Living in Light of Christ's Return

Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would fall with might and power and deep conviction upon each and every one of us as we think about your word.

We ask, Father, that you would bring your word home to us to confront and connect with the real me, the real each one of us in the real world,

so that you might do your work of grace in our lives.

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

So, first of all, if you have been tuning into this service hoping you were going to hear something about Mother's Day, you won't.

We don't really celebrate Mother's Day at Church of the Messiah.

Obviously, we're very pro-women and we're very pro-moms, but we don't do Mother's Day as part of our church service.

I hope each of you are doing whatever you can to honor moms and women wherever you are this morning.

In fact, actually, probably as you were listening to Daniel read the scripture text, you were probably saying that's the weirdest Mother's Day text I've ever heard of,

all about wailing and sorrow and misery and everything like that.

So, one of the things that we do is preach through books of the Bible.

We're going through the book of James, and that means we're going to look at something which people, many, many Canadians,

and to be honest, many Canadian Christians find this idea sort of such a weird idea that they downplay it or never think about it.

But an easy way for the average Canadian to make fun of, I would call us, biblical Christians,

is in fact to make fun of the doctrine of the second coming of Jesus.

I was just seeing something in the Babylon Bee, a satirical organization the other day,

showing a picture of a man looking very confused and perplexed because he was trying to read the book of Revelation

to figure out when Donald Trump would be president again.

And it's very easy for us to make fun of this doctrine, and it seems weird,

and in many ways it seems very, very off-putting.

But this text, you might not have noticed it, the text that we're going to look at today,

at the very heart of it is this idea of the return of Jesus.

In fact, just to walk towards the problem, given, even though that many Canadians think it's a very weird idea,

like, I don't know, is he going to sort of come down like Iron Man out of the sky,

and somehow the whole world's going to see him, and he's going to change everything?

Like, it just sounds sort of kooky and weird and not very attractive.

But the fact is, it's in fact an essential part of the Christian faith.

It's not just a little tiny bit in one part that a group of kooky Christians focus on.

The teaching of the fact that Jesus will one day return is a very important Christian teaching

all the way through the Bible.

Hence, even in James, it shows up.

So let's just look.

In fact, James is going to be very helpful for some of us.

Well, it's going to be helpful for all of us.

But it's going to be helpful because it brings to the fore some of the off-putting aspects to many of us

about the doctrine or the teaching of the second coming of Jesus.

So if you have your own Bibles, turn to James 4, verse 17.

James 4:17

Very helpful if you read along with me.

The verse will show up at the bottom of the screen,

but there's something about having it in your own Bible and being able to look at it,

maybe making notes to help bring it home to you.

It also helps to keep it before you so that you know I'm not playing fast and loose with the Bible.

I just want to try to help us understand it and to have the Bible come.

And at the end of the day, I think the doctrine is so important and so wise

and just so important for each of us that I'm hoping that after I've talked about it a little while,

after we've looked at the text, that even if you're not a Christian and you don't believe it,

that you would wish it was true, that you would wish it was true.

So let's look.

It begins like this.

So whoever knows, chapter 4, verse 17,

so whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

I didn't cover this last week, and it's sort of a very important part for the next bit,

but let's look at the whole idea about the second coming of Christ, just see what's going on,

and then I'm going to come back and we're going to look through all of these texts.

I'm going to explain why it's important and why we need to take it to heart.

The next bit, come now, verse 1 of chapter 5,

come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.

Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.

Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you

and will eat your flesh like fire.

You have laid up treasure in the last days.

And just sort of pause here for a second.

Some of you know a little bit about the Christian faith.

The word for coming here, it's going to occur several times in the text,

is actually the word parousia,

which is actually a technical word in the New Testament for the coming of Jesus.

And so this text very clearly says that the reason in verse 1

that people will be weeping and howling is because Jesus is going to be coming back.

And then, of course, even the reference to the last days.

For Christians, the last days began with the death and resurrection of Jesus.

We all live in the last days, and the last days will end when Jesus returns.

So this is a text talking about the end of all things.

And here we go.

I mean, two types of questions would come with us.

First of all, I think for most people, they'd say,

George, I guess I could believe in the idea of the end of all things,

but shouldn't it be happy?

Like, this sounds like a downer.

Like, not only here, but when we look at verses 4, 5, and 6,

it just sounds depressing.

Like, why should...

Like, George, don't you think the last days, like the end,

shouldn't it be more like a party?

Shouldn't it be happy?

Not something which is described with weeping and howling and misery.

Well, let's continue to look.

Look at verses 4 to 6.

By the way, this theme of unhappiness is going to continue here,

but we'll see that it continues to sort of bring out the importance

or talk about the return of Jesus.

Verse 4.

Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields,

which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you.

And the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

You have lived on earth in luxury and in self-indulgence.

You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

You have condemned and murdered the righteous person.

He does not resist you.

In this particular case, it's once again this idea that we can see that Jesus is aware

of all of these things.

In fact, even the imagery of the Lord of hosts is often...

It's throughout the entire Bible, but it's often very much connected with the idea

of the return of Jesus, that once again, because of the return of Jesus,

there's going to be these consequences for these particular rich people.

And then in verses 7 to 11,

Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.

Here we see this word parousia in the original language,

very clearly connected to the coming of Jesus.

I'll read it again.

Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,

being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.

You also be patient.

Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters,

so that you may not be judged.

Behold, the judge is standing at the door.

Again, this idea of the soon return of Jesus.

As an example of suffering and patience,

brothers and sisters, take the prophets,

who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Behold, we consider those blessed, who remain steadfast.

You have heard of the steadfastness of Job,

and you have seen the purpose of the Lord,

how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

And just pause.

If you're watching this, just sort of out of curiosity,

Job is a whole book in the Old Testament.

I'm not going to sort of go into that in particular.

But once again, you see this.

In fact, for many of you, it looks part of the reason.

So part of the reason we don't like the idea,

the average Canadian doesn't like the idea of the second coming of Jesus,

is first of all, it sounds a bit ridiculous, a bit kooky.

Secondly, it sounds like it's going to be time of misery,

not something which is going to be good.

And the third thing is that to many people,

it makes it sound as if you don't confront the problems of the world.

Like, look how it goes.

It goes from this profound problem of self-indulgence,

of oppression, and of judicial, societal-approved murder,

and then it tells Christians to be patient,

because Jesus is coming back as if you shouldn't do anything about it.

So in many ways, James is perfect.

There are three big problems with it,

the kookiness, the sadness, and the fact that it's not happy,

and the fact that it seems to lead to indifference,

which all seem to be right here in the text.

And then just one final part.

We are going to go back and I'm going to look at it.

I just wanted to bring it out, right?

So we see what's going on here.

But just a final verse.

And just before I read this verse,

because I got my blog in late this week,

you didn't get the blog yesterday.

You'll either get it sometime today or you'll get it tomorrow morning.

But I'm not going to talk at all about this next verse.

I wrote my blog about it.

So if you aren't on our church mailing list,

send us an email, get on our email list,

and you'll get the weekly blog.

And another thing called Growing in Grace,

which I write every week,

includes sort of some teaching on prayer,

some help with good attitudes that will help you in your life,

a memory verse for you to memorize.

So you'll get that if you sign up to the email,

or get on the email list.

And you'll hear about other things like the announcements and stuff.

But I'm not going to talk about this at all in the sermon.

I talk about it in the blog.

But I'll read it.

But above all, my brothers and sisters,

do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath,

but let your yes be yes and your no be no,

so that you may not fall under condemnation.

So what on earth is going on?

It seems to talk as if one day Jesus will return

and the whole world will know that Jesus has returned.

And doesn't that sound a bit kooky, George?

And it doesn't actually sound very appealing.

And you said that you actually think that

if you think about it a little bit more,

you're going to wish it was true,

even if you can't yet believe that it's true.

So what's going on?

And the reason this is such good news,

love wins.

Love wins.

You look at the world right now,

it definitely does not look as if love is winning.

In fact, if you look at most of history,

it doesn't look as if love wins.

In fact, maybe for many of you in your own life,

it definitely does not feel as if love is winning in your life.

In fact, it feels as if everything is winning except love.

But the thing which is so important about this text

is that love wins.

In fact, not only does love win,

love wins, life wins, goodness wins,

justice wins, love wins.

And in fact, if you think about it for a second,

if love wins but life doesn't win,

then how can you even say that love wins?

If love wins but justice doesn't win,

how can you say that love has won?

If justice wins but love doesn't win,

if justice wins but life doesn't win,

how can you say that either life has won?

Like what would it mean to say that life wins

if love and justice and goodness doesn't win?

That actually might be more like hell,

like a terrible version of this earth

where at least there's occasionally some goodness

and occasionally some justice

and occasionally some love along with life.

But this text is telling us in a very, very powerful way.

That's part of the importance of the doctrine

of the return of Jesus is that love wins.

And it's not just that love wins,

but love wins, life wins, goodness wins, justice wins,

and they win in such a way that each are at peace

and make each other whole.

They're whole in themselves,

and together they're even more whole.

That's what the Bible is teaching.

And only in the Gospels you get this taught about

in a very, very coherent way

that this is actually not just like a story of the tooth fairy.

It's not like the Easter bunny.

It's not like Santa Claus,

that this is real.

This is true.

This is something that you can stake your life on,

that you can base your life on,

that you can begin to look at the world

in light of the fact that this is true.

And why do we say that?

It's because of Jesus.

It's because of Jesus.

Only the Christian faith has a doctrine of God

that actually can make sense of love,

that from all eternity the Father has loved the Son

and the Son has loved the Father.

The Holy Spirit is both loving the Father

and loving the Son,

and is in fact almost the love itself

between himself, between the Father and the Son.

Every other God,

whether it's just that everything is God,

which has to include hatred,

it has to include evil,

and how can that be love?

And if God is everything,

that has to include the opposite of love.

And if there's only a singular God,

like the God of Islam,

then if there is any love in God,

then it meant he has need love.

And we all know if we meet somebody

who just seems to be really needy,

have this huge need love,

we stay away from them most of the time

because we don't want to get sucked

into this unending,

you know,

this unending need for love.

And that's what happens

if you only have a solitary God.

And yet,

what the Christian Bible teaches

and what Jesus has revealed

with absolute clarity

is that from all eternity

the Father has loved the Son,

the Son has loved the Father,

the Holy Spirit loves the Father

and the Son,

the Holy Spirit is love,

he is love.

And out of love,

Jesus sets aside God,

the Son of God,

sets aside his glory and prerogatives,

he takes on human flesh,

and out of love,

he lives amongst us

a fully human life,

out of love,

he dies on the cross for us,

out of love,

he takes upon himself

all of the shame,

all of the accusations

that can be against you,

in a sense,

all of the things

that make you anxious,

all of the things

that make you feel needy,

all of the things

that you are guilty about,

he takes them upon himself,

the demands that other people

make upon you

that you cannot pay,

he pays that demand,

he takes upon himself

that punishment,

he takes all there is to taste

out of death for you,

knowing that you cannot

taste all there is

to taste of death,

you cannot taste

God's judgment for yourself,

it will unmake you,

and so out of love for you,

and out of love for me,

he dies on the cross,

and out of love for you,

he exchanges his destiny

for your doom,

so that you are clothed

with his perfect ability

to love the Father,

and to love the Holy Spirit,

and to be loved,

and that becomes yours

in him when you put your faith

and trust in him,

and this same Jesus

who died

and tasted all there is

to taste of death,

who experiences God's judgment,

is the same one

who rises from the dead

and defeats death,

and he is the same one

who will return,

so when he returns,

who returns?

Love returns,

life returns,

goodness returns,

justice returns,

and they return to win,

the end of the story

is that love wins,

the end of the story,

life wins,

the end of the story,

justice wins,

goodness wins,

truth wins,

Jesus is the way,

the truth,

and the life,

and that who is returns,

and that is

the end of the story.

Now, some of you might say,

George,

it's very hard to look

at the world

and think that all of this

could come to an end.

In fact,

those of you

who might not know much,

our office is

in the Gay Village,

it's in Centre Town

of Ottawa,

and I was here

in the office yesterday

working on my sermon,

trying to get it

sort of finished,

and several times

I went out for a bit

of a walk

along Bank Street,

sometimes I get

sort of stuck,

and a walk really helps.

And I, you know,

I'm walking along,

and I realize

I'm going to be

talking about this,

and I realize,

you know,

it's hard,

it's just so easy

to see how people

have a hard time

believing in the

second coming of Jesus,

because it's hard

to walk down Bank Street,

and we're not far

from the Parliament

buildings,

and it's hard

to walk down

this street

and think that

this could all

come to an end.

In fact,

the matter is,

is that we do

think about it

coming to an end,

but when we think

about it coming

to an end

in our culture,

it's always the death

and evil winds.

I mean,

you go on Netflix,

you go on Amazon Prime,

you go on Apple TV,

probably go on Crave,

or all of those ones,

and you will effortlessly

find shows about

the end of the world.

You will effortlessly

see worlds,

movies or TV series

about asteroids

hitting the earth

or some ecological crisis

or,

I don't know,

some virus invented

in a lab somewhere

that gets unleashed

in the world

and ends up

killing everybody.

And in all of those cases,

there's evil

and there's death,

but it's very interesting,

even in the bleakest

of these movies,

none of them end

with just

the final parting scene

of everything dead.

It always ends

with a spaceship

and a couple

who are out,

who are going

with the hope

of some type

of future,

of a small number

of people

in Greenland

that survived

the asteroid hitting

so that there's

the beginning

of some type

of a rebuilding

of the earth

because there's

something about us

human beings

that it is essential

for us.

We cannot live

without hope

and that many

of us,

many of you,

we live in seasons

of despair,

we live in seasons

of hopelessness,

but we hope

against hope,

we hope against

appearances,

we long that there

be a return

to us of some

type of hope,

a hope that we

will be loved,

a hope that we

will be accepted,

a hope that there

can be a reunification

of our family

or of a righting

of wrongs

or of whatever

it is,

but we need hope.

And so even Hollywood

and all of its

bleakest and even

our best story writers

and poets and all

of their bleakest,

there has to be

some type of hope

at the end

because in our bones

we do not believe,

we don't,

you know,

science tells us

death is the end.

That's the scientific

truth.

Scientifically,

it will all end

in death.

But in our hearts

we know there must

be hope.

You see,

that's why I say

to you,

some of you might

say,

George,

I don't know

about the death

and resurrection

of Jesus

and I don't know

about his return

but I sure hope

that's true.

Because it would

sure be good

if in fact

our longing

for hope

and a longing

for truth

and goodness

and love

and life

and justice

and mercy

finally winning

that that's

actually true.

And that's in fact

what the gospel

proclaims

and that's in fact

the context

within which

the book of James

is talking about this.

in fact

if you think

about this

that what

the Bible

is saying

is because

Jesus lived

in history

and he didn't

just live

in history

and then die

in history

and rise

from dead

in history

but he died

in the context

of what our

Jewish friends

call the Tanakh

or the Torah

and we Christians

call the Old Testament

a series of 39 books

of unparalleled

wisdom

and insight

and beauty

an unparalleled

repository

and teaching

about justice

and how to treat people

and the dignity

of human beings

and the foundation

of human rights

all of that

is in this story

and it is in the context

of this story

that Jesus lives

that he dies

that he rises

and he will come again

and it is a deep story

not just in historical truth

but in the context

of deep and profound meaning

and a meaning

potentially

for you

so in light of that

let's look again

at what James

is saying to us

about how to live

wisely

how to live

the good life

the beautiful life

let's look again

let's go back

to verse 417

we'll go through

this very quickly

but let's look again

at chapter 4

verse 17

so whoever knows

the right thing to do

and fails to do it

for him

or for her

it is sin

so

just think about it

for a second

if it is the case

that love wins

if it in fact

is the case

that love wins

that the good life

the beautiful life

has to be more

than just

following rules

and not

breaking rules

you see

for so many things

for so many religions

so many spiritualities

it's all about

following certain rules

and keeping certain

types of rituals

but if we understand

that in fact

love wins

that we were made

for love

that the end

of our life

can be in fact

finally being

immersed

in love

and dwelling

in love

in an everlasting way

then we know

that this side

of the grave

the beautiful life

the good life

the loving life

is always going

to be more

than just

not breaking rules

because you see

that's exactly

how it is

it's not just

a matter of the fact

that the mom

goes out

throughout the day

and says

it's been a good day

I love my kids

I only slapped them

three times

or I didn't slap

them once

no

a good mom

a loving mom

she anticipates

their needs

she hugs them

and she helps them

they bake cookies

together

they do arts

and crafts

together

they go for walks

they look at nature

they do all of those

types of things

because love

is more than

just making sure

you don't break

certain rules

don't slap my kid

or something like that

when they haven't

done anything wrong

or don't slap my kid

period

or whatever

it's not just

I didn't break

any rules

it's no

love is more

and so that's why

this text is so important

it says that we can be

guilty of sins

of omission

and that these sins

of omission matter

in fact I would say

that three of the

big types of sins

that we are guilty of

of omission

is a failure

to be generous

a failure to forgive

and a failure

to love

a failure

to be generous

a failure

to forgive

and a failure

to love

and that in fact

points us right

to the very next text

it doesn't sort of

go so much about

the failure to love

in the next text

that's going to come up

in the one after that

but there's the failure

of generosity

let's look again

at chapter 5

verses 1 to 3

come now

you rich

weep and howl

for the miseries

that are coming upon you

the parousia

the coming of Jesus

that in this particular case

these particular rich people

the coming of Jesus

is going to lead

to them weeping

I'm going to talk about that

in a moment

it's going to lead to them

howling

for the miseries

that come upon you

verse 2

your riches have rotted

and your garments

are moth eaten

your gold and silver

have corroded

and their corrosion

will be evidence

against you

and will eat your flesh

like fire

you have laid up

treasure

in the last days

in other words

while the last days

are coming

you've been just

hoarding your treasures

what's being talked about

here is the sin

of omission

they've failed

to be generous

the text isn't saying

you see here's the importance

of understanding

the doctrine

of the second coming

if you read

the entire Bible

what does it say

about being in God's presence

in God's presence

there is a fullness

of joy

in God's presence

is an end

of our longings

and yearnings

there will be

a pleasure

a pleasure

that if we were

to experience

it right now

even the tiniest

reflection

or the shadow

of a reflection

if we were to

experience that

in its full heavenly

just that tint

of it

we'd explode

our heads

would explode

our bodies

would explode

in the new heaven

and the new earth

we will have

resurrection bodies

that are actually

fit to experience

a fullness of joy

a fullness of pleasure

so the Bible

isn't against

soft pillows

the Bible

isn't saying

that you should

have no luxury

in your life

because if it was

it would mean

that what Jesus

is coming to bring

makes absolutely

no sense

it would be contradictory

but what we see here

is a complete

and utter failure

of generosity

a complete

and utter failure

of generosity

you know

here's the thing

for us Canadians

I can tell you

this right now

there is always

good reasons

to not be generous

in fact

it would be

very very simple

you go to a coffee shop

I mean when we can

finally sit in them

or you go to a coffee shop

you stand outside

whether it's outside

of Bridgehead

Tim Hortons

or Starbucks

all of them

within a close walk

of here

and you get

talking to people

and you're saying

I was thinking

I'd given $100 away

every single one

of them

effortlessly

like that

can give you

10 reasons

why you shouldn't

be generous

and you could

probably generate

20 reasons yourself

why you shouldn't

be generous

there's always

good reasons

not to be generous

and the second thing

is there's never

enough money

to be generous

I mean you might

have a hard time

believing that

I mean how many

billions did the

gates have to have

before they could

be generous

I mean you know

and you have to

wonder

did they wonder

a little bit

about oh

can I really

be generous

I'd sure like

to hit that

70 billion mark

you know

but the fact

of the matter

is is that

for most of us

there's always

something else

that we could buy

that would really

make our lives

a little bit

more comfortable

or for those

of us who are

a bit more

careful about

the future

we could always

put a little

bit extra

in our TFSA

or a little

bit more

in our RRSP

or a little

bit more

in some type

of a really

healthy environment

and we can

always say

that when we

just hit this

level

then I'll be

generous

when I just

hit this

level

then I'll be

generous

when I just

hit this

level

then I'll be

generous

when I

and it just

it goes on

and on

and on

surveys

regularly show

that no matter

what income

level you are

you think

that if you

could just have

five to ten

thousand dollars

more a year

life would be

just actually

begin to be

comfortable

and you can

think that at

forty at sixty

eighty a hundred

two hundred

thousand dollars

you still think

that you see

the fact the

matter is for

us as Canadians

this text here

is talking about

you and me

I mean here's

another thing

about us as

Canadians and

generosity

none of us

think we're

rich

but I can

I don't bet

but I'd bet

you a hundred

dollars

that for some

of us

if we were

just to all

of a sudden

show everybody

connected to

our congregation

what we make

after we've

said that we're

not rich

a big part

of us would

go oh yeah

that's so rich

you are so

rich

and we might

you know some

of us at the

lower end of the

spectrum are

going yeah yeah

yeah yeah

you think you're

not rich

whoa you are

rich like this

text is talking

about you

but the fact

of the matter

is I've been

to Africa

haven't been all

over the world

but I've been

to Africa

I've been

Angola

I've been

in Kenya

and let me

tell you

there is a

large section

of people

in Kenya

and Angola

that for

almost every

single one

of us

if they could

see the

houses we

have

the benefits

we have

the streets

that we live

in the cars

that we drive

the money

that we spend

the food

we can buy

they're going

to say

yeah yeah

yeah yeah

you don't

think you're

rich

you're so

rich

and yet

there's always

a good reason

ever to be

generous

and there's

always

this feels

as if

there's never

enough money

to be

generous

and yet

we listen

to this

text

you see

love wins

Jesus will

return

and what

matters

well at the

end of the

day

the end

of the day

listen

none of us

can be

generous

enough

none of us

can out

give God

like none

of us can

I can't

and the fact

of the matter

is

I'll share

with you

this really

really fantastic

Bible text

for you know

the grace

of our Lord

if you want

to get it

later on

and memorize

it it's not

going to be

on your

screen

it's

2nd

Corinthians

8-9

2nd

Corinthians

8-9

for you

know

the grace

of our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

that though

he was

rich

yet for

your

sake

he

became

poor

so that

you

by his

poverty

might

become

rich

isn't that

a wonderful

text

help you

understand

the gospel

you know

it's partially

picturing that

if every

time you

break a

moral rule

against another

person

or break

a rule

do something

that damages

the creation

or do

something

that's against

God

in a sense

if you

could put

a monetary

value

to that

at some

point in

time

you

which is

by the way

a very

Canadian

thing

to think

about

you know

if there's

been injustice

in the past

let's give

money to it

right

we can all

relate to that

can't we

and so

if you

just think

about that

if every

time you've

done that

okay

I should

have cut

in

maybe

$100

will make

the person

feel not

mad at

me anymore

if I can

just

send it

to their

account

and I

butt in

line

I was rude

to the

barista

or inattentive

to my

wife

you know

ka-ching

ka-ching

ka-ching

ka-ching

ka-ching

ka-ching

and before

we know it

to our

horror

we might

think

I don't

know

if you

added up

all the

stuff

I had

to owe

and never

paid

I know

it's a

couple

hundred

thousand

dollars

or something

like that

you know

no big

deal

I'll get

to it

someday

but God

said

no no

those

ka-chings

ka-chings

ka-chings

ka-chings

ka-chings

buddy

you're

you know

you're

at the

ten billion

mark

right now

in terms

of your

debts

and so

what in a

sense

you see

in the

gospel

is this

idea

that Jesus

who is

completely

not really

rich

he becomes

poor

listen to it

again

for you know

the grace

of our

Lord Jesus

Christ

that though

he was

rich

yet for

your

sake

he became

poor

so that

you by

his

poverty

might become

rich

because you

see that's

the heart

of the

gospel

is that

not only

in a

sense

does

Jesus

pay off

all those

ka-chings

ka-chings

ka-chings

but then

he gives

you his

amex

card

he pays

off the

debt

and he

gives you

his

riches

and he

does it

why

because

you

you

you

only owe

ten

billion

dollars

rather than

the really

bad

person

down

the

street

who

owns

fourteen

billion

no

he does

it

because he

loves

you

he does

it

because he

loves

you

and he

knows you

can't pay

it back

that you

can never

pay it

don't even

talk about

paying it

forward

you can't

pay it

back

it's a

type of

arrogance

to think we

can live

our lives

paying forward

when we

can't even

pay it

back

Jesus

pays it

back

you see

as the

gospel grips

you

now here

just a bit

of a

time out

I'm

going to

talk for

those of

you who

are just

trying to

out by

Christianity

you know

whatever

time out

here

just a

note to

Christians

I mean

on one

level

every single

human being

is made

to be

generous

you know

we were

made to

be fruitful

and that

means to

be fruitful

that there's

lots to

give

and giving

is the

highest form

of living

that's

very very

true

but I'm

going to

talk now

specifically

for those

of us

who are

Christians

if you

aren't a

Christian

I want to

tell you

this right

now

I don't

want you

to ever

give us

a penny

at the end

of the

service

I'll say

it right

if you're

having a

hard time

with COVID-19

if there's

some way

we can

help you

let us

know

we will

do what

we can

to try

to help

you

but we'd

rather

you never

gave us

any money

why

because

Jesus

doesn't

care

about

your

money

he died

for

you

not

for

your

money

we just

want to

lift him

high

but for

Christians

there is

this very

very profound

call to

be generous

and that's

the sin

of omission

the Bible

isn't saying

you should

be miserable

in fact

a very good

Christian rule

of thumb

here I'm

talking to

Christians

is save

10%

because you

need to

prepare for

your retirement

for other

things so

your debt

doesn't

overwhelm you

and money

doesn't

overwhelm you

save 10%

give 10%

away

with the

other 80%

have fun

be moral

but have fun

if you like

a Harley

buy a Harley

you know

you like

fancy

sunglasses

buy the

fancy

sunglasses

save 10%

give 10%

and give

10%

means give

to the

local

church

where

Jesus

is

lifted

high

where

compassionate

work

for the

poor

can also

potentially

be done

where the

gospel

can be

spread

around

the

earth

give

to the

poor

but move

towards

tithing

tithing

is a rule

of thumb

because if

we say

how much

is generous

is generous

you know

that I'm

bringing

home

$10,000

a month

and I

give

25 cents

to the

bum

and

$2

to

Chio

when they

ask me

at

Costco

no

we need

a rule

of thumb

in the

Bible

the

tithe

is a

rule

of thumb

move

towards

tithing

move

towards

generosity

why

Jesus

we are

being

prepared

to spend

eternity

where we

will be

constantly

generous

and

constantly

overwhelmed

with the

generosity

of God

generosity

wins

some of

you might

say

George

why is

there

all

this

weeping

and all

that

doesn't

that seem

to go

against

what you

said

no

it doesn't

go against

it at

all

in fact

actually

here's

the big

problem

that most

most Canadians

don't realize

they have a

problem

when they

think about

these

things

you see

most Canadians

believe

I think

that it would

be really

good if

love won

that in fact

love is

very important

we'd all

easily sing

all you need

is love

love

love

love

love

all you

need

is love

it's a

very very

powerful

thing that

Canadians

intuitively

understand

but here's

the problem

that Canadians

don't understand

there's no

love without

freedom

there is no

love without

freedom

I mean

imagine

that one

of you

you have

your best

friend

and they

meet the

guy of

their dreams

but then a

week before

your best

friend is to

marry the

guy of her

dreams

you happen

to overhear a

conversation

and you

realize that

the only

reason the

guy is

marrying the

woman is

that there's

this rich

guy just

playing games

with the

guy's head

and he's

going to

give this

guy 10

million

to marry

the woman

he's not

loving her

because he

loves her

out of

freedom

he's in

fact just

using her

he's in

love with

money

and he's

just doing

this not

because he

loves the

woman but

just and

wouldn't you

instantly tell

your friend

I mean you'd

be heartbroken

you'd be both

furious

depending on

your temperament

you might want

to pound

the guy

and you'd

be crushed

and heartbroken

about revealing

it to your

best friend

but your

best friend

wouldn't marry

the person

unless they

did it in a

cynical way

to marry

them make

sure they

got the

money and

then divorce

them and

get half

of it or

something like

that but

you'd see that

the love

dies right

and so what

this is just

saying is it's

going back to

what we've talked

about in other

types of things

you know for us

human beings

I have to watch

my time we're

just going to

talk about the

injustice very

very briefly and

then one other

final thing but

see what it

is you know

there's I don't

know if it's

true or not but

there's an old

story about one

of the ways to

capture a monkey

was that you

you get a jar

a bottle and

you put a nut

in it and

the monkey can

get his hand

into the jar

to grab the

nut but the

monkey can't

get the hand

keep the

keep the nut

in its hand

and get his

hand out of the

jar and that's

how you can

capture a monkey

and that's the

fact of the matter

that's the profound

problem that we

Canadians have

we say listen

I'd love to

have love wins

but I can't

give up I

can't give up

I need to

have this money

I need to

have this

position I

need to have

this type of

sexual expression

or experience

I need to

have these

views on

politics I

need to have

these views on

race I need

to have this

type of a

feedback I

need to be

able to have

this wife or

control my

kids or do