Matthew: Saved from Meritocracy

Well, let's pray together real quick.

God, we come before you and we ask you forgive this speaker, the one preaching grace over me as I speak your words coming out of Matthew 16 this morning.

And may you open our hearts to hear your great goodness and gospel in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, I hope you had an exciting night last night.

Who made it till 12?

Made it till 12?

Let's do the reverse.

9 o'clock.

What about 9 o'clock?

A few?

Yeah.

Okay.

Christy was 9.30.

We were in the 9s.

I was 10.30.

We had an exciting countdown at 8 p.m., which by the way, that is the nation of the Azore Islands were celebrating with us at midnight.

They're midnight.

We were 8 p.m.

So I think it's the only country celebrating at our 8 p.m.

So we were with the people of the Azores.

In case you're wondering, we looked that up.

We're that curious.

Alright, so we were with family this past week, and my brother-in-law asked me if I had any goals for this upcoming year.

So it got me thinking.

I'd already been thinking a little bit, but it got me thinking what's ahead for me, what personally, like what's a personal kind of goals, and then it got me thinking about my family, what's ahead for my family, and it got me thinking about our church, what's ahead for our church.

And then I've also been thinking in general that I don't really like resolutions.

So that's hard too.

The statistics aren't, by the way, statistics and resolutions aren't good.

If you are a resolution person, you're in the minority in terms of actually completing them.

But I like the idea of vision, like having some sort of vision of like what's ahead, what do I want to accomplish, what's out there?

I think that's good.

Maybe you love resolutions.

Who's resolution person?

Raise your hand.

Resolution people?

One, Melissa.

She's our one resolution, but you're carrying the torch for Christ the Redeemer.

Great.

The rest of us are lazy.

Alright, so most of us sort of maybe we're not quite sure about it.

But maybe with resolutions or this idea of going, I want to get my finances sort of tightened up a little bit, or maybe fitness and health, or eating, or something.

Hey, great, do it.

That's good.

That's good for you.

It's good for your life.

It's good for you.

Maybe some of your family, marriage, friends, great.

Work, great.

Do it, do it, do it.

But for me, sometimes, because I'm an incredibly insecure person, resolutions can for me can come out of this feeling like I'm not already enough.

So I'm not enough.

So I need whatever.

Right?

I'm not enough.

I need to look like this.

I'm not enough.

I need to, I need to get this hobby.

I'm not enough.

I need this.

And it's always me trying to add something external to my life that then therefore I'll be enough.

And so I've been thinking about this.

I'm going like, well, what if deeper underneath some of these good resolutions that would be good for our lives?

What if underneath this is just this a deeper prayer of may this year be about me trusting more than I'm already?

That I am already enough in Jesus' love for me.

And that maybe I'm going to get healthy, maybe I'm going to fail some on that.

Maybe I'm going to eat better, maybe I'm going to fail some on that.

Maybe I'm going to try to get my finances ordered, maybe I'll fail a little bit on that, maybe, maybe all these other things, right?

But like underneath all of that, there would be me starting to trust deeper that I'm already enough because God deems me enough.

And that's core identity type of stuff.

And then I've been thinking this past week, I've been thinking a lot this past week, if you hadn't tell.

So then I've also been thinking this past week just about our church.

Because we had these two Christmas Eve services.

And they were packed out.

I don't know if you were here, maybe you weren't here, but the 3.30, there was Ryan and Mary Brashears were standing against the back wall.

They had there's no seats.

There's no seats available at 3.30.

And then at the 5, it was fuller than this.

It was nice and full.

And I go, wow, wow.

Because a year ago, a year ago, we're sitting in the library, the preschool, Walker School, preschool building, in the library.

I'm on the floor with plans, construction plans of this building.

We are looking at how we can't afford this.

Like we bought the building, we raise money, we we get the drawings done for the building, and we're looking at the amount of money we have, and then the construction costs, and we're going, we're short.

We are short.

And the elders are sitting on this bench, preschool bench, and I'm on the floor with these plans, and I have a red pen, and Brad has the numbers, and I'm with a red pen and I'm just marking out everything we can cut.

We can cut this, we cannot do that, we cannot renovate this part of the building.

Just cutting and cutting and cutting, and still at the end of this is just a year ago, still at the end of this, going, I don't know if we still I still don't know if we have enough money.

One year ago.

This is how we feel.

One year ago, and then Christmas Eve services this year.

We're in this building, it's finished, some money came in, we were able to, we were able to figure out how to renovate this place, and that's not like you know, have to borrow more money, and you know, we could do it with cash.

I mean, all of this, Christmas Eve services are packed out, right?

There's some glory in this, is what I'm saying.

There is some glory in that.

And then four and a half years ago, there's just six of us sitting around a kitchen table.

And then four years ago, there's 25 of us in the dentist office.

And then three and a half years ago, we're in the Robinson's house, and we just push all the kids out to the backyard to play, just go play, and we'll have a 30-minute church service in the living room.

And then three years ago or so, we're in the Walker School.

And now we're here, and there's this feeling sort of like, oh, we're making it.

Like we're a real church.

Like, look at this.

This actually happened.

This doesn't happen, by the way, just in case you're wondering, it's like a restaurant succeeding.

It doesn't happen.

Don't invest in a restaurant.

I'm surprised you came to a church plan.

Like this the percentages aren't good.

And there's this feeling like we're, wow, we're making it, and there's some momentum to this.

Like there's a little bit of momentum, like this feeling.

And here's what can happen.

Here's why I mentioned all of that.

Is you know, I've mentioned it about six months ago when we moved into this building, and this is a reminder sermon, is what this is.

Without realizing it, we can very easily get on the glory train.

You don't, we don't even realize we got on it.

And you get on it, and you don't even realize it.

Here, and listen, remember this.

Maybe you weren't there in the dentist's office.

Maybe you weren't there.

I wish you were.

Maybe you weren't.

It was great then.

Okay?

It's great right now.

We're gonna renovate this front area of the building and get a student ministry area and get some more classrooms.

It'll be that'll be great.

This room will eventually fill, and we'll build the sanctuary on the other side of the building.

We have room over there.

That'll be great.

But listen, listen, listen.

It's great now.

And it was great in the dentist's office.

You know what?

And if a whole bunch of you start going to other churches and we consolidate and we sell part of the building and it's smaller, it's great then.

And here's why.

It's because we're not on a glory train.

Because we're not deemed valuable as people or families or a church based on our merit or growth or size or building.

We're deemed valuable because God loves us.

That's why we're deemed valuable.

See how free that is?

The glory train says, no, you've got to deem your value as a church based on your building and how big it is and your growing.

And without real, it's so easy to get on that train.

And what that is, is it's this idea.

It's called a theology of glory, is what it's called in theological terms, and it always works like this.

If this happens, if that happens, then right?

Like if we, if we're a 400-person church, then we'll be valuable.

If I make$100,000, then I'll be valuable.

If we can live in this other house, then we'll be okay.

If I can weigh this amount, then I'll be okay.

It's a glory train.

And what it is, where did I put my marker?

I'm getting all excited.

I can't even keep track.

What it is, if it's a line chart, it's it's a theology of glory that says all things must be getting better.

That you should always get better.

And if you're not, you're not valuable.

You're not justified.

And it's false and it's dangerous, and it's exhausting, and it's eventually judgment on you.

So even in the Christian life, we can get on this glory train and we don't even realize it.

Before you know it, you think, oh, well, as a as a Christian, I should always be getting better.

Well, Jesus' words on this are a little bit different.

Matthew 16, 24 through 26, it's in your bulletin.

Then Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

But what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

So listen, he's saying that life is not in the glory.

Life is not found in you finding your life.

Life is found in the sacrifice, in you losing your life.

That's where the freedom is, that's where the life is, that's where the healing and the wholeness is.

And facing your weakness and your shame and your guilt, all the stuff you want to pretend is not there or escape from it.

See, the problem with the theology of glory is it demands you to be dishonest.

Because you simply can't always get better.

It's not reality, right?

This, this is not reality.

Reality looks something like this: like life's pretty good, and it's not, it's pretty good, it's not, it's not, you know, up, you know.

That's life, right?

That's you.

That's how you work, that's how humanity works.

And so a theology of glory demands you to be dishonest because you're simply not always better.

Life is not always better.

And so you're forced to ignore parts of yourself.

And when you're in a theology of glory, you end up wearing masks, you perform, you pretend, you have to mask over real issues, you have to gloss over hardships, you, and you exhaust yourself looking apart.

But here's the thing you're already deeply, fully loved by God because of his work for you.

That's already there.

And that's known in Jesus for you, and that changes everything.

So we are freed to live in reality.

We don't have to form a false reality.

We don't have to wear a mask.

We're freed to live in reality with our brokenness, with our sin, with our imperfections, and we can look at those things and we can name them and we confess them.

And it turns out that that is actually that sacrifice, that losing of your life to face that brokenness, that is actually the path to life and transformation.

So in this passage, do you remember this word?

We talked about it six months ago, sukko.

This is this word in verse 25, life, again repeated in uh the word soul in verse 26, same word.

Suko, we get the word psyche.

It's the core of who you are.

It's different than your body, so it's not the accumulation of bones and skin and organs, and yet it's you.

Right?

It's the part of you that desperately wants to be whole, not just busy.

It's the part of you that wants to be a person and not just an actor.

And you can get on the glory train.

And you can set out for glory by your performance, hoping for some acceptance.

But Jesus says, if you do that, you will lose your life.

Because that train only leads to exhaustion and judgment.

All right, listen to that.

We were listening to a TED talk on the in the car this week, and it was by an atheistic philosopher, and I I can't pronounce his name, uh, Alan de Button, de buton.

I don't know.

I don't know, I have no idea.

All right, here's the name of the TED talk if you want to look it up.

A kinder, gentler philosophy of success.

Listen, listen here what he's saying.

Remember, atheistic philosopher, listen to what he's saying here.

It's a long paragraph.

You're smart people, you hang with me.

There's a real correlation between a society that tells people that they can do anything and the existence of low self-esteem.

So that's another way in which something quite positive can have a nasty kickback.

There's another reason why we might be feeling more anxious about our careers, about our status in the world today than ever before.

And it's again linked to something nice.

And that nice thing is called meritocracy.

Everybody, all politicians on left and right agree that meritocracy is a great thing, and we should all be trying to make our societies really, really meritocratic.

In other words, what is a meritocratic society?

A meritocratic society is one in which if you've got talent and energy and skill, you will get to the top.

Nothing should hold you back.

It's a beautiful idea.

The problem is, is if you really believe in a society where those who merit to get to the top get to the top, you'll also, by implication, in a far more nasty way, believe in a society where those who deserve to get to the bottom also get to the bottom and stay there.

In other words, your position in life comes to seem not accidental, but merited and deserved, and that makes failure seem much more crushing.

Alright, so maybe that sounds a bit socialistic if you're politically driven.

I don't read it for that reason at all.

I read it because we all know the feeling of failure.

And if you're meritocratic in nature, in your personhood, you will feel the crushing blow of that.

And that's the problem with a merit-based life or the glory train is you will feel the crushing blow of performance.

We all know that feeling.

And Jesus knows this.

Jesus came to save us from this.

This is this word in this passage.

Save for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

So to be saved, that word saved, it means to be safe.

To be rescued, to be healed, to be whole.

Listen, it means to be free from judgment.

Right?

I mean, no longer living in a relationship to God based on a merit system which is doomed to judgment because you don't live up to God's standards.

Eventually you will feel the crushing blow of that differential between who you should be and who you are.

You don't live up to your own standards, and so you will feel the crushing blow of that judgment.

A theology of glory, the glory train, meritocracy, it will always exhaust you.

It will always judge you.

And whether we're talking about in your personhood or your family or our church.

But if you lose your life, you'll find it.

So point number one is this.

Two points.

Point number one is this.

Jesus is helping us face reality.

Jesus said at the beginning, at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, he said the most spiritual thing you can do is be poor in spirit.

That's the most spiritual thing you can do.

It's just to be broken, to have a measure of humility.

Because when you're in that position, you're forced into surrender, you're forced into understanding and receiving the sufficiency of Jesus for your life, you're coming into a greater knowledge of who God is for you and his regard to you.

This is transforming your identity and it's forming transformation from the heart outward.

It's not a theology of glory, because, well, let's let's let's draw it.

I'm a chart guy, and so every once in a while I just gotta, especially on a Sunday like today, where I know kind of a captive audience.

So all right, so you know you're loved.

Sorry, people behind me.

I'll move by the way in a second.

So you're loved.

You're loved by God.

So because of that, you can face your sin, your brokenness, your imperfection.

You can be you can be honest about it because you're already loved.

If you're not already loved, you can't face it.

You have to mask it, you have to perform around it.

And because you can face it, then you can confess it.

Honestly, without fear, because you're already loved.

So your confession can be freely before God.

And there's transformation that occurs in this, and so what occurs is life.

You might include in life, you might include your ability to love other people, have compassion on other people.

Your ability to then return back to the fact that you are loved.

And see, the path, the path of the this path of the gospel is not a linear path, it's a deepening.

You're deepening in your knowledge of God and who he is and his regard to you, and you're deepening in your own self-awareness of who you are and your imperfections, and that these things collide together because you're realizing who you are, you're confessing it over, and you're receiving God's grace, and this is a deepening and a deepening and a deepening.

So, point number two, life is found.

Life, life, salvation, healing, wholeness, rescue, uh being safe is found in reality on the path of grace.

This is what Jesus is saying.

When I was 14 years old, I'm riding in a Jeep.

I'm riding in a Jeep.

I was wearing a Georgia Tech hat.

I don't know why I was a Georgia Tech fan at that point in my life.

I was.

I'd been wearing this hat for four years.

Thank you for the applause.

Four years I'd been wearing this hat.

It had a freight edge on it.

Not manufactured, the real deal.

The real freight edge out of just wear and tear.

Some of you know I'm talking about.

I loved this hat.

Riding in a Jeep, you know what happens.

Lose the hat.

Hat comes off.

We stop, I'm with my sister.

Uh we stop, go back.

Can't find the hat.

Lost it.

I lost that.

It's when I became a Georgia fan.

No, it's not when I became a Georgia fan.

Although it's a good point.

That is a good point of the story because I never got another hat, right?

Like I was mourned.

I mourned that hat.

It bothered me that I lost it.

I remembered the hat.

It affected me.

But it would from that point on, that hat was no longer a part of my life, right?

It was lost.

I remembered it, it affected me, but it was no longer a part of my actual life.

Okay, you've lost something.

A ring, a passport, the little Apple TV remote.

Why is it so small?

I don't know.

I don't know.

I want remote controls the size of a magazine.

Who will build that?

I'm buying that remote.

We'll never lose it.

Stays on the table.

Be fantastic.

Groundbreaking idea for anybody out there.

So you lose something.

It bothers you, you remember it, but it's no longer part of your actual life.

It's over.

That thing is over, even though it still affects you.

It's still over.

So Jesus says this lose your life.

Here's what he's saying: be finished with the attempt to save yourself out of your imperfect reality.

The glory train forces masks and performances, and then it exhausts you and it judges you.

Don't do it.

Don't do it.

Life is found on the path of grace, which ends up not being a linear path upward and better forever.

It ends up being a deepening, a deepening in the knowledge of God and who he is and what he asks of us, and at the same time, a deepening of our self-awareness of who we are and how we're falling short.

But it's okay because we're receiving the God's grace for us, which transforms our heart, which transforms our lives.

See, this is about living out of God's movement toward you to make you whole, saved.

And right relationship with Him here and in eternity.

In the coming of the incarnation in Jesus, He took on our sin.

He gives us His righteousness.

And so in that, you are free from performing into salvation and wholeness before God.

You are free to discover.

You are free to just confess and discover what He's already deemed you.

So, my brothers and sisters, may you continue to lose your life.

So you may find it.

Let's pray together.

God, thank you.

That your grace is sufficient to us.

That we are free to confess before you, like the Apostle Paul, that we are not continually getting better, but in fact, what a wretched man I am.

And how deep is your love for us.

How sufficient is the blood of Jesus to be for us your love and forgiveness and goodness.

Help us to deepen to trust greater in your goodness.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.