him

because he's different than you.

And it also starts to mean

that it's without the fear of God,

without understanding

the difference between God and you,

you can never know yourself

and you can never know other people.

And so that as you grow

in the fear of God,

people become right-sized.

You see people in the world

and you realize God's heart

that he's different from you.

You realize his standards of justice,

his concern for the weak,

his concern for the powerless,

his concern for people

to come to know his son.

And that heart becomes your heart

as part of the fear of God.

That's why it's the fear of God

that motivates Nehemiah

to fight oppression.

It's the fear of God

that motivates him

to be content with less.

It's the fear of God

that motivates him

to be generous.

I want to fear God.

I want to grow in that.

I want our church to grow in it.

I don't know.

It would be the world's

most repulsive mission statement,

but maybe our mission statement is

we want a people

who walk in the fear of God.

You can't do things like that.

You have to be

a little bit more winsome.

And here's the thing.

The life-giving grace of God,

the fourth point,

in Christ Jesus changes everything.

It's all part of God's grace

that human beings have,

whether they're conscious of it or not,

some sense of that.

But it's the life-changing grace of God

in Christ that changes everything.

It's, you know,

when you hear Jesus say,

I came not to be served,

but to serve

and give my life

as a ransom for many.

That's why he came.

Not so that he would be served.

Not so that people

would see themselves as slaves.

He came to free people.

That's what ransom means.

Free them from oppression

and slavery.

When we hear 2 Corinthians 8,

2 Corinthians 8:9

verse 9,

and it says,

though he was rich,

he became poor,

so that you,

through his poverty,

might become rich.

And we think of 1 John 4,

1 John 4:10

verse 10,

where it says,

this is love,

not that we love God,

but that he loved us

and sent his son

to be a propitiation

for our sins,

to put away God's proper wrath

at the things that we've done

that are wrong.

And when we understand

that in Christ,

we're poor,

but he makes us rich.

When we understand

that in Christ,

he came to serve

and lead me into freedom,

and he's the one who paid

so that I could be free.

When we understand

that he's the one

who turned aside God's wrath,

and it's all about

so I can dwell

and know his love,

this becomes a firm

and solid place

where I can say,

God,

forgive me for the ways

that I mistake my happiness

for other people's happiness.

Forgive, Father,

the ways that I impose

my senses of justice,

which is really a type

of injustice on others.

Thank you, Father,

that you are different from me.

Help me, Father,

to grow in the fear of God,

that I might know

that you are God

and that I am not,

and that this difference is good,

and that I might delight in you,

and I never want

to transgress on that.

The grace of Christ,

him crucified,

provides this basis,

and when we walk

in this fear of God

because of the grace of Christ,

it will make us hate oppression.

It will form us to care

for the weak

and the disadvantaged.

It will form us

to be content,

still have ambition,

but not have money

and power rule us,

and to be content

and be willing

to have less

so that others

can be blessed,

and actually consciously

give of our resources

to bless others.

Friends,

I hope you want

the fear of God.

I hope you want

to know Christ.

The love of Christ

in the cross

changes everything.

Please stand.

If you could put

the final point up,

Claire,

that would be good.

The final point

was the first point.

Father,

please make the person

of Jesus'

completed work

and his words

ever more precious

to my heart

so that in the power

of the Holy Spirit

I will walk free

in the fear of God.

I invite you to pray

this prayer with me now,

and then I'll just pray

a short blessing.

And by the way,

if you're watching this online,

if you have not given

yourself to Christ,

this is your conversion prayer.

This would be how

you give your life

to Christ.

Pray this prayer

as your prayer

of conversion.

And for all of us

who are in Christ,

this is a prayer

of sanctification.

Please join me

in praying together.

All,

Father,

please make

the person

of Jesus,

his completed work,

and his words

ever more precious

to my heart

so that in the power

of the Holy Spirit

I will walk free

in the fear of God.

Father,

seal these words

and this prayer

into our hearts

that we might live them.

And we ask this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Please take a posture

of prayer

as we enter

into a time

of...

Oh,

I guess,

no,

there isn't intercession

right now.

There's announcements.

Actually,

you know what?

Let's just bow our heads

for a couple of moments

of prayer,

just extemporaneous.

prayer.

Let's pray.

Father,

we commend

into your hands

for our tribe,

our denomination,

the Anglican Network

in Canada.

Father,

we commend

into your hands

the discernment process

underway

as to who should be

our next assistant bishop.

And Lord,

we ask that you

would have mercy on us

and that you would

raise up a man

who's a godly,

wise,

courageous,

servant leader

who walks

in the fear of God.

That that's the man

that you would raise

for us

and help us

to recognize

who you would

have us be

as our assistant bishop.

And we ask this

in the name of Jesus.

We also remember,

Father,

those that are struggling

with mental illness,

those who are struggling

with unemployment

or underemployment,

those who are struggling

with food security

in many parts

of the world.

Father,

we commend them

into your hands

and we ask that you

help us to know

how you would have

us as individuals

or as a church

make a godly difference.

We especially commend

into your hands

the missionaries

that we support

in Angola,

directly involved

with medical care

of the poor.

We commend

into your hands

the missionaries

we support

in Colombia,

directly dealing

with the social

and other needs

of the refugees

from Venezuela.

we commend

into your hands

our churches

here in Ottawa

that partner

with churches

in Guatemala

to make a difference

in the lives

of children

and families

for their good

and for the glory

of Jesus.

And Father,

we commend these

endeavors

into your hands.

We ask this

in Jesus' name.

We lift before you

those who are sick

in particular,

Father,

we think of Bishop Charlie

and his journey

with cancer.

We ask that you

heal him body

and soul,

comfort and strength

in him,

and we lift before you

others that we know

are struggling

with sickness.

And we commend

into your hands,

Lord,

our other congregation

in Messiah West,

the church plant

that we're encouraging

in Charlottetown.

We encourage before you

Dave Dauber

and Brockville

and his hope

and belief

that there's a church

to be planted there

for Matthew

in Thunder Bay,

for Aaron in Seoul,

South Korea,

Father,

we commend them

into your hands.

We ask,

Father,

that them with us,

that you would

reform us by the Bible,

you would revive us

by the Holy Spirit,

that you would use us

in evangelism

and in making a difference

for the name of Jesus.

And we ask this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Just a couple

of announcements.

Shannon's going to come up

right now

to make a main announcement.

just as she's making

her way here.

When it comes time

for communion,

the red is wine,

the light-colored

is grape juice.

Please remember

the financial needs

of the church

and please pray for us

that we will be

a congregation

after God's heart.

And actually,

one other thing.

This is our brother

Shashir's last Sunday

with us.

Chris,

God wasn't listening

to your prayer

that he'd get a job

here in Ottawa.

He was listening

to somebody else's prayer.

We know that you're going,

Halifax is a rich mission field.

We need people

who will make a difference

for the gospel there.

It's been such a great delight

to have you

as part of our congregation.

It's been a delight

just to slightly get

to meet your wife

and your two sons.

They would have been

wonderful here,

but they'll be wonderful

in Halifax.

And maybe just before

Shannon gets up

to make her announcement,

let's just pray

God's blessing

on Shashir and Sonia,

right?

I have that right?

And the boys.

So let's just,

in fact,

why don't we,

could you just stand,

the four of you

or one of you,

whoever wants to stand,

we're just going to pray

God's blessing on them.

Let's pray.

Father,

it is so good

that we have brothers

and sisters in Christ

around the world,

including India.

And Father,

we give you thanks

and praise

that you led Shashir

to come to Canada

to have a new life,

hopefully a better life

for his wife,

Sonia,

and the two boys.

More opportunities.

And Father,

we thank you

for bringing him here

to get a master's,

for providing with him

this good job in Halifax.

Father,

we are sad

that we are losing him,

but we are happy

that you have provided

a good job for him,

for his gifts

and his skills.

I ask,

Father,

that your Holy Spirit

would bless him

and his wife

and his two sons,

help them to thrive

in Jesus,

thrive physically

and spiritually

in Jesus,

that you would

just be with them

as they sort out

accommodation

and adjust to a new job.

May you bless them thoroughly

and may you lead them

to a good church

in Halifax.

And Father,

we ask all these things

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.