FIRST READING

Father, this is your word. This is not our word or my word. This is your word.

And we are your people. Jesus is our Savior.

And we are gathered here, Father, in the presence of Jesus this morning.

And we confess before you, Father, that unless your Holy Spirit moves and works in our hearts and minds and wills,

we cannot hear or understand your word right.

So, Father, in your mercy and in your kindness, may you continue to pour out your Holy Spirit upon us

as we hear your word and think upon your word.

And we ask, Father, that you would bring upon us the renewing of our minds, the renewing of ourselves,

that we might in our daily lives bring you glory, prove how excellent and how wonderful you are.

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

Please be seated.

So I'm going through the book of Revelation.

Some of you who have been here before know that this is part of a several-year project of me confronting some of my fears in preaching.

I've done 1 Timothy, which meant I had to talk about the ordination of women.

I've done Ecclesiastes, Revelations on the list.

I still have to do the book of Job, which we'll do sometime in the future.

And I'll probably also do Genesis 1 to 11 sometime in the future.

You know, given that evolution is so commonly believed and has so bent Christians out of shape when they read Genesis 1 to 11,

of course, it's a very easy part of the Bible to preach on and teach on.

But in one of my daughters over Christmas, she was asking me about the book of Revelation.

She'd been reading it.

And she said, you know, Dad, there's all these weird things in the book of Revelation.

You know, like there's the dragon that wants to eat the baby and the whore of Babylon and all this death and all this destruction.

What do you think about it?

I said to her, you really need to pray for me.

I don't know what I think about it yet.

I haven't started studying it yet, so I don't know what I think about it yet.

And hopefully, week by week, when I come to the text, I'll be able to prayerfully discern what the Bible is teaching and how it applies to us.

And I'll be able to communicate it well to us.

I mention that because this is the last, I don't know if you thought the text, the Revelation text, which I read just a few moments ago,

if you thought that was pretty odd.

I mean, I suppose a lamb with seven eyes and seven horns is sort of an odd type of phenomenon.

But this is actually the last normal chapter in the book of Revelation.

From now on, it gets really crazy and psychedelic.

So I really need your prayers over these next few weeks.

This is sort of my last easy week.

And then after that, I mean, you know, just next week we'll have death, famine, a quarter of the earth destroyed,

stars falling from heaven, just real, real easy stuff.

So please, please pray for me in the weeks ahead.

And we'll be doing approximately a chapter a week, taking a break over Easter,

but approximately a chapter a week until we finish the book.

But it'd be a great help.

Now, if we look at this last easy chapter, so to speak,

but it actually has something, has a lot of very, very challenging and un-Canadian things to say.

And so it'd be a great help to me if you open your Bibles and turn in them to Revelation 5.

Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

And you can follow along with me as we open God's Word and read it and think about it

and try to have it apply to our lives.

And I'm just going to start reading it again, verses 1 to 7.

I want to draw out a couple of your attention to a couple of things

and then sort of give us sort of our opening point to launch us into the rest of the text.

So Revelation chapter 5, verse 1.

Revelation 5:1

And here's how it goes.

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne

a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.

And just sort of pause before we read any further.

Because these are all powerful images.

So what's the image that God desires us to have as we read this opening verse?

Is God, I mean the one on the throne, which is God the Father,

is he grasping the scroll in his right hand?

Is he holding on to it really, really tight?

Will he grudgingly give it away?

No.

In the original language, it is that his hand is open

and that the scroll is lying across it.

So his right hand, of course,

right-handed prejudice against left-handed people,

is his arm of power and strength.

And he has his arm out like this and his hand is open

and the scroll is there.

And the scroll is basically the outworking

and the plan that God has from the moment of the crucifixion

to the end of all things.

And it's all outlined and talked about

and sort of revealed there.

And his hand is open, the scroll is lying across it.

And verse 2.

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,

who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth

was able to open the scroll or look into it.

And just sort of pause here.

The way we hear this part of the Bible

shows how we're deeply formed by our culture.

And here's this offensive thing,

in the quotation marks,

here's this offensive thing that it's saying.

No one in heaven and on earth is worthy to open the scroll.

That means Muhammad's not worthy.

It means Krishna.

It means Buddha.

It means Oprah.

It means Dr. Phil.

It means the President of Russia

and the President of the United States.

It means Marx.

It means Adam Smith.

It means Mitch Albom.

It means Billy Graham.

It means the Pope.

It means you.

It means me.

You see,

we have often cultural filters on our ears

so that when we hear the Scripture,

the pointiness and the sharpness of it doesn't hit us.

But that's what this text is saying.

In a sense,

the angel is scanning all the past

and all the present and all the future.

And he's scanning,

that's what it means,

under the earth,

over the earth,

those who are dead,

those still become,

every single person

and no one is worthy.

No one.

No one.

No one.

In fact,

what's going to characterize

a person like the Pope

or Billy Graham

or your favorite Christian leader

is that they have to understand

they're never the one worthy

to open such a scroll.

that in fact,

this text is a leveling text

of human humility,

calling human beings to humility.

And the Christian world

is filled with arrogant Christians

and every one of us here

struggles with pride and arrogance.

But this is a text

which levels us all

and says not a single one of us

is worthy to have taken that scroll

from God's hand.

So even if we have to,

in a sense,

when we're listening

to our friends

and our neighbors

who are Muslims

or Buddhists

or Hindus

or seculars

or have their own spirituality

that they're putting together

and have them speak,

on one hand,

inside in our head,

we are to understand

none of those religious teachers

or guides,

none of those books

are worthy to understand

and to open the scroll

that talks about the future

from the crucifixion

to the second coming of Jesus.

None.

Not one.

But I also am not worthy.

I also am not worthy.

Neither is Billy Graham

or the Pope

or John Stott

or take your pick.

None are worthy.

Continue reading at verse 4.

What was his response?

And I began to weep loudly.

And in the original language,

it's not only loud grief,

but deep grief.

Deep,

heart-wrenching,

almost wanting to vomit grief.

And I began to weep loudly

because,

and then to make sure

we catch it,

it says again,

no one was found worthy

to open the scroll

or to look into it.

Not even to look into it.

And one of the elders said to me,

weep no more.

Behold.

Behold,

remember,

is always in the,

in the Greek means look.

Look.

Look over there.

Look.

Look.

The lion of the tribe of Judah,

the root of David,

has conquered

so that he can open the scroll

and its seven seals.

And here,

once again,

our cultural prejudices

play an error.

All of us,

most of us in the room,

if we're at all familiar

with the book of Revelation,

know what's going to happen next.

And of course,

I just read it a few moments ago.

But,

you know,

hearing this for the first time,

and if it was,

be read very well to Christians,

to non-Christians

or to new Christians,

there's a shock

because,

you see,

at first,

the text seems to be playing

into our normal

human cultural prejudices.

You see,

since we as human beings

are fallen,

since we are bent,

and what characterizes

our bentness

is that we desire to be

a God

or the God,

it means that our heart,

we always desire power,

whether it's the power of money

or the power of military might

or the power of wisdom,

of poetry,

of art,

or whatever it is,

but we desire some type of power.

And so,

on one level,

this is fitting right into

our cultural prejudices.

Ah,

the king of the beasts,

the powerful lion

who has conquered,

and he's the one

who's going to be able

to open this.

And,

you know,

at the heart of all different

spiritualities

and all different religions

other than the Christian faith,

and I'm not saying

that people outside

of the Christian faith

are more proud than Christians.

That's definitely not the case.

Pride is a human problem,

not a problem

of any particular religion

or spirituality.

It's a human problem.

But,

the idea that

I,

as a teacher,

have discerned

the way to God,

discerned the way to heaven,

discerned the way to perfection,

is always,

whether it's realized

or recognized or not,

a proud thought,

a powerful thought,

a thought of power,

that I,

I can hitch my,

I can hitch,

in a sense,

my wagon

to this powerful thing

and become powerful myself.

And so,

at first,

this text plays

right to our cultural

and our human

expectations

of a lion

and of conquering.

But then,

look at the surprise.

One of the many things

in the book of Revelation,

I haven't talked about it

much most weeks,

but the book of Revelation

is filled with irony

and filled with inversion.

With,

you know,

G.K. Chesterton's famous

for saying that Christians

sort of are the people

who should understand

that the best way

to see the world

is to stand upside down

and look at everything

upside down

and it's the better way

it could,

it's a topsy-turvy way

of looking at the world.

And,

and the book of Revelation

is constantly surprising

our expectations.

And here's what happens

in verse 6.

And between the throne

and the four living creatures

among the elders

I saw a strong lion conquering.

No,

I saw a lamb standing

as though it had been slain.

In the original language,

the word for that

is really slaughtered.

Not a lion conquering.

I saw a lamb standing

as though it had been slaughtered.

with seven horns

and with seven eyes

which are the seven spirits

of God sent out

into all the earth.

I have a little vlog

about this

on the webpage

but basically

my understanding

of the book of Revelation

is we should always interpret

the numbers symbolically.

And so seven

is the number of perfection.

It's perfect.

So this lamb,

little tiny,

blah,

blah,

little tiny lamb,

blah,

you know,

huge throne,

huge creatures,

huge elders,

blah,

blah,

little tiny lamb

all gashed

because it's been slaughtered.

But even though

it's a little tiny lamb

gashed as though

it's been slaughtered,

it has seven horns.

Horn is the image

of strength

in the ancient world

and it means

it's perfect in power.

And seven eyes

means it's perfect

in vision,

it's perfect in knowledge.

and it connects

this perfect knowledge

with the Holy Spirit

sent out

into all the world.

And that's

who's standing

in the center there

in verse six.

And he went

and took the scroll,

verse seven,

from the right hand

of him

who is seated

on the throne.

And that's the image.

Baha,

baha,

goes up,

takes the throne.

Here's the first point.

The only one

who saves

is also

the only one

who is in control

of God's unfolding

plan for the future.

If you get nothing else

out of the sermon,

if that's all

that you take away from it,

this is in a sense

the overarching message

of the text,

that the only one

who saves

is also

the only one

who is in control

of God's

unfolding plan

for the future.

This

is a life-changing

teaching.

I mean,

one of the things

that we can do,

maybe some of us

need to do it right now,

is just pray

that this truth,

the truth of

Revelation 5,

grips us.

You see,

it's,

what do many people

think

is going to be

happening in the future?

Many people,

as they look

at their lives today

and they understand

themselves,

we see ourselves

as cogs in a wheel.

We say,

like,

well,

why does it matter?

How can we make

any change?

How can we make

any difference?

Look at the power

of the United States.

Look at the power

of Russia.

Look at the power

of Iran.

Look at the power

of the arms industry.

Look at the power

of capitalism.

Look at the power

of the global

change movement.

Look at the power

of queer theory

and gay rights.

Look at the power

of feminism.

Look at the power

of traditionalism.

Look at the power

of Hindu nationalism.

Look at the power

of radical Islam.

Look at the power.

Look at the power.

Look at the power

and we're surrounded

by powers

and we feel like

we are cogs

in the machine

and many people

feel that because

of that,

let's just eat and drink

because tomorrow

we die

or let's just

take our little

tiny place

in this cog

or let's not try

to right some evil

or let's not try

to plant some church

or let's not try

to do some big venture

because we are tiny

and there's all

these powerful things

and they are completely

and utterly

indifferent

to us.

They are indifferent

to me.

Hopefully they won't

notice me.

Hopefully I can get

some crumbs

from the march

of capitalism.

Hopefully I can get

some crumbs

from the march

of bureaucracy

or the march

of socialism

or the march

and I can get

some crumbs

and I can have

some peace

and I can have

some quiet

and I can have

the things

that I like

but these things

they are indifferent

to me

and some of them

are evil

and some of them

are scary

and some of them

I put my hope in

and some of them

I dread

and in such a world

Revelation 5 says

the only one

who saves

is also the only one

who is in control

of God's

unfolding plan

for the future.

President of Russia

he has his plans

President of the United States

they have their plans

global capitalism

they have their plans

Islamic Jihad

they have their plans

they all have their plans

the Bible doesn't say

they don't have plans

the Bible says

at the end of the day

what this is talking about

is that there is a scroll

that God has a plan

that brings us

from the moment

of the crucifixion of Jesus

to the moment

of Jesus' return

and the one

who is in control

of the unfolding

of this plan

is also the one

who saves me

who saves you

who saves

unreached people

in China

and unreached people

in North Korea

the only one

who saves

is also the only one

in control

of this outworking

of this plan

you see as people

throughout the ages

have been gripped

with this

it means

it doesn't

I mean

some Christians

have misunderstood

this text

and believe

that that therefore

means that we should

just withdraw from the world

that we should live

pietistic type of lives

in

insulated communities

or ghettos

but as this truth

has gripped people

we say

it says

well

how can we figure out

to get into North Korea

to share the gospel

how can we think

of bringing the gospel

to Iran

it gives

a hope

to attempt

things

now

this

truth

when it grips us

does not lead us

to feeling

powerful

or powerless

not powerful

in ourselves

but it creates

a sense of hope

that means

that we can

take risks

that we can

get married

we can have

those children

we can start

that business

we can write

that book

we can

we can write

that song

we can make

that statue

we can plant

that church

we can start

that young people's

ministry

we can do this

we can do that

why?

well because

global capitalism

all these types

of things

I know they're

going to make

a huge mess

of things

they're going

to kill people

and they're going

to do all sorts

of things

but at the end

of the day

none of those

things are in control

who's in control?

God's in control

well does God

just treat me

like I'm a cog

in a machine?

no

the one who's

in control

is the same one

who died on a cross

to save me

that's who's in control

that's who's in control

now the text

goes even deeper

and it goes deeper

and remember

earlier on

I said how

our cultural

blinders stop us

from hearing

the pointiness

of the text

who's worthy

to open the scroll

not Muhammad

not Buddha

I guess this is

going to be

put on Vimeo

I don't know

it'd be interesting

to see if people

find out that

it's such an

un-Canadian

un-North American

thing

but that's what

the text is saying

that's what the text

is inviting us

as Christians

to believe

to hope in

to trust in

it's a

leveling

humbling idea

but we also have

other cultural

blinders

that think

that means

that we can read

the text

without understanding

the text

or seeing

what it's saying

about 10 years ago

for the first time

I left North America

I was going to go

to Africa

and on the way

I spent some time

in Amsterdam

and I was a little bit

worried when I was

going to Amsterdam

you know

because I don't

travel much

I never travel

outside of North America

before

and I was worried

that when I got

to Amsterdam

that all the signs

would be in Dutch

and I was hoping

that I could figure out

where I had to go

I could eventually

figure out the Dutch words

and I got off the plane

I'm in the airport

in Amsterdam

I'm walking through it

and every sign

that's in Dutch

is also in English

and as I'm going around

and I start to go

to Amsterdam

everything is either

in Dutch

or in English

and I say to myself

I love this place

I can understand

the signs

I know

I can figure out

where to go

because it's in English

a few years after that

I went to England

for the first time

and I can't remember

who it is

it said that

North America

and England

are two countries

separated by the same language

and I discovered

that this was true

I had to go to

Nottingham

and I had a constant problem

understanding

working class

Nottingham people

and some of you

have heard the story

the classic thing

is I went to order

a coffee

and I said

I'd like a coffee

and the woman

with a very nice smile

said something to me

and I know it was English

and I didn't understand

a single thing she said

so I said again

I'd like a coffee

you know

classic

dumb

North American view

I'll just say

the exact same thing again

and she once again

with a nice smile

responded

in completely

incomprehensible words

that I knew

had to be English

because I'm in Nottingham

like if I had been

in Amsterdam

I might have thought

she was speaking Dutch

and gone for somebody

to help me speak Dutch

maybe when I was in Kenya

I thought they were speaking

a local language

I could find somebody

to help me

but I know

they're speaking English

to me

so

I

I

I ask again

in English

because I'm a slow learner

and she says

the same incomprehensible thing

so at this point in time

I say yes

and nod my head

yes

and then I turn

to the one other fellow

in the lineup

and say I feel so stupid

I'm from Canada

you know

I can't understand

these English accents

and he said to me

well mate

I'm from London

and I didn't understand

a word she said either

so I said

you don't know

what she's bringing me

he said

I don't have the vaguest idea

what she's bringing you

and eventually

it was an Americano

I think she was trying

to tell me

the coffee machine

was broken

and I needed to have

either an Americano

or a latte

or a cappuccino

I think

but with a heavy

nodding them

working class accent

so in the same way

sometimes we can read

the Bible

and we don't actually see

we think

it's like we're nodding them

but we don't realize it

that we're not really

understanding what's being said

even though it's a language

and here

I'm going to tell you the point

Andrew if you could put this up

and then we'll read through it

and I'll just sort of

gently point out

a couple of things

but here's the big thing

about this text

and those of you

who know the Athanasian Creed

can see how I've

been influenced by it

there is one lamb

not two lambs

one father

not two fathers

one god

not two gods

and the lamb

is not the father

this text is teaching us

that Jesus is God

this text in fact

gives us

pictures

to help to understand

a little bit

the fact that there is

one

three persons

but one God

and it does it

in a type of picture language

which is hard for us

to understand

but for pagans

who are used to mythology

and used to having

language and stories

about the gods

they would have read

this text

and been blown away

on one level

it's talking about

something completely

outside of their

categories of thought

yet on the other hand

they know

that this isn't talking

like

this isn't talking

like Athena

and Apollo

and

and

and

and Hercules

and it's not

it's not

it's not talking

as if there's

three gods

and it's

it's not talking

as if there's

just this one God

it's very clear

that somehow

the lamb is God

and the one on the throne

who is the father

is God

and it's somehow

clear that

that they're not

the same person

but they're different

but at the same time

it's

and

this

this

this is the

Athanasian creed

if you've never read it

it's a very very

helpful

I call it the

creed for dummies

and it's a

very very helpful

creed

but you see

in this language

of the text

which

to the original

people

the first several

centuries

of those

reading the text

used to the

writings of paganism

it would have been

very constantly

striking

it

very very clearly

teaching that

Jesus is God

yet it teaches

that there's not

two gods

but one God

like

look at

look at verse 6

even

and between the throne

and the four living creatures

and among the elders

I saw a lamb

standing as though

it had been slain

slaughtered

with seven horns

and seven eyes

which are the seven

spirits of God

the seven spirits

of God

is the perfect spirit

is the Holy Spirit

sent out into all the earth

so somehow the lamb

sends out the Holy Spirit

and he went

in verse 7

and took the scroll

from the right hand of him

who was seated on the throne

who is also God

and yet it doesn't talk

like paganism

in multiple gods

it's very clear

as you read

all the way through

the book of Revelation

that there's one God

and even if you just

sort of jump down

a little bit

in verse 13

and I heard

every creature

in heaven

and on earth

and under the earth

and in the sea

and all that is in them

saying

to him who sits

on the throne

and to the lamb

be blessing

and honor

and glory

and might

forever and ever

and the four living creatures

said amen

and the elders

fell down and worshipped

I mean even in the same

song of praise

it puts the one

on the throne

the father

and the lamb

and it makes a distinction

between them

and treats them

as if they're both God

yet nothing

in the language

of the entire book

sounds like paganism

and discussion

of multiple gods

but always of one God

the highest possible claims

are being made

about the one

who is the lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

the one who is slaughtered

to ransom us for God

there is one lamb

not two lambs

one father

not two fathers

one God

not two God

and the lamb

is not the father

Jesus is God

the father is God

but there are not

two gods

there is but one God

I think it's C.S. Lewis

which uses an analogy

imagine for a second

that

he doesn't talk about

Star Trek and Q

but imagine that

all of a sudden

those of you who've watched

the Star Trek things

that we're Q

and so one of us

as Q

is able to take

a very very very very

large piece of paper

and we're able to draw

a figure on a piece of paper

and then we're able

to make it alive

and so now

this stick figure

this drawing

is going to live

its entire life

on this sheet of paper

in two dimensions

and then you as Q

decide that you want

to try to communicate

to this stick figure

the fact that you exist

and that you've created him

but the problem

is going to be

for the stick figure

the drawing

in this two dimensional world

is how will he or she

ever possibly

get their mind

around the fact

that you exist

in more than two dimensions

you see in fact

if we think about it

that the stick figure

in the drawing

will find it

very very hard

to think of anything

other than two dimensions

and it will get

all sorts of things wrong

at some point in time

it has to just trust

that if this creature

you or me

are great enough

to create this

two dimensional creature

that it's very possible

in fact very likely

that two dimensions

won't describe

or capture who you are

and in a sense

you can understand

that like in other religions

in Hinduism

and Buddhism

and Islam

and Judaism

that in fact

they're caught

in a three dimensional

type of model

but that really

if there is a creator

sustainer

end of all things

who really does exist

who is in fact

the living God

doesn't it make sense

that if there is in fact

such a God

that he can't be characterized

by our three dimensions

and that

the Bible has to use language

picture language

like this

to try to get us

to understand

that God is greater

than the limits

of our dimension

speaking of C.S. Lewis

it's a great irony

that Aslan

disagrees with everything

that I've said

and by that

I don't mean

Aslan

in the Narnia Conocles

I mean

Riza Aslan

who's written

within the last

couple of years

a very very powerful

very popular book

on who Jesus is

and basically

describing him

as a type

of political zealot

and just

you know

basically all about politics

and he's one of

a long line

of very popular writers

who are always trying

to cast Jesus

in some other type

of role

as a great mystic

as a great

political agitator

as a great prophet

as a great moral teacher

and he is just yet

one more

in the long list

of all of these

who want to try

to recast

what the Christian faith is

and try to make it look

as if

somehow or another

Christians have

misunderstood

the records of Jesus

but here we see

John

who has this vision

of Jesus in heaven

how is it

first of all

he describes

Jesus as

God

but he sees

the central aspect

of what Jesus

has done

as not as being

a political agitator

not as being

a moral teacher

not as being

a mystic

not as being

a prophet

not in any sense

like that

but how is he

described

his primary work

is described

in verses 9 and 10

look at it with me

and he's saying

a new song

saying

worthy are you

to take the scroll

and to open its seals

for you were slain

you were slaughtered

and by your blood

you ransomed

people for God

from every tribe

and language

and people

and nation

and you have made them

a kingdom

and priest

to our God

and they shall reign

on earth

here's what the Bible

teaches

the lamb

who was slain

ransoms me

for God

the lamb

who was slain

ransoms

me for God

it describes

the fundamental

work of Jesus

not as a political

zealot

not as a moral

teacher

not as a great

religious teacher

or prophet

or mystic

but that the

fundamental aspect

of who he is

comes down to his

being willing

to be slaughtered

on my behalf

to ransom me

for God

to ransom you

for God

and when the text

says every tribe

and people

and nation

it means

to ransom

everybody

every color

every

every

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a worldwide

world

changing

sacrifice

which is to fuel

our desire

to share the gospel

with unreached

corners of the earth

and to pray for it

to pray for our

missionaries

and to pray for the

unreached corners

in our community

the arts community

the gay community

the goth community

whatever communities

that seem to be

unreached by the gospel

to pray

to pray

that they can be told

that the lamb

who was slain

who ransoms me

for God

and the purpose

of the image

isn't to raise

the question

of who does

Jesus pay the ransom

to

that's not the

purpose of the image

the purpose of the image

is

it's a

it's a

a technical word

in the original language

which refers to a person

who's

hopelessly

captured

by

a foreign power

in war

and now

is a slave

of war

and has no chance

of rescue

no chance

of escape

and a ransom

is

someone pays

to free them

and so

it's

it's said in the text

that the lamb

who was slain

ransoms me

that I

that the purpose

of the image

of the ransomeness

is to once again

it's a

it's a humbling image

it is to humble me

to understand

that it doesn't matter

how much money

I make

it doesn't matter

how artistic

I am

it doesn't matter

how high I reach

in the bureaucracy

it doesn't matter

how much money

I make

it doesn't matter

if I have

the perfect wife

or a succession

of perfect

trophy wives

it doesn't matter

what any of my

human accomplishments

are

that fundamentally

in terms of my

relationship with God

that I am

helpless

that I am

helpless

and unless

God does

something to help

me in my

helplessness

then I am

eternally separated

from him

and only God

can provide

and only God

does provide

and he provides

his own son

who is slain

and his death

comes to me

in my

powerlessness

and its effect

when I put my

faith and trust

in him

is that I am

now

poor God

I belong

to God

this is a very

very humbling

thing if you're

a billionaire

but ultimately

it's a humility

that brings

true hope

because riches

are fleeting

and when the

richest man

or woman

on the planet

dies

they are as

rich and as

poor as the

poorest beggar

because you

cannot be any

poorer than

dead

and it is a

profound word

of hope

to the

untouchable

to the

slave

to the

abused

to the

oppressed

to the

handicapped

to the

forgotten

that these

words of the

powerful

to describe

them when

they put

their faith

and trust

in Jesus

is not

the final

and true

word about

who they

are

but when

they put

their faith

and trust

in the

one who

was slain

for them

they now

belong

to God

I now

belong to

God

unworthy

as I

am

not weighing

my merits

but pardoning

my offenses

when I put

my faith

and trust

in Jesus

I belong

to God

he loves

me so much

that he sent

his son

to die

that I

might belong

to him

the death

knell

of pride

humility

that gives

life

and confidence

and strength

I don't

mean to

offend you

but the

fact of

matter is

is that

just as I

said that

first point

the idea

that the

only one

who saves

is the

only one

who is

in control

of God's

unfolding

planet

for the

future

that that's

a truth

that needs

to grip

us

but this

is a

humbling

thing

if we're

honest

with ourselves

Andrew if you

could put

the next

point up

this is what

many of us

have to pray

into

because we

have to

realize

that we

struggle

with it

in a

world

without

hope

for real

redemption

we

that means

Christians

worry

that God

has provided

only one

means for

redemption

the lamb

who was

slain

we feel

tongue-tied

and we

feel embarrassed

embarrassed

but we

don't

but he

has

provided

he's

provided

a means

and we're

caught up

in the

fact that

it's

won

because

it's

an unpopular

idea

and an

un-Canadian

idea

and it

doesn't

appeal

to the

innate

pride

in every

human

being

that

there

can

be

their

own

way

the

question

isn't

do all

religions

lead to

God

the

question

is

do all

religions

lead to

the

lamb

who

was

slain

the

answer

is

no

but that

is not

something

that we

should be

embarrassed

about

it's

something

for those

who

wrestle

with

despair

and

understand

the

limits

of

their

religion

and are

weighed

down by

religion

and weighed

down by

spirituality

and weighed

down by

advice

and weighed

down by

failure

who understand

at the

heart

the type

of despair

at the

heart

of all

man-made

religion

and spirituality

no matter

how wise

or dressed

up it is

it is a

powerful

news of

hope

that God

only God

can provide

a means

and he

has

and he

has

and he

doesn't

say

I won't

make my

means

available

to you

because

you're

gay

I won't

make my

means

available

to you

because

you're

an

untouchable

I won't

make my

means

available

to you

because

you're

too

rich

too

good

looking

not

good

looking

enough

too

old

too

young

too

fat

too

slim

too

muscular

too

black

too

white

too

red

too

yellow

too

polka

dot

whatever

he

turns

no one

way

just

very

very

briefly

in

closing

I

want

to

one

of the

big

mistakes

made

in the

Anglican

tradition

was

during

the

English

Reformation

when

they

made

a

big

mistake

about

what

to

call

ministers

and

they

knew

that

they

would

use

the

word

priest

and

by

the

word

priest

they

meant

presbyter

elder

but

I

think

that

the

Anglican

Reformation

in the

mid

1500s

made

a big

mistake

by not

getting

rid

of

the

word

priest

I

think

it's

led

to

obscuring

the

gospel

many

times

I

think

it's

led

to

congregations

and

clergy

thinking

that

it's

all

about

sacrifices

it's

all

about

rituals

it's

all

about

following

rules

it's

all

about

religion

and

I

think

we

made

a

big

mistake

and

you

can

see

in

this

text

that

it

says

it