Jesus Walks on Water

Father, you know how we just try to cling to different things

to give us some type of a security, some type of a fixed point,

something that we can stand on amidst all the changes

and all the tensions and all the different ways that we're pulled.

Sometimes, Father, it seems like the world is fraying

or country is fraying with wars in Ukraine and conflict here at home.

And, Father, you know how we seek out things to cling to or stand on

to give us some type of security.

We ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would do a gentle but powerful work

in our hearts this morning so that we might see you, Father,

as our anchor, our hope, that we might be formed by the gospel

at a deeper and deeper level of our hearts.

So we invite and give you permission, Father, for your word to speak

very deeply within us this morning.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So I don't know if it's five or six weeks ago now, I got very emotional.

Hopefully I'm not going to get very emotional right now at the start of this sermon.

And I shared how our strong, healthy seven-year-old German shepherd dog, Rocky,

had all of a sudden sort of collapsed.

And he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition,

which at the time after we had this very difficult conversation about, you know, moving forward.

But even surgery would have only added lots of pain to his life in only a handful of months.

And the vet, we brought Rocky home to die.

And the vet said he might have just hours or he might have two or three weeks.

Well, Rocky beat the odds but didn't win the battle.

And on Thursday night, he died.

And actually, he died in a very...

And I thank you, by the way, for all...

I know that many of you have prayed.

And some of you are thinking, what?

Praying about a dog?

Anyway, it's that dogs are...

Obviously, they're not as important as a human being.

But they're important.

And they have...

They take a place that's hard to sort of explain to people who don't...

Haven't had a dog.

To sort of explain how they have a big part in the family.

And he's always loved the winter.

And he spent quite a few hours outside over these last few weeks enjoying the cold.

And on Thursday night, he'd been outside for an hour or two.

He came in, walked up to where, by coincidence, three of us were standing.

He looked at us and he died.

In lots of ways, it was a mercy that we didn't have to, of course, make the...

Just watch him really suffer and then maybe have to euthanize him or something like that.

It's a...

In some ways, for those of you who've been praying, it's been a real answer to prayer.

That we had those extra time with him and you get to prepare to know that he'll die.

So, you know, at some point in time after, you know, an hour or two, about two hours or so after that,

this people process and we had to wait for my son to come home because he was out.

We...

You treat the body gently.

Right?

You treat him gently.

And so we, you know, put a tarp gently underneath him.

It's really funny.

I don't know if you've ever...

Any of you have tried to do something like this, but it's almost when we were trying to

move him that you didn't want to hurt him.

I mean, of course, he's dead.

You can't hurt him.

But you treat him very gently and then we carried him outside and put him in the back of Louise's

van and he would have been cremated the next day.

Now, I mentioned that.

It's actually, I think, a very important story for us to think about as we begin to look

at the gospel and contrast it with something different.

I bet if I was to ask, if we were to be very honest with each other, I would bet that a

very large number, maybe even the majority of you, of us, not you, of us, don't like our

bodies.

Like we're embarrassed by our body, ashamed of our body.

Yeah.

We don't like our bodies.

In fact, not only, you know, me saying this, I mean, most of us don't think about it all

the time, but in fact, if over, if you, you know, you had coffee with somebody and said,

and they were actually, you got to know them well enough that they said, you know, I really

don't like my body when I look at myself.

I don't even like to look at myself in the mirror because I just don't like my body.

I hate my body.

Like that probably wouldn't shock anybody.

And in our culture, it's sort of interesting.

We seem to either idolize our bodies or hate our bodies.

And it's hard to sort of be balanced about having, and as you know, in our culture, not

only do we often hate our bodies, we hate our bodies.

And some people do things connected to hatred of the body, like cutting themselves.

And there's a whole range of issues around mutilation and all of that.

So we have this weird thing.

On one hand, if I had told you that we took Rocky's body and just sort of dragged him by

the leg and threw him outside, you'd all go, what?

Like, you'd be horrified that I would do something like that.

Yet at the same time, we in our culture are very familiar with the fact that we have this,

even if we don't always consciously think of it, we either tend to idolize our bodies

or we hate and despise our bodies.

And in fact, in many religious systems, the sign of holiness is despising and hating the

body.

That's actually a sign of holiness often in religion.

So what's going on?

Well, this miracle story, which I said is a story that many, many, many people have hard

times with, if we're going to look at it, it's actually a very profound reflection to give

us some real wisdom about all of this and a good place to stand.

So it'd be a great help to me if you would open your Bibles and turn with me to Mark chapter

Mark 6:45

6, verses 45 and following.

And once again, whether you're online or here, and obviously we're going to have the scripture

text on the screen, but it's really a good habit to get to look at your own Bibles.

Partly, I want you to all be Bereans to check to see that I'm not cheating on the translation

or anything like that, to look around it.

And also, it's just a way to help make the text a bit more real to yourselves.

But anyway, we all have different ways of handling that.

But I encourage you to use your own Bible or the way that you read your Bible.

Anyway, here's how the story goes.

It goes like this, just to refresh our memory.

And actually sort of to delve into the problematic bits and actually see how the things which,

in fact, are problems in the text are really windows and mirrors that actually present to

us not just a profound vision, but a profound truth about the way the world is and about

our bodies.

So verse 45, immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the

other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

But just in the original language, it's all perfectly good, but in the original language

there's a bit of an emphasis.

He actually really forces them into the boat.

And this miracle, the feeding of the 5,000, as I shared last week, which is what has just

happened before this, actually it's the 5,000 men, so it's probably about 10,000.

Because it's the only miracle other than the death and resurrection of Jesus that's recorded

in all four of the Gospels, you get bits of other pieces of information about the miracle.

And you know, in John's thing, only John records that the crowd, realizing the miracle that

happened, wants to rise up and have Jesus lead them as an armed force to take back Jerusalem

and to vanquish the pagans and vanquish the Romans.

And so I guess Jesus must be worried that his disciples are getting caught up in all the

crowd and excitement.

And he knows that he is the king, and he knows that he will be the king of a kingdom that embraces

all the world and that embraces cultures and times apart from him.

But the way to that kingship is going to be him dying upon the cross, not leading a popular

uprising against Rome.

And so I guess he gets rid of his disciples, tells them to go on ahead.

He dismisses the crowd, but he compels them.

They don't want to go.

They're saying, no, no, no, no, Jesus, this is where all the action is, you know, so to

speak.

We want to stay here.

And he said, no, no, no, you got to go.

Got to go.

Got to go.

You got to go.

You got to go.

Right?

Compelled them to get into the boat and to go.

And he dismisses the crowd.

And then what does he do?

Verse 46.

And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

This is, I think, the third time in Mark's gospel that shows Jesus praying.

And just as an aside, right?

I mean, this is, I've been thinking about this all week.

If Jesus needed to pray, then I really need to pray.

If Jesus needed to pray, then I really need to pray.

And so do you.

But here now we come to the miracle.

And actually, the first little bit of the miracle might actually make Jesus feel, seem

almost a bit mean.

Because if he knows things and he sends them out and there's going to be a story.

Why did he do that?

Well, anyway, let's look at what happened.

Verse 47.

And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus was alone

on the land.

And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them.

And just sort of pause there.

I know it's still up on the screen.

Painfully is a really good word.

The original word in the original language is with torment.

They were in torment rowing.

And if you go all the way through the story, and it's not obvious in the English, you might

even forget that they started out to go to Bethsaida.

So they started to go to Bethsaida.

But the wind is so strong that they don't end up in Bethsaida.

They end up somewhere over here in Gennesaret.

Because that's how powerful the wind and the waves was.

They're going this way.

And it really is strong because it blows them way, way, way, way off course.

And they land in a different place.

And so they're struggling with them painfully, with torment in the original language.

And about the fourth watch of the night, and this is Roman terminology.

So somewhere between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., somewhere in those three hours, that's the fourth watch

of the night.

And Jesus came to them walking on the sea.

He meant to pass by them.

Now, this seems really mean.

And I'm going to circle around.

We're going to talk about it in a moment.

But it's a significant part of the text.

He meant to pass by them.

There they are.

The wind's so strong, it's going to blow them sort of backwards into the side.

So they want to go across the lake this way.

But they end up going across the lake this way.

Because that's how powerful the wind is.

And he meant to pass by them.

But when they saw him, verse 49, walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost.

In the original language, it's phantasm.

I don't know.

I didn't pronounce it correctly.

And it can include anything from a ghost to an evil spirit.

And so they thought it was a ghost and cried out,

for they all saw him and were terrified.

They saw what they thought was a ghost or an evil spirit.

But immediately, Jesus spoke to them and said,

Take heart.

It is I.

Do not be afraid.

And Jesus got into the boat with them.

And the wind ceased.

And they were utterly astounded.

For they did not understand about the loaves.

They did not understand about the loaves.

But their hearts were hardened.

So just a pause there.

And let's think about this miracle.

So first of all, I think this miracle really happened.

But the normal reaction to it is like several types of things.

A fundamental one would be this.

Like I can think of several people that I've had coffee shop,

had conversations with in coffee shops over the years.

And I can picture two of them in particular.

And they would just, they got to the point where they'd be very blunt with me.

And I can just picture either one of them saying,

George, you Christians are so gullible.

Like this is one of many reasons why I can never be a Christian.

George, if this miracle happened, science is impossible.

It defies all the laws of nature.

And if you actually think something like that happened,

then, I mean, George, I don't even know what I can say to you.

Because it's just like, it's just a sign of why Christians,

you kiss your minds goodbye.

You're credulous.

And then some of them might even say,

and George, and not only are you credulous,

but it's even worse because you have double standards.

Like just George, be honest with me.

If I told you that I saw a newspaper account of somebody walking on the water

in some part of the world, would you believe it?

And I'm guessing you wouldn't believe it.

I mean, if you do believe it, then you really are credulous.

But if you don't believe it, then you have a double standard.

You don't believe it when it happens somewhere else,

but you believe it because it happens to Jesus.

Like that's like a double standard.

Like what on earth is going on?

Now, I've never had this conversation,

but I've had conversations with people like this about miracles,

and I know that's what they would say to me.

They can be very blunt.

Sometimes they can be blunt and loud, which gets me red in the face,

not because I'm angry, but because I'm embarrassed.

The whole restaurant, this is back pre-COVID, they all stop.

And you hear the conversation go from ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba to silence,

and they all look at me, and I get red in the face and embarrassed.

But I guess what I'd say to skeptics and people who have problems with this,

I'd say it is because I believe this miracle happened

that I would not believe another account.

It's precisely because I believe this miracle happened

that I wouldn't believe it if I heard a newspaper account

of somebody walking on the water.

I think that's actually what the text wants us to understand.

And so why is it?

Well, first of all, we have to notice that this text,

everything about this text is emphasizing that the miracle actually happened.

That's the first thing, okay?

I mean, it's not a way of going that it's just a metaphor.

It's, you know, because in some ways, you know, I was thinking about it,

this story sounds a little bit like something that Harry Potter could do

or that would happen in a Harry Potter novel.

And so many people would say, well, it's all right to read Harry Potter.

You know, it's fun.

But, I mean, George, like real, you know, if you believe this,

if believing in Harry Potter is really like those people who play Quidditch on the lawn

and actually think they could fly on brooms, like that would be pretty pathetic.

But this miracle emphasizes that it's not like Harry Potter, that it actually happened.

If you think about it for a second, you know, if you think, well,

maybe it was just some type of vision, well, the text already deals with that.

The people in the boat aren't expecting Jesus to walk on the water.

They actually think they're having a vision.

They think they're seeing something like a ghost or some type of apparition.

And the other thing about it is that if you know anything about the Gospels,

earlier on it sets it up that at least four of the Gospels made their living as fishermen.

And they made their living as fishermen on that precise sea.

So they understand boats.

They understand the sea.

They're familiar with it.

It's not as if they go to a body of water that they've never been to before

and they don't know where the sandbars are or anything like that.

No, no, no.

This is their home turf.

This is how they would have been, their dads would have been fishermen

and they would have been in the boat from a very young age

and they would have had the repository.

Oops.

Oh my.

I should have had a lid.

They would, I'm not going to stop.

They should have had a repository.

They'd have a repository of all of the knowledge about the lake.

And so these are people who understand the water

and they would have known that there were no shoals.

And even the way the story is described,

it doesn't describe it the way it would work if there was like a shoal that Jesus is walking on.

Because, you know, how that would work is he's sort of walking on a shoal

and they'd bring the boat, they'd have to bring the boat close to him,

but they don't bring the boat close to him.

He comes to them.

And if you were actually on a shoal and the water sort of, you know,

even if it's a very, very sudden drop,

Jesus would sort of have to unceremoniously jump into the boat,

not just sort of walk into the boat.

And so it's all set up in such a way that,

and on top of that, it's all in the historical language.

And as I shared last week,

the flow of the story is you go right from a story which is historical,

which has Josephus and non-Christian historians have talked about the same types of incidents.

You go right from there to the 5,000 to this,

and it's all the same historical language.

Everything in the story is trying to emphasize that this actually really happened.

So, why is this not like a double standard?

And how on earth could you believe in science and the laws of nature

and still believe in a miracle like this?

Well, here's partly what's going on in the text.

This is a text about God, the creator of all things,

revealing himself to his disciples.

If you go back, if you could put the scripture text back up for a second,

if you go back up to verse 48.

About the fourth watch of the night,

he came to them walking on the sea.

He meant to pass by them.

Now, we tend to read that thinking,

oh, he's sort of mean.

Like, why would he mean to pass by them?

But what it actually says he meant, to pass by them,

and the language passed by them is word for word exactly the same

as the times in the Old Testament,

what we call the Old Testament,

our Jewish friends call the T'ak,

where there's two times in the Old Testament

where God reveals himself,

or at least like his back, so to speak,

to Moses and to Elijah.

And in both of those stories, he passes by them,

and he uses the exact same language,

that God reveals just the tiniest bit of his glory,

his back to them, by passing by them.

And that's exactly the language which is used by here.

So in other words, Jesus is using this as an opportunity

to pass by them,

to reveal himself as God to the disciples.

And on top of that,

the very words that he uses

are also words found in places like the Book of Job

and other places in what we call the Old Testament

and our Jewish friends call the T'ak,

where it actually describes God walking on the water.

And that's exactly the type of language which is used here.

And the other thing is that this particular story

is encapsulating a whole range of biblical stories

in biblical texts like, you know, the trees clap their hands

and, you know, the heavens declare the glory of God

and, you know, that all creation praises God

and all of this type of language

that implies that we can't hear

the trees praising God

and the mountains praising God

and the ocean praising God

and the stars praising God.

But the Bible says it's that.

And it's almost as if...

So here we have that Jesus is going to reveal himself as God

to his disciples by passing in front of them with his glory.

And he uses the thing that only God can do.

Only God can walk on the water.

And it's almost bringing to fruition

and bringing to a highlight

and bringing to an image

all of this other language

about creation serving Christ God

and praising God.

And it's almost as if

for a brief moment

Jesus allows the ocean

and the sea to do

what it longs to do

which is to praise him.

And it's almost as if

he's allowing the sea

to all of a sudden become

just where he's walking

a place that will hold him up

and bear him up

and praise him in such a way

as he walks upon the sea

because only God can walk upon the sea.

You see, here's the difference

between...

This is why it's not doing anything

that undermines science.

God is not under or bound

by the laws of nature.

God is not under or bound

by the laws of nature.

And what the Bible reveals is this.

is the one who made

the laws of nature

is the same one

who sustains the laws of nature.

And only he can suspend

the laws of nature

for a short time

to reveal himself.

See, it's a very, very different thing.

He's created the laws.

He's created all things

so all of the laws of nature

are his creation.

They don't bind him.

He's created them.

And all of creation

is sustained by him

so he sustains the law of nature.

And it's only the one

who has made the laws

and sustained the law

that can, in a sense,

pause one or two laws

for a very brief instant

to reveal that he, in fact,

is God coming to visit

his creation.

You see,

there's lots of tales

in the Hindu

and Buddhist tradition

that if you become

very, very, very holy,

you can levitate.

You see,

if that's true,

then the laws of nature

really don't work.

And in fact,

actually,

those tales

are really trying

to paint a picture

of something

which is very, very

completely the opposite

of what the Bible

is trying to do.

Because in those systems

of thought,

the idea is that

ultimately,

the idea of matter

and the world

are ultimately

an illusion.

And that what you need

to do is you need

to develop your own

spirit and mind

and God consciousness.

And if you develop that,

usually in ways

by treating your body

really, really,

really terribly,

that if you do that

and ascend and ascend

and ascend

into the power

of your mind,

that then you can do

whatever you want.

Those of you

who've seen the movie

The Matrix,

The Matrix presents,

in a sense,

the heart of that

Buddhist Hindu worldview.

That at the end

of the movie,

when all of a sudden

Neo finally sees through

and pierces the reality

to realize that

it's just a machine

and it's just code

and all of a sudden

he can just take

the lines of code

and he can do with them

whatever he wants

and he can do

whatever he wants

because he's pierced

the veil and to see

that none of it's real

and that all there is

is his mind

and he can do things

and in a world

like The Matrix,

you couldn't have

anything like science

because ultimately

the world is just

an illusion

and the enlightened mind

can just do

whatever it wants.

But this particular text

is communicating to us

as all of the biblical worldview

is that the world

is a creation

of a good,

is a good,

was originally

a good creation

that human beings

are made

to have bodies

to in a sense

be an embodied soul

or another way

to look at it

would be

an ensouled body

and that that's how

God created us to be,

to be a unity

and a harmony

of the soul

and the body

to be one

and God designed us

to do that

and it's,

it's not an illusion

to think

that a sunset

is beautiful

and it's not a matter

of trying to pierce

through things

to see

because there's been

some profound tragedy

by which we believe

the created world

has come to exist.

If you could put up

the first point,

this is the same point

that I shared last week

and it's very significant

that this miracle

happens just after

the feeding of the 5,000.

I'll say the point

and then I'll explain it.

The strong hand of love

that made the world

is the same

strong hand of love

that sustains the world

is the same

strong hand of love

that was nailed

to the cross

to redeem

his fallen world

and it's the same

strong hand of love

that will beckon

and welcome

his redeemed children

into the new heaven

and the new earth.

See,

the,

the,

the,

if you look at

these two miracles

in the context

of this one story

of the gospel,

one of the things

we looked at last week

with the feeding

of the 5,000

is in the feeding

of the 5,000

you see that Jesus

is revealed as God,

that it's,

that the creator

has come

and dwelt

amongst his creation

and we,

you,

you,

you have this,

this understanding

from the Bible

that God created

all things out of nothing

in a sense

that by his hand

he created all things

out of nothing

and,

and you also see

that even though

after we sinned

and fell

that there was

this,

this promise

that the same God

who created all things

will now,

even now,

sustain a world

that,

that human beings

have brought evil

into it

and dissolution

into it

and,

and,

and we have

this sense

that,

that,

that when the world

is functioning

properly

that there's this,

the compassion

of the bounty

that we understand

that a garden

that produces

lots of tomatoes

and zucchini

and,

and flowers

is,

is the way

things should be

and,

and,

and one that brings

nothing whatsoever

is,

is,

is,

is the way

that the,

that we just realize

and,

and,

and understand

that that's not right

and so we see

in the miracle

last week

we see of the,

the,

this,

we have to sort of

take it by faith

that God made

all things out of nothing

but when you read

that story

you're actually seeing

Jesus making

something out of nothing

and what he makes

out of nothing

is bread to eat

and so what you get

this sense of

is that every time

we have a harvest

and there's lots

of tomatoes

and lots of zucchinis

and lots of cilantro

and lots of potatoes

and,

and we enjoy

all of that bounty

and,

and,

and we see

that the same

strong hand of love

that created the world

is the one that,

that gives you that food

and we see it all

enacted in the miracle

of the 5,000

and then at the end

of the story

we're going to see

that exact same

strong,

strong hand of love

nailed to the cross

to redeem

fallen humanity

and in between that

we see this particular story

and for a very,

very brief moment

not only do we see

God revealed

because only God

can walk on the water

we also get

a brief moment

a sense of what

the new heaven

and the new earth

will be

that in the new heaven

and the new earth

there will be

a relationship

of us

to the created world

well this just gives

a bit of a hint

of it

you know the Bible

says that when we

see Jesus

we will be like him

and there's still water

there's still waves

he still has a body

but he walks on it

and it's a very,

very brief glimpse

of the future

the strong hand of love

that made the world

is the same strong hand

of love

that sustains the world

is the same strong hand

of love

that was nailed

to the cross

to redeem

his fallen world

and is the same strong hand

of love

that will beckon

and welcome

his redeemed children

into the new heaven

and the new earth

you see this is part

of what

why

as you enter

into the Christian faith

there's a very

there's at a very deep level

as it starts to form you

there's a beauty

and a coherence

about it

that is found

nowhere else

not in Buddhism

or Hinduism

with all due respect

not in Islam

with all due respect

not in the different

secular

and other speculative

philosophies

of the west

or the east

you will not find them

and even

you know

with all due respect

even in Canada

we live with incoherences

like

how did things

you know

things came to be

by chance

and then by the strong

eating the weak

but how do you go

from saying

everything that exists

comes about by chance

and by the strong

eating the weak

therefore love one another

well

that doesn't make any sense

like that doesn't make any sense

that's incoherent

and how is it

that we

we believe

that we're all

going to go to

a better place

when we die

and that place

that we're going to go to

which is better

when we die

is some type of

either a spiritual place

where we sort of

become all part of nature

but if we're all

going to automatically

go to a better place

when we die

therefore love one another

well one moment

how does that make any

like how does that

make any sense

like that doesn't

make any sense

and on one hand

if our bodies

are just a result

of the fact

that of an evolutionary

process

that begins

with chance

and the strong

eating the weak

that means like

our bodies

are just a result

of chance

and somehow

we just

we had

hungrier

bigger forebears

that eight

weaker forebears

that were the

that's

that's my heritage

but if I'm going to

just go to a place

which is

ultimately

my destiny

is to be

completely

and utterly

disembodied

and just

either

floating in

some place

with

that's just

pure spirit

or somehow

mingled with it

then

okay well

what does that

say about

how I live

or treat

my body

but there's

this very

very very

deep coherence

in the Christian

faith

that

the strong

hand of love

made the world

and the strong

hand of love

made human beings

to bear the image

of God

and to have

an inherent

dignity

and worth

and value

like he

God

chose

to create

human beings

and God

the same

strong hand

of love

is the

is the

strong hand

of love

that sustains

all things

and

and the same

strong hand

of love

is the one

that redeems

all things

and the same

strong hand

of love

is the one

that's going

to bring us

to the new

heaven

and the new

earth

and so

there's this

very very

deep coherence

we were

made in God's

image

we were made

to have

communion

and fellowship

with him

he sustains

us

even when

we're rebels

he deals

with all

that separates

us from you

from God

so that we

could be made

right with God

and at the end

that same

strong hand

of love

is going

to welcome

us

to be

with him

forever

and if

God

if Jesus

is revealed

as God

when he

feeds the

5,000

he's revealed

as God

when he

walks on the

water

you see

that's the

only possible

way

that you

and I

can have

any type

of hope

because

it's only

if it's

God

who dies

on the

cross

as a

sacrifice

that that

sacrifice

can possibly

count for

every human

being that

receives it

I mean if it's

just me

I don't

I mean the other

day it would

just be me

dying for me

maybe I could

die as a

sacrifice for

my family

or my

grandkids

or you

or something

like that

let the

terrorists

let them

all go

take me

instead

but people

puzzle over

how it is

that one

man's death

could cover

for them

all these

years later

and the

same death

could cover

for people

in Singapore

and people

in Rwanda

and people

in France

and people

in Russia

and how that

one death

could cover

well that

can only

happen if

it's God

who dies

on the cross

and that's

what the

Bible is

revealing

with these

powerful

stories

and just

sort of

in closing

the final

point

if you

could put

it up

that would

be wonderful

and this

is where

we start

to begin

to have

an image

or a hope

to try

to steer

away

between

idolizing

our bodies

or tormenting

and denying

and hurting

our bodies

in Christ

your destiny

is to be

resurrected

body and

soul

and to

dwell

in the

new heaven

and earth

with Christ

in his

kingdom

that's your

destiny

I mean

that's one

of the things

this miracle

shows

if we are

going to be

like Christ

when we

see him

and we

see that

Jesus had

this body

that walks

on water

and the

water is

real

but he

walks on

water

we're

not

eventually

going to

just be

disembodied

minds

or

nowadays

disembodied

emotions

somehow

existing

in some

other plane

with no

body

and no

connection

to this

world

that's

not your

destiny

in Christ

your

destiny

in Christ

is

resurrected

body

and soul

and you're

going to

dwell

in a

new

heaven

and a

new

earth

you're

going to

dwell

with

Christ

and you're

going to

dwell

with him

in his

kingdom

and the

ability to

do that

isn't because

you kept

a really

really good

lent

it's not

because you

really

really

really

really

were good

at

subjugating

your body

or starving

your body

or doing

anything

like that

it's all

because of

what he did

for us

on the

cross

and

it's

fine

I mean

obviously

I mean

I'm not

happy with

my body

I have

dimples

where it's

not cute

you know

bulges

and sags

and all

that type

of stuff

and it

doesn't mean

you have

to idolize

your body

or love

your body

there's a

different way

there's a

different path

your body

is important

and the

story ends

with Jesus

healing

and as

you get

as you're

gripped by

the gospel

the part

of the body

is that

the gospel

will teach us

not to idolize

our bodies

as if they're

somehow

you know

I know

of one person

who wanted

euthanasia

because she

could no

longer

I'm not

making this

up

she could

no longer

put on

her makeup

and do

her hair

and she

couldn't bear

not looking

beautiful

because she

had been

a beautiful

woman

or thought

she was

and idolized

her body

and her looks

all her life

and to begin

to lose

that

it's not

even worth

living

but that's

such a trap

isn't it

and so

narcissistic

how do you

love others

if you have

to idolize

your body

and worship

it

and have

your body

worshipped

by others

and it's

as if

like she's

almost as if

in this story

she encapsulates

the problem

with the modern

world

if she

can't idolize

her body

she wants

her body

killed

killed

and in the

midst of this

the gospel

just provides

this picture

of sanity

your body

your body's

good

treat it

well

befriend it

some of you

have been

blessed with

really

good bodies

some of us

have been

blessed but

not with

having good

bodies

and if you

live long

enough

everybody

gets

wrinkles

where

dimples

where it's

not cute

or attractive

but the

option isn't

it's always

a matter

of the

body's

a gift

you're

you are

you are

meant to

be embodied

your destiny

is to be

healed

healed

healed

in Christ

and so

love your

body

care for

it

don't

despise

it

it's not

a sign

of holiness

to treat

it terribly

it's not

a sign

of wisdom

to mutilate

it

castrate

it

disfigure

it

there's a

better place

to get

your identity

and that

identity

is in

Christ

why

yeah yeah

you're

you're

terrible

I thought

you're

far worse

than you

could ever

imagine

but Jesus

knew that

when he

died for

you on

the cross

and you're

far more

loved

and far

more

precious

than even

the greatest

narcissist

could ever

imagine

about

themselves

because

Jesus

loved you

so much

that he

died

for you

and when

he's

finished

saving

you

you will

have a

new

body

and a

new

soul

but you're

still you

in the

new

heaven

and the

new

earth

for all

eternity

please

stand

let's

bow our

heads in

prayer

father we

thank you

for the

hope of

glory

and we

thank you

father that

the hope

of glory

isn't

something that

takes us

away from

the world

and that

our bodies

matter and

that other

people

that they

don't matter

or that

the creation

doesn't matter

father we

give you

thanks and

praise that

you are the

same God

who created

all things

you are the

God the

same one

the same

God who

sustains all

things you

are the

same God

who through

the death

of your

son redeemed

not just

human beings

but will

eventually

redeem the

entire

created

order and

you are the

same God

who will

make the

new heaven

and the

new earth

and you

have redeemed

us to be

your children

and your

friends by

adoption and

grace to

live in this

world to

be gripped by

the gospel

to serve you

and to bring

you glory

and father we

ask that you

would so grip us

with these

profound truths

so that we

would be ones

father who

care for the

creation in a

very very deep

way that we

do not despise

it or just

treat it as

plastic or just

treat it as

garbage to do

with as we

wish that we

don't also

idolize it or

make it into a

God but that we

just see it for

what it is

something which

you have

designed for

us to

inhabit in

such a way

that people's

needs are met

and the creation

is honored and

that there's a

flourishing of

human and

created life and

we give you

thanks and

praise that you

have called us

father to a

destiny which is

ours in Christ

where we will

have resurrected

bodies and

souls and a

new heaven and

a new earth

and we ask

father that you

would so grip us

with the gospel

and have it form

us that father

we can learn how

to live with our

bodies except in

those things that

are falling apart

and aren't good

and accepting

those things that

do work good

and and and

just accepting

father who we

are in Christ

taking steps to

improve but take

accepting who we

are content father

learning to be

content to wait

for that glorious

day when we

have those new

bodies and we

live with you and

see you face to

face we ask this

in the name of

Jesus your son

and our

savior amen