"Advent" Part 1

Hi, this is John Ozanting, lead pastor of Evolved Church, and this is the Evolved Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

Um, we're gonna be in 1 Peter chapter 2 today, uh, which is a text that I've never preached from at Christmas, but I'm kind of excited about.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

But before we go there, I'm gonna I'm gonna just shoot you with a whole bunch of Bible.

Are you ready for this?

I don't often do this, but there's a reason.

Job 12.

Oh, he's pastor's reading from Job.

This ought to be good.

The book of Job 1222, he uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness.

He brings light to the deepest gloom.

Psalm 139, but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

Darkness and light are the same to you.

Isaiah 49, I will say to the prisoners, come out in freedom, and to those in darkness, come into the light.

They will be my sheep grazing in green pastures and on hills that were previously bare.

Luke 1, because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.

Isn't that beautiful?

John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

The prologue of Jesus entering into planet earth, Jesus, the eternal word.

In the beginning, the word already existed.

The word was with God, and the word was God.

He existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.

The word gave life to everything that was created.

And his life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 8 12, Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, I am the light of the world, in case we hadn't figured it out yet.

If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness because you will have the light that leads to life.

John 12, 46, I've come as a light to shine in this.

Are you getting the theme?

What's the theme?

Darkness doesn't stand a chance.

John 8 12, sorry, John 12, 46, I've come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.

All who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.

1 Thessalonians 5, 5, for you are all children of the light and of the day.

We don't belong to darkness and night.

1 John 1, 5, this is the message we heard from Jesus, and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.

What was said about Jesus before he was born?

What Jesus said about himself when he walked on planet earth, and what echoes still about him is that Jesus is light in dark places.

And in the battle between light and dark, dark doesn't stand a chance.

Darkness doesn't stand a chance.

The light shines in the darkness, and the dark darkness cannot extinguish it.

Where's darkness winning in your life right now?

Where's darkness winning in your home right now?

Where's darkness winning in your faith right now?

Where's darkness winning in your marriage, in your thoughts, with a coworker, with a family member, with a neighbor across the street that you've begun to just love and serve?

Where's darkness winning in your life right now?

Because here we are at the start of Advent, and Advent means waiting, but more than that, it means preparation.

It means preparing.

We're not waiting idly.

We're preparing for something while we wait.

We're preparing for something while we wait.

Yesterday we were waiting for some family and some friends to come over to share a meal with us.

You know what we were doing while we were waiting?

We were preparing.

We were working.

I was cooking.

It was great.

But in the waiting, we often think of waiting as being sort of an idle step back, like, okay, God, what are you gonna do?

But waiting involves preparing.

And that's the beauty of waiting.

We aren't just waiting for Jesus to come or to come again.

We aren't just waiting for Jesus to usher his magnificent light into the darkest places once again.

We're preparing for that light to invade darkness.

Darkness doesn't stand a chance.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Is that my timer already?

I'm done.

All right.

A number of years ago, there was a Thai soccer team of 12 boys and one of their coaches, and they got trapped in a cave.

Do you remember hear about that in the news?

Anybody, anybody, anybody?

These 12 boys and one of their coaches were out kind of hiking and spelunking and exploring, and they got trapped in a cave for 10 days.

A very dark cave.

And I was reading this week about the effects of being trapped in darkness.

And that experience, uh, there were a number of psychologists and writers that interviewed these boys once they were rescued and just kind of got their stories, and there was this very real fear when they were trapped in darkness that no one would ever find them.

A very real fear that we are stuck in darkness and no one knows we're here.

No one's gonna find us.

There was also a fear that once they were discovered, once they were found, that they wouldn't be able to rescue them.

If you're in a cave and you're trapped in darkness, you're afraid that no one's gonna find you.

But then even when somebody's aware that you're in that dark space, there's still a fear that are they gonna be able to get me out of this?

And these fears presented themselves in all 12 of these boys.

Survival psychologist Dr.

John Leach of the University of Portsmouth, he says this after a disaster, people go into an impact phase where they realize something has gone wrong, but they may not comprehend it.

People could continue with this normal behavior even if it didn't apply to the situation.

Behavior, what he means by that is trapped in darkness behavior.

What became normal, once they're rescued, they continue in this even though it doesn't apply to the situation.

In some cases, there could be a phenomenon called perseveration, where the part of the brain needed to take a new action, stopped functioning.

And in that case, people could keep repeating the same action.

Where is darkness showing up in your world right now?

And what fear is connected to that?

Maybe you've been a space of darkness for so long that you're wondering if anybody is ever going to find you again.

Maybe darkness has presented itself in a neighbor across the street or a coworker in a cubicle beside you, and you are aware, you're aware that they're in darkness, but they're still afraid that no one can actually bring them into the light.

Jesus was, is, and always will be in the business of bringing radiant light into dark places.

That's his MO.

It's why he was born as a baby.

And so today's big question: how will we honor the gift of Jesus by choosing to be people that carry light into darkness?

Because waiting isn't waiting idly, it's preparing.

There's something on you to prepare for Jesus to bring light into dark places.

And many of us have prayed desperate prayers, either on our own behalf or on the behalf of somebody we know and love.

Would you bring light into their darkness?

And the whisper of the Spirit saying, Absolutely, I'd love to do that.

Will you prepare to help me bring light into darkness?

Will you prepare to receive light into darkness?

Waiting is an idol.

Waiting means preparing.

And so we turn to 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 4 to 10.

1 Peter 2:4–10

This is our text for today.

If you have a Bible, feel free to read along or bookmark it to read this week in your own devotions.

It's on the screen if you don't have a Bible, because that's how we roll.

But 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 4 through 10, here's what it says.

1 Peter 2:4–10

You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple.

He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple.

What's more, you are his holy priests.

Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

As the scriptures say, I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.

Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor that God has given him.

But for those who reject him, the stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.

And he is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.

Why do people stumble?

They stumble because they do not obey God's word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

And verse nine.

But you are not like that.

All across the room watching from home today, I want you to say, I am not like that.

One, two, three.

You are not like that.

For you are chosen people, you are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession.

And as a result, you can show others the goodness of God.

For he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

Once you had no identity as a people, now you are God's people.

Once you receive received no mercy, but now you have received God's mercy.

I love this.

You are not like that.

You are not stumbling over the message of Jesus.

You are not tripping up in dark spaces anymore.

Why?

Because you're chosen.

You're called.

You're God's people.

You've been shown mercy.

And so we get to show others the goodness of God because we are people that live in the light.

And that's what I want.

I've got two things I want to share today.

Just two, Pastor?

Yeah.

Shortest message I've ever preached.

Are you ready for this?

We'll see.

Hey, I just want to go on record because this is being this is being recorded.

I want to go on record.

Malachi is my witness.

The Friday night they asked me to come preach at youth, and they gave me 10 minutes, and he set a timer, and I preached for 10 minutes.

So it can be done.

It can be done.

Have you ever heard the book of Leviticus?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Somebody said yes, but uh the book of Leviticus is a tough read, and uh it's why I discourage uh new Christians from reading the Bible through from front to back, because once they get to Leviticus, they're like, I'm out.

Um the book of Leviticus, uh, there are 80 references to the idea of what is unclean.

And the entire book of Leviticus is the Jewish law of like the fight to stay clean.

Now, any parents uh with like 10-year-olds in the room know that the fight to stay clean is real.

And uh, but the Jewish people lived in this constant fear of becoming unclean.

And if you can read, if you have the stomach to read through Leviticus, you will see just how hard it was.

If you came into contact with anything that was unclean, you yourself would become unclean.

And you'd have to undergo rituals and practices to make you clean again.

Jesus eradicated the law of running away from unclean things.

Some Christians still have this fear.

They're afraid of unclean rooms or unclean situations or unclean people.

They're afraid that if I get too close, I'll become unclean.

If I watch that PG-13 movie, whoo! We get weird and religious.

If my kid hangs out with that kid, we teach our kids to be afraid of unclean situations rather than equip them with the boldness that because of Jesus, everything's changed.

Jesus eradicated the old law of running away from unclean things out of fear for becoming unclean.

He flipped the script and he showed us his way of bringing light into darkness.

Here's the old way.

Clean meets unclean.

Clean becomes unclean.

Bummer.

Here's the new way, the Jesus way.

Jesus meets unclean.

Unclean becomes clean.

Yay.

I wrote that down.

Yay! Or yeah, however you want to say that.

I don't know the proper placement.

The old way.

Some Christians are still trapped in this old way.

If I come into contact with something unclean, heaven forbid.

If my teenager hangs out with that other unclean teenager who uses potty mouth language, they're gonna become unclean.

And so we guard, out of fear, we guard our kids.

Jesus flipped the script.

Jesus was always figuring out new ways to bring light into dark places because under Jesus' covenant, Jesus' way, when clean comes into contact with unclean, unclean becomes clean.

That's why his disciples were like, whoa, whoa, Jesus, slow down.

Those dudes have leprosy.

Unclean.

He's like, yeah, watch this.

Clean meets unclean, unclean becomes clean.

That's why Jesus wasn't afraid to walk through a crowd of people and be touched by a woman with an issue of blood.

A very real issue in the Jewish culture that if you came into contact, you would have to go through ritualistic cleansing because you touched something that was unclean.

Not Jesus.

He's like, guess what?

Clean meets unclean, unclean becomes whole.

Unclean becomes clean.

Only Jesus.

Only Jesus.

Jesus was and is and always will be in the business of bringing radiant light into dark places.

More than that, Jesus invites us to not just experience his life and light, but to continue his mission by being a people who also bring his light into dark places.

That's on you and me.

That's part of our joint experience of surrendering our lives to Jesus.

He invites us to break through the fear, break through the old way, and usher light, his light, into darkness.

So how will we honor the gift of Jesus by choosing to be people that carry light into the darkness?

1 Peter 2, 9 and 10.

You are a chosen people, you are royal priests, you are a holy nation, God's very own possession, and as a result, you can show others the goodness of God for the for he called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Once you had no identity, now you're God's.

Once you received no mercy, now you receive God's mercy.

Last week's Sunday, in our second service, we prayed together for one of ours, Carl Enz.

Not Carl Lentz, as somebody thought I said, but Carl Enz.

And we can pray for Carl Lentz too, but if you don't know who that is, it won't make any sense.

But Carl Enz uh was admitted into the hospital last weekend.

And um his wife and young adult son were in our first service last week, and they grabbed me between services and we cried together and we prayed together.

And then in our second service, we prayed just in a holy moment of faith as a community for Carl.

And that afternoon I went to the hospital to go visit Carl, and his wife and son and daughter were there.

And the first thing his wife said was, like, I know exactly when you prayed because something changed.

All of a sudden he was feeling better.

And so in that hospital room, the first thing I could sense in the room was a very real fear.

You know, when your husband or your dad is in a hospital bed, and your husband and your dad's a strong man, but there's blood clots in lungs, and that could end him, there's a very real fear.

And so the first thing I did was just like tear the lid on that fear and speak it out loud.

And that gave us permission to bring the light of Jesus into that darkness.

Because that's who we are, that's what we carry.

That's not something that I uniquely carry, that's on you.

You carry that too.

But I share this story because what's more important than my moment with Carl and Patricia was the couple that was watching in the room.

That as a family, after like praying and chatting and laughing and talking about fear, we we actually just became aware of this other couple in crisis.

A couple far from Jesus.

A couple like living in darkness, fear.

And so we all together prayed for them.

And then this is the kicker.

Carl got released, he's recovering at home.

He called me Tuesday because he's at the hospital again visiting this couple.

That's light in dark places.

That's in the in the middle of darkness.

Hang on, hang on, the story's not done.

In the middle of darkness, what do we often do?

We rock back and are aware of our own fear, and we call out, Jesus, fill my darkness with your light.

And I'm not saying that's wrong, I'm just saying that's not really prepared.

Waiting requires preparation.

Preparation for light into dark places is living in a way where you acknowledge other people's darkness and are willing to say, I can put a light on this for you.

And on Friday, as I was crying on the phone with Carl, I said, Carl, I'm just so proud to be your pastor because here you are fighting for your life, creating space in your recovery to go back to the hospital to pray for this family once again.

Did you know that running into running into unclean rooms, running into darkness is on us as Jesus followers?

And first Peter teaches us how two things.

Number one, today, remember who you are.

Today.

Tomorrow will worry about itself, but today, remember who you are.

Remember that you're a chosen people, you're a royal priest, you're a holy nation, you're God's very own possession.

Remember that as a result, you can show other people the goodness of God, for he called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Remember that once you had no identity, but now you are God's people.

This is the grace and beauty of knowing whose you are.

We are chosen, we are royal, we are holy, we are called out, we are his, and we are invited to show others his goodness.

Don't be defined by the darkness anymore.

It's not your identity.

It's not enough to just be aware that we're called sons and daughters.

It's it's it's on us to remember whose we are.

It's on us to remember every day who we are.

We have to carry that identity that we are God's possession.

We are holy, we are set apart, we're a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

Called out of darkness into light to show the goodness of God to others.

That's who you are.

We have to carry that into the darkness that we face and the darkness that others are facing.

To invite them to experience the light of Jesus for themselves.

And number two, my second and final thought, and then I'm done.

1 Peter 2.10.

Once you received no mercy, now you've received God's mercy.

But it's not enough to receive the mercy of God through Jesus.

We have to carry that mercy into the darkness that others are facing and invite them to experience the mercy of the Father for themselves.

Micah 6 puts it this way: He's already made it plain how to live, what to do.

What God is looking for in men and women.

It's quite simple.

Do what is fair and just to your neighbor.

Be compassionate and loyal in your love.

And don't take yourself too seriously.

Take him seriously.

Or Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 5: God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Mercy is always an exchange.

We live in the mercy to give away his mercy.

We experience his mercy to show mercy.

I love Eugene's translation.

You're blessed when you care.

At the moment of being careful, you find yourself cared for.

Matthew 5, 7.

Behold, the Lamb of God has come among us.

He waits in every circumstance to show us the beauty and the light that hides.

Call me naive.

Call me what you will.

But I've just seen too much of the waiting.

God's often waiting for a son or a daughter to remember who they are and to remember what they carry so that beauty and light is no longer hidden.

He's waiting on us.

Will we continue the mission of Jesus by bringing light into dark places?

Awaken every heart to come to know him.

He is holy, he is wonderful, the only one worthy.

He is love up close.

So I'll take time to remind my heart: Emmanuel has come.

So how will we honor the gift of Jesus?

By choosing to be people that carry light into dark places.

Well, we're going to be prepared.

And to be prepared means that we know who we are and we choose to show mercy.

We know whose we are.

So where's darkness winning in your life right now?

I believe, even as I've been sharing for these last 20 minutes, that you've just become aware of another person that you know and care for who's walking in darkness right now.

I actually invite the Holy Spirit to just fill our hearts with quick reminders of people that we know who are wandering in darkness in our workplace with family members, in our own homes, and even in our own hearts.

Where's darkness winning?

Because as we remember Jesus, as we honor Advent, the hope that we have, the preparation in our hearts to make way for the arrival of King Jesus.

Some for the first time.

Lots of us just again.

God, there's room still.

Come, Emmanuel, God, with us.

Love up close.

Not so that we would just rock back, but so that we would prepare to be people of light.

We would prepare to bring his light into dark places.

And that happens only when we know whose we are and when we walk in mercy, his compassion, his kindness, his love, his forgiveness for others.

That's what's on us today and every day as his followers in Jesus' name.

Can we pray together?

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes?

Thank you, Father, for your spirit at work within us.

Here in this room and those watching from home or abroad today, I just want to say thank you for the faithful and gentle work of your spirit within us.

In Jesus' name, light break forth into dark corners.

Or someone's felt trapped in darkness.

Afraid that no one would ever find them.

Jesus, your relentless love pursues them to the ends of the earth.

You're faithful.

Your love up close.

And that fear that even if they are found, will they be restored?

Will they be redeemed?

Will they be brought back into the light?

Jesus, you are faithful.

Before you were born, it was spoken about you.

While you walked on earth with confidence, you spoke of light in dark places.

And you've released us, your church, to continue that mission.

And so for those that are afraid that there's no hope, would you break through by the power of your Holy Spirit to not just shine light into a dark place?

But for that light to rule and reign, define our hearts, that we would know whose we are.

We're gods, we're sons, we're daughters, we're chosen, we're holy, we're set apart to carry the light of Jesus into dark spaces.

And as we enter this season deeper and deeper into this Christmas season, we acknowledge that for some of us in the room, Christmas itself is just darkness.

Because of people we've lost or moments that have wounded us or defined us.

And I invite you, Holy Spirit, to bring some renewal to this month.

Bring renewal and healing in a way that only you can.

God, as we set aside time to prepare for your light to fill us up and prepare for our lives to bring your light to others.

Jesus, you are faithful.

We trust you.

We honor you.

And today, as a community of faith, we pray for Michael and Jenny Monk, our new friends in the hospital.

And we invite you, even here and now, as we intercede on their behalf, to just like flood the hearts and minds of their imagination with the reality and the grace of your love and mercy.

Holy Spirit, we invite you to heal Michael's body in Jesus' name.

Would you break through the lies and the fears, the wound of religion?

You are love up close.

We're asking you to heal Michael's body in Jesus' name.

We honor you.

We love you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit EvolveChurch.com.

We hope to see you soon.