Kingdom Culture - Righteousness

We say a lot of stuff about kingdom culture, kingdom culture, but what does it really look

like? What would it really practically feel like in real life, in everyday life? Hopefully

we can examine that over the next few weeks. If someone asks us, or if we use the word kingdom

culture, it's easy to spout words like that. They're very popular words right now. What

does it really feel like? How would people know a culture is kingdom, and does the Bible

give us any idea of what it looks like? What does it look like in real life? What's really

happening? When we talk about kingdom culture, we are talking about the future spilling into

the present. As in something that was supposed to happen once this world is done and before

the new heaven and the earth is created and Christ takes us into that place. We are talking

about something that was supposed to happen in the future breaking into present day history

2000 years ago. So it's the future spilling into the present. So what we are saying is

it's like someone here having an iPhone 43. We are only on 17, but it just so happens

that Dilna has the iPhone 43, which is like 26 years down the line he already has it.

It broke into Dilna's house yesterday. He woke up in the morning and instead of looking

at his Bible, he finds this amazing tiny little gadget that can do amazing things. It's from

the future. That's what kingdom breaking in looks like. So when we talk about a kingdom

culture, we're talking about something that's coming from the future into the present.

Something that's coming from the future into the present day. A culture that belongs to

the future that is here already because Jesus brought it in. That's one way of looking at

it. So it's the future spilling into the present. It's heaven, the place that we will go to,

breaking into the earth. These are different ways to look at it. Heaven breaking into the

earth. And so again, it's the future into the... It's light entering darkness. Jesus

used these lines in John chapter 1. It's perfect justice or as perfect as we can get it right

John 1 · chapter mention

now, entering into oppression. It's life entering into places of decay, death, and the future

of life. It's liberty or freedom and entering into places of bondage. So this is... And it's

a quality of life. It's a quality of life drawn from the nature of God displayed now.

It's all these things together, eh? Any questions on that? So when someone talks about kingdom

culture, you're talking about something from the future breaking into the present. It's

what should only be seen in heaven now happening on earth. It's places of darkness suddenly

being split open, pierced open by light. It's justice as best as we can have it here on

earth, breaking into oppression. It's life as in the life that belongs to only one who

is life, breaking into places of decay and death. Freedom where there's demonic bondage,

to disease, bondage of different sorts. And finally, the quality of life drawn from the

nature of God displayed now in actual human beings. That's what kingdom culture is. You

can't take one of these. You have to take it in its entirety. And so when we talk about

kingdom culture, this is what we're talking about. And Jesus said that this kingdom has

already come and so can you show what it looks like? And this is why because of these things

happening he then makes a statement, hey, make a U-turn. Or in other words, repent.

Since all this is already happening, make a U-turn and throw yourself on Jesus. That's

the message. Something from the future is here. It comes from God. It's already here.

So since we are showing you that it's real, make a U-turn and throw yourself on Jesus.

See that was where the rubber met the road. The guys would preach this but they would

show this. Because they could show this, they could then tell people, make a U-turn. We're

showing you. The widows from the Hellenistic side of the church were not getting food.

So what happens? You appoint people so that food is distributed properly. Justice all

along. Sick people getting healed. Dead people being raised. That was what gave them the

courage then to say, make a U-turn, repent. For you can see that the future has entered

the present and now that you see it, make a U-turn and throw yourself on Jesus just as

we threw ourselves on Jesus. This is why it's so important that the sign on the back of

your t-shirts becomes a sign that happens to people. Because that then gives us the

ability to say what Jesus wants us to say. Which then also shows us a glimpse of something

God wants to do. That listen I want to do this so that you can say this. I want to do

this so that you can say this. So then press in. Don't give up on this. Oh how long should

we wait? What if it's only 23 minutes away? Any questions? So when I went up to that guy

in New York and spoke to him about his daughter, that's not normal. A stranger coming up to

you and telling you about your daughter that is having a difficult time with you. How's

that even normal? I didn't look at his palm or sprinkle tea leaves on his hand before

I said that. The point being, something of the future is breaking into the present. The

more we engage in it and the more it becomes common, the more we can say, alright now that

you've seen it, make a U-turn and throw yourself on Jesus. Any questions? As I talk my heart

leaps with hope that maybe it's only 23 minutes away or 24 hours and 23 minutes away. But

it's still around the corner. What did I say last week? Cognitive buffering, that's what

this is. I have to remember. Any questions? Words can set you free, eh? Cognitive buffering,

it set me free. Okay, so once we begin to think like this, then what happens is even

in our lives, a new Jesus-like Jacob emerges. A new Jesus-like Jacob emerges. Because now

I have to give the world a taste of this culture. I have to give the world a taste of this culture.

So a new Jesus-like Jacob has to emerge. And it's described very well, this new Jesus-like

Jacob or new Jesus-like Sharon or new Jesus-like Dilna with an iPhone 43 has to emerge. And

let's give a shout out to Chavai. I'm sure he watches this at some point. Hey Chavachava!

Can we say it together on three? One, two, three. Chavachava! Okay. People who don't

know Chavai may think we are chanting. A new Jesus-like Jacob must emerge. A new Jesus-like

Sharon must emerge so that we can give the world a taste of this culture. And it's best

described in the Beatitudes. When you take Matthew 5 and 6, you will see what this new

Jesus-like Jacob looks like in real time in lives. It will give you an idea. So let's

read just Matthew 5, the first seven or eight verses. We'll just pick on one today. Matthew

Matthew 5:1

5, verse 1. Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His

disciples came to him and he began to teach them, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit.

Blessed are the meek and the poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are

the poor in spirit. Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.

His disciples came to him and he began to teach them, saying, blessed are the poor in

spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall

be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those

who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God. Blessed are those

who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed

are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil things against

you, because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the

same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. And so if you read those

two chapters, you'll get an idea of what this culture looks like. But the strange thing

is, I remember Daryl Johnson talking about this saying, that you can't suddenly decide

to become poor in spirit. You can't suddenly get up one morning and say, I'm going to be

meek today. You can't get up and say, you know, I'm hungry for righteousness, or that

I'll be pure in heart today. It's not something you can draw from yourself. The only way

this can happen is if the reign of Christ breaks into your life. The rule of Christ,

this king, has to break into your life. Only that can make these changes happen. One can't

make this happen automatically. But when the reign of Christ breaks into you, as in the

rule of Christ, as in the life of Christ, breaks into your life, suddenly you become

poor in spirit. You see that. And how he does it doesn't matter. You see that with

Isaiah. Here is a man who is a famous prophet, and what does he say? Oh, I'm undone, for

I have seen the glory of the king. He became bankrupt in spirit, poor in spirit. In his

case, a glimpse of the glory of the king caused him to be poor in spirit. You see that in

Isaiah 6. If you go to Jeremiah 8, 18, you'll see that Jeremiah begins to mourn. And the

words are quite powerful. Jeremiah 8, verse 18. Oh, my comforter in sorrow, my heart has

Jeremiah 8:18

faint within me. Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away. Is the Lord not in Zion?

Is the king no longer there? Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with

their worthless foreign idols? The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are

not saved. Since my people are crushed, I am crushed. I mourn and horror grips me. Is

there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the

wound of my people? Here's a man beginning to lament. But these are mournings that happen

because he sees the condition of his people. What I'm trying to say is God makes this happen.

We should, on a daily basis, stand before God for his reign to mold the heart. Or you

see it happening with Peter, John 6.68. Everybody's leaving Jesus because he's making statements

like, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood. And then at one point Jesus, I don't

know why he did this. I almost think it was this oddly divine and human moment in Jesus's

life. He turns to his disciples and he says to them, are you going to leave me also? Must

have been such a tender moment because everybody is just leaving in droves. Are you going to

leave me also? And then I love what Peter says, which kind of shows you the hunger and

thirst that that man had even though he messed up a few times. He says, Jesus, where can

we go? Because you have the words of eternal life. I mean, as you sit here, where will

you go guys? Even if you felt that God let you down, that he didn't turn up to help,

where will you go? I've tasted and seen the sweetest of loves, where my heart becomes

free and my pain is undone. You see the same thing with Elisha. Elisha keeps telling him,

go, go, go. Elisha says, as the Lord lives, I'm going to follow you. I'm going to follow

you. He was hungering and thirsting. He knows the light is going to go away, but he knows

that he's also going to get something from God. There's a hunger and thirst. These are

things that God produces. We can't do this. I remember two or three years ago, and this

happened, I've already spoken to you about it. I felt a lot saying over the next few

weeks, pause when you're doing stuff and hold your hands out like this and just receive

me. You would find me sometimes walking in another city in the world and I'd stop by

and I'd do this. I couldn't care what people thought and I'd do this. I'd just recognize

and receive Christ. It's a receiving of which Christ? There isn't Christ whose majesty will

humble you. There isn't Christ who still bears the marks of the nails in his hand whose majesty

will humble you. That is when his reign enters and then he begins to do whatever he wants.

That's how we get to this place where the culture of God is developed. At the end of

the day, what are we talking about? We are saying that the nature of God, when it enters

a person, causes a person to think a certain way and act a certain way and that becomes

culture. Hear me again. It's very simple actually. When the nature of God enters a

group of people and they begin to think a certain way and act a certain way, that collective

thinking and acting is called culture. So when we talk about kingdom culture, we're

talking about the nature of the king robed in majesty with nail scars in his hand, being

received by a people. And as we receive how he is, who he is, how he is, how he is, how

he is, it begins to affect the way we think and it begins to affect our actions. And

the collective mindset and behavior of a people is what culture is. That's what culture is.

Therefore churches have culture. And when culture is, I mean another word for culture

is tradition. And some traditions are man-made, some traditions are God-made. Some traditions

are God-made and are old and some traditions are God-made and are new. Any questions on

that? So I'd really recommend a reading of Matthew 5 and 6. So receive this grace of

in-breaking, where if possible be silly and do this. Where you're doing work and suddenly

you stop, a couple of dishes fall out of your hand, it just means less dishes to wash and

you do this. Receive the reign of Christ into your life. And as you do, I'm telling you

something, there's something about his majesty that will humble you. It's being humbled by

the majesty of the enthroned king with nail marks in his hand. And when that happens,

two things will happen guys. On one hand you'll become painfully aware of your shortfall and

on the other hand it will birth a desire in you to become more aware of him. Both happen

together. It's a strange thing about God. It doesn't happen with humans. When you look

at someone who's great and a human, you want to aspire and be like him. You'll do everything

in your power to be like him. But when it comes to God, two things happen immediately

together and you'll find scriptures giving evidence of this again and again and again.

Woe I am undone, but my lips have been touched by a coal. Do not be afraid. Get up. Be strengthened.

It's always that way. You'll become greatly aware of your shortcoming, because you'll

become greatly aware of your shortcomings and immediately aware of a great desire for

more of his presence. It's just so beautiful. Only God does that. Nobody else can do that.

But what does it take for you and I? For a God who wants to make his culture known, who

wants to tell people that hey, a future kingdom has arrived. Let these guys show you and then

when they say make a U-turn and throw yourself for Jesus, you will. Trust that we are very

close to it, guys. And whatever adjustments we want to make, we'll make, right? Because

this is our desire. I can't see anyone else, anyone here having any other passion. I mean

cognitive buffering or not, passion is there.

So let's look at Matthew 5-6. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

For they shall be satisfied. Jesus' words. Jesus' words. And so we basically want to

look at this word. It's not principles and standards. It's not principles and standards.

It's not. It's not. It's not easy, what he's making, what he's saying. Only he can do it.

It's about living. It's about living in faithfulness. It's about living in faithfulness. It's about

to the terms, to the terms and claims of a relationship. Or in other words, righteousness

or being righteous simply means right relationship. Or in other words, being righteous is not

right relatedness. This is what it means. Let's just look at that before we go further.

So what Jesus is saying is blessed are those who hunger and thirst for right relationships.

Crazy. It was so much easier if it was just righteousness and meet a few standards and

principles. That would be so much easier. I can do that. All religions offer that. So

when Jesus says righteousness, what he means is not that Jacob, here are some principles

and here are some standards that you now have to live up to. No, he's saying, hey, I want

you to be faithful to the terms and the claims of a relationship that I have with you. And

I want you to be faithful to the terms and the claim of a relationship you have with

others. And I want you to be faithful to the terms and the claim of the relationship you

have with yourself. And I want you to be faithful to the terms and the claim of the relationship

you have with creation. Complicated things now. Even the Old Testament, when you really

Even the Old Testament, when you really look at it, we would think that the Old Covenant

or the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments, we think the Ten Commandments was a code of

ethics that God gave people to live a moral life.

But what was the first thing he said?

Exodus 20.

What is the first thing he says?

Yeah, so when we think of the Ten Commandments, we immediately think of these were the ten

things he said.

And here's how he starts the whole conversation.

And then God said, I am the Lord your God who set you free from the bondage of Egypt,

and I am your God.

The first thing he does before he does anything else is tell you that he is in relationship

with you.

And now that he's saying, I am in relationship with you, I am your God and you're my people,

here are the claims and here are the terms of this relationship.

So if you're in relationship with me, can I change the way you live?

Can I give you a new rhythm of work and rest?

If you're in relationship with me, can I tell you how you should honor your parents?

If you're in relationship with me, can we decide from now on that there'll be no other

No gods, no other heroes that will interrupt your relationship and mine.

This is what he's going for.

And when you look at the rest of the Ten Commandments, you find that the first four or five are to

do with your relationship with him and the next four or five are to do with your relationship

with your neighbor.

So Exodus 20 verse 2 says, I am your God.

Exodus 20:2

He starts off his relationship and that's why righteousness becomes very different for

us as Christians.

Any questions on that before we go on?

Ask because can you imagine if we became people that blessed are those that hunger and thirst

after right relationship?

It doesn't mean that we'll now be singing Kumbaya with everybody, but it does mean that

we'll try.

The clauses and the footnotes we can't touch today because there's so many.

But the point is this, blessed are those that Jacob, blessed are you if you hunger and thirst

for right relationship.

Gosh, that puts a whole different spin on this.

So, scripture teaches us, the Bible teaches us, like I already said, there are four basic

relationships that you see.

Right off the bat in the first three or four chapters of Genesis you see, we were made

from the earth.

We became a living creature as he breathed into us, Genesis 2.7.

And so, strangely enough, the Hebrew word for man or human is Adam and the Hebrew word

for earth is Adama.

It's not a coincidence.

The intent being that I must have right relationship with creation.

Which includes that animal.

I'm working on it.

So, this is the first thing.

I must, happy to me?

So I must have right relationship with creation.

I must have right relationship with creation.

This is not something that most Christians think of.

Because we are waiting for the earth to be burnt up and us to be raptured and anyways

it's going to be destroyed.

So drill baby drill.

Sorry.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm not here to tell you what's right and what's wrong

in terms of fossil fuels or other fuels.

That's not the intent.

I'm not going there.

But the thing is, I find that I admire the beauty of creation but there is nothing in

me that has done much to go beyond thinking in terms of what is it to even have a right

relationship with creation.

And you can't say because I recycle I'm in right relationship.

Because when you go back home to Asia or India you're not recycling.

So it's not that.

The point is what is it?

I don't even know so I can't even tell you.

But what is it to be in right relationship with creation?

We'll deal with that one later but I just want you to know that's there.

The next one is we were created to be in right relationship with each other.

God had always expected man to be not in isolation, not alienated, not withdrawn, not aloof, but

someone who always operates in community.

He knows what Adam is going to say when he says, and Adam found no one that was compatible

to him and therefore he makes Eve.

He knows what he's doing.

He knows that when he created man, he created man with the idea of community.

Am I in right relationship with people?

Some of you are amazing at this.

When your relationships break down, you go out of your way to try and fix it.

And it's important.

That's part of righteousness.

Blessed are you.

That's what the Bible says.

Blessed are you if you hunger and thirst after right relationship.

Some of you have been, there are people who have been sometimes offended by what I said.

And instead of waiting for me to come to you, you came to me and I thank you for that.

It was important for you to fix right relationship.

The third one is we were created to be in right relationship with ourselves, free of

shame, free of guilt, free of fear.

And Jesus healed self-hatred.

Jesus thinks it's highly important to heal self-hatred.

There are plenty of people in this room right now that have been affected by self-hatred.

You beat yourself up.

You hate yourself for the things that have happened or the things that you've done.

Jesus heals self-hatred.

It's one of his favorite things to heal because it restores the image of God in man.

If you hate yourself, know that on one hand, there are tons and tons of diseases that will

come your way.

On the other hand, self-hatred is one of Jesus' favorite things to heal because right off

the bat in the first three chapters of Genesis, he makes it evident that listen, righteousness

is right relationship with yourself, free of shame, free of guilt, free of fear.

And so if you have self-hatred, if you don't like community, if you like isolating yourself,

this is not true of the nature that Christ gave you and therefore Christ would be willing

to heal me.

Don't hold on to it.

And finally, the fourth relationship is what he gave Adam straight off the bat.

And remember, when it comes to self-hatred, the world is a crucible in which self-hatred

just germinates like crazy because circumstances will shame you, will bring fear, will bring

self-hatred.

Sometimes the very ones who are supposed to lift us up are the very ones that tear us

down and it colors your psyche.

But there is someone greater than the one who did you harm and he has this amazing ability

to wave his magic finger almost, if I could put it that way, and heal loathing.

He can do it.

You must trust that it happens in a second.

And when it doesn't happen in a second, you must trust that it will happen in the next

hour.

It doesn't matter whether I was the one who caused the shame to myself or whether it was

someone else who caused me that shame.

But Jesus Christ heals self-hatred.

It is super important to him because you, when he created you, you were a self-portrait

of him.

Where do you begin?

You begin by defining the loathing.

We don't even know it because we don't even define it.

Put into words the loathing, the hatred.

I hate this thing that happened.

This always brings shame.

Write it.

You start there.

And then watch.

Then watch.

It's like those kids play.

You know, I was looking for it yesterday at Newark Airport.

I wanted one of those things kids have where you write and you go and the whole thing erases.

I couldn't find one.

Maybe I was looking in the wrong shop.

But I wanted one of those.

If you find a really decent one that is big enough, my 70th birthday is coming up in 10

years.

Yeah?

But I love that.

You do this and the whole thing just disappears.

That is how I personally see Jesus.

And then he works on the issues so that the issues never rise up again.

It's the roots that take long, but he plucks the fruit off immediately.

Rotten fruit he takes care of immediately.

And then he begins to work on the roots.

So blessed are you, Dilna, if you hunger and thirst after right relationship and right

relatedness.

And the Bible is replete with God's own hunger and thirst.

God is hungry and thirsty for right relationship.

This is so beautiful.

The very God who is saying this.

When he talks about us being in right relationship with him, what he is saying is, hey, you were

made.

Sheldon, you were made for a relationship with the living.

Let's take Sheldon as an example.

So Sheldon, on one hand, you were made for a relationship with creation.

Your welfare is tied up with the welfare of creation.

Sheldon, you were made for a relationship with Jane.

And then beyond Jane with Phoebe and with the rest of your family and the church.

What I meant by family is the church.

Third, Sheldon, you were made for a relationship with yourself.

You're supposed to embrace yourself as someone who is beloved without any guilt, without

any shame.

And fourthly, Sheldon, you were made for a relationship with the living God.

When you obey him, you enjoy him, you love him, you experience his delight in you.

And once you get that one, all the other relationships begin to sort themselves out.

This is how we were meant to be, each of us.

And the crazy thing is, this God is hungry and thirsty for right relationship.

That is nuts.

So when you are out of sync with him, guess who's hungry and thirsty for right relationship?

This is why you have the story of the prodigal.

This is why it necessitated a sacrifice.

A God who is not hungry and thirsty for right relationship will not sacrifice himself.

When we say love, sometimes we don't understand.

But when we talk about right relationship and you think of someone you dearly love and

things have gone wrong and there's anger and there's hurt and you don't know how to work

it out.

You sometimes want to be the person who goes and sorts it out, but the other person isn't

sorting it out.

And you're stuck in this terrible place where the heart aches and longs for relationship

and yet there's hurt and anger.

And part of you is screaming, why aren't you fixing it?

And then the other part is screaming, I am the one that was wronged.

And in the middle of that, the same God who goes through all these emotions that I've

mentioned is saying, I'll make the first move.

I'll fix it.

It is the hunger and the thirst of the living God that causes him to sacrifice himself because

right relationship matters to him.

It matters to him.

It matters to him every day.

It matters to him right now as you're listening to me.

But the thing is once he begins to do that, there are claims and terms to this relationship.

Any husband who is okay with his wife sleeping around does not love his wife.

And so when he wants his relationship, he now begins to say, all right, but Ashish,

here are the terms and the claims of this relationship that I want with you.

And in his faithfulness to the terms and the claims, he is righteous or unrighteous.

And if he is unrighteous, then God goes to work again because he hungers and thirsts

for right relationship.

And then he hungers and thirsts for us to have right relationship with each other.

And so where do I begin?

I have to begin with this family.

Where are some situations where I'm not in right relationship?

And it can't be done two minutes before communion.

When Jesus says, let the sun not go down before you, solve your anger situations with people.

What he meant was start before the sun goes down.

He didn't say concluded before the sun goes down because some issues are so terrible that

you'll need 48 suns to go down before it gets sorted out.

And even then it may not.

But you got to start now.

And the Lord will help you.

Remember, we said this at the beginning.

We cannot do this on our own.

I can't become meek right now.

But I am meek.

I can't become meek.

I can't.

Sometimes I'm grateful for cognitive buffering because I don't know whether you actually

believe that or not.

I can't do that on my own, but Jesus can do that.

Remember this, eh?

Let the majestic one humble you and move into your life with his amazing rule which brings

change inside.

So you know, now you can see why Paul keeps saying this in Ephesians, in Philippians,

in Colossians.

He's saying, hey, now that you have changed and you are together as one family, do not

lie to each other.

Why?

Because it's critical to right relationship.

Is it even possible for me and you to be in right relationship if I'm constantly lying

to you?

So these are not code of ethics.

Christians should not lie.

Liars, liars, pants on fire and you go to hell or something.

I don't remember.

Gisela used to say that to me every time I lied.

Liar, liar, pant on fire.

Make sure you don't go to hell.

Heidi, you remember this?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Liar, liar, pant on fire, yes.

And then she would wag her finger and say, liars go to hell.

Yes.

Yeah.

But the point is, it's not a code of ethics.

Diana, just take my word for it.

I'm not lying right now.

So the point is that it's not a code of ethics that was given to me that as a Christian you

should not lie.

It was given to me because if I have to have a right relationship with someone, I cannot

lie because in that lying, the right relationship is broken.

I'm not unrighteous because I lied.

I'm unrighteous because I broke right relationship with you.

This God thinks so different.

That's why his followers have to show a culture that is so different.

And what does it look like to be in right relationship with people, with someone who

has a sexual preference that's not like you, someone who comes from an ethnicity that's

not yours, someone who does things that are offensive?

How is this right relationship to be worked out?

This culture is very different guys.

And it's a unique, distinct culture, not a mixture, culture.

So the Bible is replete with God's own hunger and thirst for this right relationship and

that's why he grieves.

We cannot read the Bible story without encountering grief.

God's grief at unrighteousness, God's grief at alienation, God's grief at manipulation,

God's grief at broken down relationships, God's grief at fear, God's grief at hatred,

God's grief at violence, it bothers him.

And it is this that led to the sacrifice of the son.

And this is why in 2 Corinthians 5, 14 it says, hey guys, you know what ministry you

have?

You don't have to figure out your destiny or anything.

Your ministry is simply the ministry of repair and reconciliation.

Second Corinthians 5, 14 to 21, I'm sending you out as ministers of reconciliation.

I have reconciled all creation and all human beings to myself through the shedding of my

blood.

Will you go tell them?

What's he looking for?

Hey, can I bring you into a place of right relationship with me, with yourself, with

others and with creation?

And sometimes the people who grieve because of things being broken are people that God

uses powerfully.

It says a lot that he grieved at the sin of Sodom.

It says of Paul that he said, I would rather go to hell than have my brothers lost.

It says of Moses that he said, take my life before you take the lives of others.

It said of Jesus, they do not know what they're doing.

So there's grief.

It said of Paul again in Athens that he was grieved at what he saw.

Why?

Because suddenly, I am your God, you are my people went out of the window because there

was so many idols all around.

And so occasionally asked this question, do you grieve?

I love that song that Remy sings.

Do you think the world is broken?

It is.

Is anyone worthy?

When you listen to the first two verses of that song, you realize that the song is full

of grief.

But in the middle of grief, there's hope.

But the question is, do you grieve?

Do I grieve?

Not often.

We grieve at the sin out there.

That's not what you're talking about.

We're talking about grieve at the relationship broken with him, relationship broken with

each other, relationship broken of people with themselves.

Like I said, I do not fully understand the creation, but I'll work on it.

So here's the statement again.

Who crave after relational wholeness.

Who crave, who crave.

And that's important, because Jesus is not blessing those who are mildly dissatisfied

with themselves.

He's blessing those who cannot live unless they find right relatedness.

This is important, guys, because it's a question that we have to ask ourselves.

He's not blessed at those who crave after relational wholeness on four different levels.

Right?

What are the four levels?

Do you crave after relational wholeness with him?

Whenever things are even slightly out of sync with each other, like when two who love each

other, they can't bear it.

They want to fix it with oneself, where you have those moments where there are conflicts,

strife, machinations, war in your head and your heart.

And often because we don't have time, we let it be.

Or we pay 200 bucks to Jane to sort it out.

What if there's a way to deal with it before God?

Because it's important and he heals.

And then with creation, begin with just an appreciation of what he's made.

Begin there.

Do you crave after relational wholeness?

Because he's saying blessed are they who crave after relational wholeness, for they

shall be satisfied.

Not who are slightly dissatisfied with relational wholeness.

Those guys are not going to be satisfied.

It's a craving.

Sometimes you wonder why God doesn't do certain things amongst a certain people, because there

are gaping holes in our lives sometimes.

Now you can see Psalm 133 differently.

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.

What are we talking about?

Relational wholeness.

And when that happens, the oil of God begins to flow through and upon those people like

the oil that flowed down from Aaron's head to his beard to his clothes.

I am trusting that the Spirit of God will convict me and convict you.

Not to start writing letters to people that are upset with us.

Please understand, those are the miniscule but important things we engage in to absolve

ourselves of guilt.

I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking about a change in culture.

So as I'm saying this, don't think of that one person you need to write a letter to.

Do that at some point.

But that's not the thing.

This is not a thing on before we have communion, make sure you forgive me.

That's not what we're aiming at.

It's a way of thinking.

Blessed are those who crave after relational wholeness.

Those are the ones he'll bless because you cannot live without it.

You cannot live without it.

It's his intense passion.

It's his intense passion and that's how the kingdom, that's one of the ways the kingdom

breaks into the world because this is not normal for people.

You see, the opposite of relational wholeness, the opposite of relational wholeness, strangely,

is religion.

The opposite of relational wholeness is religious wholeness.

Where we do a few things, I'm talking about believers, I'm not talking about some other

religion where we do a few things that makes us feel like I've done what the Lord requires.

And if I continue down this road, I can easily slip into dullness to God where some legal

requirements are met.

Like be kind, give tithes, love your neighbor.

But I do.

I held a lift for him even though I knew he was quite far away.

This is not what we're talking about.

We're talking about a change in the collective way I think and behave.

Out of that, holding the lift becomes the least we end up doing.

So if I'm not careful, my religious, if I don't go down this route, I will go down this

route and that usually leads to a dullness with God.

And I'm saying this to us in this church.

If the purifying fire that we talked about, that Joy talked about, that he sang about,

if the purifying fire is here and it is here to destroy religious and historical junk,

then know this, the religious wholeness is not something to be aspired for.

This then becomes a measure or the standard we use to see what is kingdom and what is

not kingdom.

It becomes a plumb line.

That's the crazy thing about cultures.

You can go from here to Saudi Arabia and you'll see a shift in cultures.

Why?

Because there's a plumb line that Saudi uses as what's kosher there and there's a plumb

line that we use that's kosher here.

But Israel was supposed to be distinct when they traveled through Exodus and we are supposed

to be distinct because of a certain way we think and act.

This wholeness will make us dull and in this church it will prevent you from participating

in the purifying fire that was sent to burn up religious and historical junk.

Selah.

Guys, so how do we get to this place where we really crave?

You can only crave if you allow yourself to be grabbed by or held by Christ every day

before all else.

This is the idea of the thing I was saying before Jesus, here I am, before I start my

day, before everything else, before all my appetites, desires and interests kick in.

Oh God, can your reign kick in?

Because it's not like he's the one who didn't give us appetites.

He's the one who gave us emotional appetites, sexual appetites, appetites for intimacy,

he's the one who gave it.

But they need to be reformed and the one way you reform them and have them happen in order

is by standing before Christ and saying even before this day begins, even before the emotional

storm hits me, can your reign enter my life?

Just try that because he is faithful, eh?

He is faithful.

That's one way to deal with craving.

The second way you get to a place of craving is by, craving is triggered by dissatisfaction.

Craving is triggered by dissatisfaction.

But to be dissatisfied, don't snack on stuff.

What do I mean by that?

Don't snack on other ways of getting your emotional fill, your physical fullness, your

sexual fill, your political fill, your intellectual fill, your material fill or even your spiritual

fill through worship or some spiritual discipline.

Do not snack on stuff like this.

First go to him who satisfies and once you do that, he orders all these because he's

the one who gave them.

When he is first, he reforms my distorted appetites, my responses, satisfies me, feeds

my appetite.

Any questions on that?

When we are not in right relationship with God, with each other, with ourselves and with

creation, that is when we fill our lives with things that can satisfy.

Sometimes it's food, sometimes it's sex, sometimes it's being highly emotional, sometimes it's

being highly political, sometimes it's being intellectual, sometimes it's being materialistic.

What are different ways to fill it?

Any questions?

Which one are you looking at, Karen?

Material, yeah.

That's an easy one.

It could be maternal too, but it is material.

You know one of the things Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, just think of this, it

makes it so simple suddenly.

He says, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, you will not enter

the kingdom of heaven.

The Pharisees are super righteous, man.

They kept all the requirements.

They would measure things.

They added 630 laws to the Ten Commandments so that they observed things correctly.

So how can he say, unless you exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom

of God?

Very simple.

He took it out of the legal framework and he made a relationship.

Now he says, you have heard it said, do not murder.

But I say to you, that if you are not in right relationship with someone and you call them

fool or raka or you begin to think angrily about them, you have already committed murder.

No other religion on earth has the guts to go internal.

Everything and every religion in the world is external observance.

Because the internal won't change unless Christ comes and lives in you.

That's when change happens.

And then he goes on to say, hey, you have heard it said, do not commit adultery.

But I say to you, if you look at a woman with lust, then you have already committed adultery.

What's he doing?

He's bringing into a relational level, removing it from the legal place.

If you look at someone and you call him a fool, then you need to know that you should

be afraid of burning in fires of hell.

What's he doing?

You cannot say things to people, just nilly-nilly and call them names.

Our words matter.

This is kingdom culture.

This is the plumb line we use.

This is what you should measure me by and I should measure you by.

This is different guys.

This is Christlikeness.

So he ups the ante.

And then he goes on.

Romans 13, 8-10.

Can someone read it loudly?

Romans 13, 8-10.

It basically says what I just said.

Romans 13, 8-10.

Hey, Brielle, where are you going?

Where are you going?

Oh, you want to throw it.

Yeah, your dad can't handle that one.

Romans 13, 8-10.

Oh, no one any say except the loving gentle, the one who loves another is the one who knows

the law.

For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall

not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandments are sung thus in this world.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself, others not wrong to their neighbor, therefore

love him who knows the law.

Yeah.

He takes the two great commandments.

What are the two great commandments?

Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor.

What are we talking about again?

Righteousness.

Why?

Because righteousness is basically defined as right relationship.

Comes back to the same thing again.

Right relationship with God, right relationship with your neighbor.

And if you are in right relationship with God and right relationship with your neighbor,

Jacob, you will not covet.

You will not get angry and lose your temper.

You will not call people names.

You will not.

Again it comes back to relationship.

I should read you this and we'll end with this.

So you see right relatedness in two great commandments.

Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor.

And so the intent is can the measure of your self-seeking become the measure

of your self-giving.

That's the idea of love your neighbor.

So I won't write this down, but I'll just read it.

So just as I long for food when I'm hungry, can I long to feed my neighbor when he is

hungry?

Just as I seek to be sick.

You know another word for kingdom culture which perhaps I'll bring up next week is a

word called good news culture.

What does good news sound like?

What does good news sound like?

And there are so many things that Jesus puts down.

It's so vast that just reading it you want to close this stuff and not read it.

Because you realize how short you're falling and it's impossible to meet it.

But here are some.

And this is how if you're a believer and I'm a believer we should live.

Here goes.

So just as I long for food when I'm hungry, can I long to feed my neighbor when he is

hungry?

As I seek to be secure from disaster and violence, can I seek security from disaster and violence

for my neighbor?

As I seek friends for myself, can I be a friend to my neighbor?

And when I use the word seeking, seeking must translate into action.

As you want your life to be significant, can you desire that same significance for your

neighbor?

As you work to do better in life, so can you work to help your neighbor do better in life?

As you like being welcomed into strange company, so are you willing to welcome your neighbor

among strangers?

This is what kingdom culture looks like.

And you can't ask a question now, so who's my neighbor?

Is he the one with an H1B, a green card, a PR, a visa or a citizenship passport?

That's not the question.

Because that was the same question that was asked of Jesus, who's my neighbor in the Samaritan

story?

That's not the way this goes.

Does that mean there are no nuances to the neighbor?

There are.

But that's not what we're looking at right now.

Are we looking at what good news culture or kingdom culture looks like?

But there is this fear that if I devoted myself to pursuing the happiness of others, then

my own desire for happiness will be threatened.

There is this fear that if I start looking out for the happiness of others, then my own

desire for happiness will be threatened.

And therein lies the root of all sin.

Let me read that again.

There is this fear in our hearts that if we devote ourselves to pursuing the happiness

of others, then my own desire for happiness may be threatened.

And therein lies the root of all sin.

The root of all sin is these two things.

My happiness apart from God and my happiness apart from the happiness of others in God.

Just hear me guys.

One zone out.

The root of all sin is based in these two things.

And that's what the Ten Commandments is about.

The first six about God, the next four about neighbors.

The root of sin lies in these two things.

Me seeking my happiness outside of God.

And me seeking my happiness outside of the happiness of others in God.

It's the root of all sin.

All sin boils down to that.

The Ten Commandments cover exactly that.

Do not seek your happiness outside of me.

And do not seek your own happiness at the expense of your neighbor or outside of the

happiness of your neighbor in God.

This is what kingdom culture looks like.

It is difficult.

It's one of the most unique, most distinct and demanding cultures in the world.

But when we begin to practice this, then we can say to others, hey, make a U-turn, throw

yourself on Jesus.

Because what is the point, Church, if we have signs, miracles and wonders, but do not have

this?

For then he shall say, I did not even know you.

And as our relationship with God increases, the neighbor part becomes very easy.

As our relationship with God increases, the neighbor part becomes easy.

I wrote this down long ago.

This is from a message ages ago.

Now look at the equation.

When our relationship with God grows, as my desire to be loved and cared finds its fulfillment

in a recklessly loving God, it overflows to my neighbor.

As I begin to see God's abundance in the supply of food, rent and clothing, I long to show

the greatness of his abundance.

As I begin to enjoy more of God's compassion through the comfort he gives me, I long to

show others God's compassion through the comfort I give them.

As I begin to savor more of God's wisdom through the counsel he gives me, I long to extend

to others God's wisdom in their situations.

As I delight in seeing God's goodness, even when I exploit him, even when I'm ungrateful,

even when I have no need, I long to extend the goodness to others, even when they are

ungrateful, even when they are undeserving, even when they don't have a need.

Gosh man, imagine what we are being invited into.

This is what born again means.

To be born again is to be invited by Jesus to enter a kingdom and therefore have a way

of thinking and a way of behaving.

Not born again, oh I got saved on this particular day.

Nothing wrong with that.

I'm doing that thing.

That's not kingdom culture either.

But unless you be born again you cannot enter the kingdom.