Good New's for Ragamuffins

Welcome To The River. City Church podcast and a

message by our lead. Pastor Jason Powers our prayer

is that this message would Inspire and encourage you, build

your faith. And point you to the

life-changing love of Jesus, may you enjoy the goodness of God as

you follow him today, Happy your Mama's Day to all of

you. Hey listen, this is an

opportunity really to talk about.

I love your mama's day because there was a long time in my life

where I was not I certainly would not have been in a church

on Mother's Day and so and I was kind of obnoxious about it, like

I've told you a little about this but here's the deal, I have

a mom who really loves Jesus and there was a time where she was

the only one in my house who really love Jesus.

And so one day we were she was at she went to this church, I

wasn't there and there was a missionary there and his name

was John Palmer. And it was funny.

He was this little African-American Swiss man who

He's a missionary to Jamaica, which is so this weird like kind

of deal, but he was like this big, what I ended up getting to

meet him later, and my mom went up and it was, it may have been

a Mother's Day, whatever, and she just broke down.

She's like, my kids aren't following Jesus.

My husband is not following Jesus.

Everybody, I knows running away from Jesus, right?

And he looked at her, he said, oh, this little joyful me.

Oh the prayers of a mother are intercontinental ballistic

missiles and it was like it planted in her brain and so

listen, here's the deal. If you're praying for your

child, please don't stop as a child who is in the Kingdom

because of a mother who didn't stop praying, please don't

please don't stop praying for your children because we need

that mothers, who who your mother's and waiting, please

don't stop praying for your children.

The Lord knows how to give good gifts.

I'd talked with a couple right after first servers that, waited

10 years for their child, and she was broken and Grieving and

whatever had given up, she was happy to show me her

eight-month-old, son, that the Lord had blessed with her.

And so I just say, look, the Lord is good and I make no

promises. I do not do that.

I am not the Lord that will shock some of you.

Right. I do not know what his good and

perfect will is but I know that his will is good and perfect.

And so I'm grateful that you shared Mother's Day with us.

And I'm glad that you're here. So let's pray.

Lord. Thank you for all your goodness

and Grace. and as we come today, we remember the journeys that

got us here. And we remember our unbelievable

need for grace and whether that Grace shows up as the prayers of

a mother, or a faithful friend, or a midnight encounter with you

or whatever it might be, you just thank you for all the grace

that you draw us with. and we ask today father that we would

receive that Grace be different because of it we give you

permission to enter and to change our hearts Love us.

Well, father, and help us to love each other and your name

and for your glory. Amen.

Because we believe that we have Grace, we have received his

goodness, our confession as his church is, we are badly broken.

Yes, you are Grace and peace to you.

I have to say that that confession just continues to

bear fruit in my life. I think you know sometimes the

danger would literally that's like our kind of like Protestant

attempt at liturgy. Right?

And the problem with liturgy sometimes can be that it just

gets wrote, right? Like it just becomes a thing.

You saying that you do and sometimes it's like that

sometimes you go right but there are other times during the week

or wherever it is where you just go.

Oh my goodness. I need that and badly broken.

Deeply love is one of those ideas for my life.

That just comes back to me different ways, right?

A different lens that different kind of prism show that than

otherwise the first time I encountered, the idea that I

remember, it kind of sticking out to me, was in a book by a

guy name is a Franciscan priest called Brendan Manning.

The guy was a hot mess. Like you read his biography and

it's a hot mess but because of his messiness Brennan, Manning

had a grasp of Grace that was compelling and he wrote a book

called the Ragamuffin gospel and he wrote and I wrote it down and

say this, right? Good news for bedraggled beat up

and for the bedraggled beat up and burnt out.

And when I encounter that book, I was that, and I needed that.

And what's interesting is, I stand here today and the

Temptation is to say, I needed that Reich and as if I'm not

bedraggled right, I just don't have as much hair as I used to.

So it's harder to spot. We don't like to be ragamuffins,

we like we're OK in this room generally nodding to the Idaho?

Yes, we're ragamuffins not in any specific sense.

Not because like there's anything in us and is actually

ragamuffin e. We like the idea of being

unwrapped them of a not bedraggled well-put-together

home that you know, hair combed for those who have it and iron,

you know, shirts pressed and all of those things.

But that would not have been the crowd gathered around Jesus, in

Matthew chapter 5. I've we saw a couple of weeks

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

ago, we started looking at this Sermon on the Mount and we see

Jesus is teaching about life and and the kingdom and what it

meant and we saw that it really was rooted in, Jesus is identity

and his history. He was directly descended.

And he made it went to Great Lengths to show that he was

descended from some pretty. What we would call Shady people

and Jesus like, oh no, she's not Che, that's Aunt, a marble which

is the best. We love her, right?

And so we have this, we have this Jesus walking or talking

about this King, And then he goes and he would touch people,

he would heal them. And he would say you used to be

excluded, you used to be broken. But now your whole you used to

be excluded and unclean but I have now Touch of, you're not

unclean. You are healed and so they're

like I need more this guy, right.

So they start following him and they start going in.

Jesus draws a crowd of these ragamuffins.

Jesus draws a crowd and listen when I say ragamuffin.

The Temptation is, we want to think they're ragamuffins like

us, right? Like, not really rag.

A muffiny right? But no, they were they've been

excluded. They were left out the entire

kind of system was built to keep them away so that the religion

so that God's presence and the temple would look nice and neat

and buttoned up and clean. Right?

But Jesus looks around and says man they're following us so I

guess I better tell them about the kingdom I best I guess I

better introduce them and so they all gather around him, all

these ragamuffins on this hill and they're sitting up there.

And Jesus starts talking about, hey, You poor in spirit and

they're looking around, they're like oh here it comes again.

He's about to yell at us or tell us what God's mad at us because

you poor in spirit, you're blessed and they're like wait

what? Hey, you who are grieving and

mourning right now listen in the Kingdom, there's blessing in

that because in the Kingdom you find comfort and so these

ragamuffins start going, oh my gosh.

Yes, I love that. Right.

And so he begins to articulate and for the rest of Matthew, 5,

6 and 7. It's all begins with and it's

rooted in this idea that there is a kingdom blessing.

That's not for who. We might think it is, it's an

upside-down topsy-turvy, kind of Kingdom, but it's significant

that the people gathered around Jesus on that day would have

been raggedy and he confronts us, as Jesus is teaching it.

Confronts us with this idea that God shows his grace to the world

through ragamuffins. That's it.

The reason that we know that there is such a A thing as Grace

in this world is because at some point in time there was a

ragamuffin who became the recipient of that Grace and so

they're all gathered around Jesus on that Hill.

I notice, right? Like you think about if you had

asked anybody kind of, at the time, tell me about Jerusalem,

they would have talked about the temple and its Splendor.

And they would have talked about really how herod's Temple the

temple. The second temple at the time,

really? Just paled in comparison with

Solomon's Temple, which went way back.

Jerusalem is the place where all of God's people come and they

are made, right? And so, it talk about sacrifice,

and the law, and the Pharisees, and Jesus, this raggedy crowd

around and grabbing their dirt in their hairs, all messy.

And they've been traveled and their Road weary on that.

And Jesus looks at him right there.

And he says, you ragamuffins, you're the salt of the earth.

And they would have been like, bro, nobody's ever said that to

me before nobody's ever talking to them.

Now, most of the sermons about salt of the earth have salt of

the earth, the light of where we're going to get down to

second with most of the sermons and messages and TJ.

I've heard that talk about salt. They want to focus a big deal

on, right? Like, like on.

Oh well, what a salt do salt is a preservative salt is online.

Jesus doesn't talk that much about that, right?

So you can preach about that if you want, but it's not really in

the text Jesus sense, because here's the deal, does anybody?

Eno, what salt does? Good.

Okay good. We're gonna there, right.

A good way to study. Like, if you want to get into

scripture and you want to study and really get to the heart of

it, a good thing to do is ask, like, what's the question

inherent? Like, what's the question in the

story that the author is reading or that the speakers from?

So, what is she said? She says you're the salty or now

notice the question, what's the question behind this?

But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made

salty again, it is no longer good for anything except to be

thrown out and trampled underfoot.

So everybody knows what saltiness is and Jesus says

you're the salt of the earth. But what's the quadrate says but

worry that don't that you don't become unsalted that you don't

lose your saltiness on the question should be.

You should be asking right now is it?

Well how does that happen? How can we lose our saltiness?

Well table salt, right. Sodium chloride, right?

That it's really stable, you just get it wet, you just get

salty, water, the water gets salty, right?

So how does salt loses its saltiness?

Well, they didn't have like salt mines where they would do Get

pure salt most in the first century.

They gathered their salt from thing called a salt marsh,

right? Kind of salty, kind of brackish

water and so they would get it. And the deal was the salt from

the salt, marsh would be more or less salty dependent on how many

other things were in the salt. We call those impurities.

So the determination of a of the saltiness of salts comes down to

impurities. Now if I stood in a church room,

hypothetically speaking, imagine that it was a In the morning, I

was standing on the stage talking to a congregation, and I

asked the crowd, what do impurity?

What does impurity mean for us? What would we say?

Well sin. We all know sin rights in is

that behavior. Since that thing writes in his

back talking, your parents, send his stealing sin is lying, sin

is doing all of those things, right?

And are we sure about that? Like, we're sure like we know

it's in sin, is when I see that person doing that, That thing

and it's bad. I want to tell him because it's

bad, right? Well actually, biblically

speaking. That thing that we see that?

We look at that, we point on is actually a little further down

in the process. If you look at James chapter 1,

James 1 · chapter mention

says this, right? Each person is tempted when they

are dragged Away by their own evil desire and enticed.

And then, After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin

and sin when it is fully grown, gives way to death.

What if the church rightfully? So has had this big thing about

Sin and said look sin is bad and we know that it caused a wreck.

But what if the problem is we've been going at it the wrong way

the whole time what if were yelling at tomato plants

forbearing, NATO's, I want squash.

You got a plant squash to get squash.

You got to go back before the fruit.

You got to go to the idea. So what's an impurity?

What's impurity thought I knew? Just go well, maybe some kind of

like sexual behavior. Maybe that is is impurity and

you may be right, but here's the problem.

What if the problem before that? Ever bears fruit into that

behavior? What if the idea behind all of

these sins and all of these things that draw some way is a

kingdom idea that we say no to desire.

What if the problems in our life is that?

We desire things that don't lead to Kingdom blessing the word

beatitude just means blessing. See, I think the problem that

you can look at these go, there's center, right?

Like, I think it begin with the idea that we would rather be

famous than poor in spirit. And so when we have an

opportunity to be poor in spirit and to lean in at we just go,

no, thank you. Jesus said, you're blessed when

your mourn because you will be comforted and you said I would

rather have the blessing of not morning than of being comforted

and just goes. Yes, what happens.

Then is we begin to bottle up and hide away what it really

means to be human? One more and we want to be

happy. I want to feel good.

I want to have this. And so in those moments where I

do more than what do I do? Maybe I take a drink, maybe I

spend a dollar, maybe I work too much.

Maybe I go to that place where they tell me what my identity

is. Maybe I Linger on that online,

Facebook conversation with my high school girlfriend, who

loves to tell me how wonderful and smart and talented, and

handsome. I am to write.

And so we linger over these things over these ideas when

Jesus says, no, the real blessing.

Eternal, blessing, long line. Blessing is in.

Yes, you can be blessed even when you're poor in spirit

because you receive a kingdom, that's not just about this

place. In this moment, you can be

blessed when you mourn because when your mourn, someone will

come for you. If it's the king, there is Jesus

or it's a neighbor or it's a church, you can be comforted in

your morning and we miss that because what we desire doesn't

lead to the kingdom things that we want, they draw us away from

the kingdom and what happens is what Jesus things.

Like he says, you're the soul, The Earth, right?

But don't lose your saltiness. When we stop choosing the

kingdom of God. For the kingdom of Jason, we

begin to lose our saltiness and we begin to lose our impact and

what it looks like is what is unsalted.

I like if I have a roast beef, seasoned with salt and you take

take the salt out. What does it taste?

Like, just roast beef, kind of bland gross, roast beef.

What if the problem is that everybody who wants to taste,

Grace can? Not get any at the church.

Because we've lost right? And now here's the thing.

Like someone's are going. Yeah, I can tell them, Sinners

preacher. Whoo.

Get it right. He goes on with this other

metaphor. You and again, these are the

ragamuffins, man. These are the, these are the sat

upon spat upon ratted on the bedraggled.

This is all their shiny says, you are the light of the world.

A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to

everyone in the house in the same way.

He says, let your Your light shine before others.

So what is the light, right? So that they may see your what

good deeds and glorify your father in Heaven.

And so, we got this, what is it like, what are the good deeds,

right? Like when we think Jesus talking

in a religious context, Rings it so good.

DJ, yeah, we don't even drink or smoke or chew or hang out with

people that do and we vote the right way.

And we're doing all the right things and we're following the

rules and look how good we are. Let me just tell you the people

that were listening to Jesus. They understood that they knew

that kind of goodness, we call them Pharisees and what happened

was the Pharisees, the ones who were good, they kicked them out.

The people that Jesus was talking to on this mountain,

they didn't they weren't of the mind that, you know, the most

well-behaved people in culture, the most well-behaved people in

our society, they tend to be really nice and accepting of us.

To the ragamuffins they thought of the temple, right?

They thought of the sacrifices and they thought that they were

excluded because of the good ones because of the Pharisees

because of Good ones. So what kind of good deeds is he

talking about what I would suggest and say is the Good

Deeds, that Jesus is talking about our compassion?

Do you mean here's the deal. Get the gospel of Matthew and

whatever by Lydia's and go through the entire bat book,

read it slowly. See how many times the word

compassion shows up and who it is, aimed and directed towards,

you'll probably be shocked. I know I was, I know I am.

Here's what that means for me. Here's what it looks like.

You may or may not have heard there was a supreme court leak

this week. A very important duck.

Can you feel the tension in the room?

Suddenly? Did you feel it, right?

Here's why that's so tense because in this room, half of

the people think a great victory for righteousness was one.

Other people in this room. Think a great victory for

Darkness was one. And we're all here in the same

room and you know why we're all here in the same room this week

because we all believe that God is on our side.

And we all believe that God is doing the right for us and

finally some of us like finally Justice and someone's finally

Injustice and finally all that, and here's the deal, like look,

I got to say, I don't think I've ever been up like I'm a I'm a

pro I've guy, right? I believe it.

But here's the thing. Do you know what my right and

some of you in here, just like I don't go to church because I but

listen, you know what my overwhelming experience and my

kind of during this week was sadness.

Not because of the decision but because I know probably about

half of the people that I know and love deeply and dearly are

grieving this week and they think a great evil has been

done. Guess what?

I don't, I don't I don't think that.

But you know what? At the bottom of the line at the

bottom line of it all that is not about abortion that is about

compassion. Do I have the ability to see and

know and care about somebody? Believe something fundamentally

different than me if we don't have that ability or grow in

that ability to be compassionate to people that are even

fundamentally different from us. We really are no different than

any other cultural division among people Republicans.

Democrats Libertarians how you want to slice it up?

How do you want to divide it up? If we are, I am with and for my

camp, and God is with, and for my camp.

And We my camp, we are Pharisees.

See division is typical in the world.

There's nowhere in this world that you can go where you won't

find people dividing over really important things.

But what if the kingdom isn't about that?

And what if the thing that Jesus was talking about, wasn't just

being good, doesn't feel dangerous to talk about that in

a church. Doesn't feel dangerous, right?

So these ragamuffins are standing there and they've been

on the outside for a long time. And now, Jesus starts talking

about you, you're the one. Hey, you're the one that's

getting. Listen, the world's looking at

you guys, right? The kingdom is about, you guys

is gonna and they start thinking about and they And guess what

I'm going to do. As soon as I get on top boy, on

the Pharisees man. Ain't get nothing.

That's kind of the thing. I think that's maybe like, on

this side, right? There's this whole.

Yeah, well, it's our turn now is, I'm right?

Well, yeah, I guess what, everybody?

Yeah. Well now we're power and finally

rights are prevailed and we're gonna do the right things and

we're gonna stand and we're gonna hold, right?

And so everybody's like, woo! Yeah, cuz that's what happens

when we get on the up-and-up, right?

When the tables turn, and we're on the top again.

Now, we're going to fix everything in the best way to

fix everything is by making sure that they don't get back up on

top. Topless and I grew up in my

house, right? And my chore growing up was

vacuuming. Do you know how many times I

have vacuum since I've been a grown man in a homeowner zero.

Do you know why? Because by God, I vacuumed the

floor growing up. I will not write I have.

So this is kind of the mindset that with gum like I've

suffered. And now I'm on top and I am

winning and I am doing. Listen, the ragamuffins thought

when they thought about the temple, they thought of

exclusion, they thought of the law and the rules, which really

is whatever these issues, like what's the law.

Like, what's the rule, what do we have to?

They would at this, the Ragamuffin, say what it looked

at the law and said, know what the law does is it keeps us out?

Thanks, we don't have any any interest in the law.

We don't have. Any interest in what's going on

and we live in a similar tension.

If we're Christians, we want to honor God, we want to be a

blessing to God. We want to do it, right?

And so the question then becomes, which rules must

someone which rules must everyone, which rules must

anyone follow to get in? What are the rules that really

matter and what are the rules that really aren't?

Well, here's the The idea we've already said that God shows off

the ragamuffins, right. Well, here's the thing about

ragamuffins, ragamuffins glorify God, by living, let me write

that get this right, living by Grace, within the law.

That's really not what either side wants to hear ragamuffins

glorify God by living by Grace, within the law.

Let me make a case, okay? Look at the things that Jesus

said, because you've got a bias, the law is good and right.

And must be unflinchingly. Observed or the law is old, and

it is archaic. And it is, certainly significant

and important, but we can take it into account, we can reason

the right. Like book, we have this This

idea, right? Well let's look at the things

that Jesus said, did Jesus say should be terrible and to put a

bunch of scriptures up. John chapter 10, 10, we read

John 10 · chapter mention

this right Tintin. The thief comes to steal and

kill and destroy. Jesus said I have come that you

may have life and have it to the full.

If you go back to some older translations, I have come that

you may have Abundant Life file that away.

Jesus is desire. His stated purpose in your life

is that you would have an Abundant Life, Matthew chapter

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

11, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burden.

And I will give you rest. Jesus is, can give you an

abundant life and rest, right? John 3:16 God.

John 3:16

So loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever

believes in him, will not perish but have eternal life.

So here's God's desire and plan. In wish for you, are you ready?

This is what God wants for you. Abundant Life, centered and

built on this deep satisfied. Rest that lasts.

It's forever. That's what he wants for you and

he says this, don't think I've come to abolish the law.

I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them in God's

eyes and in God's mind, the law doesn't do what I may think it

does. Jesus sees the law as giving us

life. This is part of John 10:10.

John 10:10

The good life that Jesus gives us.

It is John 10:10, right? He doesn't give us life without

John 10:10

the light and say Hey you won the really good things, the

really good things alive, then you just need to ignore all

rules and all limits. I feel like that at the buffet

sometime, right? Like if I'm going to be really

happy, I can't eat all of the food.

That never works. Does it?

And the same way. Guidelines.

Boundaries rules, they're good. So look at what Jesus then

against his right. So because now we're in, really

we're in trouble. You said I have not come to

abolish the law and some of us are in here going to write about

time. But listen, isn't there?

Something in us that once Jesus to not abolish the law because

we've been really, really, really working hard to just keep

all of it. Don't we want Jesus to just go?

Yeah Jason, you're doing it right.

Everybody else are not doing it. Like you, they're not they're

not doing it right. He says I didn't come to abolish

the law of come to fulfill it now.

Notice this no notice the language.

You're ready? Verse 18.

Jesus says, truly I tell you that until Heaven and Earth

disappear, not the smallest letter or the least stroke of a

pen will by any means disappear from the law.

But notice what he says. Anyone who sets aside, one of

the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly.

Now notice what does he does, he say about position and the

kingdom, anyone who sets aside and teaches others accordingly

will be called outside of the Kingdom will get excluded, from

the kingdom will be left out. No, it just says, they'll be

least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever practices and

teaches, these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of

Heaven. See the law isn't so much an

entrance. Exam, the idea of the law is not

to get people in or keep the people out.

The law isn't like some secret password, right?

The law is how we experience the joy of the kingdom.

And you think I've lost my mind? Here's what I'm telling you.

Do you know how to have a wonderful amazing marriage?

Put God first, don't cheat on him or her.

Don't slander their name and say, bad things about About them

to your friend. All of those are neatly tucked

within the law. Like let's take the Ten

Commandments, right? Are the Ten Commandments?

Some like overwhelming moral code?

Hey everybody. Since you're all going to be

living together now, can you not steal each other's stuff?

Right now, shalt not steal. Everybody's like well, thought

you were gone. I thought you were good now.

Yeah. Hey, since you're trying to have

a society and a culture Can you not like sleep with each other

spouse and seduce people all the time?

I thought we were free God. I thought this was about freed

from yeah, right. Listen, The Ten Commandments

law, it's hardly some overwhelming more.

Now, listen, somebody out there is like, you might be just going

like, yeah. Well, what about that mixed

Fabrics? Like I'm wearing mixed Fabrics,

like cotton and Denim and, you know, and all that.

So yeah, what up big? You can't have can't have

shellfish, okay? Real quick lesson, there's three

kind of areas within the law, right?

There's the ceremonial law, right?

Which was all about how you come to worship, right?

You gotta clean like this and you gotta wash your hands and

you gotta bring a Eyes on the center and do you know who that

was for? Was that for God?

No, that was for us. That was for you.

Do you know why? Because you could go off of the

sacrifices and you could know for sure that you stood, right

before God's, the reason for the ceremonial law was so that you

could have relationship with God.

That's the ceremonial law has been fulfilled by Jesus on the

cross. Then there's the judicial law,

right? That says, oh, you have to Stone

people. Oh, you're like, yeah, you have

to kill him. Well, the good news is we don't

live in first-century Syria and in Palestine, right?

So we don't have to do. You know why we don't have to

Stone adulterers anymore because Jesus Paid the price so that

they could be forgiven and start over.

So that, that doesn't have to be the last thing in their story.

See the ceremonial law, the judicial law, all of those

things, they were fulfilled by Jesus.

We can look at them and go and listen.

Here's the point side note, this isn't the sermon.

Do you know what all those things were for so that

everybody in the world would go. Those Israelites are weird, man.

Like they just stand out, you could almost say they're like a

city on a hill, right? Like everywhere they go, we

can't stop noticing what they're like and what they're about.

We have we're different, we're known by Jesus and his moral law

isn't to punish us. It's not to hinder us Is free.

I bought my wife a card for this morning.

Do you know why? Because it's Mother's Day.

She's not my mom, right? You know, I bought her a card

because man, I love her a lot and I want her to be happy.

Now, if I can let you in on a secret here, don't tell her,

right? Don't tell her that.

I said this, she's not in here atlases.

I really hate all those Hallmark holidays.

I think they're all dumb ass T of Father's Day for sure.

Definitely. Right.

Like I get that right. So but you know what?

Happens when I go to Natalie and I, you know, Mother's Day is

really just a dumb Hallmark holiday.

It's not really something. It doesn't go well for me and

also, it doesn't go well for her.

And I know Mother's Day is in on the Gregorian calendar but you

know what, I really love my wife and any opportunity that I can

give something to make my wife happy?

It's worth it. That's what the law says.

Hey, I know you are like a bunch of rabbits and you want to just

meet with everybody but can you just like keep it to one person?

Can you just like love? Like just just one person.

Hey, I know you are like, you know, the like the monkeys.

Are you gonna grab everything that you see in touch?

How about this? How about just keep it to your?

How about you don't take other people's stuff, right?

How about you don't gossip like bear, false.

Witness, how about you don't talk about other people to all

of that, right? And that's what, that's what

did. So now we're getting, like,

okay, we've got this, this idea, you will be called least in the

Kingdom, but we still haven't talked about getting in, right?

Like like how do we get in? What are the laws, the rules

that we have to keep to get into the kingdom?

That's what I want to know. What Jesus tells us.

In verse 20 says, I tell you that unless your righteousness

surpasses that of the Pharisees, or the teachers will, You won't

even enter the kingdom of heaven.

And some is right now are like, yeah, which are the rules that

surpass surpass. Are you ready?

Are you listening surpassing the righteousness of the Pharisees

does not mean quantity is not easy to surpass it in be better

at the laws and their you need a different kind of righteousness.

He's not talking about He's not talking about being like the

Pharisees talking about the degree of your loves, the law

allows us to live well with others to live well with God.

So when he says, unless your righteousness surpasses that of

the Pharisees, He says, you got to have a different way of

understanding. What goodness means?

You got to raise the bar. You got to stop just talking

about like like as if everybody's Behavior was the

thing because what we're always going to listen, when

righteousness is the measure of when behavior is the measure of

righteousness, we get into all kinds of screwy, kind of

situations, right? We'll fight, and we'll divide

over, which spiritual gifts are active, right?

All you can do that, or I will fight over there, and we won't

say anything about greed or gossip, right?

Will fight tooth and nail that we are known about our position

on gay marriage, and we are silent on divorce and

pornography, and what Jesus is saying is that's not the

picture. That's not the king.

Mm, that's not what always. He says, unless your

righteousness isn't just about checks on a ledger sheet, you

just can't go, you can't get in. Grace.

So now you're just like oh great Jason just through every

Universe was no I'm not a Universalist like what I'm

saying is Grace, right? We talk because that's what

we're talking about. Grace does not mean that

whatever you want is okay. Grace does not mean that

whatever I want is okay. Grace means you are not

different from me. Grace means you're gay and I'm

straight. And don't we all need Jesus?

Grace is you think women can teach in church?

And I don't and I do I think it's there in the Bible, we can

talk about it. Yeah, listen so like and so you

think that and I don't think that and say but at the end of

the day Jesus knows someday. We should talk to him.

Let's ask Him about that. But for right now everybody's

watching Everybody's watching and they're far less shocked by

this behavior, that behavior than the way that we let our

behaviors towards each other separate us and keep us from

each other. That's not a city on a hill,

that's like an alley fight. Let's stop fighting in the

alleys. Let's believe that we all need

Grace. So that when someone says hey I

think that things have sinned your one-man.

When somebody tells me I got some sin, you know, I can just

say like you don't know the half of it, you don't know the string

of thoughts that went through my head to get me to that point.

Would you believe that this behavior is actually the

sanitized version of the behavior that I was about to do,

right? Because boy, don't we need

Grace. Don't we need a place in the

world where blessing doesn't just come from my ability to do

it. All right?

All the time, and that's what Jesus does.

You know, why Jesus makes about Grace?

Because he loves you and I say, love, I get, I think I get this

minute said it. Make this point Kingdom

righteousness, is wrapped up in the law of love, and I've

agonized a lot about I get I've heard.

I've heard you know that guy talk about love a lot, I do and

so that can be like, you know, kind of squishy at the.

I try to figure out like, I don't think we know What

Biblical love looks like because it is easy to think that it's

squishy and that somehow if we just loved him, he just had it

love all the time that we're just gonna it, everybody's gonna

be able to do whatever they want.

I think that's a really bad idea of love, love is the cross.

Listen, there is nothing more costly in your life than love

because love demands everything of you for another person who

are may or may not even appreciate it.

See that's what Jesus did literally.

The Roman Empire was Killing Jesus and his response was

forgive them for, they don't know what to do, what they're

doing. You know, it's interesting about

the crucifixion of Jesus, literally like crucifixion was

like the crucifixion and road building.

Like that's what the Romans were awesome at.

So when Jesus says, they don't know what they're doing, I look

at him go. It sure, seems like they know

what they're doing. Jesus didn't just see some

outward expression. Jesus saw the people that he

created the love that he placed in the way that he loves them

and righteous and you think well you got to make the case look.

Okay, I'm just going to read up here.

Okay, Deuteronomy 6 4, & 5 Deuteronomy.

This is them on the Israelites, on the edge of the promised

land. They're about to go in.

Moses is telling them what's really important.

What does he say? Do we get that up on

Deuteronomy? 6, 4 & 5.

Here we go. Hear o Israel.

The Lord Our God. The Lord is one.

Love. The Lord.

Your God with all your heart. With all your soul.

Soul and with all your strength, he didn't say be good.

He said, love God, that's first, love God, that's it.

That's what you got to do. What's the next one?

We go to a little bit Leviticus 19.

Now, this is really the book of the law, right?

Verse 1. When you reap the Harvest of

your land, don't read to the very edges of your field or

gather the gleanings of your Harvest.

Is there another one? Don't go over your Vineyard a

second. Timer pick up the grapes that

have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the

Foreigner and you just go but they're my grapes.

And you know what? God says, no, they're not.

They're in my land, the land of milk and honey, their my grades

and I don't want you to eat them all Fatiha.

Sorry? Right.

So God goes right out and he says, listen, I want you to

build into your kingdom. Love for people who don't have

enough and then it goes down to verse 18, and what does he say?

Don't seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone.

But love your neighbor as yourself.

And what did Jesus say in Matthew?

Chapter 23, verse 37 of 40. Someone asked him, what's the

most important law? And it says, love God.

He said those two verses. Love God and love your neighbor.

That's the Law of the Kingdom says the law whole law and

Prophets is some in this. And the idea is you can't be

right with God if you're wrong with your neighbor.

And Jesus even clarifies that because, you know, I live in a

pretty good neighborhood where it's a pretty, you know, we all

kind of look the same talk. The same thing.

The same was I he says, Jesus goes further and says we're

going to talk about. He says your neighbor is your

enemy. We cannot be right with God, if

we are wrong with our enemies. Now, listen how they respond to

us, is up to them. But how we respond to them, is

up to us. So what do we do?

How do we tackle this, right? Because we're talking about the

kingdom and this long, the rule the kingdom will.

In Matthew chapter 4, verse 17. Jesus said repent because the

Matthew 4:17

kingdom of God is here. So as we Orient Our Lives to

this Kingdom law of love, the way that we do it the way that

it happens, the way that it comes is through, repentance

repentance is not a once and for all who I repented I became a

Christian or upended. Repentance is a moment-by-moment

s by And sometimes Pizzazz posture before God.

So what do we need to? Repent of first thing?

We need to repent of his self-righteousness.

Self-righteousness says, I am good, therefore, everything that

I do is, okay. The message for the

self-righteous is your badly broken.

You are you're badly broken, you heard people, you wound people,

you do the right like sure. You like that was the Pharisees

right self-righteousness. Here's the thing that I want to

tell you, here's the thing that you've got to know.

It's like Your Purity. The reason Jesus wants you to be

pure is not so that he'll love you more.

You cannot make. Jesus love you more and you

cannot make Jesus, love you less.

Do you know what Jesus wants you to be pure?

Because he cares about your spouse?

Single people even your future one.

He really cares about that Purity matters.

Ask any marriage that has been ruined or destroyed by

infidelity or pornography or whatever.

It matters it makes difference self-righteousness.

Says I am the definition of, right?

So if you are different from me, you are wrong and we can all

find, right? Like it's like, we're talking

early, we can all find ways to point in here.

It's like, yeah, they defended slavery in the 19th century with

the Bible, there's all kinds of things, right?

So we just don't know, I'm right, because I'm right.

That self-righteous when we have to repent of that.

And the way we repent of that is daily.

I am badly broken and desperately in need of Grace.

Now, that's a very dangerous. Dangerous place to get apart

from the love of God. So we also need to repent of

legalism. We need to repent of

self-righteousness that says, I'm a lawn to myself, and we

need to repent of legalism, which says, that God loves me

because I am good enough that I am acceptable because of the

law. And not only am I acceptable it

because I'm acceptable because of the law.

If you are different from me, in any way, you are not acceptable.

And the idea that you might be acceptable to God and also me be

acceptable to God when we are so different.

That's Much to take that is too much to handle.

So, what we do is we say no, legalism says, I'm right, and

you're wrong. But listen to what I'm going to

quote out of the English Standard Version, right?

Romans 10:4 says, this for Christ is the end of the law for

Romans 10:4

righteousness. He doesn't say Christ, is the

end of the law and he doesn't say Christ is the end of

righteousness. He said, Christ is the end of

the law for righteousness. Folks, you cannot behave your

way into God's good. Grace's, you cannot make Jesus

happy with you by being really good and by being really mad at

people who are really wrong For Those.

Whom you might say, if you've ever found yourself saying,

well, how can a person who believes this be a Christian

because salvation is not about where you stand on this.

Can gay people, go to heaven? Listen, going to heaven isn't

about who you have sex with going to heaven, is about what

you do with Jesus. Where does he come in your life?

Do you listen to him? Do you follow him, do you love

him? Do you need him?

Do you listen to him? See salvation is about a

relationship with Jesus. And it's about bringing all of

our Brokenness are bad Brokenness, into the love of God

and letting him deal with it, and letting him love us and

letting him deal with things and guess what?

He made a deal with I sarcasm and I want to deal with your

sarcasm at all. He may want to deal with my

greed and not even talk to you about greed, right?

Because he knows you got an identity thing that you need to

learn that you need to deal with that.

You need. You just need to know that

you're loved and once you deal with that, then he'll start

doing it. But here's the thing, you do not

work for me. I am not your master Jesus is,

and Jesus has decided that the law of the kingdom is going to

be loved. It's going to be Grace, right?

The last thing we do is we walk in Grace, Romans 3:23, all have

Romans 3:23

sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

You need to be very intentional and deliberate as a spiritual

discipline about making sure that you insert your name there.

I Jason Christopher Powers fall short of the glory of God.

Not just previously. But today all have sinned and

fall short of the glory of God Romans 5:8.

Romans 5:8

God demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were

still sinners Christ died for us and then Jesus said, follow me.

If we have a problem with Sinners, the way that we deal

with them, is the way that Jesus dealt with them, he died for

them. And we're to give our lives to

those who are far away from Jesus, not to fix them up so

that they're okay to him, but by bringing them 10 so that they

can feel and experience his love.

And the crazy thing is Romans, 8:1 says that there is now

therefore no condemnation in Christ Jesus.

We were guilty but now we're not.

And so Jesus isn't condemning people than shouldn't his church

also not condemn people and in Matthew chapter 10, Jesus has

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

his 12, the 12, disciples, and he said him.

And he said, I want you to go to all the places and I want you

to, but don't go to the Samaritans yet.

Don't go to the, don't go to the Gentiles yet.

But this last thing he says freely you have received freely.

Give you've received a kingdom for free and what he's saying is

Peter? Do you think you earned this?

Peter that day when you were standing on the boat, do you

think it was your behavior, your legal righteousness?

That made me come find you on the boat?

Or do you think Peter that I saw something in you that went

beyond all of that other stuff? What if we start seeing that in

people? What if we start seeing that in

each other? See, Jesus didn't say that.

You could be Salt and Light. He didn't say, hey, if you try

really hard he said, hey if you vote the right way, hey, if you

get over that addiction, hey, if you do that, he didn't say, if

you do all of that, then you could be sold online.

Said, you are salt and light. And so the question is, what do

people taste on you? Is it salt the points people to

Jesus? Or is it bitter angry?

Is it wounded and hurtful and unrepentant?

People said Jesus said, you're a city on a hill, people will see

your good deeds. So what are your good deeds?

What does that look like? Do they see you giving grace to

the bedraggled to the beat up to the burnout?

See what Jesus didn't do, is stand on a Mountaintop and lower

the bar, Jesus stood on the Mountaintop and he raised the

bar. So, high that there's only one

person in all of history who could reach it and it was him.

And the reason he did that, It's so that we could never say that

that's the main thing so that we could all say we're here by

Grace because we serve a God who loves us more than our capacity

to hold it or fathom it. That's the kingdom.

That's the system that is the world into which we have been

invited. So Jesus, I pray that you would

give us To walk well, in this world to live well, with you and

with others. And Jesus, I have to confess.

I struggle with both license and legalism.

I both give to people too much credit and not enough credit.

I give myself both too much credit and not enough credit

because Jesus I am badly broken. And by faith, I believe, I am

deeply loved. And so I prayed Jesus, that I

would not walk out into this world.

Forcing an issue or an agenda. That is not yours.

May your kingdom come into my life and into this church and

into your church as it is in heaven, Jesus, we ask in your

name and for Butte for your beautiful Sovereign righteous

Glory. We ask amen.

Thank you for joining us today. River City Church is all about

experiencing and expressing God's love in our lives and

community. And we hope that you've been

able to experience that today. As grateful as I am.

That you've spent this time listening in this morning, this

podcast is no substitute for full participation in a local

church. I love it when River City people

listen to other pastors, but it is those who show up week after

week Faithfully, giving their support and time and resources,

that make all of this possible. If we can help you get connected

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Click the link in the description and let us know if

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Don't forget to subscribe and don't forget to share this with

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May the Lord bless, and keep you in all Grace and peace.

Site in the description. Don't forget to subscribe and

don't forget to share this with your friends.

Thanks so much for listening. May the Lord bless, and keep you

in all Grace and peace.