The Enigma of Being Human

Father, we ask that you would continue to show mercy upon us and pour out the Holy Spirit upon us,

those gathered here in person, those gathering online, those who might watch this later.

We ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would fall with might and power and deep conviction,

that we might not only hear your word well, that we would also do and live your word well.

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

Amen. Please be seated.

So I don't know if you, where everybody is with Jesus, who are here, and those watching online, where everyone is with Jesus.

But one of the things which Christians don't really like talking about, and if you're not a Christian, you might not realize that this is the case,

is that Christians often struggle with disappointment with God.

We Christians often struggle with disappointment with God.

And in fact, Christians often struggle with disappointment with God's word.

We have a problem in our lives, and we go to read God's word, and it doesn't seem to do anything at all for us.

It doesn't seem to give us any insight.

It doesn't seem to give us any particular peace.

And so we become a bit cynical about God's word.

Some of us will continue reading through our cynicism.

Others will just quietly go from reading the word on a regular basis, being every day, to once a week, to once a month, to once every six months,

to we can't remember the last time we read God's word.

And now that George is saying this up front, we feel a tiny bit guilty.

But the fact of the matter is, is that Christians struggle often, without being able to share it with anybody, with disappointment about God's word.

It doesn't seem to speak to them at all.

In fact, it's a very common problem that Christians in small groups would rather not study the Bible,

but they'd rather study something that's more interesting and more helpful.

We'd rather study something by C.S. Lewis or, you know, Kyle Strobel or something like that,

because that just seems to be far more helpful than reading God's word.

This is going to really come to the fore for us a bit with this passage that we're looking at today,

because the passage is talking about, on one level, a very, very, very contemporary problem,

which is the control of the tongue, control of your speech, and the problems that go along with it.

I mean, we live in an age...

I think last week I said a couple of things off the cuff, and I think I shared with you that's how Amy Van Hemmen,

when she was her admin person in staff meetings, about every second staff meeting,

she'd say in the middle of the staff meeting after I'd said something that,

George, is why we're not allowing you to have a Twitter account.

But we live in an age where people are hypercritical about speech in social media.

So to hear that the Bible is going to talk about the tongue, the text that Shane just read,

in fact, now you're maybe going back and saying,

wow, he read that and nothing jumped out at me as being particularly helpful.

And if that's the case, aha!

We start to have a little bit of a window into the problem that we Christians have with God's word,

and the disappointment we have with it, and the disappointment we have with God.

So let's walk towards that issue.

Let's look at the text again, and also at the same time,

look a little bit at our disappointment with God.

So it's James chapter 3, verses 1 to 12.

James 3:1–12

Those of you who are watching online, we preach through books of the Bible,

and that means that sometimes we have to talk about things which aren't very popular culturally,

that are very counterculture in terms of today.

In fact, I'm going to have to make a very profoundly countercultural reference

in the process of doing this sermon.

But just sort of try to extend a little bit of grace to me as we do that.

But we read through books of the Bible.

We don't hide anything.

Everything in the Bible was written as a book,

and so the best way to understand it is to read it like a book,

to go from the beginning to the end.

And today we're at James chapter 3, verses 1 to 12.

James 3:1–12

And it goes with this.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters,

for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Now, I'm just going to pause here for this.

First of all, I take that very seriously.

But one of the things I'd ask is that if you would have kindness towards me

and pray that every time I have to open the Word of God to teach and preach,

that I would take it very seriously,

that I will be judged with greater strictness.

And pray not just for me, but for those who lead small groups

when they look at the Bible or talk about the Bible.

When our Sunday school, I mean Messiah Kids Sunday school,

just in general, when anybody is opening the Word,

pray that this text will come to them

and they will understand their responsibility under God

as they teach, as we teach, as I teach.

And especially in me, because in our polity,

I have, in a sense, like the top teacher role.

That's partly in Anglican polity, how they understand who the rector is,

is that I have the primary responsibility

for handling the Word of God well.

So please pray for me

and that I will be able to do that very well.

Maybe by the end of the service,

you'll say, boy, George, I need to pray for you more.

And if that's the only thing you get out of a sermon,

then I guess that's not a bad thing,

that you'll pray for me more,

that I can handle the Word of God better.

I'll just read that text again,

and then we'll look at verse 2.

Not many of you should become teachers,

my brothers and sisters,

for you know that we who teach

will be judged with greater strictness.

For we all stumble in many ways.

And if anyone does not stumble in what he says,

he is a perfect man, a perfect person,

able also to bridle his whole body.

And here body is being used as a sort of a metaphor

for the whole person, including the physical.

So it says something which is very, very true.

The word stumble here means sin.

And so every single person sins at some time or another

in terms of how they speak.

In fact, actually, it makes the interesting observation,

and this is sort of a key to what's going to go on

with the rest of his little teaching

about the use of our tongue or the use of speech,

is that in fact, if you ever met a person

who had perfect control of their speech all the time

and used speech perfectly all the time,

that could only be possible if the individual was perfect.

And so given that there are no perfect people,

Jesus being an exception,

that means we're all going to say things which are wrong.

We're going to stumble in terms of how we speak.

And now it's interesting.

James then doesn't go on to say,

therefore, make sure that your preacher

or your pastor is kind with himself.

Or therefore, don't be too hard on him

if he makes a mistake.

Or for me just to say to myself,

well, you know, I said five or six really stupid things,

two heretical things,

but what the heck, everybody stumbles.

So it could be that James introduces that.

It would be a very Canadian way, actually,

a certain type of branch of Canadian thinking

for him to go from that.

We're going to be judged with greater strictness,

but let's be kind.

In fact, if you think about that,

it's a very common refrain in our culture.

You have to learn to be kind to yourself,

be kinder to yourself, be kind to yourself.

It's a very, it's in a sense,

how we would understand the normal wisdom of the world

about how it is to handle speech.

But James doesn't go in that direction.

He takes it in a very, very different direction.

But he doesn't take it actually

in the direction that we want.

We would like him after saying something like,

be kind to yourself

or be kind with the other person.

And we'd want him then to maybe say,

and by the way,

here are three simple points to control your speech.

And so if, in fact,

the Bible went from these two verses

to say that, you know,

verse three is be kind,

and then verse four, five, and six

are verses about how to have better control of your tongue,

we would all probably say,

well, no wonder we really want to study the Bible.

It's just, it's really practical, really helpful.

It really touches me.

It really makes me feel good.

But in fact, the Bible doesn't do any of those things.

It goes in a very different direction.

And when we go to the very different direction,

that we start to, if we're conscious of it,

see our disappointment with God and with his word.

So what happens next?

Well, let's look at verse three.

James goes on to say,

if we put bits into the mouths of horses

so that they obey us,

we guide their whole bodies as well.

Look at the ships also,

though they are so large

and are driven by strong winds.

They are guided by a very small rudder,

wherever the will of the pilot directs.

Just sort of pause here before I keep reading.

So he's just making a very sort of a simple,

commonplace observation

that in many cases,

there are cases in the world

that we just see naturally

that a very, very, very tiny thing

can control the big thing.

He's just sort of drawing that to our attention

with how you work with really big horses

and how you work with big ships.

The very small thing can, in fact,

be very powerful in controlling the big thing.

And then he continues on,

and now his analogy starts to get

a little bit more telling here,

where in verse five he goes also,

so also the tongue is a small member.

And member here is saying,

if you think about the body,

the tongue is a pretty small part of the body.

Yet it boasts of great things.

In other words, we use our speech

as if it is like the bit in the horse.

It is like the rudder in the ship.

And the tongue,

our speech, it readily accepts

that type of role of control,

of presenting the person,

of being able to master situations,

of being able to have

just a greater power in situations.

We understand that, we grasp that.

So he's going from, okay, you know,

our speech, it's very common for us

to boast of this,

that our speech has this power in the world.

And of course, obviously,

the more powerful you are,

the more powerful that you think

your speech has,

that the prime minister thinks

his speech is going to have

far greater control

than maybe one of you.

But we all,

even in our smaller roles,

think that speech is going to have

that type of power.

So in a sense,

we're setting ourselves up

to think a little bit

about what actually happens

with our speech,

which is what he does

very next breath.

The second part of verse 5,

how great a forest is set ablaze

by such a small fire.

And the tongue is a fire,

a world of unrighteousness.

The tongue is set among our members,

staining the whole body,

sitting on fire the entire course of life,

and set on fire by hell.

Now, a lot of us have a problem

with a text like this.

It seems to be a little bit extreme.

But if you think about it for a second,

it's actually not very extreme at all.

If we were doing this

in a retreat context,

praise God,

the day will come

when we can crowd into a living room

or go off to a retreat location

and we can sit without masks

and see each other's faces.

But we go to some type of a retreat

and I said,

you're going to have three pieces of paper

in front of you,

you have a pen.

You're going to have

a little cardboard thing

so nobody can see it.

I want to assure you

before we go into this exercise

that nobody is to see

what you're going to write.

I'm not going to ask to see it.

You're not going to be asked

to show anybody.

And at the end of it,

we're going to,

there's a fire here

and we're going to all throw

the pieces of paper in the fire.

So you can just be completely

as honest as you possibly can.

And I said,

so the first thing

I'd like you to do

is we're going to take five minutes.

I'm going to set my timer

and take five minutes

and write down

times in your life

where somebody has said

something to you

that was very hard

and cutting.

Go.

Now my guess is

we'd fill that five minutes

quite effortlessly.

Like if I was to ask you that,

every single one of us

would be able to think

of different times

that people have said

something to us

that's been very hard

and very, very cutting.

We wouldn't have problems.

We wouldn't have to think,

gosh, I got to go back.

Like I'm really old.

Gosh, I got to go back

till I was like four

or something like that.

No, you know,

there'd be all sorts of times.

In fact,

you'd almost want to do this

with a retreat context

that there's going to be

some prayers for healing

and forgiveness afterwards

because it could be triggering

some of the terrible things

that your husband,

your wife,

you know,

your ex-husband,

your ex-wife,

you know,

your neighbor,

your boss,

your teacher

have said to you

that still have power

into your life

even today.

But then I said,

we get over that.

I said,

now we're going to take

five minutes

and I'd just like you

to write down

things that you've said

to other people

that have really hurt them

and you wish

you could take them back.

Once again,

I'd got $100.

None of us would have

problems thinking it.

In fact,

the fact of the matter is

is that if one of you

had problems

coming up with anything

that you'd said wrong,

what would all of the rest

of us say?

You are so self-absorbed

and narcissistic

that you don't ever recognize

having said anything hard?

Like it wouldn't be,

none of us,

not a single one of us

would take it as a sign

of holiness

that a person can't think

of things that they've said

that have hurt another person.

None of us.

And I'm not even just saying

us because we're,

you know,

Christians here.

If you went to a local

Tim Hortons,

you went to a local

Starbucks,

a bridgehead,

you went to a bar,

a restaurant,

you took your people

at workplace

and you said,

we're going to do this exercise

and there was this one person

who couldn't think of

a single thing

that they could say

that they'd ever hurt

another person

and everybody would go,

oh gosh,

boy,

that person must be

really narcissistic

and self-absorbed.

That's what we would all say.

Why?

Because we can all think

of things that we've said.

And that actually

would even get worse.

I said,

okay,

now we're in our third

five-minute period

and you have a third

piece of paper.

Okay,

we've dealt with things

that people have said to you,

things that you have said

to other people.

I want you to write down

things that you've said

in the car

or in your mind

but not to the other person.

Write it down

on a piece of paper.

Well,

if you're at all

self-aware

and not self-absorbed

and narcissistic,

there'd be smoke

in the room.

I mean,

unless you guys

and gals

are all vastly

more holy than I am,

which is probably

the case in most cases,

but even if you're holy,

you'd have all sorts

of things that you say

in your mind

about people,

your boss,

your wife,

your husband,

your best friend,

your kids.

So,

if that's in fact

the case,

why is it that we have

such a hard time

with verse six

and verse five?

Listen to it again

where it says,

the second half

of verse five,

how great a forest

is set ablaze

by such a small fire.

How many of us

have trouble

in our marriages,

in fact,

have had friendships

or relationships break,

have lost promotions,

have had deep trouble

in our lives

because of something

that we've said?

How many of us

have a hard time

relating to maybe

a father or a mother

even today,

even if it's just

the memory of them

because of something

that they've said?

Isn't that true?

Verse six,

and the tongue is a fire,

a world of unrighteousness.

In other words,

it reveals to us

things about ourselves

which are deeply wrong.

It stains the whole body

and sets on fire

the course of our life

and actually,

when I hear set on fire

by hell,

I'm not going to talk

about the reality of hell

but Christians,

Orthodox Christians

believe that hell exists.

But the other thing

which is just true

about that,

about all of this thing

is this,

that there is a profound

mystery to evil,

that there is something

about evil

which is irreducible,

that if we once again

we are not so self-absorbed

that we can't be self-aware,

that we are so addicted

to narcissism,

there are times

in our life,

I mean there's times

in my life I might say,

well you know,

I said that bad thing

to my wife,

you know,

but the fact is,

you know,

I was under a lot of stress,

the fact of the matter is

you'd said a couple of,

you know,

you said two or three things

to me that,

you know,

sort of put me off,

I'm tired,

you know,

I'm hangry,

like,

you know,

I can come up with,

but you know,

the fact of the matter is

there's some times

where it just comes out.

It just is there.

You could tell a truth

and the truth

wouldn't even cost you anything,

like the person

might even be happy

that you say the truth,

but you say a lie.

You could just make

a compliment,

it would be easy,

but instead you make

an insult

and it's just there,

it just springs out.

You can't blame it

on your upbringing,

you can't blame it

on anything,

you can't give any type,

it's just there.

And so,

all of a sudden

we see that this

which looks a little bit

as if it's a bit extreme,

is actually

describing

what we are like

as human beings.

And in fact,

actually,

remember I said

at the beginning

that one of the things,

the wisdom of the world

is that what we have to do

is to be kind

with ourselves,

but the fact of the matter

is that we see

that if we understand

what really goes on

in our lives,

that that's actually

often very terrible advice.

I mean,

just imagine for a moment

that if I had said

something very,

very,

very cutting and bad,

a couple of very,

very cutting things

to one of my daughters,

and this still bothers them

to this day,

and then here I get up

and I stand up

on my hind legs

and say,

you know,

sometimes I've said

some things

that are pretty hard,

but I'm trying

to be kind to myself.

Well,

the people

who've been hurt

by what I've said

would say,

no,

no,

no,

time out.

I don't want you

to be kind

to yourself.

Like,

own up to it.

Like,

I'm glad you have anxiety

and are sleepless.

Like,

good.

If you hear somebody

saying racist things

which are very,

very helpful,

and then you hear them say,

by the way,

I'm learning to be kind

with myself,

say,

no,

don't be kind

with yourself.

Like,

what you need

is repentance,

like amendment

of life,

like taking responsibility

for what you did.

In some ways,

what James is doing here

before he continues,

he's sitting a little bit

of a puzzle

and a riddle for us,

a bit of a riddle

about human experience.

And the riddle

of the human experience

is that we both expect

of ourselves

and others

is that they should

always control

their speech.

Yet at the same time,

he's sitting before us

that we cannot

control our speech

all the time.

And so,

what's the third sentence there?

I should control

my speech all the time.

I can't control

my speech all the time.

Therefore,

maybe I should pretend

that I'm holy

and righteous

and better than you.

Maybe I should do,

which is a lot

of what goes on

in our culture right now,

which is,

sorry,

I almost said something.

Thank you for whoever

is praying for me right now.

I almost said something

that, you know,

anyway,

but a lot of times

what we do

is we get on the attack

to make it look

like we've arrived,

but to hide

our own problems.

We attack,

we attack,

we attack

and try to make

other people feel guilty.

Do we pretend

that there's some,

like,

what do we do with that?

And so,

James is sitting before us

a bit of a riddle,

something to ponder.

And then he goes on

a little bit

and he tries to make it

a little bit deeper

for us.

Verse 7,

for every kind

of beast and bird

of reptile

and sea creature

and just pause,

it's going to be,

for those of you

who know your Bible

very well,

it's obvious here

that James is making

an allusion

to Genesis chapter,

the sixth day of creation.

And he uses

these four categories

from the sixth day

of creation

and he's saying

basically

all of

every animal,

every creature,

because he's taking

the four categories

that the book

of Genesis

and the sixth day

of creation

uses to talk about

every type

of creature,

animal.

And so,

I'll read it again.

For every kind

of beast

and bird

of reptile

and sea creature

can be tamed

and has been tamed

by human beings.

But no human being

can tame the tongue.

It is a restless evil

full of deadly poison.

Now, once again,

it sounds a bit extreme,

but there is something

restlessness.

There's a restlessness

to our speech.

That we,

if we're at all

self-aware,

we know that there are times

when we just say something,

we exaggerate,

we under things,

we flatter

when we know

we're doing the wrong thing,

we insult,

we put down.

There's something

unstoppable

and unsettled

about our speech,

even amongst

the most controlled.

And how is it?

Like,

if you think about it

for a second,

now this is like

James,

James,

Jim,

yes,

but probably what

Jesus called him,

Jimmy,

but James,

he's setting this riddle.

Like,

why is it?

Why is it

that human beings

can,

in a sense,

master or control

every single type

of animal

in some way or another?

I mean,

whether it's through our,

you know,

not a particular individual,

but human beings

in general,

doing something

that makes an animal

to go extinct

or causes others

to flourish

or kills

or poisons

or whatever,

but there's this

general power

that we have.

But why is it

that we can do that?

Like,

why is it

that you can,

you know,

you can have somebody

who can tame a,

you know,

a snake charmer

or an elephant trainer

or a dog

or whatever.

We can actually do that

to ourselves

with what we say.

Like,

why is that?

How come that is?

How come that is?

But,

by the way,

what,

what James is doing here,

remember I said

that this text

reveals a little bit

at first about

our disappointment

with God

because what we want

is we want something

like be kind

to yourselves,

and then we want

a couple of techniques

about how to use

our tongue better,

but the fact of the matter

is,

is that what often

happens with techniques

is they don't,

if you don't understand

the way the world is,

you can't provide wisdom.

There's a fellow

who comes to the clock

and for many years

he had a very,

very high level job

in the government

and he was an expert

on federal,

the relationship

of the federal government

to the provinces.

He had risen

to the top

of the Privy Council,

a very high position

in the Privy Council

and he knew the history,

he knew the laws

and I'm sure

that if one of you

one day went and said,

by the way,

I figured out

this wonderful thing

with COVID and masks

and this is my wisdom,

they should do this

and this and this and this

and after one minute

of you talking to him,

he'd know that you

have no idea

about how provincial

and interprovincial,

you know,

federal and interprovincial

things work.

Like you were

as clueless

as that door

over there

and the more you talk,

the more he'd realize

that you actually

know nothing

and so any advice

you give

is worse than useless

because you're not

talking about

the real world.

There are some of you

here who are engineers

and within your sphere

of engineering,

if I said,

oh, you know,

there's this technological

problem and I figure

out a way to solve it

and then within 10 seconds

they realize you don't

know the vaguest thing

in the world

about that engineering

problem

and every extra

five seconds of conversation

just cements the depth

of your ignorance.

Your technique will not

be of any use.

You need often

in self-help books

which provide techniques.

It does not emerge

out of one

who has thought

about the nature

of human beings.

not always obviously.

There can be

some good advice

that comes

but often it comes

out of a lack

of awareness,

a lack of real pondering

the riddle

and the mystery

and the enigma

of human beings

in speech.

And he's going to

press into the mystery

of what it means

to be human

and how we use speech

in verses 9 and 10.

Look at what he says.

With it,

this is our speech,

we bless our Lord

and Father

and with it

we curse people

who are made

in the likeness

of God.

From the same mouth

come blessing

and cursing.

My brothers and sisters,

these things

ought not to be so.

If this week

one of you

who's in a small group

and I encourage you

to be in small groups,

if one of you

is in a small group

said,

you know,

so I just need

to get something

off my chest.

No,

so blessing God

means that

when you bless God

you get to know

who God is

in terms of

his attributes

and his excellencies

and his glory

and you're able

to express it

and give thanks

and gratitude

and in a sense

if you believe

that God

is the highest being

you're talking

about the very

highest things

and if you understand

cursing partially

as not necessarily

casting a spell

but as wishing,

doing something

so that the person

withers,

that they're diminished,

that they are shamed,

that if you understand

that that is what

cursing is,

if one of you

in a small group

this week

said,

you know,

I had this

really great time

of worship

on Sunday,

the scripture text,

the singing,

everything was just

so good

and yet,

you know,

I got home

and I just did

this to my wife.

I just said this

or I said this

to my kids

or I went out

for coffee

or I saw my mom

or I talked

to my dad

and I just did this.

You know what?

None of us

would be surprised.

Like every single

one of us

would say,

I've been there.

I've been there.

I've been there.

And at a deeper level,

how is it

that the German people

could produce

Bach and Auschwitz?

How is it

that the German people

could produce

Bach and Mozart

and Auschwitz?

And we know

that this ought

not to be.

That in the world

of is and is

and is and is

that there's an ought

that's there,

that it ought

not to be.

And then he brings it

to a bit of a close

before he moves

into other things

in verses 11 and 12.

And actually,

what he does here now

is he said

because we all

understand,

look what he does,

it's a very,

very clever type

of thing

to try to communicate

how human beings

are both natural

and unnatural,

that we are both

glorious and monstrous,

that we are both

good and evil.

And now he's done

some of that things.

He wants to bring home

the fact that we are

natural in the natural world

and yet there's something

profoundly unnatural

about human beings.

How does he put it

in verses 11 and 12?

Does a spring

pour forth from the same

opening both fresh

and salt water?

Can a fig tree,

my brothers or sisters,

bear olives?

Or a grapevine

produce figs?

Neither can a salt pond

yield fresh water.

So why is it

that there's something

about human beings?

We all know we're natural

and yet there's something

profoundly unnatural

about us.

In fact,

if you could put up

the first point,

what James is doing

is saying,

a human being

is a riddle

wrapped in a mystery

inside an enigma.

How can you be both

natural and unnatural,

good and evil,

glorious and monstrous?

A human being

is a riddle

wrapped in a mystery

inside an enigma.

That's a phrase

from Winston Churchill

used to describe Russia.

How can you be

both natural

and unnatural,

good and evil,

glorious and monstrous?

Now,

it's even harder

for us in our day and age

to try to get our minds

around this problem.

But,

you see,

we wanted a few words

to easily calm

our conscience

in a couple of

simple techniques.

techniques.

But,

James

is saying,

under the

renewing power

of the Holy Spirit

and the Gospel,

I'd like you

to learn wisdom.

Like,

wisdom for the real world

before you manage

techniques

for an unreal world.

So,

here I just ask

a little bit

of mercy for you.

I'm going to make

a reference

to one of the two reasons

why we have a lot

of trouble

trying to think

this through today.

And,

and,

and,

and,

and it's this.

I know that

in a room like this,

there's at least

one person

who's had an abortion

or helped somebody

to have an abortion.

And,

amongst those

who are watching

this online,

there's almost

definitely some

who are watching

this that have

either had an abortion,

work in the abortion

industry,

enable,

have enabled

or argued

for abortions.

So,

I know that

in my reference

right here,

I'm doing something

which might evoke

anger and pain

within you.

And,

I actually thought

and prayed along

as to whether

I was going to say this,

but I realized

I needed to say it

because of the nature

of the text

and the nature

of the riddle

which the text

has set before us.

So,

I just want to assure you

that I know

that many times

Christians talk

as if the church

gathered

is a rally

for the

anointed

and the righteous

to wage war

on an unholy

and unrighteous world.

And,

there have been

many churches

that talk

and act like that.

And,

I want to tell you

that that is not

the biblical understanding

of the church

and hopefully

it will never be

the understanding

of church

and the Messiah.

The church

is a hospital

for sinners.

It is a hospital

for the sinful

and the broken.

There's a place

where beggars

come to get

free bread.

And,

that's what a church

is.

And,

so if there are

any here

or any who are

watching

who have had

an abortion

or have been

part of having

an abortion,

I just want to

assure you

that Jesus

loves you

and that the

way to move

forward is always

to come to him

first for grace

and mercy.

And,

if you want to

have conversations

with us about

that,

you will be

listened to

without any

judgment whatsoever,

only with love.

And,

that even the

hardest parts

of God's word

that confront

things in our

lives which are

very hard

is always so

that he will

connect with you

and that you

can know

as love

and mercy.

But,

I mention that

because what is

at the heart,

one of the things

which is at the

heart of abortion

is it separates

the human

from the person.

It separates

the human

from the person.

And,

when it separates

the human

from the person

and then the

person starts

to increasingly

become some

type of a

construct,

it makes it

hard for us

to think of

human beings

and who

human beings

are.

It's one of

the reasons

why,

flowing out

of the deep

hold of

abortion in

our country,

that we have

discussions as

to whether

robots can be

persons,

whether there

will be a

time that

artificial

intelligence

can move

to becoming

a person,

whether a

whale or a

dolphin or a

chimpanzee can

be a person

because we've

completely decoupled

separated being

human from

being a

person because

then what

happens in

the womb is

not of a

person but

just of some

physical stuff.

And that

makes it very

hard for us to

have any type

of wisdom about

thinking about

this.

The Bible

makes it very

clear that

every human

being,

every human

being is made

in the likeness

of God and

has inherent

worth and

dignity.

Every human

being, both

those in the

womb, the

most severely

handicapped,

the most

elderly, the

most diseased,

that we can go

to India and

go to the

most lowest

despised

classes and

castes and

say you are

a human being

made in the

likeness of

God.

And because you

are a human

being made in

the likeness of

God, you

have an

integrity and

a worth which

is not bestowed

by the powerful

or by the

state or by

religion or

by ideology

and cannot be

removed by

them but is

to be acknowledged

by the powerful

and is to be

acknowledged by

the state.

Your dignity

comes as a

human being

from being

made in the

likeness of

God.

And because

you are a

human being

made in the

likeness of

God, it

means that

there is

something which

is unique

about being

human.

We have

another problem

which flows

from the

naturalistic

understanding

of evolution

and if in

fact the

naturalistic

understanding

of evolution

as it moves

through society

and it moves

through the

culture, it

becomes harder

and harder

and harder

to understand

why there is

anything

specifically

unique about

human beings.

Why should we

value a human

being over a

dog?

Why should we

value a human

being over a

tree?

Why should we

value a human

being over a

plant or a

microbe?

Well there is

no reason

other than

our quest

for power.

But the

Bible says

the fundamental

insight of

every human

being that

there is

something unique

about being

a human

being.

That sense

is based

in reality.

Only the

Bible makes

clear that

human beings

are made

in the

likeness

of God.

And because

human beings

are made in

the likeness

of God

that is why

there is

something in

a sense both

natural and

unnatural about

us.

Why there is

something glorious

about us.

But of all

the created

things only

human beings

are made in

the image

and likeness

of the

triune God.

only human

beings.

In fact

if you could

put up the

next point

the biblical

gospel is

the only

key that

fits the

riddle

wrapped in

a mystery

inside the

enigma of

the human

condition.

The biblical

gospel is the

only key that

fits the

riddle

wrapped in

a mystery

inside the

enigma of

the human

condition

of your

human

condition

human

beings.

The biblical

narrative tells

us we're

made in the

likeness of

the triune

God.

Hence we

were made

to be social.

We were

made to be

communal.

We were

made to be

with other

people to

have our

faces show

and reflect

who we

are and

to hear

speech and

conversation

and to

grow together.

God made

us in

his likeness

so that we

would have a

special role

in the

created order

of being

fruitful and

multiplying

and caring

for the

world to

be the

gardeners

and sub

creators of

his created

order and

we used

our glory

our splendor

which was

made to

have a

relationship

with a

triune God

and to have

a relationship

with each

other and

we use

that to

turn from

God and

turn from

each other

in self

exaltation

and in so

doing that

we bent

ourselves

we broke

ourselves

we twisted

ourselves

the biblical

word is

we fell

and God

in his

mercy and

kindness

did not

erase us

or erase

his likeness

in us

and so that

every human

being is

both made

in the

likeness of

God and

there is

something about

us that is

glorious and

that can bless

God but at

the same time

there is

something in

every single

aspect of

what makes

us us

what makes

me me

and what

makes you

you that

is twisted

that has

been touched

by our

desire to

turn from

God and

turn from

others and

turn from

the created

order and

to live

an imaginary

life where

we are

exalted and

we are

great and

we are

powerful and

we can do

what we want

and we can

declare who

we are and

we can declare

the meaning

of our lives

and there is

something in

every human

being that

is monstrous

it is why

that on one

level statistically

speaking what

you see in

human beings

is that we

are completely

natural but

it is not

natural in

the sense of

what God

intended and

because he

never removed

his likeness

from us

we have

this deep

sense that

it is not

in fact the

way things

are supposed

to be

that there

is something

unnatural about

the naturalness

of human

beings

and that God

in his mercy

seeing our

problem

does what

only the

biblical gospel

can account

for

that God

would show

mercy

in a way

that can

touch every

human being

who is made

in the

likeness of

God

because you

see if

every human

being is

made in

the likeness

of God

that means

that God

himself

God the

son of

God the

one in

whose likeness

we are

made

that he

could both

remaining

the God

himself

could take

into himself

our nature

as being in

his likeness

and that he

then could live

the life of

unbroken

communion and

fellowship

with God

that we

could not

live

and that he

could die

on a cross

as a sacrifice

satisfying the

demands of

justice

and that he

could rise

from the

dead

burying in

himself in

his risen

resurrection

our human

nature

and that

because

every human

being is

made in

the likeness

of God

if the

God

in whose

likeness

we are

made

does something

it is

something

which is

potentially

available

for every

human

being

and only

the

biblical

gospel

can account

for that

and can

offer real

mercy

the way

that Jesus

is introduced

in the

gospels

is as

Emmanuel

God

with us

in the

midst of

our mess

and the

mess of

our life

only without

sin

to redeem

us

he

enters

the

mystery

of

what

it

means

to

be

human

that

we

might

enter

the

mystery

of

grace

and

redemption

at

great

cost

to

God

and that

we receive

this by

faith

if you

could put

the

last

point up

that would

be very

helpful

so

not only

has the

biblical

gospel

as the

only

key

that

fits

the

riddle

wrapped

in

a

mystery

inside

the

enigma

of

the

human

condition

the

biblical

gospel

provides

the

means

of

grace

for

humbly

pressing

on

remember

the

mystery

is

this

we

should

control

our

speech