I Probably Shouldn't Be Here

Really excited about what we're doing this year.

We're doing something we've never done before.

We're calling this the whole story.

We are going through the entire story of the Bible in a year, actually a little bit less than a year.

We've taken the whole story, we've broken it down into 14 different series, and we finished the second of those 14 last Sunday.

Don't worry if it's your first time or if you weren't here last week.

This is not one of these things that like you have homework to do, and if you miss a Sunday, you're behind.

Every Sunday is designed to stand on its own.

But we're just exploring the story of Scripture because here's the cool thing: whether you realize it or not, it's a story that you're part of.

Like the Bible is a story that you're in.

Because ultimately it's the story of the God who creates humanity and our relationship with him and the lengths that God is willing to go for us to have a right relationship with him.

It's your story.

And maybe you've never seen it that way.

Maybe you feel like you're kind of on the outside looking in when it comes to the God stuff, you're sort of figuring that out.

If that's the case, that's totally fine.

But I'm telling you, this is your story.

Because all the things that God has done in the past to make sure that he is known, to make sure that his power and his love is understood, it's not just something that he did for someone else, he did it for you.

So that you could know him.

And the more familiar we become with the story, the more we understand what has happened, and not just the events and the characters, but why what has happened has happened, what it was building toward, how it points to Jesus, how it reminds us of who he is, the more we do that, the more deeply rooted our faith becomes, and we need a deeply rooted faith, especially in a world that tries to shake us up all the time.

We need deep roots so that we stand strong.

So I'm really excited and honored that we get to go through this, and we're going at a really fast pace.

Today, we're beginning series three, which is called The Great I Am.

And if you're like, that's a very strange phrase, what does that mean?

It will make sense as we get into the story today.

Um, if you wanted to follow along over the next few weeks in your own time and read, that would be amazing.

You're just gonna have a lot of reading to do.

All you've got to do for the next three weeks is read Exodus, uh, Leviticus, Numbers, and most of Deuteronomy, and you're good.

Um those books, by the way, it's a lot of writing that actually covers a pretty small moment in time, but a very pivotal moment in time in the story of Scripture.

And most of it has to do with this man named Moses.

And God does something really cool in Moses' life.

He reveals himself to Moses in a more personal way than he's ever revealed himself to anyone up to this point.

In fact, Moses is the first person that we at least know of that God tells his name to.

Like there's this moment in the story that we're gonna read today where Moses is like, hey, um, you're telling me to do this thing.

Who should I say sent me?

And up to this point, they've only referred to God as the God of our ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and we looked at their stories in the last few weeks.

It's just those people's gods.

But God's never actually shared with anyone, this is what I'd like you to call me.

So God gets more personal with Moses than he's ever been with anyone, and it's kind of like God steps into the story in a more intimate way, and we learn more about God through Moses' story than we've ever really known about him up to this point.

And so, even though Moses is kind of the vehicle that everything happens through, the story's really about God.

We learn a lot about God.

And it's very important, by the way, if we're gonna follow God, that we know we know things about him, that we understand him as best as possible.

It's actually really practical.

Like, think for a second about people in your life that have authority over you, that have some type of major influence over your life.

Like, if you're a child, easy answer.

Your parents.

Right?

Like, it's important that you know things about them.

The more you know their character, the more you know maybe what they like, what they don't like, the more you know their preferences, the better things tend to go for you.

Like, it's a it's important to know that.

Or like if you have a boss.

Like, let's say you have a boss that values being on time.

Okay, I had a boss once named Doug.

I'm sorry, Doug, I pick on you so much because you're here.

Um so when I first started working here, Doug was my boss.

And uh the first day I started, Doug said, uh, be at the church at nine at nine in the morning.

So I showed up at nine, like ready to go.

And I'm like, okay, he said nine.

That must mean nine is when like it starts.

And so every day for the first couple months, nine o'clock, I'm there.

And I think I'm doing great.

Like I think I'm all I'm like killing it.

I am so responsible, nine o'clock, haven't been late.

And then Doug says he wants to talk to me and he says, Hey man, you know, you get here at nine, but we really get started at 8:30.

This was like two, three weeks in, and I was like, oh, I I didn't I didn't know that.

Because like, you know, he said nine.

And I was just doing nine.

And the whole time I'm thinking, like, I'm doing so great, I'm so responsible, I was young, and the whole time actually, Doug was like, this kid, he's late every day, 30 minutes at least.

I had no idea.

And I learned in that moment, it was it was funny, but I learned in that moment, oh, Doug really values like timeliness.

And so it's helpful when you know that someone who has influence and authority over you values something like that.

Whether it's a teacher, a coach, a boss, someone you live with that has a lot of influence in your day-to-day life, the more you know them, the better you understand the way that they tick, the better life tends to go for you.

Well, with God it's like that, but on a much higher degree.

Like, he has a lot of influence over your life.

I don't know if you ever realized that, but he's God.

Like he has all the authority in the world.

Like what he says goes.

He's God.

And in the story of Moses, we get to meet him and we get to understand him in a whole new way, and we learn some really important things about him, and it's very important for us as people, as much as it's humanly possible, and some of it isn't humanly possible, but as much that it is, it's important that we understand our God.

And this story helps us do that.

And so we're gonna look over the next three weeks at three aspects of God so that we can understand him better.

These are powerful and they are practical too.

They're really helpful.

But number one is that he's holy.

God is holy.

Number two, God is powerful, and number three, God is personal.

He is holy, he is powerful, he is personal.

We're gonna explore that.

And we're gonna get started by jumping into Exodus chapter three.

Now, the setup up to this point, before I read this section, Moses.

He's an Israelite.

The Israelites at this point in history have become the slaves of a nation called Egypt.

The entire group of Israelites, all of them, they're slaves.

But they grow in number to the point where the Egyptians begin to get nervous that they're too numerous, they won't be able to control them.

And so Pharaoh decides, let's wipe out a whole generation, and he actually orders all the newborn young boys to be thrown into the Nile River to be killed.

Because they just don't want their numbers to be too much.

But Moses' mother isn't having it, and she actually senses that there's something really unique and special about her son, and so she does this amazing thing, an incredible act of faith.

She actually puts him in a basket and she sends him down this certain part of the river so that he ends up being found by Pharaoh's own daughter.

And she finds this newborn baby and she adopts him as her own.

And so Moses is raised in the palace.

He's raised as part of Pharaoh's family, even though he's not an Egyptian, he's an Israelite, and he knows it.

Moses is aware of his heritage, and everything seems to be going pretty well in his life, but when he's 40 years old or so, he actually sees an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite slave, and so he, in anger, kills the Egyptian.

And when he realizes what he's done, he runs, he flees for his life, he escapes Egypt, and he begins to live a life of obscurity as a shepherd in the wilderness.

And that's what he does for the next long chunk of his life until he's about 80 years old.

And when he's about 80 years old, he has this encounter with God that changes everything in his life, and honestly, it changes the course of history.

And every week, for the next three weeks, we're gonna go back to the same encounter with God because this is where we meet God in a powerful new way in the story.

So, with that said, Exodus chapter 3, verses 1 through 17.

Exodus 3:1–17

One day, Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.

He led the flock far into the wilderness and he came to Sinai, the mountain of God.

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush.

Moses stared in amazement, though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up.

This is amazing, Moses said to himself.

Why isn't that bush burning up?

I must go to see it.

When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush.

Moses, Moses, here I am, Moses replied.

Do not come any closer, the Lord warned.

Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.

I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord told him, I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt.

I've heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers.

Yes, I'm aware of their suffering.

So I've come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land.

It is a land flowing with milk and honey, the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebuzites now live.

Look, the cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them.

Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh.

You must lead my people out of Egypt.

But Moses protested to God, Who am I to appear before Pharaoh?

Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?

God answered, I will be with you.

And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you.

When you've brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.

But Moses protested, If I go to the people of Israel and tell them the God of your ancestors has sent me, they will ask me, Well, what is his name?

Then what should I tell them?

And God replied to Moses, I am who I am.

That's an odd statement to us.

I am who I am.

And in their language, it would be this word, Yahweh.

I am who I am.

So say this to the people of Israel.

I am, has sent me to you.

God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.

This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.

Now go and call together all the elders of Israel.

Tell them, Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to me.

He told them, I have been watching closely.

I have seen how the Egyptians are treating you.

I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt.

I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey, the land where all the ites live.

So, save us some time.

This is a really powerful moment.

It's so incredible sometimes to read this stuff, and we just, if you grew up in church, not all of us did, but if you grew up in church, this is one of those stories you learned at a very young age, and it's a bush and it's on fire, and Moses talks to the bush, which is weird.

Like if you ever saw anyone talking to a burning bush, you would immediately assume that they're nuts.

That's the only logical conclusion.

But in this moment, God is in the bush and he talks to Moses and he has this conversation.

And what's so amazing is that Moses doesn't seem to agree with God.

Like, God, there's not one moment where Moses says, you know, God, I'm so glad you said that.

I've been thinking that I'm really underutilized as a shepherd.

Um, just don't feel like I've I've reached my potential, and I'm glad that you see what no one else sees in me.

I'm ready, I'm the guy.

Good pick.

It's not what happens.

Like Moses is very uncomfortable, he doesn't want to be there.

Like, just imagine what must be running through his mind.

And I think to some degree it would probably be something along the lines of I shouldn't be here.

I probably shouldn't be here.

I don't belong here in this moment.

How do I get out of this?

And he begins to argue with God, saying, like, hey, you're gonna have to pick somebody else.

Because I'm not the guy, I probably shouldn't be here.

Have you ever been in a situation in life where you were somewhere you probably shouldn't be and you knew it?

I don't mean like, were you trespassing on someone else's property and there was a sign and you went ahead.

No, I'm talking like you found yourself in a place where you were somewhere you had no right to be.

And just being there felt amazing, but at the same time made you feel small and realize, like, whoa, I'm out of my depth here.

I have a good friend here, his hand's named Matt.

And Matt told me this amazing story.

He gave me permission to share it.

He's a big football fan.

Um, and so he got to go to a Dallas Cowboys football game and he got to be like on the field.

He had field passes.

I've never been as much of a football person, so if you're like a basketball person like me, it's like courtside seats.

So he's watching the game, but he's on the field.

And while he's there, he just so happens to be standing next to the mother of one of the players.

And they just kind of start talking.

And they don't know who you know she is, and she doesn't know who they are at first, but they begin a conversation and all it's going great.

And so when it's when the game's done, they go to this like little lounge food area and they're hanging out, and then the mom of that player walks by them, and she's going down this hallway that is like restricted.

There's a guard there, and she says, Are you guys coming?

And at this point they look at each other and like she has no idea who we are.

I think she assumes that we must be family of one of the players, too.

And so, you know, they have two options at this point.

Do you look at this lady and say, Oh, we're just we're just people who got field passes.

You do that, or you do what Matt did, which I think is the right thing to do.

You say, Oh yeah, we're coming.

Like she goes, Are you guys coming?

And they just look at each other and go, Oh, yeah, yeah, sure.

And they start walking with her.

And there's this guard, and he he opens up the little cord, and they walk down, and they just keep walking, and more people start to join, like more family members of the teammates start to join.

And pretty soon they find themselves in this area where it's just them and and all these family members, and they kind of disperse to try to like hide themselves among the crowd.

And then pretty soon some players start emerging, and they're like hanging out with the players, and they're getting pictures taken with the players, and no one knows who they are.

Like, that's the amazing thing.

It's like everyone's like, Oh, that must be that guy's brother or that guy's cousin, and they're just they're fine with it.

They're not they're not about to say anything, they're just enjoying this, they're soaking it up.

And then when that's all over and they get their picture taken a bunch of times with different people, um, they end up getting to go on the field.

And they're just like walking around, like, yeah, we belong here.

There's even a point where a guard stops them and says, Hey, you guys don't have a pass, and and someone else just goes, Oh, they're with us, and the guard's like, Oh, okay.

And they just cool.

And so Matt finds himself at the end standing on the field at Cowboy Stadium, standing on the field.

And he's like throwing a football around on the field.

And he has no business being there.

Like, absolutely zero right to be in that moment.

But how cool of an experience for Matt.

That's amazing.

Like, but think about how much work the average person has to do to ever get to throw a football on an NFL field.

Right?

They have to work, they have to train their whole lives, they have to succeed, they have to get recruited to a college, they have to do well at that college, they have to get drafted, and they get paid millions of dollars, but they put in a lot of work to play on that field, and Matt just got to play on the field because, you know, he was there.

If you've ever been in a situation like that, where you find yourself in some type of place around people that you just know, like I shouldn't be here.

I don't really have any right to be here.

In in our world, in our culture, if you find yourself in a situation like that, it's probably because you're around people who are important.

Maybe people who are successful.

Maybe it's people who are famous, maybe it's people who are really wealthy, maybe it's people who are really influential.

But Moses' situation is like that on steroids and whatever else would be more than steroids.

Because words like influential and famous and important, those words are honestly like beneath God.

It would be an understatement to say that God is important.

It would be an understatement to say that God is famous.

It would be an understatement to say that God is influential.

No, God is God.

God is holy.

And Moses has no business.

Like, no business whatsoever, no right whatsoever being in the presence of God.

Moses is an old, dirty, shoe-wearing, murderous shepherd.

And he's in the presence of God, and right away Moses understands, I don't belong here.

I probably shouldn't be here.

We get a little bit of a taste of that right away in verses 4 and 5.

When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him in the middle of the bush, Moses, Moses, here I am, Moses replied, Do not come any closer.

Take off your sandals.

You're standing on holy ground.

Like God has to say, hey, stop right there.

At the very least, take your shoes off.

Like show some kind of respect because you're in the presence of God.

Like, imagine that.

What right does Moses have to be in God's presence?

The answer is none.

Because God is He's holy.

Now, holy is a word that we don't tend to use in our culture today unless we use it in a negative sense.

The only time we ever use the word holy is if we say that someone is being holier than thou.

You know, it means they act like they're a big deal, a bigger deal than you, better than you, kind of thing.

That's almost the only normal way that we would use that word, but but that word in their day, that word in the Jewish culture, it's a powerful word.

It's the word kadosh in Hebrew, and it means different, but but different in a way that's like totally beyond, totally above, greater, more important, pure, powerful, wonderful, and in the presence of something holy, you are small.

For example, Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9 give us a good idea of what holiness is like.

Isaiah 55:8

God says, My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts.

My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than yours.

God is allowed to be holier than thou, by the way.

Because he's God.

He's holy.

He's just he's higher, he's greater, he's bigger.

We have a few moments in scripture where we see this little window into heaven.

Isaiah is a great example.

He gets this like a picture, this vision of what's happening in heaven, and it's really crazy.

And one of the things that he sees are these angels, these beings that are flying around God.

It's really, really weird if you read it, Isaiah 6.3, but here's what they're saying to each other in the presence of God.

They're calling out to each other, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heaven's armies.

The whole earth is filled with his glory.

Like, they're angels.

They're around God all the time.

And yet in his presence, the thing that keeps coming out of their mouths is he's holy.

They have to say it three times: holy, holy, holy.

Revelation chapter four, day after day, night after night, they keep on saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.

The great I am.

He's holy.

He's just greater, he's bigger.

And as you begin to read Moses' story, you find all these reminders of how holy God is.

And I'm gonna be honest with you guys, at first they come off a little bit off putting.

Like they come off a little bit like God is saying, Hey, I'm a big deal, and you need to back up a little bit.

You can't just waltz up to me wearing shoes.

I mean, I'm God.

So know your place.

That's how it comes across, but that's not the heart of God.

And again, it's important that we understand who our God is.

But but I want to read some of these examples.

Very interesting.

Exodus chapter 19.

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

At this point in time, the Israelites have escaped from Egypt.

They have successfully left, and they've come to that same mountain that God said they would come to to worship him.

And God's presence shows up on the mountain, and it's it's terrifying and powerful and amazing and and crazy, and the people are kind of, whew, what do we do with this?

And here's what it says.

The Lord says to Moses, I will come to you in a thick cloud, Moses, so the people themselves can hear me when I speak with you.

And then they will always trust you.

Moses told the Lord what the people had said.

Then the Lord told Moses, Go down and prepare the people for my arrival, consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing.

Like God is like, You're gonna be clean, okay?

If I'm showing up, you're gonna take a bath.

Like it's come on, I'm God.

So he's like, consecrate themselves.

That means they've got to be pure.

They've got to they've gotta make sure they don't do anything that would make them impure.

It's it's it's interesting.

Be sure they're ready on the third day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch.

Mark off a boundary all around the mountain.

Warn the people be careful.

Do not go up on the mountain or even touch its boundaries.

Anyone who touches the mountain will clear it, will certainly be put to death.

No hand may touch the person or animal that crosses the boundary, instead, stone them or shoot them with arrows.

They must be put to death.

However, when the ram's horns sound a long blast, then the people may go up on the mountain.

So again, this is this is interesting.

Like we have signs at our doors before we open them that says, Hey, could you please let the worship team finish before coming in?

Because they're like practicing.

But there's no archers, um, no one's no one's got rocks standing there that if you were to go ahead and cross that boundary before we open the doors, it's like, hey, come on.

But like that's what it's weird.

Like, you gotta sometimes read this stuff in the Old Testament in the Bible and just be like, it's weird.

It's weird.

All right, let's keep going though.

Weird is fun.

On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain.

There was a lone Loud blast from a ram's horn, and all the people trembled.

Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

And all of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire.

The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently.

As the blast of the ram's horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply.

Then the Lord came down on top of Mount Sinai and called to Moses from the top of the mountain.

So Moses climbed the mountain, and the Lord said to Moses, Go back down and warn the people not to break through the boundaries to see the Lord, or they will die.

Even the priests who regularly come near me must purify themselves so the Lord does not break out and destroy them.

Again, it's this idea of holiness that God is so other, he's so much greater that they better be careful.

You don't just waltz in to the presence of God.

No, he's holy.

In Exodus chapter 16, as this goes on, they've built a tent at this point.

Exodus 16 · chapter mention

And this tent's called the tabernacle, and it's where they go to worship God.

And in the middle of the tent, there's this one section.

It's called the Holy of Holies, or the most holy place.

And this is where like the presence of God hangs out.

And it's separated by a really thick curtain, and no one's allowed to go in there except for the high priest, which happens to be Moses' brother Aaron.

And he only goes in there one time a year to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.

And so the Lord says to Moses regarding that place, the most holy place, warn your brother Aaron not to enter the most holy place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses.

If he does, he will die.

For the ark's cover, this is this thing called the Ark of the Covenant.

The place of atonement is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.

Like he says, tell Aaron, don't just walk in here.

If he does, he'll die.

It's really intense.

There's these like threats of death, just for what?

Being in the presence of God?

Again, it comes off off-putting.

It comes off like God is kind of like, hey, I'm a big deal.

And so be careful.

But I think there's another story that helps us understand the dynamic that's really going on here.

And it's Exodus chapter 33.

Exodus 33 · chapter mention

Moses is having a conversation with God.

And he's praying, kind of desperate, because God's about to lead them to a new place, and Moses is nervous.

What if it doesn't work out?

Moses says, If you don't personally go with us, don't make us leave this place.

How will anyone know that you look favorably on me, on me, and on your people if you don't go with us?

For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all the other people on the earth.

The Lord replied to Moses, I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.

Moses responded, Then show me your glorious presence.

And the Lord replied, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name Yahweh before you, for I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I'll show compassion to anyone I choose.

But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.

The Lord continued, Look, stand near me on this rock.

As my glorious presence passes by, I'll hide you in the crevice of the rock, and I'll cover you with my hand until I've passed by, and then I'll remove my hand and let you see me from behind, but my face will not be seen.

It's weird, right?

Can we all agree that's weird?

Okay, good.

Only one.

Maybe you've had that experience.

I haven't.

But Moses, it's a really vulnerable, honest desire.

Like Moses, I just want to see you.

I've been talking to you, I've seen the smoke cloud, but I know that's not you.

Like, I want to see you.

And God's like, you can't.

Why?

You'll die.

And this isn't God saying, I'll kill you.

Like, I don't like it when people look at me, so I'll kill them.

That's not what that's not what he's saying.

Like there's all these stories of celebrities, you may have heard these before, um, especially like famous actors and actresses, and and there's these horror stories of what it's like to work for them.

And these people will have all these demands, and one of the common ones, you actually hear this, research it, it's interesting, is that a lot of them say, I don't want to be looked in the eye.

And so they'll have to like tell all the crew, hey, it's really important that you don't look them in the eye.

It really and they'll get mad and fire someone for looking them in the eye.

That's stupid, right?

And so you have to work for these people, like looking at their feet.

I don't know what you look at, you know?

But you can't look them in the eye because they get offended.

How dare you look me in the eye?

That is not the heart of God.

What we see with God here is he loves Moses and He doesn't want Moses to die.

And he's basically saying, like, guys, you can't handle my holiness.

It's just too much for you.

You will die.

You can't come, Aaron, you can't come in here unannounced without being really careful, because like it'll kill you.

Think about something like the sun.

I've heard this described this way before.

It's really good.

The sun is really good.

It's it's a good thing.

It provides light, it provides warmth.

We would all die and perish without the sun.

We can all agree that the sun is a good.

But if you got close to the sun, it would not be good for you.

Because you just can't handle that much heat.

You just can't handle that much light.

And it's like that with God and His holiness.

He is so pure and so powerful and so good that it's like we just can't get that close.

He's just He's other, He's He's more.

And so He's telling all these people, look, I love you and I don't want you to die.

So back off.

Except in these very specific circumstances, in these very specific moments, because God is holy.

Now, what do we do with that?

Like, how does how does this play into our understanding of God today?

How does this matter in our day-to-day lives?

Is the takeaway today?

We could end right now and be like, all right, guys, so thanks for being here.

Don't get close to God.

All right?

It's like practical wisdom for all of us.

If you see God, run.

Don't go near him, and if you do, at least take your shoes off.

That's the lesson for today, right?

No.

I think there's a couple really important things to understand, and I actually prayed really hard about this aspect today.

Like, what is this?

How does this matter for us?

One, I'll just tell you this.

I was talking with um a really good friend of mine, and uh he's someone who has has been uh in ministry for a long, long time, longer than I've actually been alive.

Okay?

His name's Fred.

Hey, Fred.

I'm calling out everybody today.

Fred just got back from vacation.

Do you have a good vacation, Fred?

Good.

All right.

And Fred, I'm sorry that I said that you've been in ministry longer than I've been alive.

I'm sorry.

But it is true.

Um and so Fred, Fred's someone I'm I'm close with, and we were we were having lunch uh or breakfast, gosh, it must have been two years ago.

And and I was like kind of picking Fred's brain about what he's seen change in the the church, not our church, but like the church over the years.

And a lot of it was really positive.

We were just talking about all this positive stuff.

Like, has anybody seen the movie The Jesus Revolution that came out recently?

It was really good.

If you haven't seen it, really good.

And it kind of talks about this era in the 70s where some things started to change in church culture, and all of a sudden it wasn't so much about the clothes that you were wearing and you know whether or not you kind of looked like you were supposed to look, and it became more about just all kinds of people from all kinds of different walks of life coming to Jesus, and that's that's a really good thing.

And so we were talking about all the good things and good developments that have happened over the years in in the church.

But then I asked Fred, well, hey, you've you know, since Fred, you've been doing this for so long.

Just so many years.

More years than I can even think.

I'm teasing you.

I was like, well, what's something you've seen that is a negative?

Like, what's a development that you feel like this has maybe not been good?

And Fred kind of paused for a few seconds and really thought about it.

And he said, An ignorance of the holiness of God.

He said, Well, it's so good that that things are are informal.

Like, I love how informal things are.

I own one suit and I never wear it here.

I love that.

You know?

And by the way, if you're wearing a suit today, go for it.

Like, great.

There, there it's good that there's this come to Jesus as you are.

That's that's that does not need to change.

But it's like anything else in life.

Sometimes when we try to do one thing, there's like unintended consequences, and one of the negatives that can sometimes develop is we can forget that God is God and He's holy.

And it's important that we remember that.

Like it's just thinking, it's important that we remember when we pray, we're praying to a holy God.

Like He can do anything.

He's powerful, He's above all things.

Even angels, they can't handle His presence.

And in the presence of God, they're just like holy, holy, holy.

And if God's presence was right here in this room and in that tangible way, we'd all do the same thing.

We would fall on our faces, and we'd just be like yelling words like holy.

It's the only thing we could think of.

But when we pray, when we worship, that's who we worship.

He's a holy God.

And it's important for us to remember that.

It's very important for us just to keep that in mind that He is God and He is different and greater and better.

He is holy.

And the gap between Him and us is whew.

I mean, he said, as high as the heavens are from the earth, so are my ways above your ways.

Like that's a that's a wide gap.

What right do we have to be in the presence of a holy God?

I'm not any better than Moses.

I call myself worse in so many ways.

Like, what right do I have to be in the presence of God?

None.

So, on one hand, it's just good to know that he's holy, but but this is where it becomes really powerful and important for us on a regular basis.

1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 30.

1 Corinthians 1:30

Says that God has united you with Christ Jesus.

For our benefit, God made him to be wisdom itself.

Christ, and this is through his death on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, has made us right with God, has made us pure and holy, and has freed us from sin.

Okay, so this is why it's so valuable for us to understand what holiness is, because God is so much better, greater, other.

Okay?

He's holy.

And this says that Christ, that Jesus, has made you holy.

I don't know how many of you have described yourselves as holy.

Right?

If someone says, like, tell me about yourself.

Well, I'm holy.

Start there, you know.

Pure.

I'm just kind of other, you know, I'm just different, but like on a different level than a normal human.

Like, I doubt that anyone has done that.

And obviously I'm being facetious and joking.

But but that's what it says.

Like, God is holy.

So much of the Old Testament is just setting that up and it's drilling it into our minds.

Hey guys, God is holy, he's holy, he's holy, purify yourself, consecrate yourself, take off your shoes, because he is holy.

And it's like he's better than you, greater than you, different than you, other than you, so cool, keep your distance, and then Jesus comes, God takes off the the godness, becomes one of us, dies in our place, and now says, You're holy.

And and so many of these images of holiness and the gap between us and God begin to break.

For example, Matthew chapter 27 says that at the moment that Jesus died, verse 51, at that moment the curtain in the sanctuary, that curtain that separated the most holy place from the rest of it, that curtain that Aaron could only go in one time a year if he did all the right things, it tore into from top to bottom.

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

The earth shook, rocks split apart.

When Jesus died, the the separating curtain in the temple tore in half.

No more barrier.

Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16.

Hebrews 4:16

I want you to think about this, what it's telling us to do in God's presence, and compare this to the way that God told Moses to approach him, right?

God sees Moses coming and he says, Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, stop right there, take off your shoes.

You're on holy ground?

It's like, be careful as you come near me.

Because I'm holy.

Hebrews 4.16.

Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.

There we will receive his mercy.

We will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Come boldly to God?

Like, who do you come boldly to?

Like, honestly, like think about that for a second.

Who do you come boldly to?

Like, I know sometimes if if you're like uh some people are wired this way, and I'm not judging you.

If you're like this, we need people like you.

You help the standards of customer service stay high.

But like if you feel like you're getting poor service somewhere, you come boldly to the manager and you're like, hey, let's talk.

Anyone willing to admit that you're that person that like I'm willing to go do that?

Okay, a couple of you, keep it up.

We need you.

We need you guys to look like jerks so we don't have to.

Okay?

But we're all thinking the same thing.

We're all just as upset as you.

Thank you for being the ones to carry the torch for us.

But like you come boldly in those situations because you feel like, hey, I have some authority here, and you're gonna listen to what I have to say.

Like my children very often come boldly to me.

They will just, they'll just, like I work for them.

You know?

And it's there's not even a please or a thank you.

It's like even my youngest, my youngest, five years old.

And he just will come to me and just go, milk.

And I get it for him.

Like I, yes, sir, on it.

Which is like a long straw or a bendy straw?

Like, what do you, you know, that's kind of how it goes.

Like he comes boldly to me.

I don't really go boldly to to almost anyone, but it going boldly to God?

Like, just like think about that.

That's very different than stop, take your shoes off, you're on holy ground.

Just walk in, just tell him what you need, like a child.

That's powerful.

See, so much of this God is holy, God is holy.

None of that's changed.

God is just as holy as he ever has been.

He is just as big, just as other as he ever has been.

But something changed with Jesus that makes you holy.

That your faith in Jesus and what Jesus did for you, it's it's made you holy, and now you can just go into God's presence.

You can just pray to him, and you don't have to go.

What am I wearing the right shoes?

Have I have I am I unclean?

Do I need to consecrate myself first?

You can, because it's been done for you by Jesus.

And and and practically speaking, like, if we really believe that, this is what I think is so amazing.

Like, this is very theological.

I doubt many of you spent your week this week just concerned with the holiness of God and how it how it affects you, right?

We have problems, we have issues, we have struggles.

So, how in the world does this actually help you on a day-to-day basis?

And I'll tell you how it does, at least for me, is if you really believe this is true, that you have been made holy by the blood of Jesus such that you now belong in the presence of God.

Like there should be such a security in terms of who you are, that like no one in the world could could make you feel less, even if they tried.

It's amazing how many of our struggles root they're rooted in insecurity, right?

Because we get told all the time, hey, you probably don't belong here.

Like that happens to us often.

In fact, Matt's story reminded me of a similar sports story for me.

I I used to do sports journalism.

I did that for several years.

And uh in 2010, I was covering this really big basketball tournament for Bleacher Report, which is a website that is now very large.

It sold for almost$200 million a couple years ago, but in 2010 it was brand new.

And it wasn't very well respected amongst all the ESPNs and the CBSs.

But I was at this tournament and I'm I'm sitting covering this big college basketball tournament.

I'm press row, so I'm like, I'm there, I'm like courtside.

This is my I love basketball, this is like my dream.

But behind me were these college students who I'm pretty sure were journalism majors, um, because they were trash talking not the other team, but me.

I've never seen people trash talk the reporters at the games, but that's what happened.

And because they could see my my website that was pulled up as I was writing and my credentials, bleach report, and they're starting to like heckle me during the game.

They're like, hey, bleach report.

They're like yelling that at me.

And they're like, that's not a real website.

You're not a real journalist, you're a hack.

Like they're just yelling all this stuff at me.

And you know what's what's interesting is I kind of agreed with them.

Because it's a story for a different day.

I've told it before.

Some of you are like, please don't tell that story again.

You told it too many times.

Um, you know, the way that I got into that whole business was not the normal way.

I didn't go to college for it, didn't like rise through the ranks.

Like, I sort of it landed in my lap in a really cool way.

So I didn't feel like I had earned it.

And so as they're saying this stuff, I'm like, yeah, it's probably kind of true.

And think about how many times in life someone has told you that you don't really belong.

You know, maybe that they've told you, hey, you know, you just don't belong in this relationship with me.

You're not good enough.

And so I'm leaving.

I did not mean to go there.

It got really really quiet.

I'm sorry.

Contain the tears, okay?

Sorry.

But that happened.

Someone tells you, you know, hey, like I see this even with kids that I I work with sometimes in sports.

It's like a coach says, you don't belong on this team.

You're not you're not good enough.

So you're you're cut.

You're not you're not on the team.

You apply for a job, you're excited about it.

Oh, it'd be a dream job.

Hey, you don't meet our qualifications, so you don't belong here.

You shouldn't be here, and so you're not gonna get the job.

Or you go for the promotion, and they say your accomplishments are not enough, and so you you don't belong in this role.

So sorry, you're not you're not gonna be there.

There's so many people in the world that are very willing to tell us that we shouldn't be here, we're not enough, that we don't belong.

And it's so easy to believe that.

So I'm sitting there and I'm I'm writing on my my website, these guys are behind me, heckling a reporter.

Again, strange.

And they're going, You literally, you shouldn't be where they literally said you shouldn't be there.

Like, you don't belong there.

You're a hack.

And then this guy who's sitting next to me, who's been in this business a really long time, was really kind to me.

He just leans over and he says, and yet you're sitting here and they're sitting there.

Right?

It was really good.

And so I turn around like, yeah, what?

Like, I didn't do that.

I didn't do that.

I don't really have swagger.

I don't have swagger.

But it was powerful for me because it was true.

Because what if the truth is, yeah, I don't belong here.

But I'm here.

And that's how all of us are with God.

Like, who of us could say, I belong in the presence of God?

Honestly, I belong in his family.

I think he ought to adopt me.

That's what I think.

I think I could really add a lot to his family.

I've got a lot to offer.

No one would say that.

None of I, please, none of us would say that, right?

Because like Moses, what right does Moses have to be in the presence of God?

What right do any of us have to be in the presence of God?

What right do any of us have to call ourselves the sons or the daughters of God as God calls us?

What right do any of us have to be in the presence of God, to be in a relationship with God, let alone a right relationship with God?

You have no right, you have no business, and yet that's where you are.

And I believe that if we really believed that, it would give us such a security in who we are.

That every other person in this world, every other situation in this world that tries to reiterate that we don't belong, that we're not enough, that we should be less, that it just wouldn't matter as much.

Because no matter what anyone says about you, no matter where anyone else tells you that you belong or don't belong, the God of the universe, the one who made everything, the one who's holy and above everything and everyone, says that you actually do belong in his presence.

And that you are welcome to just barge in at any moment, boldly, and ask him for what you need.

And that it is perfectly okay for you to call yourself a son or a daughter of God.

Because you have been made holy by Jesus Christ.

That's awesome.

Like, come on.

That's awesome.

It's just a matter of what if we actually believed that.

And what if we let that be the core of who we are?

I think it would change everything.

Because if you're secure in who you are, truly secure in who you are with God, you don't you don't have to run around looking for other people to validate you.

They they don't their applause doesn't matter as much, and neither do the the booze, right?

It's like both.

If you're really secure in who you are, you don't need you don't need them to give you the their approval, but you also don't care when they express how much.

They disapprove because you're like, I'm good.

I'm with God.

You know, it's just like Matt with those people.

Oh, um, I'm with them, so I get to be on the field.

And it worked.

So with that in mind, we're gonna take Lord's Supper.

I had it in my back pocket.

I always carry Lord's Supper in my back pocket all the time.

That way, at any moment, I'm ready.

Like I said, I prayed a lot over this message this week.

Not that I don't do that every week, but I was like, Lord, I really I know we need to talk about how you're holy, but what does that mean to us?

And in reality, it means everything because this is what's made us holy.

It's what Jesus has done, it's his blood.

And if you've never heard this before, it's real simple.

It's the gospel.

Jesus died on a cross as a sacrifice to pay the price for your sin, because sin always has a price, and all of us have sinned.

And the wages of sin, the price for sin, it's death.

Sin is serious business.

It's life and death.

And Jesus didn't do it, he didn't sin, he didn't mess up, he lived a holy life that none of us have lived, and then he died in our place.

And not only did he take our sin, but he gave us his holiness.

It's amazing.

When we take this meal together, we get to celebrate that.

And so let's begin with the bread.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for this bread, for what it represents.

Your blameless, holy body without sin.

No failure, just perfection, offered up for us in our place, as a sacrifice, to not only cleanse us from guilt, but to give us a holiness that we have no right to.

Thank you, Jesus.

Let's take the breath.

Thank you, Lord, for this juice.

Thank you, Lord, for what it represents, your blood spilled to purify us, to make us right with our God, to make us holy.

Lord, thank you.

Thank you so much.

We love you.

Let's take the juice.

Couple things before we wrap up.

We've got a baptism here in just a second, which is awesome.

Stick around for that, obviously.

It's important.

As you go this week, as we as we leave, so I call it, what do we leave with?

And I hope that today you leave with the knowledge that you, right now, as you are, not the version of you once you get all your you stuff figured out, but like you, as you are right now, in the eyes of God, are holy, blameless, and pure.

And that you belong where you don't belong.

You belong in the presence of God.

You belong in his family.

You belong near him, because that's what he has decided.

He's let you in.

And so be there.

And let that be the deepest core understanding you have of who you are, and don't listen to anyone else who tries to tell you that you're anything less than that.

Don't let anything else, even the positives, don't let your accomplishments, your success, don't let any of that give you your value, because all of that is less than what you really are, which is a child, a son, or a daughter of the living God made pure, made holy by Jesus Christ.

That is awesome.

So believe that, receive that, let that sink in and just think about that.

Like let that be a thing you're aware of.

You're holy.

Like God is holy.

What in the world?