Not Weighing Your Merits

so we have lots of very cute little kids in the church today which is very very it's a very good

thing and it's also Father's Day by the way which I guess I'll have to say Happy Father's Day in

case I forget to say it later on which would be quite likely to happen with me one of the things

which is interesting about young children obviously Caspar is not even close to that

is that at some point in time they start to become morally aware and are able to make wrong choices

like very self-consciously wrong choices I don't know and those of you who have parents of young

kids you can maybe have a bit of a discussion about when that comes I think of it somewhere in

their twos you'll have a time when the child is you know just playing around and and maybe there's a

something on a table or a counter that they're not supposed to touch and they go wandering over

to it and and you say to them we'll just call call it we'll pretend it's a boy and his name is Bobby

and you say to to say to Bobby Bobby you know you're not supposed to touch that and and here's the up

until then you know they just do whatever they're doing they're just little little tiny kids just

doing whatever sort of pops into their heads and sometimes weird things pop into their heads or cute

things but this time you say you know Bobby you know you're not supposed to touch that and Bobby

stops and looks at the parent like he he looks at the parent and you say again to the child Bobby

don't touch that you know you're not supposed to and Bobby looks at the parent and then Bobby touches the

object and you know that Bobby has chosen to do something which is wrong and that's something which

happens to every child in fact if you met a parent who said that never happened to my child

you might not say anything to the parent but inwardly you know that that parent's just deluded

because the fact of the matter is is that there always comes a time when a young child will

gratuitously no it's a big word but gratuitously freely just choose to do something that's wrong

now last week I said a couple of things about the problem of evil usually conceived as the problem

of why evil exists in the world and what God does about it but prior to that there's a far more there's

a far deeper profound human question that most of us turn our eyes away from in terms of thinking about

and that is why is it that you and I gratuitously choose to do things that are wrong

like if one of you says you don't do it that just shows you're not self-aware

but the fact the matter is is that every single one of us even the best

will have times when we know it's wrong there's no nothing forcing us it's not like you know I don't

know we have to steal because we're starving to death it's you know not because we have guns pointed

to our head and you know we have to make some terrible moral choice or anything like that

there are fact every single one of us have times where we just freely knowingly choose to do something

that's wrong we do why is that

what is it about human beings

that that is part of what makes a human being a human being at least today

part of the problem is that it's hard for us to think about this and come to an answer to it

without being demoralized without thinking that there's just it's it's hard for us to bear the

idea that there's just something in us which is just broken in a way like that and and so it's

demoralizing so we don't we don't think about it and most of the time what we just do is we

pretend it's not there it's not an elephant in the room and and or we pretend that it's not really

something that happens to us very often because we're very good at making excuses for the wrong

that we do and don't want to acknowledge that we have an opportunity to forgive and we choose not to

forgive we have an opportunity to let go of resentment and we choose not to let go of resentment we have a

chance to to to to help another person and we just choose not to do it and we don't like to

that's not something that we like to think about as being true to us the story that we're going to

look at today and it's so i invite you to turn in your bibles to genesis chapter 20 and as i i sort

Genesis 20 · chapter mention

of said in my prayer it's a on the surface it's a very very simple story but it's actually some simple

stories can be very deep and profound um i know i might be igniting a few people by saying this but

the fact the matter is is that depth psychologists like freud and and jung have often gone to some

of these very ancient stories in the book of genesis to mine their depths in modern days

jordan peterson's lectures on some of these stories have gotten in the millions in terms of views

have seen in a sense the profound depth in these very simple stories we're going to look at one of

these very simple stories and it points the way forward to thinking about the evil that we do the

wrong that we do in a way that won't lead us to pretend and won't demoralize us so if you turn in

your bibles to genesis chapter 20 and um last week i i borrowed something that i learned from an australian

Genesis 20 · chapter mention

anglican scholar by the name of john woodhouse telling the story in terms of scenes and i think i'm

going to do that again this week so scene number one trusting in lies to protect you that's what

scene number one is called trusting in lies to protect you verses one and two from there uh that is uh

where he'd been like by the tree and and sort of close to sodom and and gomorrah from there abraham

journeyed toward the territory of the negev uh he's sort of going south closer to egypt

from there abraham journeyed toward the territory of the negev and lived between kadesh and shir and he

sojourned in gerar which was an important uh center for caravan routes uh where there was water etc

and so people would stop there was an important uh resting spot in a in a city so but back so he he

sojourned in gerar and abraham said of sarah his wife she is my sister

and abimelech the king of gerar sent and took sarah so the implication here is that uh abimelech

uh takes sarah to be one of his wives to be in his harem and what we see here right off the bat

is that what abraham has done is he's lied in a way to protect himself we're going to discover in a

few scenes why it is that he in his own self-consciousness why he is that he chose to lie

but one of the things which is very interesting here i've talked to many people over the years

who've said you know if god really wanted me to know him why doesn't he just reveal himself to me

in a way which is very blatant and obvious and if he just revealed himself to me then i would believe in

him well the fact of the matter is is that the the bible shows time and time and time again that that

is rarely true what has just gone on before this is the most an un just a spectacular and in in many

ways horrific demonstration of the existence of of god with the destruction of sodom and gomorrah

with the land being destroyed and and the smoke going up into into the heavens and abraham

knew that god was going to do this and and god did it and and very few people on the history of

the planet have ever had a more remarkable demonstration of the existence of god and yet

very shortly after this abraham is not trusting in god to protect him but decides that he will trust in

lies and deception for him to be protected

and in fact one of many of us could start to wonder and this is going to be one of the main questions as

this story progresses if abraham lies and deceives to protect himself why on earth would god choose him

as somebody special

like why would god choose a liar

to be the the founder of the promised people like that

that is actually wrong like that's just wrong that god would do that

scene two the lord intervenes look at verse three

but god came to abimelech in a dream by night and said to him behold you are a dead man

because actually it's funny that like that's what it says in the in hebrew you are a dead man

because of the woman whom you have taken for she is a man's wife now abimelech had not approached her

in other words they hadn't had sexual relations so he said lord will you kill an innocent people

did he not himself say to me she is my sister and she herself said he is my brother

in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my and the innocence of my hands i have done this

so the lord intervenes to speak to abimelech in a dream and one of the things that we discover here

is that not only has abraham lied but sarah has lied they've been partners in lying and deceiving

now there's another big question here which some of you might not know but others

who've been following along knows and that is this sarah is 89 years old

now i hope to get to that age and probably in my own eyes i'm still going to be a good looking chap

at 89 but there's a type of obvious question why on earth did abimelech choose an 89 year old woman

to be his wife so just very very briefly a part of what's going on here in the story is this

the story is going to maintain time and time and time again that the birth of isaac in fulfillment

to the promises of god's saying that he's going to start to bless the nations through this line

it's going to be shown time and time again that abraham and sarah contributed nothing that is

completely and utterly a miracle of god in fact not only that that abraham and sarah continually

sabotage what god wants to do which is what they're doing right here that what's going to happen

abraham leaves and now he can't take his wife with him because now she's with abimelech how's how on

earth is isaac the promised child of abraham going to happen so they actually constantly act in ways

which undermines god doing something so it's going to be very very clear that only god was able to

accomplish this the second the second thing is and and this is probably part of it is that god's desiring

god's plan to create a line through which the entire world will be blessed and which salvation

will come he seems to have acted in a way so that many of these early patriarchs live far longer lives

than they normally had but there's still a bit of a mystery here the two stories pre previous to this

it takes very very clear that sarah has gotten too old she she know she's uh she's uh she's menopausal

post-menopausal she's she's old so i'm just going to suggest something here you can take with it as you

want you can discuss it over coffee you can think george is completely and utterly ridiculous that's

fine but abimelech wants to get married to sarah and i wonder if some of modern fiction is pointing to

what maybe has happened here that the miracle that's going on is god reverses sarah's aging

in the very next story the baby will be born and i wonder if what's happening is that sarah is in a

sense going backwards in time from 89 to looking young enough and being young enough to bear a child

that's pure speculation on my part you can do with it as you will all i'm trying to do is piece

together he chose a woman to marry and in the very next story she gives birth take with it as you want

the next scene is god's clear but confusing message verses six and seven then god said to abimelech in

the dream yes i know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart and it was i who kept you

from sinning against me therefore i did not let you touch her now then return the man's wife

here's the here's the here's the confusing bit for he is a prophet so that he will pray for you

and you shall live but if you do not return her know that you shall surely die you and all were yours

now i'm not going to spend very much time on it for some people it's a shock that god might do

something that might he might kill i guess all i want to do is that part of what's going on here

and it's going to continue throughout the rest of the bible is to try to help us to understand that

god is not a labradoodle

god is not a labradoodle he's not just a tame little pet that will follow you around god is a

consuming fire he creates all things out of nothing he sustains all things out of nothing

heaven and earth flees from his presence he is the transcendent and imminent god he is uncreated

and needs no environment and if god was to reveal himself fully and completely to us it would unmake us

and that is who the true and living god actually is

but the other part which is this is the prophet like how could god choose abraham to be a prophet

he lies he's not good does this mean that god sort of enables his favorites does god sort of reward

some people for living lies of deception and it's going to even get worse as the story progresses

the yuck factor of abraham and sarah is going to increase once we get a couple of scenes down

but first scene four the virtuous pagans look at verse eight so abimelech rose early in the morning

and called all his servants and told them all these things and the men were very much afraid

then abimelech called abraham and said to him what have you done to us and how have i sinned against you

that you have brought on me in my kingdom a great sin you have done to me things that ought not to be done

and abimelech said to abraham what did you see that you did this thing

now what abraham what abimelech is doing here is he's being very virtuous he in fact does fear god

to the extent that he understands god uh he's making clear that he would not have taken another man's wife

and he wants to make sure that there's a public airing of this so there is no appearance of evil

and there's going to be restitution now by the way this is something that we need desperately in our

country do we have in fact and i'm not picking on politics particular politicians do we have

a clear airing of things which they have done wrong i have done something which is wrong i apologize

and if necessary i will resign this is a consistent message to our country and it's not just to

politicians but to people in churches and business and communities where in fact you do not have this

very clear public acknowledgement that something has gone on and a desire to clear it to clear the air

to acknowledge responsibility to make restitution to make very clear what the right path is and what we

see here is that the pagans are virtuous and abraham and sarah are not

and we in canada today could learn from the virtuous pagans

in gerar

and once again we wondered to ourselves why didn't god choose abimelech rather than abraham

why didn't he choose a virtuous man

rather than abraham and sarah

well as i said it gets worse for abraham and sarah

next scene scene five is deception and blame shifting

verses 11 to 13

so abraham answers abimelech's questions abraham said i did it because i thought

there is no fear of god at all in this place

and they will kill me

because of my wife

besides

she is indeed my sister

the daughter of my father

the daughter of my father

though not the daughter of my mother

and she became my wife

and when god

caused me to wander from my father's house

i said to her

this is the kindness you must do to me

at every place

to which we come

say of me

he is my brother

we see here the seeds of prejudice

don't we

the problem with

i don't know

the irish

i'm irish

the problem with the irish

if you go to ireland

they're just always looking to try to steal your stuff

or take your stuff

or just just pick your

pick your racial group

or your ethnic group

or your

your your racial group

it's a standard part of prejudice

that everybody there

they're just going to want to rip you off

they're just going to take advantage of you

and here we see abraham's prejudice

despite the fact that the pagans in fact

are more virtuous

and the other thing is

it's not as

in in in the original language

when he says

and when god caused me to wander

what he's doing is blame shifting

he's saying listen

it's not my fault

god caused me to wander

and because god caused me to wander

i had to do all of these things

to protect myself

he's blame shifting

trying to pass away his responsibility

for his freely chosen

doing of something which is wrong

and now even when he's confronted

he doesn't accept responsibility

but in fact doubles down on it

and blames god for it

and then once again

how on earth could they pick

abraham and sarah

he married his sister

is the bible saying that's all right

like is the bible

saying it's all right

to marry your sister

you might not always have been clear about it

occasionally i've made these little references

like if you pick something like

the lord of the rings

it's six books

and if you were just to try to

to read one story

in the in the in the in the first book

and not read the rest of the story

you're not going to be able to interpret it correctly

uh... for instance

not giving any spoilers

if you just took

if you skip the beginning

and and end of book one

and you just read a few of boromer's speeches

you might understand

you might believe that he's a

a far better man than he actually was

but he actually does want to steal the ring

and and the understanding

that the depth of the problem

only becomes more clear

as you read all six books

and and genesis is book one

of a five book series

all written fundamentally

ultimately by moses

uh... genesis exodus leviticus numbers

and deuteronomy

are a five book series

and so if you just look at this story

if this was the only story

i'd have to say god says it's all right

for a man

for a guy to marry his sister

but if you read all five of the books

it becomes very clear

that what abraham and sarah had done

is wrong in god's eyes

i'm sorry it's not going to be up there on the thing

but if you have your own bibles

if you turn to leviticus

i'll just sort of show it to you

leviticus chapter 18

Leviticus 18 · chapter mention

uh... verse 9

and verse 11

uh... it says this

leviticus uh... chapter 18

verse 9

um... you shall not uncover

the nakedness of your sister

your father's daughter

or your mother's daughter

whether brought up in the family

or another in another home

in other words

you shouldn't have

it's another way of saying

sexual relations

and then if you go down

to verse 11

you shall not uncover

the nakedness of your father's

wife's daughter

brought up in your father's family

since she is your sister

another language of sexual knowing

it's forbidden

and then again

in deuteronomy chapter 27

Deuteronomy 27:22

verse 22

deuteronomy chapter 27

Deuteronomy 27:22

verse 22

cursed be anyone who lies

with his sister

whether the daughter of his father

or the daughter of his mother

and all the people shall say

amen

so the bible makes it clear

that abraham

and sarah

are doing something

that is wrong

in god's eyes

once again

how on earth

are abraham and sarah worthy

like what's going on

with god

scene six

abimelech

makes

right

turn to

verses

14 to 16

then abimelech

took sheep

and oxen

and male servants

and female servants

and gave them to abraham

and returned sarah

his wife

to him

and abimelech said

behold my land is before you

dwell where it pleases you

to sarah he said

behold

now just notice this little dig

abimelech

is making

a very very

even though

he can argue

that he's not been guilty

of anything

he wants to make sure

there's no appearance

of evil

so he's going to make

a gift

of lots

of gold

and servants

and he's saying

there's no hard feelings

the whole land

is before you

I want you

to be able to stay

but he gets in

the little dig

notice the little dig

verse 15

behold the land

my land is before you

dwell where it pleases you

verse 16

to sarah

he said

behold I have given

your brother

not husband

I've given you

a brother

a thousand pieces

of silver

it is a sign

of your innocence

in the eyes of all

who are with you

and for everyone

that you

are vindicated

at the expense

to himself

he makes sure

the other person

is vindicated

once again

profound lessons

for how we should

live today

and then finally

the final scene

entitled

why on earth

Abraham

then verse 17

then Abraham

prayed to God

and God healed

Abimelech

and also healed

his wife

and female slaves

so that they

bore children

for the Lord

had closed all the

wombs of the house

of Abimelech

because of Abraham

Sarah's wife

Abraham's prayer

worked

in the sense

that Abraham

prayed

and God said

yes

occasionally

people

when they find out

I'm a minister

they might say

something like

we're having a picnic

this afternoon

if you could do

something

if you could pray

for good weather

I'd really appreciate it

and I always say

I'm in sales

not management

my prayers

don't work any better

than yours

and then I'll usually say

my wife is closer

to management

than I am

maybe you should ask

her to pray

so we tend to have

a thought here though

isn't it

that in fact

that

that

if we're closer

to God

God will answer

our prayers

so

what on earth

is going on here

in this particular story

he prays as a prophet

and God says yes

so

he

it's very easy

to look at this

and say

this is just the problem

with religion

and religious texts

that what goes on

in religion

is that there's

one rule for me

another for thee

that's not just

a problem for religion

it's a problem

in politics

it's a problem

in university faculties

it's a problem

in media establishments

and in businesses

one rule for me

another for thee

and I

as soon as I say that

all of you can think

of instances

where it's the case

but it seems to often

be the case

in religious institutions

one rule for me

another for thee

and how on earth

can you say

George

that God is showing

mercy and grace

to Abraham

if Abraham

has been doing

very very bad things

and it's not

mercy and grace

if it's unjust

or unfair

or wrong

Abraham is

undeserving

and if Abraham

is undeserving

then it's wrong

for God

to favor him

it's

you know

you can't have

mercy and grace

if there's injustice

if there's

favoritism

you can't just

sort of pick

it's just

George

you know

it was bad

if

when Trump

was leaving office

and he lets his crony

he gives last second

you know

get them

out of jail

and declares them

innocent for their cronies

and it'll be just as wrong

if Biden does it

at the end of his term

if in his final week

he just starts taking

all of the guys

who are his golfing buddies

and his campaign donors

and he just makes

their criminal charges

go away

and that's just wrong

and this seems like

that's what's going on here

and it's just wrong

George

and if after reading

the story

you think that

that's a good thing

so I just want to talk

about three types

of things

to try to help us

to understand

why this story

is deep and profound

why it's in the Bible

and here's the first thing

there is

this Bible text

reveals to you

and me

that there is

a natural

or common

there's a natural

spiritual imagination

where there's a natural

religious

intuition

there's something

which is common

to almost all

human beings

about how spiritual

and religious things

should work

it's how our imagination

works

it's a profound

institution

intuition

and it's common

to all

and it's common

to every religion

and in fact

many versions

of Christianity

are in fact

times when

people forget

what the gospel is

and just allow

the natural

religious

spiritual intuition

and imagination

re-read the text

and so Christianity

becomes a form

of this natural

imagination

about how

religion and spirituality

should work

and if you could put up

the first slide

that would be really good

hopefully you can see it

and those of you

watching online

it will be at the bottom

and here it is

I call it the

what do I call it here

I call it the

I think I have the

no I have the right thing

I call it the natural

spiritual imagination

I think I just called it that

and here's the thing

here's how it works

first of all

you start doing better

then you start

being spiritual

or engaging

in spiritual things

and then as you

proceed along

because you're doing

a better and better

you're living a better

and better life

and you're getting better

at doing spiritual

or religious things

you come to the point

where God accepts you

which I guess

we could call

salvation

and you see that

in Christians as well

you have a person

who used to be

a practicing Christian

and they have been

away for a long time

and they start to feel

like maybe they need

to get back to church

but they can't come

back to church

because they've been

living a very bad life

so they talk to you

and they say

you know I've been

living a very bad life

and normally I've been

living a bad life

often I've been

living an unsuccessful life

like my family's

a little bit messed up

my business is

a little bit messed up

and you know

frankly I have

some other problems

and so what we say is

well once I start

to do a little bit better

I'll come to church

and coming to church

and then doing it

and then maybe as well

they'll start to do

a few other things

like this is just

the Christian version

they'll start to read

the Bible

and they'll start to do

a few other types

of things

and then they're

sort of doing better

they're living a better life

and they're more

have a more successful life

and they're going to church

and doing religious things

regularly

and the sense is

that if you do those things

at some point in time

God accepts you

you're saved

and this is not just

this is like

it's the same

you know with

with you know

whether it's Hinduism

and the different types

of rules

that you need to follow

and getting your life

in order

and then the spiritual

practices

so that you're going

to do better

as a Hindu

you know

I've talked to some

people who grew up

Muslim

and they've left

they don't go to the mosque

or anything like that

and they like to drink a lot

which is wrong

and they eat pork sandwiches

which is wrong

and they sort of say

you know

I need to start getting

some of those things

under control

stop watching porn

and stop drinking beer

and once I do

maybe I'll start going

back to the mosque

and I start to do

those religious practices

and it's the common way

that the religious

imagination works

and it's the way

we judge Abraham

right

like how on earth

could Abraham

be God's prophet

why

well because the way

our mind naturally works

is that

if you're going to be

a prophet

like that's like

a really high level

acceptance by God

so surely you got

to get your life

in order

and then after that

you got to be doing

the religious practices

and if you're doing

all of those things

then eventually

you're going to be able

to be sort of

like a prophet

like high up

up here

because that's just

the way it works

you do

God

you don't choose

a prophet

a guy who

married his sister

like that's just

that will never happen

that's just

that goes against

how we understand

religion and spirituality

it goes against

our imagination

it goes against

our intuitions

it's just wrong

and it's wrong

whether it's

it's a bespoke

spirituality

you know

whether it's

it's a mystical thing

whether it's

Buddhism

Hinduism

whether it's

it's Islam

you know

whether it's

many forms

of Christianity

and and

and one of the

reasons in our

culture

many people

are rejecting

religion

is because

they look at

that

and and they

and they just

say

well this doesn't

just doesn't

work

you know

because fact

the matter

is

that

I know

because you see

there's an extra

thing to that

that this is

what should happen

in our culture

is that

okay

you know

I've lived a messy

type of life

and you know

my job's not going

very well

and my you know

there's problems

in my marriage

and all of that

I'm going to start

getting some control

over that

so I'm starting to do

better

now that I'm doing

better

I can go to the mosque

I can go to the temple

I can go to the church

and and after I start

to do that

and get involved

in that

now I'm actually

connected to God

and the result of that

is going to be

that God is now

going to take care

of me

and bless me

and what often

happens is

then you get

the cancer diagnosis

for your mom

then you don't get

the promotion

then you're

the stocks

that you invested

in go

go belly up

and and and now

you're mad at God

because good grief

God

I was doing

my part of the deal

I good grief

I stopped watching

the porn

I stopped drinking

the beer

I'm going to church

and now this happens

like

God

you let down

your part of the deal

the second thing

the problem

there's a big problem

and the big problem

is what I began

the sermon with

the mystery

of your wrongdoing

the mystery

of your wrongdoing

like

what

why is it

why is it

that you can

have an opportunity

you get a phone call

and somebody says

I'd really like

to take

pick you up

I'd love to treat

you to a good meal

buy a couple

of beers

have a really

good afternoon

and you say

no because

I'm going to

watch porn

like

I mean

you know

it's wrong

like

why would

you do that

like

good grief

you have

your good friend

just said

he'll take you out

pay for your meal

you'll have a really

good time

like that sounds

wonderful

like why would

you gratuitously

do the other thing

and you

you can multiply

like

why is it

that we do

things like that

but why is it

that the natural

religious

spiritual

imagination

pretends

that that

part of

our doing

wrong

doesn't exist

because the fact

the matter

is

that we

sometimes

gratuitously

choose

what is

wrong

and no

amount

of depth

therapy

changes

that

no

amount

of behavior

modification

changes

that

no amount

of finding

coaches

who can

give you

techniques

about

human

behavior

that

doesn't

change

it

no amount

of spiritual

practices

removes

it

and

given

the fact

that we

have a

part of

us

that just

gratuitously

do

something

which

is

wrong

it

means

that the

natural

spiritual

imagination

is

doomed

it

will

never

ever

work

to

my

Buddhist

friends

you

will

never

get

enlightenment

to

my

Hindu

friends

you

will

never

stop

the

cycle

of

life

and

rebirth

never

to

my

Muslim

friends

it

doesn't

work

you

choose

to

do

wrong

so

do

I

so

do

you

why

is it

that we

cling

to this

religious

model

and we

know

that we

choose

wrong

and you

see

what

happens

is

because

we

choose

wrong

what

do

we

do

we

have

one

rule

for

me

and

another

rule

for

thee

we

become

very

good

at

blame

shifting

we

become

very

good

at

pretend

and

what's

the

problem

with

blame

shifting

and

pretending

that

we're

far

more

righteous

far

more

together

I

mean

in

good

grief

if

there

is

ever

an

age

where

we

have

a

problem

with

this

is

people

don't

actually

want

to

eat

a

good

tasting

cupcake

they

even

if

the

cupcake

or

the

donut

at

Tim

Hortons

at

one

fifth

the

price

is

twenty

times

more

tasty

we

want

the

Facebook

Instagram

TikTok

moment

to make

it

look

like

things

are

good

and

what

happens

it

makes

us

profoundly

insecure

it

makes

us

profoundly

insecure

and

we

reject

religion

because

it's

just

in

image

management

and

it's

hard

for

us

to

think

of

the

fact

that

we

do

things

which

are

wrong

without

being

profoundly

demoralizing

so the

first thing

is the

natural

way that

our

religious

and

spiritual

imagination

works

the

second

thing

is the

mystery

of our

wrongdoing

isn't that

what we

see in

the story

of

Abraham

we

evaluate

Abraham

as being

unworthy

because of

our

natural

religious

imagination

we

look at

Abraham

and see

that he

gratuitously

chose to

do what

was wrong

the third

and final

thing is

the subversive

fulfillment

of the

gospel

the subversive

fulfillment

of the

gospel

by that

I mean

is the

gospel

subverts

the

natural

religious

imagination

but it

fulfills

our

deeper

desire

to live

a life

that is

right

with God

that's

transparent

and honest

and doesn't

have to

pretend

that there's

not a

part of

us that

choose to

do

what's

wrong

it's

the

good

news

that

God

subverts

but he

actually

fulfills

at a

deeper

level

what we

desire

if you

could put

up the

final slide

the scandalous

grace of

the triune

God

and the

way the

gospel works

is there's

an announcement

Abraham

you are a

bad

man

George

you are

a bad

man

but it

begins

with God

accepting me

as his

child

by salvation

by grace

I'll explain

more about

that in a

moment

and then

it leads

from that

to begin

practicing

the means

of grace

which is

another way

a better

way

a gospel

way

of talking

about

religious

observance

it's not

religious

observance

it's

practicing

the means

of grace

and we

begin

with being

accepted

by God

completely

and utterly

undeserved

and it's

from that

place

that we

begin

to live

and practice

the means

of grace

and it's

from that

place

that we

become

more and

more convinced

that it's

important

that not only

do we do

things like

justice

and mercy

and compassion

but also

that we

write songs

that are

good

and dance

dances

that are

beautiful

and start

businesses

which are

successful

and rise

up in the

civil service

not as just

a person

who just

puts everybody

down

but to be

known as a

man and woman

of integrity

that we start

to do better

once again

I don't have

it in here

but remember

that we're

looking at the

stories of

Abraham

and within

the stories

of Abraham

itself

there is a

pointer at

the very

very end

a very

very famous

story

of Abraham

and we're

going to be

looking at it

in two weeks

time

and it's in

Genesis chapter

Genesis 22:8

22 verse 8

and it's the

story of now

Abraham has his

child

and Ishmael

is gone

and it's

only Isaac

and God

says to

Abraham

I want you

to take

your son

your only

son whom

you love

your only

son whom

you love

and I want

you to

take him

up onto

the mountain

and I want

you to

kill him

as a

sacrifice

for me

and Abraham

goes

and does

it

and there's

this very

famous line

that as

they're going

up the

mountain

and he's

gotten rid

of the

servants

it's just

Abraham

and his

son Isaac

and Abraham

it's verse 8

of chapter 22

at verse 7

it goes

and Isaac

said to his

father Abraham

my father

and Abraham

said here I

am my son

and Isaac

says behold

the fire

and the wood

but where

is the lamb

for the burnt

offering

and Abraham's

famous answer

is God

will provide

for himself

the lamb

for the burnt

offering

my son

at the end

of the story

after Abraham

is going to

go ahead

and do it

there is a

ram that

is provided

and God

reveals to Abraham

he's not to

kill his son

and there's a

ram

not the

lamb

but a

ram

and then

in the

other stories

we're going

to discover

in the

book of

Exodus

and in

the book

of

Leviticus

and Numbers

and Deuteronomy

that there's

to be

the sacrifices

but as

the story

unfolds

because there's

books after

these first

five that

make up

the 39

books of

the Old

Testament

there is

this

realization

at a

deeper and

deeper

level

that the

mere sacrifice

of animals

for a

human being

is not

going to

be sufficient

and then

the very

first

historical

record we

have of

Jesus

is when

John the

Baptist

says at

the beginning

of Jesus'

ministry

behold

the lamb

of God

that takes

away

the sin

of the

world

Abraham's

not worthy

by the

religious

imagination

he does

wrong

he needs

grace

and he

needs

grace

that is

also

going

to be

at one

with

justice

and how

is that

the case

God looks

at you

and he

looks at

me

and I

cannot

be

perfect

I

choose

to do

wrong

at different

times

and so

God

provides

for me

in a way

that I

cannot

provide

for myself

he

provides

I am

made

in the

image

of God

he

takes

the one

of whom

every human

being is

made in

the image

of

and that

one

who

every one

of us

is in

the image

of

he takes

flesh

and becomes

human

being

and he

lives

amongst us

he becomes

my representative

who can

better be

my representative

than he

whose image

I am

made in

and he

comes and

dwells

amongst us

and knows

every trial

and temptation

that you

and I

do

only without

sin

he knows

the depth

of temptation

I give

in

he doesn't

give in

he identifies

with me

even more

deeply

than I am

able to

experience

myself

he my

representative

he identifies

with me

he chooses

to be my

substitute

to take

my place

so that the

wrongdoing

that I have

done is

dealt with

in him

and he can

do it

why

because he's

my representative

and he's

identified with

me

he knows

what he's

doing

and he

offers in

exchange

for him

for him

taking

my

doom

the

destiny

which

he

deserves

there

is no

sacrificing

of God's

justice

but mercy

without

sacrificing

justice

is greater

than

justice

and that

is what

God

offers

us

in the

person

of

Christ

and

that's

why

the

gospel

subverts

this

but fulfills

the

religious

imagination

Jesus

knew

the wrong

that I

have done

and

every

wrong

that I

have

done

has been

dealt

with by

him

and my

standing

with him

is not

on me

being able

to do

right

and not

do

wrong

and it's

not by

having

one rule

for me

and another

rule

for other

people

and it's

not by

me being

really

really good

at jumping

at other

people

for having

specks

in their

eye

while I

have a

log

in mine

it's

by

me

understanding

that

God

knew

the

depth

of the

wrongdoing

and everything

about me

when he

died

for when

Jesus

died

for me

on the

cross

it's

all

been

dealt

with

and that

means

that

week

by

week

one

of

the

means

of

grace

is

that

I

can

gather

with

other

brothers

and

sisters

in

Christ

and we

can

gather

around

the

Lord's

table

and we

can

remember

that

Jesus

died

on the

cross

that

he

shed

his

blood

that

his

body

was

pierced

and he

did

this

knowing