The forgotten name of God

God, truly, no tongue can say, no words can convey, no song can convey, as we sang, the greatness of our God.

God, you are so great, and you are so good, and your love is steadfast.

You are the God of justice and mercy.

You are our God.

Now, as we open your word, we pray that you would speak through your word once again.

Lord, as you've spoken through the centuries, we ask that you would speak once again.

Lord, I'm barely more than a child.

Lord, for us to actually hear not just my thoughts and stories and whatever, but to hear from you, we need you to speak through the power of your Holy Spirit.

So please do pour out your spirit afresh upon us.

Make us disciples of Jesus, gripped by the gospel, living for your glory.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

Please be seated if you're not ready.

Just before we get into the word, Steve Griffin, are you still here?

Yeah, do you want to stand up, you and your family?

Guys, this is the Griffin family.

A lot of us have been praying for them like multiple times a week for the past years, and just shaking hands before the service, hugging people, whatever.

And yeah, all of a sudden they said, yeah, I realized it was them that we've been praying for.

They've been missionaries in Guatemala, and now they're going to Nigeria, and they just continue to serve God wherever the Lord takes them.

Just want to say we love you guys, and it's awesome to have you with us in body.

So feel free to take a seat.

But guys, we love you so much.

Also, I know a lot of people are praying for Paul Rudenberg.

Paul, do you want to stand up for a second?

Paul's back.

He's been in Turkey and Greece, and he's working with refugees and all sorts of crazy stuff, and traveled a lot of other places besides that.

And Paul, we're just so proud of you and just giving yourself to the service of God, whether that's overseas or also back in Ottawa.

So yeah, feel free to be seated, too.

I don't want to make you stand longer than you want.

But yeah, let's just pray for them, and then we'll continue.

God, it has been such a joy to get to be praying for them and the other missionaries of our church all over the world.

Lord, it's so sweet that we have this bond of brotherhood in you, and we haven't even met.

A lot of us haven't met them until today.

But God, we're just so grateful for the Griffins, for Paul, and for the other missionaries of our church.

And we pray that even as we get into Amos 6 now, that you would help each one of us more fully be the missionaries that you've called us to be,

wherever that is, whether our schools or our families, homes, Ottawa, Kingston, or wherever else you've called us to.

In Jesus' name, amen.

When I was a little boy, my brothers and I loved to have Who Can Hold Your Breath competitions.

Who Can Hold It the Longest?

I think we may have mentioned this here before, but if any of you have experienced the same kind of competition,

if you're really committed, like me, you're there to win.

You're not just there to play.

You're there to win.

So you're holding your breath, and time's going by.

The clock is ticking ever so slow.

Those seconds seem more like hours.

And then as you get past two minutes, your leg will start to kick against itself, and your body starts doing weird things, and you're going to win.

I wasn't faster, stronger, better looking, or anything than my brothers, but holding my breath, I was going to win this one.

And I could actually do it, so I'd just be fighting against myself to try to win.

My body fighting against itself as I'm holding my breath.

What's that fight?

What's that internal fight?

One of the most basic human instincts is self-preservation.

One of the most basic human instincts is self-preservation.

As a result, when we try to do things that are uncomfortable, when we try to do things that might be dangerous,

for most of us, well, not all, for most of us, we end up fighting against ourselves to try to keep ourselves away from discomfort.

And so in light of that, it's with great sympathy that I read these words of great warning, of great rebuke from God to his people.

Amos chapter 6, verse 4.

Amos 6:4

I don't know about you, but my mouth waters as I read these words.

I love lamb.

Delicious.

Calves, veal.

That's my jam.

And so we read these words, and God seems so upset with his people.

But if we stop and just are honest with ourselves, there's a lot we have in common with these people.

If you've been here for the other weeks, you know that Amos is writing in around the year 800 BC.

This is a time in the northern kingdom of Israel, who he's speaking to, a time of peace and prosperity.

The middle class is doing very well.

And not only was it a time of peace, even while nations around them were at war and were crumbling, Israel was actually doing really well.

And not only that, but it was a very spiritual time in the land.

There were times when they'd become very pagan, very this.

But at this time, they were doing a lot of spiritual activity.

And not just the stuff of the Canaanites and the Hittites and whatever around them,

but they were actually doing a lot of very biblical religious observances, celebrating the feasts.

And yet they were so far from God.

I moved into a new home in January.

Well, it was new to me.

It was not that new.

But I moved in, and I'm subletting from some missionaries overseas.

And they're a married couple.

And they had, I don't even think it's a king-sized bed.

It was like an emperor-sized bed, if that's a thing.

And I'm a single dude, so I don't need a bed that big.

But I wanted, because I study and all that kind of stuff, I wanted a desk.

And so I traded my bed to hostmates, like up on one of the floors above it.

They're not apartment mates, I guess.

Whatever.

They're apartment up there.

So we traded beds.

I gave them my massive emperor-sized bed.

I got a smaller bed.

And I was very happy with that, because I can fit a lot more stuff into my room, bookshelves and all that kind of stuff,

that pastor people kind of need.

But what I didn't anticipate is the bed that I got in the exchange is, in the words of one person who I let my bed to,

and I was elsewhere in the world, so they stayed at my house.

And in their words, it is the worst bed that they've ever slept on.

It actually took like multiple months to be able to be confident that I can lie down and sleep on this bed.

It's not that great.

But I guarantee you, it's more comfortable than a bed of ivory.

Okay?

When God is speaking to these people, verse 4,

woe to those who lie in beds of ivory.

He's speaking to these people who are so comfortable and secure in their wealth.

And even though my bed isn't the best bed we have in 2016, it's still more comfortable than a bed of ivory.

Today, it's not that we live like the ancient kings of old.

We actually live much better than the kings of old.

An example of that would be, there's some of us who don't like the humidity.

Some of, I'm not one of them.

I actually love, the hotter it gets, the more I'm happy.

But I know there's a number of my colleagues and stuff who have been struggling with how hot it is day after day.

But our frustration with the weather has more to do with the fact that we're sweating a little too much.

We're not actually concerned for what this is going to mean for what we eat.

But at the time that these words were written, and for most of human history,

the temperature affected dramatically whether or not you're going to have food on the table.

They would be looking to see, you know, what's the weather going to be like?

If we don't get enough rain, we're not going to get enough food.

We're actually maybe even going to starve.

And not only is that the case throughout the centuries of time, but not the case for most of us in this room,

where we actually are living lives that, regardless of what the weather is like,

we're going to eat nice food, veal, lamb, all that good stuff.

But there's even people in our city today who the weather actually affects whether or not they're going to live or die.

When it gets far too hot, there's warnings for those who are living on the streets

because it's actually, some of them will pass away.

And in Ottawa, when it gets to minus 40 and beyond, there are people who are living on the streets

and their very life is in jeopardy because of the temperature.

But for most of us, maybe not all, for most of us in this room,

our lives are completely isolated from the temperature and from all that stuff.

And that's an indication that we are actually more secure.

We're more comfortable.

Our lives are a lot more glorious than those who God is writing to right here,

saying, you guys are so comfortable.

So God is speaking to them about their comfort.

And he is so heartbroken over it.

Woe to those who lie in beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches

and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall,

who sing idle songs with the sound of the harp and, like David, invent for themselves instruments of music,

who drink wine and bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils,

but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.

Now, all these things that God lays out here are actually really good things.

They're gifts from God.

Lamb, meat.

We thank God before we eat our food generally because it's a gift from God.

The scriptures say in the Psalms that God gives sleep to those he loves.

To be able to have the opportunity to sleep on a bed,

whether it's a bed of ivory or whatever my mattress is made out of,

is actually a gift from God.

These are all good things.

Wine, as much as one Graham Cook once said, he's from England, a pastor,

and he said, Jesus turned water into wine,

and evangelicals have been trying to turn it back into water ever since, right?

Like, in the Bible, wine is actually a gift from the Lord.

Just don't abuse it like anything else.

Anointing of oil.

This is a precious.

These are all very good things.

And yet, why is God so grieved over his people?

Verse 6.

Who drink wine and bowls, anoint themselves with the finest oils,

but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.

The language here is very specifically chosen

because Amos is speaking to people who know their Bibles very well.

And they would know the story of Joseph.

That Joseph, he came to his brothers.

You know the story.

He came to his brothers.

And his brothers, envious of him, they took his robe,

and they put animal blood on it so their father would think that Joseph was dead.

And they threw Joseph into a well.

And at first, they were actually going to have him be just left there to die.

And as they left him there to die,

before eventually they changed their mind and sold him into slavery,

which is not okay either,

but they left him there to die.

And then they sat down and broke bread together and just ate food.

That's a disturbing image, is it not?

Their own brother.

Not just some poor person that they should have a heart for and they don't.

Their own flesh and blood.

Their brother.

I know some here are older brothers,

and you probably get frustrated with your younger brother,

just like my older brother sometimes gets annoyed with me,

but he's never thrown me in a well

and then just sat down to eat some mac and cheese.

Right?

Like that's a very disturbing image

that you can actually just eat.

Maybe they even said one of their, you know, ritual Jewish prayers

before they ate their food.

But they sat down to eat food while their brother was languishing,

for they had thrown him there.

And God is saying,

in your comfort,

on your beds of ivory and your choice,

food and all of this stuff,

you're just like Joseph's brothers.

You don't care for the broken, for the poor.

Many of you, whether you are Christians or not,

are familiar with the images of Sodom and Gomorrah.

When God destroyed those cities, Sodom and Gomorrah.

And if you know the story,

you know that Sodom and Gomorrah

was a place of great filth and sin and defilement.

You're familiar with the stories of so much sexual immorality.

One of the key characters then offers up his daughters to be raped

in order to provide hospitality to his guests.

Disturbing stuff.

There's all manner of sexual immorality.

Stuff that breaks God's heart,

for he sees how people are destroying themselves

with the gift of sexuality that God had given them.

They're destroying themselves with it by abusing it.

Is that what the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was?

Is that why God brought destruction to their city?

It is not.

As much as the term sodomy refers to specific things,

what is real sodomy according to God?

What is the great sin,

worse, more grotesque to God

than all the other sins in Sodom and Gomorrah

that we read about?

God defines it in Ezekiel 16 verse 49

Ezekiel 16:49

with these words,

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom.

She and her daughters had pride,

excess of food, and prosperous ease,

but did not aid the poor and needy.

They had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease,

but they did not aid the poor and needy.

For all of the wickedness and defilement,

the debauchery of Sodom and Gomorrah,

the defining sin

that marked them as a city that God would destroy

was their pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease,

but they did not aid the poor and the needy.

In the language there is not

that these were the guys trampling on the poor.

These are the guys who are walking through town

and they see a guy with a cup of change

and they throw it over and it's like,

yo, sucks to be you, and keep walking with their life.

These aren't those guys.

These aren't the guys who are bribing the judges

in order to trample on the rights of the poor.

They aren't.

The sin of Sodom is complacency.

They were just living their comfortable life.

They had their food.

Complacency.

They just didn't give a rep.

That broke God's heart over the people of Sodom and Gomorrah,

and it broke his heart to see the people,

his own people, living the same way.

Woe to those who lie in beds of ivory

and stretch themselves out on their couches.

It must be noted that what God is calling for

isn't simply that they care for Joseph,

that they care for the broken,

but that he wants them to be grieved with him over it.

And that's partly because God is not just

some kind of robotic set of moral laws.

But God is the most loving,

most compassionate being we can ever discover.

And his heart breaks.

He grieves over those who are languishing.

He grieves over innocent bloodshed.

He grieves for those exploited,

for those abused,

for those who are bullied,

for those who are hurting.

And what he wants for us

is not just that we would do these right things,

oh, care for the poor.

He wants us to grieve with him.

God created the universe

and designed us human beings

to breathe his life in us

and gave us a choice to obey him or not

because he longs for us to love him

and know him and walk with him.

He's given us a choice.

We can choose to surrender ourselves to him

and know him and walk with him

and be his children, his friends, or not.

And he longs for us,

not just to obey him,

but to love and to grieve with him.

This past week, a friend came to me

with tears coming down his face

because his grandfather had passed away.

And all he needed for me

was for me to be with him in it.

I hugged him, held him tight,

and I just was sad with him.

He didn't need any inspiring words from me.

He didn't need me to go

and try to whatever, save the day.

He just needed me to grieve with him.

And I grieved with him

because he's my friend.

I love him.

And if his heart is broken,

then I'm broken with him.

And that's the image here,

being grieved over Joseph.

God wants him to be grieved over

the destitute and the hurting.

Day after day after day,

there are people in our city

and throughout the world

who are being sexually abused.

And God wants us to take action

and care for them.

But I believe he also wants us

to grieve with him.

Some years ago,

I was invited to become part

of a campaign against human trafficking

and sexual abuse.

And an older mentor friend of mine said,

Daniel, don't do it.

Don't get involved.

It's going to scar you.

Don't do it.

And I chatted with my sister, Naomi,

and she said, you know what?

Like, yeah, it'll probably scar you.

But like, that's what God,

like, Jesus has scars

and he's bringing healing to the world.

So go join him in it.

And so I went,

it was part of the campaign.

And in the months after that,

when I would look at the time,

when I look at the time,

I couldn't help but see some,

like, I'm not that good at math,

but for some reason,

my mind was always able to see

what part of the world

was late evening, early night.

Because that was the part

of the time of the day

when little boys and girls

were being sexually abused.

The kids that we were helping rescue

in Thailand and Cambodia

from brothels,

five and six-year-olds in brothels.

I was scarred.

If it was, whatever,

it would be 9 a.m. here,

I'd look at the time,

see, oh, like an hour to church,

and all of a sudden,

and I couldn't help it,

it's 9 p.m. in Cambodia right now.

Or later in the day,

all of a sudden,

I know it's 9 p.m. in India right then.

I was scarred.

It's not healthy

to look at the time

and always know

where there's little kids

who are being raped.

It's not how we were made for.

That's not the mind God gave us.

I was wounded by the very fact

that it's trying to help bring healing

to the world.

And in that,

my heart began to break,

and I'd go to say grace before a meal,

and I couldn't help

but just be sad with God.

I know there's a number of us

in this church

who have been involved

in pro-life work.

Some pray near the abortion clinic

on Bank Street.

Others have been involved

in Christ's Parenting Center work

and involved in the University of Ottawa,

working with CCBR,

different stuff like that.

every single year in Canada,

100,000 babies are killed.

Every single year,

100,000.

Every single day,

more than 300 babies are killed.

And God is there

in the language of Scripture,

knitting together

these babies in their mother's womb.

They're not an idea to God.

They're not just great potential to God.

They're precious people

who God is with

in the womb.

And for a variety of reasons,

they're being killed.

They're being put to death.

That breaks God's heart.

And I cannot help but think,

based on Amos 6,

that God is looking for us

not only to take action,

but as his friends,

to grieve with him

over the lost lives,

over the innocent blood

that is shed.

Working at a Christ's Parenting Center

years ago,

I saw that not only

do we have 100,000 babies

being killed in our country

every year,

but there are so many women

who through that,

they've been lied to

about what their baby is.

It's not actually a person,

whatever the case may be,

being coarsed into this,

all sorts of stories,

where there are also

100,000 mothers

of dead babies

who are being broken

through abortion,

who,

whether it's by the guilt

and shame,

or it's by the coercion

that others have forced

and whatever,

there are so many.

There's so many

who are hurting

throughout this country,

in our own church,

who've been personally

affected by this stuff,

whether it's sexual abuse

or abortion,

domestic abuse.

There's so many

in our community

who are hurting

and God feels their pain.

He's hurting

and He's grieving

and He's calling us

not to just be those

who believe in Him

and sing happy songs to Him,

but people who will grieve with Him.

And so,

for us to live out

what it means

to walk with God,

for us to live

as really His followers,

it means that we join Him

in grief.

And so,

I want to take a minute today

to just be quiet with God,

to give a moment of silence,

to just remember with God,

to share in His grief

for those who've been trampled on,

for those who even right now

are being exploited,

for those who are

in harmful situations

or those who've had

their own lives

be destroyed

through injustice.

And so,

let's just take a minute

right now

and join God,

not just talk about this,

but actually live it out

and grieve with God.

Heavenly Father,

together with you,

we remember

those who

have been exploited,

abused,

neglected,

and even killed.

We grieve with you.

We don't know what to say.

We don't know

what words of comfort

we can possibly offer you,

God.

But we want you to know

that we as individuals

and as a church,

that we grieve with you.

we remember

with you.

And we acknowledge

that not only

is this something

in the past,

innocent bloodshed,

people being hurt

and exploited

and abused,

but we know

this is something

that's ongoing

in our neighborhoods

and even has touched

many of us personally

here in this church.

That we're not just

remembering the grief

and the pain

of those outside

of these walls,

but even within

these walls,

we have been,

some of us

have been sexually abused,

others have faced

domestic violence,

been affected

in various ways

through abortion,

so many other ways

that you know

so intimately

and personally.

Lord God,

we grieve with you

and we look to you

knowing that you

are the God

whose very name

is Healer,

Jehovah Rapha,

that you are the God

of rescue,

that you are not

complacent,

that you are

compassionate,

that you suffer

with those who are

suffering and you

bring healing

and life.

And so we look to you

that you would bring

healing and rescue

and restoration

and we ask

that you would

help us as a church

join you in that,

that we would be

your hands and feet.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Even as we read

these words,

God calling them

to not be complacent.

I was just looking

around the churches

we're singing

and I knew

this message

is coming up

and I was looking

around and again

I'm seeing people

in our church

who are professors

of social work

who even in the

past few months

have helped

not only myself

but even others

in Toronto

have given

expert guidance

in helping

deal with situations

of rescue

and restoration

regarding sexual abuse.

Amazing stuff.

I'm looking around

and seeing people

who have given

big chunks of their time

and still are involved

with helping

rescue those

who are being

hurt by abortion.

I'm looking around

and seeing people

who have gone overseas

and are preparing

to go overseas again

to parts of the world

where it's illegal

to be a Christian

and they're risking

themselves that people

might find healing

and restoration

in Jesus.

I'm looking around

the room

and seeing people

who have given

so much of their own

money and time

and even their career

dreams and everything

to be able to bring

the gospel to Parliament Hill

and to the homeless

in our place.

I'm looking around

and seeing people

in our church

who are going

to Jericho Road Coffeehouse

and not only themselves

but organizing for others

to be able to share

in that ministry

among the homeless.

As we read these words

and see God's heart

for the poor

see his heart

for the abused

and for the hurt

I'm just so filled

with gratitude

for what God

has been doing

intermixed as a church

and yet it's important

that we don't become

comfortable with where we're at

but that we continue

to seek God

for his heart

and we see that

as we continue reading on

as disturbing

as the image

regarding Joseph is

in verse 10

is the most haunting image

in this chapter

and possibly all of Amos.

You'll see that

just a little further on

in the same chapter

in the words that Ann read

that God warns them

that he is going to

remove his people

from the land

he promised them

that he is going to

put them into exile

and we know that

decades later it came true

but more haunting

than any of that

is verse 10.

Is there still anyone

with you?

He shall say.

No.

And he shall say.

Silence.

We must not mention

the name of the Lord.

Now regrettably

and we know it

this is not a full

translation of the verse

when it says

that the Lord

all in caps

that all in caps

is an indication

that this is God's name

but it's a name

we do not know

and we do not know

how to translate.

For there is no one today

in the Jewish community

in the Christian community

there's no one today

who knows

the name of the Lord.

I am who I am.

The name that God

revealed to Moses

and gave us

his people

we have forgotten it.

And when this was written

it was not a forgotten

name of God.

This is the most common name

in the Bible.

The name others

will use all sorts of

good righteous names of God

but the name that God uses

when he is talking

regarding himself

more than any other name

is the name that some

today speak of as Yahweh.

Others use the term

Jehovah.

We know that's definitely

not how you pronounce it

because Hebrew had no

J.

So Jehovah

that's not a thing

but people are grappling

with how to be able

to say the name of God.

They have forgotten it.

We have forgotten it.

And this is one of the

as far as I know

this might be the only

prophecy

that is warning

that the people

are actually going to

begin to do what they did.

Silence.

We must not mention

the name of the Lord.

The people of God

their most precious gift

they had

wasn't just the land

or the

it was the name of God.

God had revealed himself

to them.

And over time

we're not exactly sure when

but God's people

began to say

something that the Bible

never said.

They said God's name

is so holy

we must not speak it.

And so they started to call

wherever the scriptures

said the Lord

they would begin to

they replace it with

Hashem the name.

The name

basically the name

that shall not be mentioned.

Just as it says right here

silence.

We must not mention

the name of the Lord.

It prophesies they will say.

And that's exactly

what they did.

They began to not mention

the name of the Lord.

Hashem they called him.

And over time

they forgot

how to pronounce God's name.

And to this day

none of us

there is no one

who knows God's name.

Whereas some centuries

and centuries ago

we knew it.

The heartbreaking thing

about that

is not just that

it's kind of rude

if you forget someone's name.

I'm at camp

and I remember

in the first week

we have 70 staff

and it hit me.

I know all 70

of our staff name.

Like I've done this.

And then I realized

the next day

we're giving everyone

a camp name.

So I had to relearn 70 names.

And so even this past week

the kids were referring

to their cabin leader

and I had no idea

who they're talking about.

And I'm just glad

the cabin leader wasn't there

because I had no idea

who my friend's name is.

Right?

Like it's rude

to forget someone's name.

That's not why

it's heartbreaking

that we've forgotten

God's name

because it's just

a little rude.

In the Bible

in the ancient time

a name tells the story

and the character

the personality

of who someone is.

It wasn't just

to differentiate

this guy from that guy

but it was to tell their story.

And in God's sharing

of his name

I am who I am

to his people

he had revealed

the essence of who he is.

The people of God

to this day

not knowing God's name

is an indication

that they hadn't simply

forgotten how to pronounce

his name

but they did not know God.

They were people

of liturgy

and they were people

of sacrifice

and they were people

of all this great

religious observance

but they did not know

who God is.

They'd forgotten it.

And you see that

in their complacency.

These people who are

we've read in previous weeks

how they were going

down to Beersheba

and they're going

to Bethel and Gilgal

and they were singing

these hymns

these amazing words

regarding God's design

of the constellations.

We looked at that

a few weeks ago.

Amazing stuff.

But they did not know

the God of whom they sang.

In church

we will be the same

if we are people

of liturgy

and of song

and of prayer

and all these things

but we are complacent

regarding the broken.

Because God is a God

who is anything

but complacent

regarding the broken.

A greatest example

of what it means

to actually live this out

this call to care

for the broken

to grieve over Joseph

to be people

not of complacency

is Jesus

who he was in his

talk about a comfortable bed

he was in his throne

in heaven

a place where there is

no heartbreak

or homelessness

where there's no rebellion

where there's none

of that stuff

where all the angels

and the elders

and everyone bowed down

crying out

as is right and fitting

holy, holy, holy are you God.

And he left that

amazing, comfortable,

secure place in heaven

to enter into the midst

of the muck

and the danger

and the frailty

of the human condition

to be able to rescue

those who are hurting

to rescue us

to life in him.

He is a great example

the scriptures speak

in Philippians

of how he didn't

account equality

with God

something to be grasped

but emptied himself

making himself nothing

to bring rescue.

He's anything

but complacent

he's a God

of compassion.

The word compassion

is a combination

of the word passion

to suffer

and the C-O-M

is a prefix

which means with

compassion is to suffer

with those who are suffering.

God's grieving for the poor

his compassion

for the hurting

is never just sympathy

it's never just like

oh, I'm so sorry

you're going through that

but it's an action

he's suffering

with those who are suffering

bringing life

in him.

And so God's call

to be compassionate

isn't just that we're

humanitarians

and people of nice hearts

but that we're actually

joining those who are hurting

and bringing them

to helping them

come to know Jesus

and life in him

dealing with their

their issues

physically,

spiritually,

holistically

that's what God's

calling us to

through these words

and Jesus is a great

example of that

but he's more than

just a great example

because it is

you can look at someone

like Mother Teresa

and you can look at someone

whoever

Martin Luther King Jr.

any of those great

heroes of ours

and we can be inspired

by what they did

but we're not actually

inspired to action

because we know

we're not as compassionate

as those people.

You look at Jesus

and see how amazingly

selfless he is

and we look at our own

comfort and our own way

that we always want

to self-preserve

and keep ourselves

from discomfort

and it's like

Jesus,

great for you

and we'll sing songs

about you

but like I'm not

Jesus

and it's right

we're not Jesus

but the great hope

of the gospel

is that Jesus

is not just a great example

but he is our great

sacrifice

that he both

through his death

brings forgiveness

for our sin

and where any of us

reading these words

see that we are those

who are comfortable

in our comforts

and are indifferent

to those who are hurting

and we see that

there is guilt

and there is shame there

rightly so

that we find forgiveness

and cleansing

purification

by asking Jesus

for forgiveness

but his sacrifice

not only provides

forgiveness for our sin

the removal of shame

and guilt

but it also provides

the empowerment we need

the grace

the strength

the dynamite power of God

to become ever more

like him

to become ever more

like him

in John 17

Jesus' prayer

for his disciples

and all who will follow him

he says

oh righteous father

even though the world

does not know you

I know you

and these know

that you have sent me

I made known to them

your name

and I will continue

to make it known

that the love

with which you have loved me

may be in them

and I in them

as God is praying

for us to be people

defined by love

this compassionate love

he speaks of how

he has made known

to us God's name

now he didn't tell us

the pronunciation

of the name of the Lord

I am who I am

but he did reveal to us

and make it possible

for all of us

to know personally

the character of God

this God of love

and justice

and compassion

and life

Jesus reveals to us

God's name

and one day

when Jesus comes back

we'll fully know

how to pronounce God's name

but on this side

of eternity

we're able to come

to know God

as we turn to Jesus

and receive his gift of life

as we sang as a church

just a few minutes ago

give me eyes

to see more

of who you are

may what I behold

still my anxious heart

take what I have known

and break it all apart

you my God

are greater still

as we sang these words

I looked around

I looked at myself

and I thought

do I mean these words

do I want God

to actually break apart

my understanding

of who he is

and give me a real

understanding of who he is

a God to be loved

and adored

and worshipped

and feared

and committed to

do we actually want that

no words can say

nor song convey

the greatness of our God

the reason we long

for that

and rightly so

is that that is

where life is found

as scary as it may be

for a God

to actually show us

who he really is

he's not just a God

to be believed

but he's a God

to be followed

to be fully committed to

that he's a God

who calls us

out of our beds

of ivory

into a broken world

to join him

in bringing life

and healing

even as we are

scarred and hurt

in the process

a God who calls us

to pick up a cross

deny ourselves

and die to ourselves

deny ourselves

and follow him

every single day

of our lives

it's not comfortable

it's anything

but self-preservation

it's just the opposite

it's throwing ourselves

into a place

of discomfort

and risk

but in so doing

why would anyone

do that

because it is

where life is found

because it is

the most glorious adventure

it's the most fulfilling call

it is life

not just the best life

a better choice

than others

it's the only way

to live

is to walk with Jesus

he's not

he's not like

he's not the best option

he's the only option

of real life

anything less than that

you can be a person

of liturgy

and of church

and of tithes

and all of these things

but if you haven't actually

looked to Jesus

to be your king

to be the boss

of your life

look to him

for your forgiveness

as well as

look to him

to surrender

your life to him

then you will live

your whole life

in this place

of empty chaos

a place you're always

trying to find

fulfillment and meaning

and searching

for the next pleasure

and whatever

and never finding

satisfaction

if you haven't

committed your life

to Jesus

do not wait

any longer

would you stand

with me

and pray

God you are

so much more

than we can

ever understand

and you are

so much more

awesome and glorious

such a greater

adventure than

anything that any

song could ever

convey

it is true

and God

we confess

that as much

as we know

of you

there is so

much more

to be known

Lord we look

to you that you

would help us

not just hear

these words

from Amos

and then go

on with our

lives

but to be

people

people who

are

constantly

turning from

ourselves

and our

self preservation

and our

selfishness

turning to you

for not only

forgiveness

forgiveness

but also

for transformation

that you

would save

us from

ourselves

that you

would save

us from

living for

ourselves

that you

would save

us from

trying to

self preserve

with all

of our

fake stuff

and false

fronts

and lies

and all the

things to try

to keep

our own

image

and whatever

comfort up

but rather

God would you

help us to be

people

who are so

fully alive

in you

people

who know

you

who not just

know the

various names

of God

you've revealed

to us

God the

healer

God the

provider

God of

armies

the people

who actually

are living

life with

you

the true

and living

God

in Jesus

name

amen