He Shapes all Things

Father, who you are is God. You're big. You are a mystery. We don't understand it.

We understand bits and pieces of it, but Father, we love you, and we acknowledge that you are God,

that this whole earth is yours, that you are sovereign over all things.

You are the creator of all things, sovereign over all things, present and active, Father, in the world.

And we thank you for Jesus and what he did for us on the cross.

We thank you, Father, that you love us and want us to be reconciled to you by accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord.

We thank you, Father, that you want us to live filled with the Holy Spirit,

lives that are free from idolatry and free from addictions,

and able, Father, to serve you and please you in freedom and joy,

confident that our security in Christ is completely and utterly sure.

Father, may the Holy Spirit move in our lives at this time.

Open your word. Open your word to us.

Bring it deeply to our lives.

And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

So, what's going on with this weird story with Mary?

I guess I forgot to put on the mic. That's fine. We're fine.

But what's going on with this? I mean, that's a weird story, isn't it?

Jesus is reclining a table, and Mary comes in and takes some ointment.

And it's not so much weird that she puts it on her feet.

Some of you know that I'll be going to Jerusalem to an international conference.

I leave on Wednesday.

This time next week, I'll be in Jerusalem.

And I've been looking at the weather network for Jerusalem.

And no rain forecast while I'm there.

Like 30 degrees every day.

And the UV index, the UV index is 12 every day, which is the highest the UV index can get.

And so, you can well imagine that Jesus wandering around, that he could probably use some ointment on his feet.

But the weird thing is that she wipes it with her hair.

Like, that's...

Like, I just...

I was...

You know, all week, I've been imagining,

what would it be like if I was to share this story with a group of my non-Christian friends

that I meet in the different coffee shops?

Um...

It really touches on one of the deep fears that a lot of people have about the Christian faith.

And one of the fears that people have about the Christian faith is that it makes you weird.

That if you become a Christian, you'll end up doing weird things.

So, to see a text like this, I can just well imagine them thinking,

that's weird.

Like, they'd probably be hoping that I say it's weird.

And probably at the same time, my non-Christian friends would wonder

if George does weird things in private that he's hiding from them.

Because it's odd.

So, what's up with this?

What's up with this odd act?

So, let's take our Bibles.

Let's get it sort of fresh in our mind, what happened and didn't happen.

What was said and was not said.

In this very unusual story.

Set of stories.

So, it's John chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

John chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

And it begins like this.

Six days before the Passover,

Jesus therefore came to Bethany,

where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

And just sort of pause there before I read any further.

So, Bethany is just less than two miles outside of Jerusalem back in the day.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

Mary and Martha are sisters, and Lazarus is the brother.

So, there's three siblings.

Adult siblings.

Don't know how old they are other than the fact that they're adults.

It's Lazarus' house, probably.

And six days before the Passover,

it means it's probably,

this is actually probably happening on the Sabbath.

It's probably happening on a Saturday.

The events in this particular thing.

And the Passover, those of you who are familiar with the Bible,

know that the triumphal entry that happens just after this,

that happens just the week before Jesus dies.

So, this is the end of Jesus' ministry.

Okay?

So, just read that verse 1 again.

Six days before the Passover,

Jesus therefore came to Bethany,

where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

So, they gave a dinner for him there.

That's Jesus.

Martha served,

and Lazarus was one of those reclining with Jesus at table.

Mary therefore,

and I can tell you the commentators puzzle over why the word therefore is there.

Lots of ink has been spilled on why the word therefore is there.

But Mary therefore took a pound,

about 350 grams,

of expensive ointment made from pure nard,

and anointed the feet of Jesus,

and wiped his feet with her hair.

The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume,

but Judas Iscariot,

one of his disciples,

he who was about to betray Jesus,

said,

why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?

And just sort of pause there.

300 denarii would be approximately 13 to 14 months of the average wage.

So, whatever the average wage in Canada is,

average monthly wage,

multiply that by 13 or 14 or 13 and a half,

and that's how much money this is worth.

Okay?

Basically,

in terms of every time you see the word denarii,

think of the fact that five denarii in our labor market would be what you need to live on.

That would be in terms of both buying your RSPs or whatever it is for your retirement,

paying your rent.

So, five denarii is the equivalent of a week's wages,

and you can figure those things out for yourself.

Verse six,

Judas said this not because he cared about the poor,

but because he was a thief,

and having charge of the money bag,

he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Jesus said,

leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.

For the poor you always have with you,

but you do not always have me.

So, you might say,

okay, George,

you've read it again a second time,

I was paying more attention,

what's up?

It's still really odd.

Like, what's up?

It's still pretty odd.

And it does sort of touch on my sort of fear,

my perception that Christians have to do weird things and odd things

if they become Christians,

so why on earth would I want to do it?

So, here's a couple of things about it.

First of all,

let's just acknowledge that there's a range of human beings on the planet

who like doing odd things.

I'm on Amazon Prime,

there's a series on,

which a documentary series on the New Zealand rugby,

team,

the All Blacks.

And in the first two episodes,

it highlights a game of the New Zealand All Blacks versus the English Lions

in a three-game rugby tournament.

And the English Lions,

it only happens every 12 years,

and it's the elite players from Northern Ireland,

Scotland,

Wales,

and England all come together to make one team,

and they go and they play New Zealand.

So, let me tell you,

if you want to see odd behavior,

watch the fans.

Like, I mean odd behavior.

Just watch the fans.

Just watch a football game.

You know,

guys who take their shirts off,

paint themselves funny colors,

put funny hats on,

make funny noise.

So,

it's not just that Christianity encourages you to do odd things.

There's lots of things in life that encourage us to be odd.

And there's a lot of people who like being odd.

Some of you know who you are.

And the rest of you,

we've been dying to tell you that you like doing things that are odd,

and we just haven't worked up the courage.

But it's a bit of a human issue that some people like to do odd things.

And the second thing then,

just sort of taking that into account,

the second thing is,

if you notice in the story,

that Jesus does not tell her off for what she did.

He doesn't say,

come on, Mary,

this is kooky.

Don't do it.

He doesn't say that to her,

does he?

He also doesn't say,

all you dudes around here,

you should be doing this.

Like,

this is what I want real Christians to do.

He doesn't say that either,

does he?

He doesn't say,

this is what a real Christian does,

and he doesn't tell her off.

He defends her and accepts her.

He defends her and accepts her.

So if you could put up the first point,

here's the first point,

and you're going to see it's the first point.

Three of my points are framed the same way,

and you'll see the significance of it.

Hopefully,

if I haven't put you all to sleep,

you'll see it as I go forward.

The gospel shapes your singularity.

Your singularity does not shape the gospel.

In other words,

I'm using here the gospel in the biblical sense.

It's a bit of a short way.

It's gospel means good news.

It's the good news as to who Jesus is,

and what he accomplished for us on the cross.

And it's the good news as to who Jesus is,

God,

the Son of God,

man who came and died on the cross,

so that human beings like you and me

can be reconciled to God

and become part of his kingdom,

come under the rule of Jesus.

And this is not only something about Jesus

and what he's done.

It's good news for you

because it's told in the hope

that you will accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

It's the good news of what God has done.

And so what we see here

is that who Jesus is and what he does,

that as that works in our lives,

it makes us more unique

or more singular.

singularity just sort of worked it

a little bit better in the sentence

when I was playing around

with the different synonyms.

And so that's actually what the gospel does to us.

It makes us more unique.

The more we know Jesus,

the more we will become ourselves.

It doesn't sort of flatten us

and make us like clones,

like the Stepford Wives.

It makes us unique.

But here's the thing.

Our uniqueness,

and I'll try to bring this in a little bit at the end,

our uniqueness does not shape the gospel.

The gospel is the gospel.

Jesus is God, the Son of God.

He is the Savior.

He is the long-promised Messiah

to the Jewish people

who dies for the Jewish people

and for all who put their faith and trust in them.

Jesus is Jesus.

The gospel is the gospel.

And our uniqueness does not shape the gospel,

but the gospel shakes our uniqueness.

So some of you might say,

well, George, okay, that's sort of interesting.

So what you're saying then

is that the gospel doesn't make you weird

and the gospel won't make you eccentric and odd.

Well, actually, I'm not saying that.

If I was to say to you,

yes, actually, that's true.

The gospel will never make you weird

or odd or eccentric.

Some of you, and you know who you are,

would be disappointed.

You like being odd.

You like coming into a room,

sort of dancing and making a scene

and wild gestures and funny hats

and, I don't know, odd eccentric clothing.

And it would be really disappointing to you,

wouldn't it be, if I just said,

no, actually, the gospel is all about

when the gospel hits our lives,

we're all bland, all vanilla,

all beige, all the time.

Well, that's not what the gospel is.

That's not our singularity.

So on one hand,

I'm not going to say that the gospel won't make you,

the gospel is going to make you more yourself.

And so for some very, very quiet people

who all their lives have been imprisoned

by vanilla,

by the way, vanilla is my favorite flavor of ice cream,

so I'm not picking on vanilla.

But vanilla, you know,

all vanilla, all beige,

all bland, all the time.

For some people,

their inner self has always desired

that they could be the one

who would dance into a room

or would feel uninhibited enough

to take their shirt off

and paint themselves blue or green or gold

and wear funny hats and cheer on their team.

And the gospel will free you up to start to do that.

And for others who sort of do that

because they got drunk,

the gospel will give you the self-control

to no longer do those things

that you wouldn't normally do

if you weren't drunk out of your skull.

So it's not really a matter

that the promise is

that the gospel won't make you odd.

The gospel will make you more yourself.

And if you are in simple...

In other words,

the gospel isn't just making us all into marbles or clones.

It makes us more ourselves.

But here's the other way.

On one level, though,

the gospel will inevitably make everyone weird.

If you could put up the next point, please,

that would be helpful.

The gospel creates a counterculture.

And this counterculture will sometimes seem weird

to the dominant culture.

The gospel creates a counterculture,

and this counterculture will sometimes seem weird

to the dominant culture.

So two things about this.

First of all,

the Bible doesn't create one culture.

I mean, one of the reasons why people...

It's so important that churches like ours

help somebody like me or Gary to go to GAFCON

is that it's...

The gospel will make the Christians

into a counterculture within their dominant culture.

But cultures are different.

When I was in Kenya for the first time in 2003,

one of the very, very funny things that they did

in one of our worship sessions

is they had the many different tribes in Kenya

show how they dance.

Sort of like a little bit of a dance-off.

And it was one of those things

that brought lots of laughter,

how the Maasai danced.

I can't remember the different tribes.

But they all danced a bit different.

It was very funny just to watch

the different ways that they would dance.

Everybody laughed.

It was a good time.

It was why we were singing

some silly little praise song as well.

But the fact is that, you know,

if you're from India,

part of your culture is going to be

a certain type of food,

a certain type of cooking,

a certain taste in music.

And there'll be things that the gospel does

to make you a counterculture within India,

but you're still in India.

And in Canada, you'll still be in Canada.

It's just...

But in every culture,

there'll be something that is...

makes you a bit of a counterculture.

It's going to become more clear

as we go forward,

but I just want to give you

one other example.

I think that if my barista friends

in Starbucks,

if they were to find out...

And I'm not tooting my own horn here.

It just was the example

I could think of easily.

If they found out how much money

I give away,

they'd think I was weird.

If I was to tell them

how much money I gave away in 2018,

they'd say,

that's weird.

Like, that's really odd

that somebody would give away

so much money.

And, you know,

if you're in a very, very culture

which emphasizes revenge,

the gospel message of forgiveness

will seem very, very weird.

If you're in a culture

which emphasizes subservience,

then the gospel message

of the dignity of the human being

will seem very, very weird

and very, very threatening.

If you're in a culture

that doesn't sing,

which is increasingly

what Canada is like,

they'd say,

you guys sing songs?

Like, that's weird.

Canadians virtually don't sing

anymore.

I actually had a person

in a coffee shop.

The reason she was really curious

about me being a minister,

she's doing a master's

in music ethnology

and she wanted to come

visit the church sometime

because she said to me,

churches are the only place

left in Canadian culture

virtually where people sing.

And that's what she's

just curious about.

So, it's a bit complicated

with this.

Now, but some of you

might say,

okay, George,

well, that's all sort of interesting.

But, oh, by the way,

back to the Gafcon thing,

the fact that the gospel

creates many, many different cultures

and different countercultures

in different countries.

One of the things

which is important, then,

is for Christians

across from different cultures

to get together

to help to be clearer

about what's key

and what's just different.

Anyway, so,

some would say,

George, well, what's up?

That's, like,

that's all very interesting.

And so, what you're just saying

is that maybe that's why

it says Mary, therefore,

took a pound of ointment

because if you knew Mary,

you'd say, well,

that's the type of thing

that Mary does.

You know?

You could almost have said,

well, Martha, therefore,

served,

and Lazarus, therefore,

the lazy bum,

just sat and ate.

I mean, I don't know

what you mean,

but it's just different.

But what's up

with this odd comment

of Jesus?

Like, I mean, surely,

separate from the fact

as to whether or not

Judas is a thief,

surely Judas had a point.

Don't you think?

Like, do you actually think,

George?

Like, what's up with that?

What's up with it?

Like, why didn't Jesus

just say to Mary,

Mary, before you do that,

because he's all-knowing,

before you do that,

like, why don't you go

sell that ointment,

buy some other ointment

that you could buy

for, like, a day's wage,

and then use that

on my feet.

And then you can take

the other 299 denarii

and you can give it

to the poor.

Like, George,

even though Judas

was a thief,

surely he had a good point

and didn't,

isn't it a bit hard-hearted

of Jesus to say

something like that?

And don't you think

it's almost sort of cynical

to just sort of pass it off

because you're always

going to have the poor

with you?

Well, let's just look again

at what Jesus said.

Look, his response

in verse 7.

How does Jesus respond

to Judas?

He says,

Leave her alone

so that she may keep it

for the day of my burial.

For the poor

you always have with you,

but you do not always

have me.

So, you know,

what's up with this?

Well, the first thing is,

like, there's several things.

The first thing is,

well, isn't Jesus

actually just being realistic?

Like, I know a couple

of years ago

in the election

there was a whole big thing

about we needed

evidence-based policy.

Well, if there's one thing

which is scientifically

and anthropologically true

is that there's always

been poor people

in every culture.

Like, isn't that

just empirically true?

Like, why would we be upset

with Jesus just saying

what's true?

But there's several

other things going here

in Jesus' response.

And if you could just

put up the next point,

that'll help us

to understand.

The gospel shapes your heart

to care about the poor.

Caring about the poor

does not shape the gospel.

The gospel shapes your heart

to care about the poor.

But caring about the poor

does not shape the gospel.

In other words,

the gospel doesn't only

have value

because it helps us

deal with the poor.

So here's the thing

about Jesus' statement

which is going to be

very, very counter-cultural.

On Friday,

I was talking to

one of my friends

in a coffee shop

and he's very, very progressive.

He's progressive

on everything.

I mean, he's progressive

on immigration.

He's progressive

in terms of relations

with Muslims.

He's progressive

in terms of sexuality,

same-sex marriage,

gender,

income redistribution.

You pick the topic.

He is Mr. Progressive.

So I asked him on Friday,

who did you vote for?

And he said,

I didn't vote.

And I said,

well, why didn't you vote?

He said,

there was nobody

for me to vote for

so I didn't vote.

And, you know,

it's as if

he's so completely

and utterly progressive

he can't deal

with the real world.

So here's the thing

about this comment

of Jesus'

which is so significant.

If a Christian

goes into the sociology

faculty of Carleton

or Ottawa U,

if a Christian

goes to many

of the social justice

faculties or gatherings,

if he goes to a group

of anti-poverty

advocates,

that Christian

has to say to them

something that's going

to offend them,

the poor you will

always have with you.

It is not a criticism

of a church

or a government

that there are still

poor people

in the city

or the country.

Because it is not

the case,

as you hear Christians,

many Christians say

that if the church

was really the church

there would be no poor.

Really?

That's not what Jesus said.

Jesus didn't say

if the church

was the church

there would be no poor.

He said the poor

you will always have

with you.

But Jesus isn't

making a very cynical

comment.

What Jesus is doing

here is he's quoting

from the book

of Deuteronomy.

So if you just

turn in your Bibles

with me for a moment

to Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 15:11

chapter 15

verse 11.

Deuteronomy 15

Deuteronomy 15:11

verse 11.

You'll see that

what Jesus does

is he actually

quotes a passage

of the Bible

which is in the context

of being generous

to the poor.

And none of the

Jewish hearers

who were hearing

Jesus would have

understood him

to be cynical

about the poor.

He would have

been understood

as being part

of the teaching

to be perpetually

generous

towards the poor.

Listen to what

it says

in Deuteronomy

and if you go

back and read

the rest of

Deuteronomy 15

it becomes

even stronger.

But 1511

For there will

never cease

to be poor

in the land

therefore I

command you

you shall

open wide

your hand

to your brother

to the needy

and to the poor

in your land.

So the Jewish

hearers

who are hearing

Jesus

would not have

understood

Jesus as

saying something

cynical.

He would have

been saying

something about

lay off Mary

here for a second

but let me

understand

you know

you're always

going to have

the poor

and they

would have

been able

to fill

in the rest

of the sentence.

We understand

that you

always have

to be generous

and not

countermanding

that.

The other

thing is the

very nature

of the gospel

itself.

You know

on the point

up here

I say

how the gospel

earlier I said

the gospel

treats a

counterculture

and the gospel

shapes your

heart to care

about the poor

but caring

about the poor

does not

shape the gospel.

Just turn

with me

to 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 8:9

chapter 8

verse 9

it's a great

verse to

memorize.

In fact

it's a very

powerful verse

to memorize

2 Corinthians

8 9

I sort of

have it

half memorized

because my

brain doesn't

work as well

as it used

to.

So I'm

going to

read it

just so I

don't sort

of mess

up the

quote a

little bit.

But here's

one of the

most powerful

ways to

understand

what the

gospel is.

Like what

is it when

we say

that Jesus

is God

the son

of God

as the

creed

tells us

that leaves

beside his

glory and

splendor

and prerogatives

that he

dies on

the cross

and when

he dies

as I've

said to

you before

it's a

line from

Flannery

O'Connor

you can't

be any

poorer than

dead.

This week

I was

talking to

somebody in

a coffee

shop and

we got

talking about

life being

meaning.

I think

we were

talking about

that spade

who committed

suicide and

I just

said to

them I

said you

know I

don't know

how people

who don't

have a

sense that

life has a

final ultimate

meaning and

it's not

just an

abstract meaning

but that

there's a

real ultimate

meaning to

life that

we can

receive through

Jesus and

that we can

pray to

Jesus.

I don't

understand how

people can

live like

that without

that.

I said if

your whole

life is

centered around

one dang

thing after

another and

then you

die.

One dang

thing after

another and

then you

die.

Like it's

hard to

know how

like I

like as a

Christian it's

increasingly

hard for me

to understand

how you're

able to

just to

live like

that without

that sort

of deeper

meaning.

And I

shared with

one of

them I

said you

know the

second after

you die and

let's say you

and Bill Gates

die in the

exact same

second and I

said the

second after

you both die

you both have

the exact same

amount of

assets under

your control

which is

zero.

All of Bill

Gates assets are

completely and

utterly worthless the

second after he

dies.

So look at

that mindful of

that look at

this text 2

2 Corinthians 8:9

Corinthians

chapter 8

verse 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.

We'll read it

again.

It's a very

powerful verse

well worth

remembering

memorizing for

you know the

grace of our

Lord Jesus

Christ.

What's the

good news?

The good news

is all about

grace.

It's all about

the fact that

God the son of

God came and

died on a

cross for

you out of

grace that

his death upon

the cross does

all that has

to be done to

make you right

with God out

of grace out

of unmerited

mercy and

favor 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.

You see as

when we give

our lives to

Jesus when we

accept the

gospel it

will in

other words

when we

accept the

passage like

this and it

becomes part

of our just

how we

understand what

the world is

like what

God is like

like how we

stand where

we stand that

Jesus who

had he was

I mean he had

everything and

he's God he's

in heaven I

mean even the

richest person

on earth can't

even like even

it's not even

they can't even

buy a blade of

grass in heaven

the blade of

grass in heaven

is more

precious he

had all of

that he sets

it all aside

to come and

walk amongst

us and to

die on the

cross for us

and and he

does that so

that I can

know God's

unmerited favor

and that I can

be clothed in

the righteousness

of Jesus and

I can be

reconciled to

God and I

can begin to

know him as

my heavenly

father and I

can begin to

pour up my

heart to him

and that

relationship will

go on into

all eternity

and into a new

heaven and a new

earth and he

did all of that

he became so

completely and

utterly poor that

I can have this

wealth and as

that story grips

us it will

change how we

view money and

it will change

how we view

the poor it

will it will

turn our hearts

to the poor it

will mean that

when you look

when you walk

along Bank

Street you

won't think to

yourself I

wish that smelly

stupid street

person would get

out of the way

I mean it

doesn't necessarily

mean you're going

to give them

money but it

means you should

love them it

means that you

look at them

and say Jesus

gave his life

for that person

Jesus died that

that person might

be free

you see so the

statement of Jesus

on one hand it

would cause us

lots of trouble in

social justice

circles on the

other hand though

if we go into

many of the MBA

faculties and

business clubs it

would cause trouble

there because it

would mean to

be gripped by

the gospel you

have to care

about the poor

and the meaning

of life is not

to accumulate as

much money as

you possibly can

it's counter

cultural in

terms of how we

view money and

how we view the

poor and the

gospel shapes us

inevitably as the

gospel grips us

it will shape us

this same friend

of mine who's a

big social justice

guy he comes out

of the orthodox

church the

capital orthodox

church and one

of the things he

loves to tell me

is about the

latest excess by

the Russian

excess by the

Russian patriarch

the latest great

expensive gift or

privilege he's

gotten from Putin

he loves telling me

about this story

because he says

it's a great great

indictment of

religion but I

now often after he

goes on this little

rant or maybe it'll

be about something

do with Catholicism

or some mega

preacher but he

loves picking on

his own orthodox

tradition he's an

atheist he loves

picking on his own

orthodox tradition

and one time when he

was saying all this

I said to him well

that might be true of

some Christians but I

said that's not true of

our church I said we

walked away from our

property we don't own

any property we voted

unanimously to walk

away from it all and

I remember one time he

paused he said yeah but

you folks are different

which was the closest we

ever got to any type of

praise from him but and

then normally he'll still

condemn me for my views

on abortion or some

other type of thing like

that but that's a that's

a whole other sermon

topic but one of the

things I think that my

friend I almost said his

name by accident one of

the things I think my

friend would say he was

here with looking at this

story but we'll go back

to John is he would say

George this just seems

like all of a sudden

Jesus is playing power

politics like doesn't it

look like he manipulates

events so that he's

fulfilling a prophecy

and doesn't it look like

he's manipulated events

so he hits a great crowd

and so he's he's he's

proclaimed as king what

it's really important

that we see is that as

the sermon sort of wraps

up that we look and see

what exactly is going on

with this this story so

we've I've already said

in fact it's actually from

this story that we get

how the gospel shapes our

relationship to the poor

but our relationship to the

poor doesn't shape the

gospel and that our

gospel shapes our our

our uniqueness but our

uniqueness doesn't shape

the gospel because if

you could put up the

final point not the final

next point what what we

see in this story is that

the gospel shapes what it

means to be king being

king does not shape the

gospel the gospel shapes

what it means to be king

being king does not shape

the gospel let's look at

the story we'll just jump

down to verse 12 the next

day that's what we would

now call palm sunday the

large crowd the first day

of the week the large

crowd that had come to

the feast heard that

jesus was coming to

jerusalem so they took

branches of palm trees and

went out to meet him

crying out hosanna which

means lord save us

blessed is he who comes in

the name of the lord even

the king of israel blessed

is he who comes in the

name of the lord it's a

quote from psalm 118 even

the king of israel and they

understand king of israel

probably by the way that

king is understood in

sociologically and

anthropologically in the in

in the world that's what

they would have understood

they would have understood

jesus by the category of

king they wouldn't have

understood king by how

jesus redefines what it

means to be a king but they

call out uh blessed is he

who comes in the name of

lord even the king of israel

verse 14 and jesus found a

young donkey and sat on it

just as it is written fear

not daughter of zion behold

your king is coming sitting

on a donkey's cold just to

give it a bit of a context i i

i was on uh parliament hill

just the other day when um i

about a week or so ago when

trudeau came back on the hill

lots of big suvs flashing

lights big muscle type of

things this is describing jesus

coming into jerusalem in a

hyundai accent they're tiny

cars if you don't know cars i

think that they're the second

or third cheapest car so here

you're expecting that you know

if trudeau shows up all by

himself in a little hyundai not

even a not even a green prius or

something like that with a green

license plate just a little

dinky elantra that's what's going

on here in the text and i mean he's

fulfilling a prophecy but it's

even interesting isn't it that in

the prophecy which comes from

zechariah it's prophesying the

day when the king the great king

the true king comes but he's going

to come on on an elantra he's not

going to come on a war horse he's

not going to come in an escalade he's

not going to come in a rolls royce

he's not going to come in something

armored verse 16 his disciples not

understand these things at first but

when jesus was glorified that is

after he died and risen from the

dead then they remembered that these

things had been written about him

and had been done to him so you see

jesus redefine if we understand who

jesus is by the worldly category of

king it's blasphemy

it's blasphemy

because how does it work and i'm not

picking on people here who maybe have

been in politics but we all know how it

works i mean i talk about this we all

know how it works with the powerful

right how does it work with the

powerful well the powerful their goal

is to maintain power or to increase

their power if they possibly can for the

powerful it's the little guy or the

little gal who dies so that the

powerful can stay powerful it's you know

i think i shared with you before a

famous anti-war activist during the

vietnam war dick gregory an african

american really really funny i had the

great privilege to to see him live once

when he came to to canada and he said

i wish i could imitate his he had an

accent from mississippi and i wish i

could imitate his accent he said i'm not

opposed to to the vietnam war i just

want that whenever wherever whatever when

my son gets drafted he goes and he gets

he gets to serve right beside rockefeller's

son

and as long as my son can serve in the

exact same place as rockefeller's son i'm

fine with us sending young men over to

vietnam but he knew that how did it

work african-american men got sent to

poor the poor black and white they get

sent and the rich stay home or have

far not always of course not always not

always but um we all know how power

works and so you see part of the problem

with the gospel this is why one of the

things i've said not every week but in

many weeks so part of the problem we

have with is that we have to keep

there's there's words that are common in

our culture like the word god but the

fact of the matter is is that the way

god is described in our culture in some

ways it it helps us to understand when we

say god but otherwise it's always going

to keep getting us mixed up we'll have

mixtures of like god is like the force

and that means he's sort of amoral or

where that god gets mixed up with utopian

social scheming of some great future that

we will accomplish by our politics and

our science and our technology and our

techniques or we'll have some type of a you

know like a vague sense of god and and

so and and and so whenever we come

across words in our culture what we need

to keep doing is we keep needing to be

gripped by the gospel and gripped by the

word of god because the gospel changes

the words these words if they're left to

themselves will cause blasphemy

so why is it that the gospel shapes our

uniqueness but our uniqueness not just does

not shape the gospel it's a very very hard

word to our lgbtq plus friends that the

gospel is not shaped by your your unique

experience the gospel will shape you the

gospel does not have to correspond to your

unique experience it can't it won't he's

god he's the lord

and to the business person into the social

progressive the gospel will shape how you deal

with money your understanding for the business

person and your understanding the anti-poverty

axis activist your understanding is not going to

shape the gospel the gospel if it's to be the

gospel will shape you and and if you understand

king in the earthly way well the gospel is going

to shape your understanding of king being king will not shape

your understanding of the gospel or should not because you see what

happens in the history of the church is when the world shapes these

definitions that then it's terrible then you have apartheid then you have

racism then you have segregation then you have hard-heartedness towards the

poor then you have militarism and and imperialism and when the world shapes how we

understand these terms it's terrible the church has to continually be

immersed in the scriptures as god's word written

so that we redefine what these terms mean and and and and and and the

implications for our lives final point just is wrapping it up if you could put it

up jesus christ crucified is the true king as we live in the kingdoms of this world

he leads his redeemed people to live under his rule in his kingdom to his glory

jesus christ crucified is the true king that's that's why zechariah could be promising and

predicting the true king who's going to come he's not just to be the king of israel

he is to be the king of people from every people group because he is properly the

true king he is the proper second adam over all human beings and what distinguishes

christians is that we receive mercy from the true king to be made his people not that

we are somehow special in and of ourselves but jesus christ crucified is the true king

and being a christian means that you receive the gospel you receive who jesus is and what

he's done for us on the cross we receive him as our savior and lord and as we receive him as our

savior and lord his word and the holy spirit his leading and guiding will will start to make us free

from idols free from things in our culture which bind us and wound us and hurt ourselves and hurt other

people and it will start to work to free us from anger and and pride and vanity and greed and sloth and

and lust and it will begin to free us from these things that we can begin to be free and unique and he

will he will lead his redeemed people to be part of a of a communities where we are learning to live under

his rule in his kingdom for his glory we're saved in a sense as i used to say they used to have a saying

that i i had we enter that we enter the jesus way one by one but we live the jesus way with jesus and others

one by faith, but we live the Jesus way with Jesus and others, with him as our king. Please stand.

Just bow our heads in prayer. Father,

pour out the Holy Spirit upon us. Father, if there are any here who have not yet given their

lives to Jesus, may, Father, may your Holy Spirit just press in deeply on their heart that they might

hear Jesus knocking at the door of their heart and they might open that door and say, Jesus,

please come in and be my savior and be my Lord. Be my savior and be my Lord. I give myself to you,

Jesus, come in and have your way within me. I trust that you will only make me free and unique

and fit me for heaven. And Father, for each of us, you know the different ways that the world bends

us out of shape. We ask, Father, that you would renew our minds, that you would renew our wills,

that you would renew our emotions, that you would renew and redefine our affections, that you would

renew and redefine our longings and our will, our values, that you would, Father, that your Holy

Spirit, through your word, as we're gripped by the gospel, would do this mighty work of ongoing

transformation in our lives. Father, and we ask this in the name of Jesus, your son and our savior. Amen.