Acting Like A god or goddess

Father, we ask that you would pour the Holy Spirit out upon us at this time as we think upon your Word.

I ask that you would pour the Holy Spirit upon me, that I not only be a hearer of the Word, but a doer of your Word.

And Father, for myself and for all who are listening and entering into worship,

I ask, Father, I give, we give an unconditional permission and invitation for your Word

to speak into our hearts and rule into our hearts.

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

I'm so programmed, I want to say please be seated as if we're all together in the same place

and you've all been standing because of the creed.

The Bible text that Matt read today, it's too bad that it's just a really obscure, irrelevant topic.

I mean, all it does is talk about the problem of being judgmental, the problem of arrogance,

the problem of arrogant planning, injustice and oppression by the rich.

So it has actually nothing to say about anything that's going on in the world today or your life.

Obviously, I'm joking.

But some of you, if you listened to the text at all when Matt was reading it,

if you were paying any attention to it,

you might come back and say, George, first of all, it's a little bit interesting to us,

especially if you're entering into this today as a bit of a seeker,

or maybe you've been burned out by religion,

by some type of form of the Christian faith or some other religion.

And so you watch this.

There we go.

You watch this and you think, well, George,

it's sort of interesting to discover that the Bible condemns people for being judgmental.

But, George, don't you agree that most Christians are very, very judgmental?

In fact, that that's a common experience that I've had

and many people have had when they meet Christians,

that they're very, very judgmental.

So I guess all I can say now, George, is not only are they judgmental,

they're hypocritical because they go against what their own book tells them to do.

But I don't know, like, George, you know,

so it's good to know that the Bible text is against being judgmental and all that.

But you know what it talked about in terms of planning and all?

Like, that just sounds completely absurd,

as if you should just, you know, not make any plans about the future.

It just sort of says, I don't know, do nothing.

That doesn't seem to be very helpful.

And then I guess for some of you, if you were listening to it,

for those of you who are more left-wing and vote NDP,

you're going, yay, about what the Bible says about judgment,

about the rich and all of that.

But for those who are more conservative, you're going, boo,

it sounds like it's a sort of a socialist text and anti-capitalist.

So sort of what's going on?

So here's a little bit of a thing to try to sort of figure out

what's going on with the text.

I'm going to say you're not going to be surprised by this

because I'm a Christian.

And I think the Bible here gives very profound advice

worth meditating upon in all of these different areas

that it talks about.

And in fact has, well, here's the thing about your comment.

I'm not going to deny that many Christians are judgmental.

I'm not going to deny that.

And if some of you who are watching this have had experience

of me being judgmental, that might very well be the case.

I'm not going to say I'm perfect in these areas.

And I just would like to say I'd like to apologize to you.

But there's a bit of a riddle here about how Canadians think

about being judgmental.

Like before, in some ways, it's actually a bit judgmental to say

that Christians are judgmental, if you think about it for a second.

Like in a bit of a paradoxical or ironic thing,

if you're saying Christians are judgmental,

that sounds a bit judgmental.

But I'm not going to complain about that.

I'm not going to take the victim role.

I'm actually going to say that we Canadians are actually very confused

about the issue and don't realize it.

And I'll just give you two sort of things.

On one hand, we say you should never be judgmental.

That's true.

But on the other hand, what it doesn't actually address

is how do you have moral confrontation,

a moral confrontation which is valid.

So in other words, if you were to hear that a teenager,

for instance, his parents catch him lying

and the parents confront him about lying.

And then you hear the teenager respond,

you guys are so judgmental.

Well, I mean, depending on the nature of the lie,

you might say, well, one moment here,

like did you lie?

And did you lie about things who are really important?

Like, so is that actually being judgmental

to capture somebody who's lying about something

which is very important?

Or maybe a better example,

if, you know, over coffee,

you find out that a woman has found out

that her husband has had an affair

and she confronts him about it

and he said, you're so judgmental.

Well, how many of you would back the husband

in that particular thing?

So if you think about it for a second,

there's a bit of an issue about how do we actually

figure out both how,

I mean, we all sort of have a sense

that there's two things that both have to be true,

but in fact, we Canadians don't really know

how to figure it out

other than just I decide this,

I decide this is judgmental

and I decide this is valid.

But one moment, I mean, in the case,

the husband and the wife are both making decisions

and they're obviously disagreeing.

Like, how do you figure out

how to have a valid moral confrontation

and at the same time,

accept that there is, in fact,

something called judgmentalism,

which Christians are going to say

with everybody else in Canada,

probably just about everybody else,

that it's wrong to be judgmental.

So how do you actually have to,

how can you deal with that?

Well, believe it or not,

I think that what at first

we might dismiss about the text

is actually uniquely wise

in the world of conversation

about this particular issue.

So let's get our Bibles.

We're going to walk towards it.

We're going to meditate upon the text.

If you're watching this for the first time,

one of the things that we do

at Church of the Messiah,

which is a bit unique

in the Canadian context today,

is that we preach through books of the Bible.

And that means that we get to,

you know, it's not like I felt like

talking about judgmentalism

or anything like that.

We preach through the books of the Bible.

We just look at what is there.

They're written as books.

It's like the smart way to actually,

if you think about it,

it's the smart way to study it.

Because it was written as a book

and we preach through the whole bit.

So let's look at it.

James chapter 4, verses 11 to 12.

James 4:11–12

Now, just one other little bit

of encouragement.

And we're going to show the Bible verse

on the screen as I read.

But it's really helpful

if you have your own Bible with you

for these sections,

especially a paper version of the Bible.

And you can look at the text yourself

and think about it.

The text isn't always going to be on the screen,

or I might go from 11 to 12.

And it's just very helpful.

Because, you see,

we want to help you read the Bible for yourself.

That's what we want you to do.

Like, at the end of the day,

what matters is what the Bible teaches for me.

I'm just sharing with you.

For me, what matters is what the Bible teaches,

not what I say.

I'm under the Bible,

and I'm just trying to help us

to understand and appreciate the Bible.

But at the end of the day,

remembering the Bible is far more important

than remembering anything I say.

Anyway, so just James 4, verses 11 to 12.

James 4:11–12

And just a bit of a context.

Last week, we talked about how, in some ways,

the very heart of the whole book of James

is captured in verses 6 and 10,

which is that God always gives more grace.

God opposes the proud

and gives grace to the humble.

That's verse 6.

And then verse 10,

that's unpacked in verses 7, 8, and 9.

And then verse 10,

it has this wonderful, wonderful text that says,

just make sure you read,

humble yourselves before the Lord,

and he will exalt you.

And immediately from that,

it goes into this topic.

And here's what it says.

Verses 11 and 12.

Do not speak evil against one another,

brothers and sisters.

The one who speaks against a brother

or judges his brother

speaks evil against the law

and judges the law.

But if you judge the law,

you are not a doer of the law,

but a judge.

There is only one lawgiver and judge,

he who is able to save and to destroy.

But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Now, this is a text designed to be meditated upon.

And some of you might say,

okay, George,

I mean, now, you know,

Matt read the text,

and I was listening,

but I didn't really catch it.

I mean, you didn't make me sort of look at the text

as closely as I did when you just read it.

But now that you read it,

actually, George,

don't you think it comes across

as very unhelpful?

Like, doesn't it sound very judgmental?

In fact, like, George,

I actually think that Christianity

is inherently judgmental,

and that you have, like, a problem.

That's one of the reasons I'm not a Christian,

some people would say.

Like, this whole idea about God being a lawgiver

and God being a judge,

able to save and destroy,

like, George, that sounds like,

I mean, I'll just be honest,

that sounds very judgmental.

Like, George, don't you think,

like, the average Canadian would say,

I think, that they could not worship

or believe in a God like this,

a judge who judges.

The average Canadian would say

that they can only believe in a God of love.

And this text doesn't seem to talk

about a God of love.

It seems to talk about a God

who judges,

who is the judge,

and who judges,

and they can't believe in it.

But here's the problem.

To those of you who,

and I can understand it, by the way,

the Bible is often very shocking

and surprising

when you look at it very closely.

But the question is,

is the problem in the text,

and I'm saying, you know,

hopefully you can see a little bit

of my body language,

I'm not against you,

I'm for you,

but is the problem,

I'm trying to say this very gently,

is the problem in the text or in you?

And you'd say,

George,

the text,

the problem is in me.

Well,

just think about it for a second.

Two things that the average Canadian would say.

The average Canadian would say

they cannot believe

in a God like this,

a judge who judges.

I believe in a God of love.

But then it's not unusual

when I've had conversations with people

that one minute later

they say something like this,

I cannot believe

in the God of the Bible

because he does not judge evil.

Whoa,

one second.

You can't believe in a God

who judges

and you can't believe in a God

who doesn't judge evil.

Like,

those two thoughts

don't fit together.

I hate saying this,

I have a big smile,

maybe a little bit

because I'm nervous.

Like,

that's actually incoherent.

It's like asking God

to make you full and hungry

at the same time.

It's like God asking you

to make you so,

fill you so much up with fluid

that you have to go pee

but at the same time

that he makes you thirsty.

Like,

it just doesn't fit together.

And in fact,

actually,

the problem is

not only is it

that most Canadians

don't realize

that they have,

that this is a problem,

they don't even aware

of the fact

that there's a type

of incoherence in them.

And by the way,

a lot of Canadian Christians

are the same way.

Many Canadian Christians

are very bothered

with texts like this

and very,

very bothered

with this whole idea

of God judging

and they're bothered

by the problem of evil.

And for many of us,

we don't realize

that there's a type

of incoherence

within us

when we look

at these things.

So,

how does Christianity

solve this?

Well,

actually,

there's many ways

that Christianity

solves this particular problem

and in fact

maintains that God

is a God of love

and that he's worthy

of worship

and that he judges evil.

But it's,

and it also actually,

this text is actually

extremely wise

about the problem

of judgmentalism.

So,

let's look at,

let's look at the verse again.

It says in verse 11,

do not speak evil

against one another,

brothers and sisters.

The one who speaks

against a brother

or judges his brother

speaks evil

against the law

and judges the law.

But if you judge the law,

you are not a doer

of the law

but a judge.

And here,

this is in a sense

talking about the fact

that there is a real moral order

that really does exist

because there really

is a God

who does exist

who's not an amoral

or an immoral God

but in fact,

all right and wrong

is fundamentally based

on who God is

and God is fundamentally good.

But it says here,

do you notice it?

It's actually here,

the ESV,

last week,

the last two weeks

if you watch these,

I changed one of the verses

that I read

to get around a problem.

It's not a bad problem.

I just,

to try to help

to make sure

you can understand.

Here,

the text is actually

very literal

in terms of what

the Greek says.

Speak against

speak evil

against one another.

Speak evil

against

or speak against

a brother.

Speak evil

against the law.

It's actually being

very, very literal.

So here's the question.

Is God for you

or against you?

Is the triune God

for you

or against you?

So,

what a Christian

would say

is that I have

very good news

and it's not news

that I invented,

it's news that I was told

and the very good news

is this.

Is that God

is the triune God

is for you.

In fact,

the triune God

is for you

vastly more

than you can possibly

ever imagine

or retain.

That's,

in fact,

one of the reasons

why Christians

are to gather

on a weekly basis

and we're to open

the word

and the hope

for every good congregation

should be

that the pastor

always reminds them

of the gospel

is because

this good news

is so good,

it's so beyond

our ability

to imagine

and retain

and go so against

how we are ingrained

to think of the world

that we need to be reminded

of it time and time

and time and time again

for it to begin

to sink in.

But the good news

of the Bible

is that God

is not against you,

God is for you

in a way

vastly beyond

anything you could

ever possibly imagine.

Remember how I began

by that?

The context was

is that God

gives greater grace.

No matter how messed up

or whatever your situation

in life is,

no matter what your history is,

God's grace

is greater.

His unmerited kindness,

his unmerited compassion,

his unmerited love,

his unmerited power

to deal with that

in a very powerful way,

it is greater.

And God opposes the proud,

but he gives grace

to the humble.

And so humble yourself

before the Lord

and he will exalt you.

And the great,

great,

great,

great news

is that the Bible,

the God of the Bible

is not an impartial God

or a mild,

like your Uncle Bob

or your Aunt Sue

who just wants

to encourage you.

But meanwhile,

they're just waiting

to see if you can finally

get your alcohol

under control

or get good enough

or be nice enough

or smart enough

or young enough

or good looking enough

or rich enough

or popular enough

that he'll finally say,

okay, you've passed.

No.

No.

Not at all.

He's not a God

who is on the sidelines

waiting for you

to sort your life out.

He is for you.

And so even when you

could not deal

with anything yourself,

God,

the Son of God,

sets aside his glory,

sets aside his prerogatives,

sets aside his being worshipped

and all of that,

sets aside the angels.

He empties himself

of all of that,

meaning fully God.

He humbles himself

to the point

of even taking into himself

our human nature,

being a zygote

in the womb

of Mary,

of living a fully human life

as part of an oppressed people group

and dying on a cross

and on the cross

bearing all of the shame

that you might have,

all of the accusations

against you.

Everything like that

is completely

and utterly laid on him

and he does it

knowing

that you can't

meet the moral standards,

that you can't

get your life

in perfect order,

that you can't

defeat death.

He does that

knowing you can't

do all of those things

and long before

you even begin

to desire

to turn to him,

Jesus did that

for you

because God,

the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy Spirit

is for you,

not against you.

that's the good news

of the gospel,

that he is for you.

But then some of you

might say,

okay, well, George,

but like,

I don't know, George,

is that what the text

is saying?

I mean,

I remember a little bit

about what Matt was saying

and it seems as if God's,

you know,

like against luxury.

Like,

why is he against me

just having a comfortable bed

or like a really nice TV

or something?

And it does sound

a little bit like

he's against you,

like God opposes the proud.

I thought you said

that's what it said

in verse 6.

You know,

he opposes the proud.

And don't you say,

George,

that all of us are proud?

So if all of us are proud

and he opposes the proud,

how is he for us?

Well, first of all,

the Bible does teach

that all are proud.

And that includes me.

I have a pride problem.

And I will have a pride problem

until I die

and see Jesus face to face.

And I have a final healing.

And I can tell you

that if you're in Jesus,

if you've given your life

to Jesus and you've received him

as your Savior and Lord,

that the moment of your death,

you will,

your pride problem

will be lifted finally,

completely and utterly

separate from who you are.

And you will cry

in the words of that great

African-American spiritual,

free at last,

free at last.

Praise God Almighty.

I'm free at last.

That's what you'll say.

You see,

the problem about this,

the text is very,

very profound.

That's why if you think about

God opposes the proud,

if you think about the fact

that this text

in verses 11 and 12

is about the problem

of speaking against,

and you understand

that at the heart

of the gospel

is that God is not against you

but for you.

And so why is it

that he's against proud?

The problem is,

when it says that

God opposes the proud,

the problem is

that every single one of us,

me included,

base our identity

on sin and idols.

Every single one of us

base our identity,

our worth,

our value

on different sins

and different idols.

Every single one of us.

And the fact of the matter is,

is that these different things

are so fundamental

to our identity

that it feels as if God,

like if God was to come

against that

and tell us that

that has to be removed

from us,

it would feel as if

God's completely

and utterly opposed

to it.

So, in other words,

like we say things like,

how can I exist

without my looks?

How can I exist

without my money?

How can I exist

without my alcohol?

How can I exist

without my drugs?

How can I exist

without that person?

How can I exist

without being

in a romantic relationship?

How can I exist

without sex?

How can I exist

without control?

How can I exist

without power?

How can I exist

if I don't have

these particular positions?

How can I exist

if I don't have

my health?

How can I exist

if I don't...

And that's what we say.

We find it completely

and utterly impossible

to imagine.

And the funny thing is

is that we all notice

that primarily

about other people.

We'll notice

that we have a friend

who's consumed

with money

and that they don't seem

as if they can exist

without money

or they don't think

they can exist

if they don't have

these particular possessions.

But because the things

that we don't think

we can exist with

are different than them,

we make fun of them

or we feel pity for them.

We think to ourselves,

how ridiculous

to think you can't exist

without a Rolex.

Like, that's just so shallow.

But the other time

we have somebody else

saying,

well, how on earth

can you think

you can't exist

without having

that particular relationship

or without maintaining

your looks

or without having

that type of physique

or whatever it is.

And this is a fundamentally

human problem.

You know,

we see it very clearly

when we confront somebody

who has a problem

with racism.

You know,

how can I exist

if I'm equal

to blacks

or something like that

or if they're,

like,

you see what I mean?

And so here's this wonderful thing

about the Bible

is that in the gospel,

God is for you

to redeem you

despite this.

despite the fact

that human beings

base their identity,

I base my identity

on different sins

and different idols.

Despite that,

God loved me.

Despite that,

God loved me.

And he deals

with my idols.

He deals with my sin.

He deals with the shame

I get

from not being able

to live up to my idols

and live up to my sin.

And he deals with that.

And his great act of love

is to begin

to separate me

as the gospel grips me,

as I become more

and more aware

of the fact

that God sees

the real me,

the real me

in both those things

in me that are glorious

but also the things

in me that are quite bad.

And he sees the real me

and he loves the real me.

And he knows the real me

from the moment

of my conception

to the moment

of my death.

He knows beneath

all of my fronts,

everything.

He knows the real me

and he loves me

even though

I am pathetic.

I am pathetic.

But part of the gospel

is to begin

to separate me

from my idols,

to separate me

from my sin,

to separate me

from having

an idol-based identity

and sin-based identity

and to begin

to give me

an identity

based on grace

and love,

his grace

and his love,

an identity

which is everlasting

and truly fulfills

the longing

of my heart.

And that is what

the gospel wants

to give you.

So God condemns

the sin you do

and he dies

for the sin you do

out of love

for you.

I'll say it again.

God condemns

the sin you do

and the idol worship

you do

and he dies

for it

because

he loves you.

See,

this begins

to give us

a little bit

of an insight

about how this

is a bit of an answer

to the riddle

that we began with

about how is it

that you can both

have a problem

with judgmentalism

in relationships

but at the same time

in a normal

human relationship

you have to be able

to have

moral conversation,

a moral confrontation

about things

that really are wrong

that in fact

a husband

is not right

to say

that his wife

is judgmental

if she challenges

him on an affair

and a boss

is not being judgmental

if he or she

challenges you

about a lie

that you've done

or embezzlement

yet there still

is reality

of judgmentalism.

You see,

the key is that

God opposes

the proud

and we regularly

are proud.

it is not judgmental

to humbly

but clearly

point out

a real moral law

and how you have

broken it.

Now there's a whole

other range

of biblical teaching

about we flatter

ourselves too much

to detect or hate

our own sin

and we see the speck

in another person's eye

and not in the log

in another eye

and there's a whole

other realm

of conversations

that we can have

about this

but just to sort of

stick to this

particular area

it is not judgmental

to humbly

but clearly point out

a real moral law

and how you have

broken it.

To do it in a way

that shows that

both the person

who says this

and the person

who is

the person who

confronts

and the person

under it

that we

who's broken it

are both equally

under it

and we're called

to try to live up

to it.

But the problem

is

the problem is

and this is where

judgmentalism comes in

is that each of us

and this is part

of our pride

is that each of us

in significant ways

thinks that we

are the moral center.

There are significant ways

that I will fall into

thinking that I am

the moral center

not God.

You have different ways

that you fall into

believing that you

are the moral center

but not God.

And you might say

George that sounds

awfully judgmental really

I don't think you can

possibly prove that

I can prove that

very very effortlessly

and easily.

There are many many

many people who say

I cannot follow a God

who does not

accept my sexuality.

I cannot follow a God

who will not

encourage me

in my desire

to be

the real me

who is really me.

I cannot worship

or accept

or live under

any type of censor

from that.

I cannot accept

or follow any God

who makes any claim

on what I do

with my money.

I cannot follow

or acknowledge

any God

who makes any claim

upon how I spend

my time.

And you see

the thing is

is that most of you

are saying

oh George

this is getting

a little bit hot

like what's wrong

with saying that

about sexuality?

What's wrong

with saying that

about money?

What's wrong

with saying that

about time?

But I'll tell you

exactly what's wrong

with it

because it's

when we put

different things

which aren't

culturally accepted

that we see

that there's a problem.

I cannot accept

that there's going

to be any type of God

who's going to make

any claim on me

owning slaves.

I cannot accept

any type of God

who's going to make

any type of claim

on me

thinking that women

are just

playthings for me

or that they're dumb

or that black people

are just less than me.

I can't accept

a God that's going

to challenge that.

I can't accept

a God

that doesn't have

my view

on the Israeli

Palestinian conflict.

We go on

and on and on.

Every time we say

I cannot accept

I am saying

I am the moral

arbiter.

I am the person

who clarifies

and makes clear

what's right

and what's wrong.

And here's the problem.

You're in a couple

and both of you

have that view.

You're in a family

and you have three kids.

All five of you

have that view.

You're in a workplace.

Everybody in that workplace

has that view.

And maybe it's all right

if every one of you

happened to be centered

around the same type

of idol

or politics

but then all that does

is just encourage you

to look at the outside world

and see all those other people

that you look down on

and so all you've done

is you've saved

the conflict

in your family

or your marriage

or your workplace

but all you've done

is made the conflict

in the world more.

Because when you say

that I cannot

then you're saying

you're the moral center

of the universe

and when you're

the moral center

of the universe

and you confront

another person

that is judgmentalism

and that is what

the Bible here

is pointing out

is the fundamental problem.

It is saying

there is only one law giver

and there's only one judge

and guess what?

He didn't die

and give you the job.

He didn't die

and give me the job.

Don't we often say

that people?

Who died

and made you the judge?

That's even a very

Canadian thing to say

and that's what

the text is confronting

us about.

That's what the text

is confronting us about.

You see

you are not

the moral center.

There is

a moral order

that's over you

and me

and all we can do

is humbly acknowledge

that we're under it

and that moral order

is not

by a God

made by some God

arbitrarily

a God

whose whole goal

is to

he will be exalted

while people die for him.

No,

the complete opposite.

It's a God

who humbles himself

to die

so that you will live.

He is for you.

You are not God

and when you come

to the true God,

the living God,

God the Father,

God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit,

when you come to Jesus

and accept what he has done

for you on the cross,

he says to you,

my yoke is easy

and my burden is light.

Lay down your burdens.

Lay down

the profound

anxious

causing weight

of believing

that you are

the moral center

because a lot

of the anxiety

that you feel

in your life

is because you think

you are God

or a goddess.

In fact,

that's going to come up

in the very next story

that in fact

not only do you think

that you're the moral center

but you think

you're the Lord of time

and you can control things

and if you think

you're the moral center

that causes anxiety

because you know what?

You're not.

And if you think

you have control

of the future,

you're the Lord

of the future,

you're the...

You're not.

And these false beliefs,

they just pile anxiety

upon anxiety

upon anxiety

upon you.

That is why Jesus says

you will know the truth.

When you give yourself to him,

you will know the truth

and the truth

will make you free.

I have to be very brief

over these last three.

I sort of jumped ahead a little bit,

but let's look at what it says

in verses 13 to 16.

What the text is not saying

is the text is not saying

that you should try

to give up any type

of an attempt

to control the future

and God's goal for you

is to be...

You know those old-fashioned

pinball machines?

You know where you

bang off a ball

and it goes around

and then all the bumpers

move it around?

The Bible is not saying

that the goal of the Christian life

is to be like a ball

knocked around

by all the bumpers

where somebody else

controls the flippers.

That's not what it's saying at all.

But let's listen

to what it says.

Verse 13.

Who is wise

and understanding among you?

By his good conduct

let him show his works

in the meekness of wisdom.

Oh, sorry.

I'm reading the wrong verse 13.

It would be helpful

if I wrote the right...

Sorry.

Those were good verses

as well in chapter 3.

Chapter 4, verse 13.

Come now,

you who say

today or tomorrow

we will go into

such and such a town

and spend a year there

and trade

and make a profit.

Yet you do not know

what tomorrow will bring.

What is your life?

For you are a mist

or a vapor

that appears for a little time

and then vanishes.

Instead you ought to say

if the Lord wills

we will live

and do this or that.

As it is

you boast in your arrogance

all such boasting

is evil.

Now,

very briefly,

since we last met

I've had two friends die.

A week ago,

tonight,

my friend Ron Bales died

suddenly and unexpectedly.

And then this just passed

this Monday

another friend of mine,

Randy Jost,

the long-time minister

at the Met,

he died.

And even though

we knew he was sick

it was still a bit of a shock.

Why is it that

Canadians are bothered

if I remind them

that they will die?

You're going to die.

So will I.

Why is it that

Canadians

are bothered

if I say to you,

you know,

you have no guarantee

that you'll live

to be 80 or 85 or 90.

You have zero guarantee

about that.

Why is it that

Canadians are bothered

if we say to them

you might die this afternoon,

it might be an aneurysm,

it might be a blood clot,

it might be a car accident,

it might be some horrific

act of murder

by some crazed,

deranged person

with a gun.

Why is it that

we are bothered

by that?

The fact of the matter

is,

is that Canadians

have a very,

very hard time

imagining how to answer

this text

because Canadians

are addicted

to the type of

arrogant belief

they control

the future

that this text

is talking about.

You want to know

a perfect example

about that

is you just look

at the opinion polls

and you look

at politics

in Canada.

What has COVID

taught us?

COVID taught us

that on January 1st,

2020,

nobody knew,

nobody knew

that the entire

economy and world

was going to be

completely and utterly

transformed

in people's lives.

Their religious freedoms

were going to be suppressed.

Their abilities

to gather

were going to be

taken away.

that thousands

of people

would die.

Nobody knew

that on January 1st,

2020,

right?

I mean,

that's a common place.

But how

have we responded

to the fact

that it has been

revealed to us,

one,

that people will die?

I'm not being callous,

I'm just trying

to get us to think,

why is it that

we Canadians,

after it's been

unbelievably

powerfully revealed

to us

that we do not know

what's going to happen

in the future

and that people die,

and what's the response

of Canadians?

A greater control

of the future.

Whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

one second.

COVID-19 just showed

that we have no control

of the future

and know about it.

And yet,

how's our response?

Well,

I'm not being political here.

You take the liberal budget

and I know the NDP,

they'd add a couple

of dozen billion dollars

to it.

And I know the conservatives,

they'd say,

well,

be conservatives

and we're going to just

knock it down 10 billion,

but all of the parties

all double down

on a belief

that they know the future

and they can control

the future

and they can control

interest rates

and they can control

all these other things

that happen.

We double down on it.

It bothers us

that the government

cannot control

the vaccines.

It cannot.

So rather than just saying,

you know,

we need to be a little bit

more humble and loose

about the fact

that our control

of the future,

we double down on it.

It's like an alcoholic

who thinks the solution

to the fact

that they only have

a bit of a buzz

after four drinks

is to have eight drinks.

Or the person who says,

well,

I don't know,

just smoke and marijuana

hasn't dealt with my problems.

I guess I need to add

some other drugs to it.

Like,

rather than saying,

maybe there's a problem here,

we double down on it

because we don't want

to acknowledge

that people die.

We don't want to acknowledge,

I don't want to acknowledge,

you don't want to acknowledge

it,

you die.

And Canadians,

you know,

four years ago this summer,

I got the great privilege

to be invited

to go to Angola

and to be part of SIM

for a short while

and do some teaching.

And so,

there's a local church

that wanted me

to do a morning of teaching,

like about three or four hours.

And so,

they wanted me to speak

for three to four hours

and lead some discussions,

right,

for three to four hours,

okay?

And so,

you know,

I try to find out

before I go

what they'd like me to do,

no answer.

I get there

and I'm still two more weeks

before I ask

what I want to do

and there's still no answer.

Monday before,

no answer.

Wednesday before,

no answer.

Thursday before,

why don't you come

meet me in my office

tomorrow morning

about what you're going

to do on Saturday?

And I sent a blog

back to the church

and said,

Angolan Christians

are very Angolan.

But then again,

Canadian Christians

are very Canadian.

I mean,

I guess in one level,

in Angola,

there's all these things

that kill you

and people have

a lower life expectancy

and you don't know

when all of a sudden

there's going to be

a gas ration

and it doesn't mean

that they'd like

to have some type

of control

but there's just

so many things

in that world

that just go wrong.

And maybe there's

some other,

just some very,

very good virtues

as well

in their temperament

and they could maybe

look at us

and laugh

at our,

maybe both laugh

and feel pity

at North America.

It's hard for us

to imagine

how this

is not the way

to live.

Just a couple

of things.

What the text

is saying

is that we Christians,

and this is the way

of wisdom,

it is not a bad thing

to remember

that you are mortal

because you are mortal.

and it's not a bad thing

to remind you

that you literally

do not know

what's going to happen

tomorrow.

You literally do not.

You literally do not.

But at the same time

as being a human being

there needs to be

some planting,

there needs to be

some planting.

If I want to enjoy

tomatoes

from my garden

in August,

you've got to plant

the seeds.

You can't just

do nothing

and expect there

to be garden.

So what the Bible

is saying

is something like this,

that we need to,

in a sense,

meditate upon

these truths

to get a type

of healthy balance,

a wise balance

to having a beautiful life.

That only the triune God

is sovereign

and omniscient.

Only he is.

You are vapor.

You had a beginning.

You'll have an end.

You have not lived forever.

You aren't eternal.

You aren't everlasting.

And life

is always too short.

That only the triune God

is sovereign

and omniscient.

You are vapor.

You do not know

or control the future.

And for a Christian,

and this is the profound

comfort of this text,

you are in the palm

of his hand.

You are in the palm

of his hand.

You are in the palm

of the hand

of the one

who does know

the future.

You are in the palm

of the hand

of the one

who is for you,

not against you.

You are in the palm

of the hand

of the one

who,

as the Bible says,

if you humble yourself,

he will exalt you.

That God

gives more grace.

He opposes the proud

but gives grace

to the humble.

And in the context

of remembering regularly

that only the triune God

is sovereign

and omniscient,

that you are vapor,

that you do not know

or control the future,

that you are in his hand

with love,

it is in that context

that you build

and plan

and grow.

Because God

wants us to grow.

He wants us

to plan.

He wants us

to think about

our retirement.

He wants us

to do these things.

But to do it humbly

under the power

of God.

Just want to,

you know,

so much anxiety

in life comes

from thinking

that you control

the future.

that you have

to know everything.

That so much

of your anxiety

comes because

you constantly

seek to be a god

or a goddess.

And your anxiety

is only doubled

because you're

with others

seeking to be gods

and goddesses

and you don't all agree

because you can only

be one god,

only be one goddess.

And so this

biblical text

is a profound

invitation for you

to understand

that there is

a moral order,

that there really

is right and wrong,

that God is for you,

that he loves you,

that he really

loves you vastly

beyond what you

can imagine,

that he reaches

his hand of love

out for you,

that you would

take his hand

and you can't

reach his hand

but his hand

can reach you

and he will reach

you and hold you

and he will make

you his child

by adoption and grace

and then you can

live into eternity,

into the everlasting

life knowing

that he loves you,

that you're in the

palm of his hand.

And it is from

that posture

being in the palm

of his hand

that we are to

look at the world

to see how we

can bless it,

to see how we

can share the gospel,

to see how we

can plan the tomatoes,

plan our families,

plan our finances,

plan our generosity.

There is no wiser

place to live

than in the palm

of his hand.

Let's pray.

Father, we ask

that you would

pour the Holy Spirit

upon us with

might and power

and deep conviction

that for any

who have not

yet had that

move to give

themselves to

Jesus, that even

now you would

help them,

Father, to humble

themselves, to give

themselves to Jesus,

that he might be

their Savior and

Lord.

And Father, for

those of us who

call Jesus as Savior

and Lord, we

recommit to you,

we remember once

again why it is

that you are so

beautiful, that you

are so good.

It is so good,

Father, to be

reminded that you

are for us,

that you love us,

that Jesus died

for us, that we

are in the hollow

of your hand, that

we are safe there,

that we can deal

with the valley of

the shadow of death

when we are in the

palm of your hand,

that we can plan

for the future, we

can fight against

injustice, we can be

generous, we can

start to set aside

our sin and idol-based

identities to get

that identity that

you desire to give

us, that is the

longing of our hearts

that goes into all

of eternity.

Child, your child,

your child, your

friend, Father, we

give you thanks so

much for Jesus, and

we ask that you would

grip us again with the

truth of the gospel, and

all God's people said,

Amen.