Love Hung Bleeding

To a lot of people in our culture, Christianity doesn't make any sense.

Buddhism makes sense, not necessarily because of believing anything about Buddha,

but because things like yoga and meditation help people make it through the week.

And in our culture, lots of things of native spirituality make sense,

because a lot of people in our culture have a sense that on one hand,

while what most grips us is what we can eat, what we can drink, what we can wear,

what we can earn, what we can live in, what we can drive,

that at the same time there's a sense of mystery in life,

and often things like native spirituality can sort of deeply touch us.

But for many people in our culture, Christianity doesn't make any sense.

How could one person's death save me?

We can sort of understand, especially as we gather here today,

today with Jim Farherty just having died this week.

Many people, I mean I had never met the man, but it was a shock to hear of his death.

And we can understand maybe how a death can shock us or touch us,

even a death of someone who happened long before we were born.

But for many people in our culture, the idea that one man's death,

especially a man's death so long ago, could have any particular impact on me,

or any particular relevance for me, or that it could save me,

just doesn't really make any sense whatsoever.

And even this idea which Christians would talk about that Jesus is sinless,

often becomes a great puzzle to people in our culture,

and often if we're honest, to people in the pews,

we don't have pews, in seats in churches.

Because I was just reading the story of a Muslim man who converted to Christianity.

He spoke very powerfully about the great conundrum

that the sinlessness of Jesus causes many people.

If Jesus was sinless and perfect, why didn't God hear his prayers?

Why did God allow Jesus to die if Jesus was sinless?

But for many people in our culture, the idea of Jesus being sinless

is something that keeps Jesus far from us at arm's length,

rather than making Jesus approachable,

and someone that we can have as a friend, or confide in, or talk to.

The sinlessness of Jesus pushes him far, far away,

so that there are many people in our country,

and many people maybe even in churches,

that the fundamental story of Jesus,

the fundamental facts of Jesus are very, very, very deeply puzzling.

And often we don't even like to say that out loud,

because it just doesn't seem like the right thing to say out loud when you're in church.

And maybe your friends won't say it to you face to face,

because they don't want to offend you,

because they understand that you're a Christian.

But for many people in our culture,

these central ideas are very, very puzzling.

This morning, we're going to look right at these questions.

And usually I ask you to get out your Bibles,

and that you can still get out your Bible.

But really what we're going to do is just look at one very, very famous verse in the Bible.

And we're just going to look at it,

because this very famous verse touches on these questions,

and many other questions,

which you and many people in our culture have about the Christian faith.

And Andrew, if you could put it up, that would be great.

And what I've done is provided an essentially literal translation of the verse.

So some of you might have memorized it,

maybe you've memorized it in the King James Version,

or memorized it in the NIV or the ESV.

And I thought what I would just do is I'd sort of mess with all your heads

and provide an essentially literal translation,

because it's actually very beautiful.

In the original translation, it begins and ends with Jesus.

And so there's sort of a very specific form in it.

And so what we're going to do is we're going to look at this,

because it touches on many of these questions and others.

So it would be a great help to me if you all would just read this with me at this time.

The one who knew not sin, for us God made sin,

that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Let's just say it again.

The one who knew not sin, for us God made sin,

that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Now you see, right off the bat, the text begins with something which Muslims find profoundly confusing.

In fact, actually they will use these types of things,

a verse like this to show that Jesus could not possibly have died on the cross.

That if in fact they have maybe an easy time believing that Jesus could be such an exalted person,

they just have a very hard time believing that anybody who's so exalted could possibly die on the cross.

And as I said for others, the idea that Jesus is the one who knew not sin is deeply confusing.

It just seems to make Jesus very, very differently, very, very distant.

The one who knew not sin.

Well, here's what I want to suggest.

Andrew, if you could put up the first point, and then I'll try to explain it.

Believe it or not, the sinlessness of Jesus means that no one can identify with you and me as deeply as he can.

I learned this, actually, as I was thinking about arguments in favor of abortion.

I was listening to arguments in favor of abortion, and it one day struck me.

The sinlessness of Jesus means that no one can identify with you and me as deeply as he can.

Now, you see, part of the problem with this text for Christians is that we think of it a little bit like math.

Some people are really, really, really, really, really good at math.

And maybe you're a little bit different, but I've often found that people who are really, really, really, really, really, really good at math

aren't often very helpful to people.

They can't help people who are very bad at math.

Because for people who are very, very good at math, they just look, it's obvious.

Like, you just look at it, it's obvious.

How can you not get it?

And to the person who doesn't get math, they just go, how can you get that?

Nothing's obvious about that.

And sometimes for a person who's really good at math and another person who can't do math,

the gap is so big they can't even talk to each other.

And so for many people, when we think of Jesus' sinlessness, we just think, well, gosh, how on earth can you relate to me?

Like, he just sort of, I mean, it's almost as if Jesus is just, like, made out of, I don't know, you know, that,

what's that made-up metal that Wolverine has that's, you know, the hardest thing?

Yeah, there you go.

I like superheroes, but I'm not a superhero geek, okay?

Just so you're clear.

Can't often remember all this stuff.

So, you know, it's as if Jesus is just, it doesn't even touch him.

He's just so completely and utterly immune from sin.

But this text is very, very, very, very, very, very, very powerful.

Remember that the verse said, the one who knew not sin, for us God made sin,

that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

And in the original language, when it says knew not, it's really implying,

and it's a bit of a tricky thing because it's implying for people who hear it

that they sort of have an understanding of how the Bible talks about knowledge.

It's, in fact, the very, very same word.

When I talk about, I'll just be, I have to use this,

but when I talk about sex in church or in other settings with Christians,

and I want to talk about sexual intercourse,

I use the biblical phrase that you're not to know a man or a woman outside of marriage.

And that's the way the Bible talks about it.

And the Bible talks about a certain type of knowing that's, in a sense,

a deeply personal knowing.

It's a knowing that's connected to, in a sense,

a coming together of the truth, like an entering into.

It's something comprehensive.

It's something total.

It's something that has an idea almost of covenant or communion

or something unitive that brings something together.

And so that is the way the Bible describes sexual intercourse, as knowing one.

And that's that same idea up in the Bible verse.

Sorry, I keep pointing to it.

It's my point, not the Bible verse.

Could you put the point back up, the Bible text back up?

So I keep, there you go.

But the one who knew not sin, it's like this.

I know that there's, I don't know how many women there are here today.

I don't know, maybe there's 70 women here.

I know there's 70 women here.

But I only know Louise.

And that's the same type of sense here that is being used of Jesus.

It's not saying that he doesn't know that there's sin in the world.

It's not saying he doesn't know that sin and evil exists.

It's saying that he knows all about sin, but he never knew sin,

in a sense, in the way that I know Louise and Louise knows me.

That he never committed sin and had that act in the sense of unity with sin.

That's far from him.

That's what his sinlessness means.

Not that he was never tempted.

He was.

Now, some of you might be saying, George, how on earth does abortion,

the argument for abortion, help you understand this text?

Well, what's one of the main arguments for abortion?

One of the main arguments for abortion is that the fetus can't possibly be human.

Why can't the fetus possibly be human?

Well, the fetus can't possibly be human.

The fetus has no inner life.

The fetus doesn't make choices.

The fetus doesn't have any type of that struggle which we connect so powerfully with being human.

It's the same type of argument that goes on for euthanasia,

for people maybe who enter into Alzheimer's.

Is it their ability to make moral choices?

I mean, the whole realm of choices in inner life, it's very, very hard.

It's a moral, there's moral things.

Should I think this?

What should I think?

Should I plan for this?

What should I not plan for?

What should I move towards?

What should I avoid?

It all ultimately has a powerful moral component to it.

And so if we know that Jesus actually understood moral choice and he experienced moral choice and he experienced the chance of options,

then we start to understand that, in fact, this idea, the one who knew not sin,

if we start to understand that, in fact, the sinlessness of Jesus means that no one can identify with you and me as deeply as he can,

it becomes like this.

Let's say I'm going out on a car drive with you to Toronto and you and I both know somebody in common and I have a piece of really juicy gossip on someone that we both know and neither of us like this person.

And I know some gossip about them.

And if I tell you this gossip, and if I tell you this gossip in the right way, it'll make this person look really, really bad.

And both of us will have a good time with each other, relishing how much we dislike them.

Now, how long could you go in that car ride without telling the gossip?

Some of you would say, George, like, the second I put on the seatbelt, it's going to come right out.

And some of you might say, well, you know, maybe for some of us it's five seconds, five minutes, 15 minutes, three hours.

Maybe gossip's not your thing.

It would be an easy thing.

You can pick your own sin.

But only the person who never gives in.

So the person who goes an hour before they give in to the gossip, they have a moral life, an internal interior life that understands the full strength of the temptation.

And they're able to see how the temptation comes at them this way.

And then it comes at them this way.

And then it comes at them this way.

And then it sort of lies dormant.

And then it jumps out at them all again.

And they know that inner life, that inner experience for a full hour.

But unless you have the ability to resist that temptation until the temptation no longer tempts you at all.

And maybe that's going to be four hours.

Maybe it's going to be four years.

Maybe it's going to be 40 years.

I don't know how long it is.

But until you actually, it's only the person who understands the full power of the temptation and all of the different permutations and combinations it takes and never succumbs to it that really understands it.

They live a far more deeply human experience than those of us who just give in to the temptation really quickly.

In fact, actually, don't we usually think that people who give in to temptation instantly, what do we think they are?

Shallow.

Isn't that what we think they are?

Shallow.

What is it that we feel bad about ourselves if we give in to the temptation just like that?

We worry that we're shallow.

So in fact, this text, the one who knew not sin, actually opens up to us that rather than meaning that Jesus cannot identify with us,

there is no one who can identify with you more than Jesus.

That's why there's been such great hymns as what a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.

What a privilege to carry everything to him in prayer.

The sinlessness of Jesus means that no one can identify with you and me as deeply as he can.

Let's say this together.

Nope.

Oh, yeah.

Sorry.

There's the point.

Go back to the scripture.

Let's say this together.

The one who knew not sin, for us God made sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

But some of you might say, George, okay, one man.

How can what happens to one man have any real bearing upon me?

Once again, when I was reading this book on the Muslim who became a Christian,

that was a very, very, very deep problem for him.

How can it be that what happens to one man could possibly matter to him in terms of any type of eternal consequences?

It comes up in this verse.

The one who knew not sin, for us, for us God made.

For us God.

I mean, it's essentially literal translation, but I'm capturing that for some reason in the text,

there's this sense that God makes Jesus a particular person with a particular status,

so that what he does can be done for us.

If you put up the second point, Michael or Rebecca, that would be great.

Jesus is the only person who could possibly represent you and me and every person.

That's what this text is teaching.

That Jesus is the only person who could possibly represent you and me and every person.

When the Bible says, the one who knew not sin, for us God made sin,

that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

And that's what it's declaring.

It's declaring something which is all the way through the Bible,

that Jesus is the only person who could possibly represent you and me and every person.

Unless, again, we might wonder how on earth this could possibly be.

Like, on one level, we have a bit of an understanding of representation,

that how one person represents us makes a difference.

I think it's Mickey...

Who was it?

The famous actor who just died this week.

I was meant to look...

Mickey Rooney.

He just died this week, 93.

Ten decades in show business.

And in one article, I said that his net worth upon his death was $18,000.

How on earth could one be in Hollywood for ten decades and die with a net worth of 18 grand?

It's because one of his children who represented him ruined him financially.

If the newspaper accounts are correct.

Which we're just assuming for a moment they are.

Maybe they're not.

Some of us have been in the press at times and papers don't always get it right.

Okay?

So...

But, you know, on one level we have this sense that, you know, what happens, you know,

for a mother or a father in a family that they represent in a sense the family and they have

a representative function and leadership function in a family, then it makes a difference.

And we can understand how a head of state represents a country.

The president or the head of state of China or the head of state of India in a sense represents

over a billion people.

And I'm not trying...

I'm not denigrating the head of state of China or the head of state of India at all by saying

on one level they can represent a billion people.

But on the other hand, I mean, I don't know how many people in China or India would be happy

if they died or wouldn't even know if they died or...

Like, they're just sort of just mere human beings.

But we understand that it is possible in a very, very powerful way for one person to have

this representative power over many.

You've heard this illustration before, but it's a very, very good illustration.

If terrorists were to take over Wembley Stadium when it was completely and utterly full and

threatened to blow up a bomb killing everybody if their grants and demands weren't met, if

I phoned them up and said, if you let all 100 and whatever it is, 15,000 people go free,

I'll give you my life to let the 115,000 go free, they would laugh at me.

But if the Queen of England called up the terrorists and said, if I come into the stadium and sit on the bomb,

will you let the 115,000 go free?

The terrorists would believe that they had gotten the greatest deal in the world.

Because not only would they now think that they have...

They've traded 115,000 for the Queen of England, and they would understand that all of England

is now held captive.

And given the number of people who are English and people of English heritage throughout the whole world,

it might very well be that a billion people would be gripped by this offer

and feel that they themselves were on that bomb.

The Queen of England.

What this Bible is saying is that God makes Jesus that one who can represent us.

I mean, how great can that not possibly be?

I mean, on one level, the Queen of England is...

I mean, you know, if you're being very, very cynical, I don't mean to offend the monarchists here,

but you might just say, well, you know, she had a daddy and a daddy and a daddy and a daddy,

and they just were a whole pile of barons, and they won a sort of a war,

and it goes back to others, and it's just a whole pile of drunk guys who fought.

I'm not offending the monarchists, okay?

But it just happens to end up being Queen Elizabeth, who most people like because she's really sweet,

even people who aren't monarchists.

Monarchists.

You know, and...

But how...

And, you know, for the President of the United States, I mean, he just won an election,

and right now his approval rating is very low, but it would still be true of him.

But how much greater would it be?

Doesn't it make sense that it could be possible that God would identify one person to represent all humanity?

If we can understand that the Queen of England could, in a sense, represent all of England by her offer,

can't we see that God could do that with this person, Jesus?

And if he does it with Jesus, what possibly better person could it be than one,

as we saw earlier when it says,

God, the one who knew not sin for us, God made sin,

that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Who could possibly better represent us than one that God chooses,

and one who can identify with us?

Because, to be honest, how much can the Queen of England identify with many people in England?

I'm not trying to...

Paula, I don't want to offend monarchists, I really don't.

But you understand, who better to represent us than one that God chooses,

and one who knows human experience so deeply,

so that every human being, he can identify with them?

That's why I say that Jesus is the only person who could possibly represent you and me and every person.

Let's say the verse together again.

The one who knew not sin, for us God made sin,

that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Some of you might say,

okay, George,

so maybe I understand that Jesus, his sinlessness,

actually isn't a matter of

keeping him distant from me,

and sort of I can understand how this idea of representation,

that maybe one man, what happens to him,

could have an implication for me,

that maybe he could represent me,

and not just that he could represent every person.

But how is it possible, and how is it fair,

that God would just pick this one guy,

and this one guy has to die for me?

Like, how is that possibly fair?

If you look at the verse again,

the one who knew not sin,

for us,

what does it say?

God made sin.

That's this idea of substitution.

In fact, if you put up the point here,

we'll see this.

As he hung upon the cross,

bleeding and dying,

Jesus was the substitute.

That's what this verse is teaching,

that as he hung upon the cross,

bleeding and dying,

Jesus was the substitute.

Those of you who come to this church

know that I like movies and stuff like that,

and my wife and I have been watching a television show

from one of the cable channels.

I think it's A&E,

and it's Longmire,

and it's about a sheriff in modern-day Wyoming.

And in,

spoiler alert,

okay,

spoiler alert if you're watching it.

I won't tell you the episode,

but there's a bit of a spoiler alert,

and if you're,

so hopefully I haven't,

I don't ruin a particular episode for you.

But it was very,

very interesting.

It's the most popular show

on this particular cable channel,

and this,

one of the episodes

has this very,

very powerful episode

where

a woman gets hit by a driver

and left for dead.

It's a hit and run.

And it's very obvious,

eventually,

that the,

that this young man

is the one behind the wheel.

But then,

in fact,

in fact,

actually,

it's the sheriff,

Longmire's daughter,

who's hit.

And she's close to death.

So the young man

is facing a whole host

of different charges.

In fact,

there's a powerful scene

where Longmire

throws the young man in jail.

He lifts off

all the charges against him,

and then as he's leaving,

he says to his deputies,

any other charge you can think of,

put it against him.

Then,

sort of very soon

on in the show,

the father of the young man

comes,

and his face

is all banged up

and beat up.

And the father's a drunk,

and he says

that he's behind the wheel,

that he was the one

behind the wheel,

that his son was innocent,

that he had forced

his son to drive.

It's a very powerful

interchange

between the sheriff

and this father.

and at the end of it,

the sheriff himself

is struggling

with his own guilt

about his relationship

with his daughter

and how he had left her alone

and not cared for her

like he should have.

And he brings the father in

of the young guy,

and he puts him in jail.

And he says to his deputies

who object

to let the young man

go free

because he said

the dad

was the one

behind the wheel.

Because this dad

had begged.

He said,

I've ruined my life.

I've ruined my life.

Let me go to jail

for my son.

And Longmire does it.

The man

goes to jail,

and the son

goes free.

And later on

in the episode,

and this is where,

you know,

part of our culture,

there's this sense

that on one hand

we understand

that we're gripped

by what we can eat,

what we can drink,

what we can buy,

what we can ride,

what we can wear,

what we can live in,

what we can earn,

and we're gripped

by all that.

But at the same time,

there's a very powerful

part of our culture

that understands

there's something mystical

and that there's

something more.

And in this particular episode,

the sheriff ends up

going through

an Indian ritual

which causes him

great pain

in the hope

that his suffering

will allow

the great goddess

to heal his daughter.

And that's where

the spoiler alerts

will end.

But it's a very,

very fascinating idea

that this,

the most popular series

on this particular

cable channel

that deeply embedded

in it

is this sense

of the appropriateness

of substitution.

And when the Bible

here says

that the one

who knew not sin

for us,

God made sin,

that we might become

the righteousness

of God in him,

the Bible is teaching

that not only

if Jesus actually

can identify with us

very, very deeply,

more deeply

than any other human being,

even the person

with the closest marriage,

even the person

with the closest friend,

even the person

that had the greatest mom

in the world,

Jesus can identify

with you far more

closely and deeply

than any other person.

And that Jesus

is the one

who can truly

and utterly

properly represent us.

That there's both

the fact that God

would set up a person

that could represent

human beings

and this powerful

act of identification

that there's no one

better qualified

to represent us

than Jesus is.

That Jesus is the one

who acts.

When he's dying

upon the cross,

he's dying

as an act

of substitution.

You see,

Jesus doesn't do this

because he's forced

to by God.

But just as in the

illustration that I gave

that this man

who was a drunk

and yet still loved

his son out of love

would willingly

pay the penalty

of a crime,

of a whole list

of crimes for his son

out of love

for his son

and the sheriff

would go through

this torturous

experience out of love

for his daughter.

We're so used to people

with political power

and prestige

and representative power

to not care about

the little guy

and the little gal.

It's mind-boggling

for us to think

that one who could

represent us

and could identify

with us

would also love us

and would love us

so deeply

and would love us

so deeply

that he would

willingly take our place.

In our culture,

it's very,

very common.

And if you were

to go to the local

coffee shops

or the local bars

or ask around

your work,

it's very common

now for us

in our culture

to have some type

of idea of karma.

But when we think

about karma,

we think about it

in a very intermittent way.

We think about it

more in,

well,

like this one

particular time

I was driving

out in the country

and I was behind

a very,

very,

very,

very frustrating driver.

The speed limit

was 80

and they were always

driving 70.

But as soon as

they came to

a flat piece

of road

where you could

pass

and there were

passing lanes,

they sped up

to 115

and I couldn't

pass them.

That was so

frustrating for me.

And then we come

into this little

tiny hole-in-the-wall

community

and the speed limit

went from 80

to 40

and they kept

going 70

and a cop

pulled them over

and gave them

a ticket.

I'll confess

later on

a sin yet again

that that made

me happy.

There was a sense

of divine justice

in that

as I

tootled past

them

going 50.

Afterwards,

I would be able

to go

far faster.

I had lived

in the country

for a while.

I knew that

rural police

often hide

in such spots

to give people

tickets.

So, you know,

we have,

but what if,

what if this idea

that we usually

just throw out

this idea of karma

or what goes around

comes around

or something like that

in a particular time

when we've been wrong,

but what if something

like that is true?

What if something

like that is possibly

true?

And what if it's not

just something

that is just

intermittent

and then all the

other times

we can sort of

forget about it

and it only happens

sort of when there's

these sort of

big things,

but what if

there's something

like that

that's true?

And what if

something like that

that's true

and it goes on

with what we think

in our head

and what we feel

in our heart

and what we do

with our bodies

and what we do

when nobody's looking

and how we think

about people

all the time

and our moral

evaluations

and what if

in a sense

there's something

like karma

which is true

in all of that

that will one day

come out

and there has to be

some type of

price that's paid

and on one level

we understand

that there's some

sense every person

who understands

something of what

we now in our

culture call karma

we understand

that there's this

sense of wrongdoing

and a price

to be paid

and Christians say

that sense

that you have

is a window

into what truly

is real

that your own

self-centeredness

my own self-centeredness

and pride

is blinding me

to and keeping

distant from me

but the Bible

is very very

clear eyed

and God

is very clear eyed

and so as he

hung upon the cross

bleeding and dying

Jesus was the

substitute

he is the one

who takes

into himself

takes our place

now some of you

might say

okay George

that's uh

okay let's put

the verse up again

say it together

the one

who knew not

sin

for us

God made

sin

that we might

become

the righteousness

of God

in him

now some of you

might say

okay George

even if something

like that was to

happen

you know like

look at that

Longmire episode

okay so the

drunk dad

he takes the

place of the son

that's all very

good

the son goes

free

the son still

has a broken

arm

still has a

messed up life

all those

things go on

you know

Longmire and

his daughter

whatever happened

she still has

all the

you know she's

still unemployed

she has all

these things

that are messed

up so even

if Jesus does

something like

that for me

where does that

leave me

that verse again

the one who knew

not sin for us

God made sin

what that we

might become

the righteousness

of God

in him

here's what the

Bible's teaching

as he hung upon

the cross

bleeding and dying

Jesus is not

just offering

to take our

place

he is offering

to trade places

with you and me

as he hung

upon the cross

bleeding and

dying

Jesus is not

just offering

to take our

place

he is offering

to trade places

with you

and me

imagine that

they came up

with a cure

for cancer

but the problem

with the cure

for cancer

is that it

had to be

a family member

and they could

take the cancer

out of the person

with the cancer

and if they

had a person

who was

completely

healthy

they would

put the cancer

into that

person

and that

person's health

would go back

into the person

who had cancer

so the one

who originally

had cancer

would now have

the healthy

person's health

and the healthy

person would now

have that cancer

if they ever

developed such

a cure

for cancer

and one of my

grandchildren

had cancer

the only problem

would be my

wife and I

would arm wrestle

each other

as to who would

get to have

the cancer

who would take

on the cancer

and give their

health

that would be

the only argument

in our family

what we see

with Jesus

is something

like that

that

he

that when we

talk about

Jesus being

our substitute

it's not just

feelings that's

involved

that

Jesus in the

cross

it's an actual

offer of

exchange

the sinless

one with his

perfect

relationship

with the

father

an unbroken

communion

with the

father

that he

dies on the

cross

and he

willingly

says

George

not only

will I

take upon

yourself

myself

all the

karma

that should

come upon

you

I'm willing

to trade

places

with you

that Jesus

God will

relate to you

George

as if you

are me

the Bible

uses words

of

well

in the

scripture text

that we've

been looking

at again

and again

and again

the one

who knew

not sin

for us

God

made sin

that we

might become

the righteousness

of God

in him

there's this

offer of an

exchange

of a trading

of places

that's why

what happens

on the cross

is not like

what happened

on that

Longmire show

which just

leaves people

having been

substituted

but still

stuck with

their lives

that on the

cross

there's this

offer for us

not only to

have that

karma dealt

with

but to

have a

new status

a new

identity

a new

destiny

a new

relationship

with God

that we

have not

earned

that we

could not

possibly

earn

and that

we do

not deserve

and could

not possibly

ever deserve

and Jesus

does it

because he

loves you

and me

not as

abstractions

but as

who we

really are

that there

is not a

single person

on the

planet

who could

say to

Jesus

Jesus

you can't

possibly

offer that

do you

know what

I've done

in my life

do you

know how

I think

do you

know what

goes on

in my

between

these

these two

ears

and behind

the eyeballs

do you

know what

goes on

in my

heart

do you

know my

history

and for

every one

of us

Jesus

says yes

I do

I know

all that

and still

it's because

I love

I know

and I

know

I know

what you've

been through

and I

know those

things that

really

you've just

been a

victim

but I

know those

things that

you have

delighted in

that were

wrong

and were in

a sense

karma really

I know

all of that

where the

karma is

deserved

and still

I will

take your

place

and still

I will

offer to

trade

places

with you

put up the

verse again

say it with

me

the one

who knew

not

sin

for us

God

made

sin

that we

might

become

the

righteousness

of God

in him

the Christian

life begins

when we move

from saying

to other

people

Jesus

is the

savior

to saying

to Jesus

be my

savior

that's how the

Christian life

really is

marked

from being

able to

say

Christians

say that

Jesus

is the

savior

to maybe

being able

to say

Jesus

is the

savior

to saying

to Jesus

to saying

to God

Jesus

be my

savior

be my

substitute

I accept

that offer

of exchange

be my

great

exchange

be my

savior

that's how

the Christian

life begins

and we

live the

whole

Christian

life

gripped

by that

and shaped

by that

that's why

the mission

statement of

this church

increasingly

is making

disciples

gripped by

the gospel

living for

the glory

of God

to understand

that this

great act

of identification

and representation

and substitution

and exchange

gives me

this new

status

and this

new identity

and as

this truth

grips me

well then

the idea

of identifying

with the

weak or

the poor

makes sense

the idea

of identifying

with those

who are

victims

makes sense

the idea

of standing

in the gap

to represent

makes sense

the idea

of doing

some act

of offering

of giving

of our money

or of our

time

as an act

of substitution

or exchange

that the one

who has no

money

that we would

give that money

as an act

of substitution

and exchange

that begins

to make

sense

as the gospel

grips us

it changes

our life

but it begins

I put it here

I couldn't think

of a point

if you could

put the final

point

I couldn't think

of a way

to describe

this in a

simple line

so I thought

I would just

go with

the Bible

says

be in

him

be in

Jesus

please stand

maybe some

of you

God has

been

sort of

zeroing

in on you

and you

can feel

his finger

upon you

and you've

never

made that

move

of going

from Jesus

is what

Christians say

is the

savior

to Jesus

is the

savior

saying

Jesus

be my

savior

be my

substitution

be my

exchange

and maybe

the finger

of God

is upon

you

this

morning

the Holy

Spirit

is upon

you

urging

you

to say

that

to Jesus

and there's

no better

time

than right

now

today

in this

place

to say

that

to make

that

say

that

to Jesus

there's

no better

time

than right

now

won't be

better

when you

finish

the degree

won't be

better

when you

paid

off

the

mortgage

won't

be

better

when

you

moved

into

the

condo

no

better

time

than

right

now

and

there's

nothing

magical

about

my

words

but

I'm

going

to say

it's

actually

a word

from within

the bulletin

the groin

and grace

section

I'm going

to say

slowly

a prayer

and if

the finger

of God

the Holy

Spirit

is upon

you

I'll

say

a very

short

fragment

and there'll

be a period

of silence

I invite

you

you don't

have to say

it out

loud

it's just

a transaction

between

you and

Jesus

all I'm

doing

is helping

put into

words

what the

Holy Spirit

is urging

you to

say

and there's

no better

time

than right

now

to do

it

and just

do it

silently

I'll leave

time

and I

urge you

I beseech

you

I implore

you

to do

that

Jesus

you are

the sinless

one

you tasted

every

temptation

to its

full strength

without

giving in

to the

temptation

you

represented

me

on the

cross

you

died

in my

place

you

traded

places

with

me

thank

you

be

my

savior

I

want

to be

in

you

today

and

forever

make

me

your

disciple

gripped

by this

gospel

living

for your

glory

amen

just

continuing

by in

our

heads

in

prayer

father

we

thank

you

so

much

for

Jesus

we

thank

you

for

what

he

did

upon

us

in

the

cross

we

ask

father

for

everyone

here

who

is

yours

that

you

would

make

us

disciples

gripped

by the

gospel

living

for

your

glory

and

father

if

there

are

any

here

today

who

gave

their

lives

to

Jesus

for

the

first

time

I

ask

that

your

Holy

Spirit

would

fall

mightily

upon

them

mightily

upon

them

in

a

deep

way

drawing

them

close

to

Jesus

Jesus

close

to

them

and

all

this

I

ask

in

the

name

of

Jesus

your

son

and

our

savior

amen