Four Faces - Ox

Revelation 4, verse 1 says this.

Revelation 4:1

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.

Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, as clear as crystal.

In the center around the throne were four living creatures, and they they were covered with eyes on the front and the back.

The first living creature was like a lion, and the second was like an ox.

The third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings.

Day and night they never stopped saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.

Nehemiah chapter two, seventeen and eighteen.

Then I said to them, You see the trouble that we are in.

Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire.

Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.

I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king said to me.

They replied, Let us start rebuilding.

And so they began this good work.

Father, we just pray that you would um our prayers that you would communicate clearly to your people today.

That you would illuminate, Lord, that you would um shine a light on the things in our life that need to be corrected, adjusted, encouraged, uplifted.

That you would do your work today.

Father, that that we would all be attentive, myself included, to what you're saying.

That there might be a sermon preached, but that there would be revelation or epiphanies or just moments where the penny would drop.

And we're asking that in Jesus' name and Holy Spirit, continue your great work as you have been ministered to through worship, Lord, as we have had the Eucharist together in communion.

And right now, as we come around your precious book, we pray that you would speak to us.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

We've been doing uh two weeks on the book of Nehemiah, and um the concept has been this thought from the book of walls and gates.

So Nehemiah was in Jerusalem, and then he was um kicked out, it was ransacked by the Babylonians, and then there was a change in leadership from the Babylonians, kind of as a global power in that area, to the Persians, and then the Persian king was benevolent enough to let him go back into the city to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem because one day Nehemiah looked sad, and the king was like, What's wrong with you?

This is sadness of the heart, what's wrong?

And he's like, Man, my hometown.

You know, like Nadia's Mariah in the last few years was condemned, you couldn't go back in.

A sadness in the family.

And then now it has been rebuilt and re-established, and people can go back and have all kinds of wa nanga.

Hey, Maori, we love a good Wananga.

Hey, there are so many wa nanga.

We love it.

We love getting together and having a hui.

And that can happen now because it's been rebuilt.

In this moment, Nehemiah wants to go back and do that same thing, not for a Maray or a small location for a few hapu, but the city of God, the city of David.

And he goes back and sees that the walls have been totally demolished and wants to rebuild those.

He has an army with him, he has money and resources from the king, and he's interested in engaging in rebuilding the walls.

But in Nehemiah 3, for time's sake, we won't read it because we've already given you enough announcements today.

He the are the these gates that are connected to these walls.

Like right now, if we had a room full of walls and no doors, this wouldn't be a a church, would it?

It'd be a prison, you know, you'd you'd or a casino.

Have you noticed now?

So people tell me this that there's only, you know, very hard to get out of a casino, eh, without giving over your livelihood.

You know, you walk in and it's dark and there's no clocks and there's no exits, you know.

So it would be like a casino, which we don't want, a prison or a casino.

We want we want a church.

You don't when you go to my house, I want you to know how to get out.

Not because I think you'll need to, but because I think at some point you may want to.

You may want to leave.

You know, I want you to linger at the door, you know, and I want and I'll probably say something like, Man, we should do this again, you know.

Which entails that it's finished.

Whatever it was is over.

You know, we should we should definitely do it again, you know what I mean?

In other words, there's the door.

You need to know where the where the doors are.

The gates, as but you need walls.

I don't want a house full of doors where anybody could come in.

I'm trying to protect my family.

I'm trying to look after my kids.

We have seven chickens at our house, too.

We want to look after them.

They're caged in, but then Hugo wants free range.

But then I'm concerned about dogs and about them getting attacked.

So he's shepherding these chucks.

Well, there's a big old heart, isn't he, you know?

And his big old feet, and he's shepherding these chucks, and but it's hard if they're if they are just allowed to go wherever they want, where there's no parameters, no guidance, no guardrails.

And so he goes and there's these walls, but there's also this cool, I think, focus on these gates.

And all these gates are named.

The gates have got like an identity.

So in the Bible are the names of the doors into Jerusalem.

And and Nehemiah goes about this journey of trying to rebuild not just the walls for protection, but the gates to let people in.

If we have a church that has one entry and one exit for people to come in, or we just want to reach one demographic, or there's only one type of person that feels that they can come, but it's strong, fortress on the inside, strong, and you feel protected, and there's great values, and it's like every week we're like we want to raise money for more keyboards.

We just want more keyboards, you know?

Just the best, just the best.

We want the best keyboard.

I actually think we do.

I think we've asked the church for the best keyboard.

This is what we want.

Then it then we become about protecting ourselves from those out there to make sure we have the best possible time in here.

Nehemiah, though, didn't just invest time to rebuild the walls and protect the culture of what he was trying to build.

He was eager to make sure that anybody could get in.

But if it was if there were no walls, if it was just gates, then anybody could get in.

Then it would be free range, and Jerusalem wouldn't be a city at all.

Wouldn't be a place of protection or culture or values.

It would just be whatever anybody wanted it to be.

That's the tension, though, isn't it, with church is that we want anyone to come, but we don't want it to be what anyone wants it to be.

You might have heard Mark talk about the Eucharist today, communion, and he might have said some words or in the worship, there might have been some lyrics or in some of our introductions or being asked about heaven and Jesus ruling for a thousand years and some things you don't understand.

Part of me who is thinking about gates is going, oh my gosh, there are some things being said that people don't understand.

But they have to be, don't they?

Because as we mature in our faith and in our personhood as people, we've got to look at this and go, I don't even know.

And Mark, and we grab Mark after the service.

Mark, can you tell me what it is that I you made me do today?

And he says, Oh, cool.

So this this this wine and this juice represents the blood and the bread represents his body.

And as it was broken on the cross, this is us remembering and yielding to what he's done for us.

Walls.

But making sure that the gates are wide open.

A phrase I would use is that it's about truths held intention.

Truths held in tension.

They are both true and both real and both important.

But we've got to hold them in tension with one another.

Tension requires forces pulling in opposite directions.

Tension can be the evidence that something is working well.

And not necessarily just an awkward thing that means that something might be wrong.

Like if I said something controversial now, if I if I if I played on Helen's introduction into that, there's an election on November the 8th, I think.

There might be tension in the room.

And so we we associate tension, I think sometimes with it with being with it, it's a negative thing.

But I don't think that tension should necessarily be or is always a negative thing.

I I I won't try.

I won't try.

I won't try.

Okay, I will try.

I won't try, I won't try and explain any instruments that are up here on stage today.

I won't, but I just a little bit, I will.

Back here, Marty Croon, is a drum kit.

And I think that there, yeah, there are three, or two four toms and a snare.

And and those have what's called a skin on top.

But someone doesn't just throw on, what's a skin made out of?

Is this some kind of plastic polymer, some kind of what did you say?

Beef, leather, suede.

So you've got these suede skins, and someone doesn't just throw on a piece of plastic and try and hit it through this tube thing, because it'll fall through and make no noise.

It has this, I don't know what this device is that they put around and then they turn the key and it stretches the skin over it so that you can create different sounds.

I suppose it would probably go from dull and to like king cling and like quite frequencies, you know?

Over here we've got a guitar.

What kind of strings are those James?

Yeah, are they really?

Guys, so we don't just want keyboards, we want nice strings for James, you know?

Look, I look, I won't, I won't go, I won't even try.

I won't, okay, a little bit.

I won't look, I won't even attempt.

But what I see happen with these guys, and Jaden's up there, and they're and they're tuning and they're doing the thing and they're they're doing this.

I don't even know.

But what I think is happening is that they are trying to make it sound good.

And they're trying to pull that string, whether that be nylon, probably steel strings, to resonate at a frequency.

But is it wrong though?

Like that's a thing it's funny, but I think it's accurate, you know.

So is this guy funny and accurate?

Well, best church ever, you know what I mean.

But every now and then, I don't know if it's during tuning or when they're playing, but every now and then you see a guitarist go like this, they're like recall, they're like, you know.

Because I think a string snapped and they're worried about it jamming them in the eyeball.

I don't think that that would be fun.

And so you got this tension between them, I don't know, they're tuning it so tight that it might ping, but then they might be afraid of it pinging, and then it's so loose, and then it doesn't make any.

But I guess probably my point as a non-musical person is that in that tension somewhere is music.

In that tension somewhere is something that sounds good.

In that tension somewhere of them tinkering away is something that resonates with us is going, yeah, that's yeah, that I I enjoyed that, that was really good.

It's the same in our life, it's the same in our marriages, in our families, and it's the same, I believe, in the scriptures, and I think it's the same for our church.

Music exists because of that tension.

Walls establish and protect a culture, but gates allow people to come in and participate in that culture.

Jerusalem has been destroyed by Babylon, and and I might just briefly touch on this, but then I think we'll move on quickly.

But Babylon, which ransacked and destroyed Jerusalem and forced the exile of the Jews, was a real historical empire, like the Roman Empire.

But it's also, as well as that, a symbol for human systems organized in resistance against God.

So when we see Babylon in the Bible, it was a real place with real a real army and a real destructive empire with violence and oppression, but also is a synonym for systems and thinking and attitudes that are opposed to God.

So when you read the Bible and you read Babylon, it might be talking about a real place, a real empire, or it might be referring to a system of thinking that is opposed to God.

So Babylon is synonymous with the world.

But here's my point.

My challenge to us and to me is this we can't be Christians, and let's use our Jerusalem illustration here, who want to protect ourselves so much from the world.

I again, me and Helen are we're leveraging this political um illustration here today.

So I so I've decided who I'm gonna vote for.

And so, no.

But when we talk about politics and you go, oh, what kind of the question was great, what kind of thing?

All of us, different.

All of us brilliant.

And I love that there's colours now too, you know, associated with parties.

All of us, boom, boom, all of us, just different.

In this, in this kingdom that we're building, we kind of set aside some of those things, I think, I hope, and we go, okay, Jesus, what are your values and what do we want to live by and and ensure being a citizen of a country that votes in a democratic way is really important, 100%.

What we go, Jesus, what are we building here?

And if we're trying to just build this thing together and and figure out how it is that we're protecting one another and what we believe in, and and and what are our values and what do we stand for and and and what do we believe in?

We we we had the tendency maybe, and this this might be uh a critique of our faith that maybe might not even make sense to anybody in terms of it might not be where we where your head's at, and that's okay.

But there can be some language against the world, you know, like the the party you're not voting for.

But what can be really sad is we make it about the people that might embody those ideologies or values or thinking.

You know?

Who you're voting for and who you're not, that guy.

And then they get tagged day, those signs get tagged, some quite good, you know what I mean?

Like, I sorry, you know, um, I mean creative, you know what I mean?

They get the googly eyes, they look quite funny, and others are just it's just like you know, whatever, but it's all illegal, you know, so none of it's good.

But we can we can use the wrong Babylon, I think.

We can be trying to build a city and speaking against the world, Babylon, so bad, and it can be embodied in people, so then the church starts speaking out against people.

What?

What would I do why would I, who follows Jesus, the most dignity-giving, kind, meek, humble, powerful, brilliant, servant-hearted human being, God man, that's ever lived, follow him and yet hate others.

Totally counter to what he wants to teach us.

But I can be opposed to thinking or attitudes, but we've got to make sure that when we speak about this Babylon, it's it's about ideas that are opposed to what we're trying to protect.

Not the people.

Not the people that are opposed to it.

He was on the cross and looked at us and said, forgive them, Father, for they know they don't know what they're doing.

God is not instructing us to hate the people of the world, God is instructing us to be opposed to the systems of the world.

We're too good at preaching, I think, to the church about the world.

And we create a separation between the two.

When our job is to tell the world about the church.

When I was first saved, I can still see it today.

35, what's 55?

55 Kavender Square was my address.

And my bedroom was on the corner of the house, and it would get the morning light.

And so after I got saved, I woke up and I and I could be like I I'm so certain that the sun felt different.

Like I'm so certain that something had been added to my life and something had been taken away from my life.

Like I can't I can't describe it to you.

But I woke up and it just felt warmer.

Like that wonderful feeling where you wake up and you kind of think about your day, and you just are immediately like, oh yeah.

I'm looking forward to that.

That's how I felt when I got saved.

Which brings us to Revelation 4.

And John, the author of the book of Revelation, is given this glimpse into heaven.

I don't know if you've ever met a truly, genuinely creative person who's trying to explain something to you.

Um, it can be impossible to understand what they're trying to communicate because they might not have the words in the space of time you're giving them to communicate the dream that they have for whatever it is that you're talking about.

This is John.

In a world where Caesar is in control, John sees that there is another throne in his vision.

Maybe while I'm preaching this little section, could you put up Revelation 4?

Just as a little backdrop.

In a world where there's where there's a there is Caesar or a Caesar that appears to be in control, John sees that there is another throne above every uh every earthly throne.

It's wonderful.

I mean, he sees, you can see it here.

There's light, there's color, there's a sea of glass, there's thunder, this crystal-like ocean, there's extraordinary creatures.

Um, don't do it now because I don't want you to be distracted, but when you get home, uh even just Google Ezekiel or Revelation, um, the four winged creatures, the four faces of the church.

Just Google, and the internet will just give you all of these artist or or or um AI interpretations of this verse, and they're all amazing, crazy, they're all different, they're all bizarre.

In a world where we grew up thinking that angels were um all Swedish, you know, with with with feathery wings, you know what I mean, and just cruising around with harps.

And then we read about these flying creatures two times it mentions in Revelation 4 in the in the part that we read, covered in eyes.

What?

And when it says that, does it mean these?

Because the only thing I can think of that's covered in eyes, that's is kind of like the more eyes, the more creepy, eh?

Like a spider.

Like, well, you know what I mean?

Like, and so, but it's wonderful.

But John, John's, he's been the curtain has been rolled away.

And John sees it, and he's writing it down.

And he's like, Okay, there was a throne.

But around the throne, I say the throne's crazy.

But then around the throne with these four figures, and he's like, he's like, they got it, they got wings, man.

So many wings, so many eyes, you know, and you're like, wait, what?

Start again, you know, like quick young scribe.

We're we're moving quickly here.

And this is at a time where economy on words was really important.

They wouldn't even use vowels as they wrote on scrolls or or prior to this on stone.

And so, you know, imagine the first person reading it after John, he's like going, oh no, no, no, that's not very good.

And he's right, and then he says about these four creatures, which I want to talk about today.

He says that there is around the throne, there's these four, and my take on it is this is that the creatures are the most superior version in their lane.

Like in their space, like in their realm, like in terms of 258, Geordie Barrett, like in their in their realm, you know what I mean, in their lane, they're the greatest of all creation.

So he says, the first, and we'll talk about this today, the first he sees is an ox.

So he sees a vision of heaven with a sea of glass and thunder and lightning and colour and beautiful, this throne with this majestic, you know, powerful creative Lord that's over everything that he sees on the earth because the curtain's been rolled back, he's seen a vision, he's writing it down, and then he sees a flying ox.

Powerful, service, the greatest of domesticated creation, strong, could achieve anything with an ox.

Then he sees, he's, and I and I and what's cool about this is that I think that he saw what was majestic to him in his context, because God is so good.

I think God will speak to you in your language.

So don't be too concerned when you come to church and you think everything Levi says, don't understand it.

Neither.

You know, don't worry about it.

Because if I was the only one who was talking to you about the Bible, you'd be ruined.

But I'm not, because you have access to God, He'll speak to you personally, and He'll talk to you in your language.

So I wonder if it was us that saw it, or if it was a Maori, or if it was a Sam one or if it was someone from Greece, or if it was someone from Australia, you know, you would see something different.

Like I noted that there's no seed creatures here.

Well, that's because the person receiving the vision didn't spend a lot of time in the ocean, didn't live next to a salty sea.

But if it was us, would there be a dolphin or a Stingray, or a I don't know.

I'm just it's we're just seeing where we're going.

The next thing he sees is a lion, strength, majesty, wild creation.

The third one he sees is an eagle.

The eagle flies in the heavens with speed soaring above creation.

And the last thing he sees of these four creatures is he sees this man, humanity, intelligence, image-bearing creation.

My first observation for us this afternoon is this.

The faces covered in eyes are looking outward.

As I read this, and it is impossible to take a scripture from a book as tricky as Revelation and apply it in 30 minutes in a church context.

So I'm not going to try and do that, but I'll give it a go.

So I'm going to take some very thin, a very thin look at the scripture today.

The faces are looking outward, which for us I think reflects the fact that we should be as believers, we shouldn't be self-centered, but selfless and always looking out.

The second observation is this, and this might be just a little, I don't know, little journey that I've been on in my Christian journey, is that when I look at this verse, I can see myself in each face.

But some faces, I see myself in more.

And we'll get to what each one means over the next month.

First observation is they're looking outward.

The second observation is that we can see ourselves in each face.

And so this series is about looking outward and finding ourselves in the greatest of God's creation.

God, what skills have you given me?

What have you made me like?

What have you made me resonate with of these four, the four, the Bible calls them the four living creatures?

And so if all z and gates are about illustrating the tension that exists in the church or that should exist in the church, then revelation, as we preach it, is about finding our place in that tension.

The ox is the diligent worker, the servant, the man is the humanity, the intelligence, the compassion.

The eagle is the soaring intercessor, the prayer warrior.

I normally don't like to um single people out that are in ministries or whatever, but I will I will do that today.

Because at 2.30 the prayer meeting finished, and like six people came out of the prayer meeting, which is like three times as many people as are normally in the prayer meeting.

And and there was like there was a young person in the young guy, a teenager in the prayer meeting.

And I was just like, hey, Lord, have I made it?

Have I clocked it?

Have I clocked it that a young man from my church was at the prayer meeting?

You know how hard, no, I don't know many teenage boys, but do you know how hard it is to get teenage boys to go to prayer meetings?

Until today, I thought it was impossible.

Isaac Reed, who played drums today on the Cajon, was playing touch rugby at five past three.

You know what I mean?

Like this is this is what teenage boys do.

They just enjoy life.

And they came out and I was like, man, so when we talk about the eagle, we're talking about a soaring intercessor, a prayer warrior.

When we talk about the lion, we're talking about strength, leadership, gathering.

And today, our for the next few moments, I want to talk to us today about the ox, about service, about commitment, about loyalty, work, and faithfulness.

I would love for you to consider today, buying us a keyboard.

No, no.

I would love for you to I would love for I would love for you to consider today being an ox.

I've started our series with the ox because I believe that the ox has is the lowest hanging fruit.

Today we had a we have a prayer gathering at uh 1.30, 145 before the service.

And today, hey James, there were so many people.

I was so amazed.

But we're like, oh grab everyone kids program, and then we had communion team, cafe team, we had some kids' crew come through, and there was like there were there was there were this many people, you know, there was this many.

And I was like really amazed at that.

And look, sure, some of these people know what they're doing, for sure.

But some of us we don't.

We just turn up and we're just, you know, moving staff and like following instructions.

Ox, servanthood-like behavior that just kind of goes, I don't know what I'm doing here, but point me in the right direction, give me an easy task to do, and I'll get it done.

And of all of these creatures, the ox was one of those.

This is a call for oxes.

The ox is loyal, the ox is helpful, he's selfless.

Ecclesiastes 9 verse 10 says, Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

The ox will keep turning up week after week after week after week because that is who the ox is.

Service is in the oxen's DNA.

The ox is the backbone of our church.

I think about Stacy and Anna and Ollie.

I think about Michael, Phil, and Nikki.

The ox makes the wheels turn.

You can rely on the ox.

The ox is not complicated.

The ox does the job right in front of them.

The church would not work without the ox.

Imagine if we were all eagles, you know.

It'd be like Bethel Church.

You know, no, no.

Don't let that make it online, you know.

But no, no.

Turn it up when it does.

If you have, that's a joke.

They're good people.

If you have a task and you want it done, get an ox to do it.

The ox is eager to serve.

The ox is strong and faithful.

The ox doesn't look to someone else to do the job.

The ox is trustworthy to do the task.

This series is about looking outward and finding ourselves in each face.

Um I said before that I won't tell you about any of the feedback.

Okay.

Now the cat's out of the back.

Okay, well, I won't tell you, but I'll say this.

Our church, our church is an unfinished work.

Helen's been telling me, uh, sorry, Heather's been telling me at the desk that one of the questions people have been asking her is how old is local?

And then she says, uh, a couple years.

And then they go, Oh, cool, interesting.

And her and I both think that the face that they make, I don't know if you've asked that, this is your face.

The face is like, oh.

So it's unfinished.

And then she's kind of like looking like, yeah.

How could how good is that?

It it's just getting started.

I don't know if we're uh we're convicted about some stuff, like the Bible, worship, Jesus, there's a cross.

Uh yep, this stuff, for sure.

But apart from that, I think it's all kind of up for grabs, eh?

Someone comes with an idea, it's like sounds great, let's do it.

Who's gonna do it?

And then the person with the idea goes, oh, um.

You know what he's looking for when he does that?

Oxes.

Today's the chance for us to put our hand up and just say, Yeah, I'll be an ox.

In our church, we have plenty of room for the ox.

We have uh, oh, by the way, Brendan, bro, on sound today, the man.

Awesome.

Brendan, who normally plays drums, his first Sunday came in, like he walked in but didn't come this way.

And the earth shook and he went that way.

You know, everyone's like, dung, dong, you know.

The four living creatures were like, ah, you know, and he's like getting trained up by Aaron Long, the the boss.

Venue team, sound team, A V team.

We need more people on the A V team.

Mike's been doing it for about six years.

Uh, first Sunday hospitality, our front door info desk, our communion team, our cafe team.

These these roles are crucial walls inside the city.

We haven't got bandwidth.

Next week we're gonna ask Ollie and Ed to come up and speak.

But the the tricky thing is that when they come up and speak, they will come up and and and I pray that you hear it through this lens.

They're looking for help, oxes, and they're gonna cast some vision and financial support.

And our church provides financial support for these guys.

And we want to keep doing that.

But man, in our time, even though it's the cost of living can be high, sometimes it's easier just to flick a 20 rather than being someone that turns up to actually provide the physical support that's needed to get a ministry working.

This is a call for oxes.

I um I normally have a special mention illustration every Sunday, it's my goal, and today I have one.

So the other day, well, this happens to me quite a lot.

I'm down at special, and I get asked if I work there.

So I'm there so often that, and I and look, I I help, I think I help.

I think I help.

I look if there's a table, you know, when it's busy, man, you're in a cafe, and then people people people move people move and they um and they leave their stuff, you know, their you know, their cup of tea.

You know, I get it.

I'm not saying that what they they shouldn't clean it up.

That's why you have stuff.

But then sometimes if I'm walking to the toilet, which is uh just by the uh the till where they put the dishes, I I'm like, ah, might as well.

So I'm picking up the stuff.

Not all, I don't do this all the time, but I'm just saying every now and then you do it.

I think if you were there as much as me, you know, it's the statistical, you know, truth.

You just every now and then you pick it up.

It's not about me.

I'm just trying to illustrate something here.

It's not uh I'm not saying I'm good, I'm just saying it's what I do.

And then I go and I put it down, and then I think people see that, and then they give me their order, and they yeah, bro, couple long blacks, you know, can I get a side of you know?

And I'm like, oh yo, sorry, man.

And this is what I say I'm sorry, I don't work here, and then they go, Oh.

Well, who does?

And I was like, Well, other people who look just like me though, like this guy here, this is Chris, you know.

And then they and then they kind of go and they they they find their way to get the long blacks that they wanted with a side of um hot milk.

I get it.

It it looks like I appear that I work there at church.

It can be eerily similar to that.

Because we all look like we work here until we get asked to do something, and then we all of a sudden don't work here.

Which I can relate to because that's exactly what happens to me when I'm down at the cafe.

It looks like I work there.

I've got all the trappings of a special mentioned employee until someone needs some help.

And I go, oh no, no, my guy.

I am here to be served.

You bring me along black, sir, you know.

When we come to church, this should be the most servant-hearted place on the planet.

We are a body, the bride of Christ.

We are brothers and sisters, we co-labor together.

He's the first amongst many brethren that we should, this should be a place where if you need something, I got you.

Where someone might come have a need, yeah, no problem.

I'm glad you came.

I love what Nadia said about the church bulletin, that you should pay to put something in there.

No, no, that you should, that there should be a need section.

You know, like someone looking for a lawnmower, you should find it at the church.

Looking for a plumber, you'd be one here.

Looking for a builder, we've, you know, we have a few of them, really good ones too.

Looking for someone that can help you with this thing, there should be, it should be a place where service is embodied and found.

But unfortunately, sometimes, oh no, ho ho ho ho.

I watched the other day, someone came into church and they were no, there was uh it was full.

It'd be like if someone came in now, and they stood at the back looking around for um for a chair.

Have a look turn around.

And over there too.

What's up, bro?

Hey Stella.

Um, massive wall of chairs.

It's an eyesore, look at it, it's the worst.

And they were like this, they were like this, and they there wasn't a new person.

That's the key because that's gates, different story.

There was someone who comes every week, and they were like this, and they were looking at the chairs, trying to find someone to put one out for them.

I just thought that was so funny.

Like if you go to your house, you don't walk into a house and go, Where's the chair?

And and see the chairs, and then go.

When you go to your house, you grab your own chair.

So next Sunday, no chairs.

That's it.

No chairs in a Hayes machine.

We're doing it.

When you go to your house, you grab your chair.

But if someone comes to your house and they need a chair, oh no, no, no, no, no, let me grab it.

Isn't that shouldn't that be the tension of the church?

Yeah.

That we should be so far now that it's like, grab your own chair, you douche.

You know?

Or yo, yo, what?

You like you just came, you just come, you you hear foot, bro.

Yeah, what it what do you need?

That we should be family, fulfilling needs, serving one another.

Oxes.

I've run out of time, but I've got three thoughts, so I'm gonna just I'm gonna run through them real quick.

The first one I'll say is this the ox embodies grit and not gift.

The ox is just about getting it done.

It's easy to notice the gift in life with our celebrity culture and not the grit.

The great thing about service is that it doesn't take gift to serve.

It doesn't take, it does not take ability, it just takes availability.

In our church, there is plenty of opportunity for the oxes to serve.

The all blacks have got that great, that wonderful principle conviction that they have, that they sweep the sheds and that they want to leave the jersey better than the way that they found it.

Man, I watched some of these like at the moment in our All Blacks team, we've got players who played like 80-90 tests, sort of like, you know, maybe sort of in the twilight of their career, but just out there bleeding, giving it everything they so value and love that jersey.

Um not bigger than the game.

The Edge, who was the guitarist in U2 for Bono, says that his job, he was interviewed probably by Rolling Stone magazine, it's a magazine, music magazine.

He's he was he was he was he he was interviewed, he said, What's your job?

He says, My job is to make Bono look good.

Now, imagine if I gave you that illustration about how I wanted you to treat me.

That I would that I think I'm Bono.

That's so funny.

Jesus is the edge, and the father is Bono.

And Jesus gathers us, and he's like, Yeah, you help me as we exalt him.

It's not about a mentality where we're trying to gas ourselves up and make ourselves great, but that we serve one another to love and honor him.

Second thing I'll say is this is we desperately search for servanthood in our leaders.

We're desperate for it.

Uh uh our elections coming up.

We're looking for whatever it is that you're looking for, you're looking for it.

But I think all of us, man, we're looking for like one of the things that makes me laugh is these anecdotes that these politicians have.

I was talking to someone the other day.

You weren't.

You weren't.

I was at the grocery store buying milk.

You weren't, you were not there buying milk, bro.

You were at the beehive drinking the milk that we paid for.

You know, let's just stop it with the anecdotes.

Anyway, sorry.

Um but they say it, because it could be true, and I could be cynical, that's fine, and that's now recorded.

But they I think they also could be saying it because they know that we we actually want it, we want that, eh?

We want leaders who who do buy milk.

I want it, I want it, I want a leader who knows how much it hurts to put in a hundred dollars of diesel in my car for it to go up this much, and then I've then got road user charges on top of that.

I want a leader who knows what it's like in the trenches to be to raise a young family.

I come looking for servanthood amongst, I think that's what we yearn for.

And and in Jesus we find it, and my challenge and encouragement to us is that in the church we should also find it in one another.

Queen Elizabeth II during World War II was trained as a mechanic and was pictured in overalls, working on military vehicles, getting your hands dirty.

County Reeves has a reputation for treating crew members and ordinary people with dignity.

After John Wick IV, and this is after he gave away, I think, all of his earnings from The Matrix, or at least from the other two.

Whatever, it was millions of dollars.

After John Wick, chapter 4, he gave members of his stunt team personalized Rolex watches.

David Beckham joined the public queue rather than lining up as a celebrity and bypassing it, he waited for 12 hours to see the Queen.

Someone who could expect special treatment chose not to.

Sir Edmund Hillary, after Conquering Everest, spent decades supporting Sherpa communities, establishing schools, hospitals, and bridges.

Here's my point for us today.

Achievement gave them a platform, but they use that platform to serve others.

Of all the places in the world, the church should be where we see servanthood personified on a daily basis.

And the last thing I'll say is this the role of the ox is the easiest to do.

I think I've probably already proved this point today.

The eagle prays, you know.

Maybe you're not a prayer.

I get it.

The lion leads, man.

He roars, he's majestic, he's powerful, he swans in here, you know.

Maybe you hear that and go, Oh, that's not that's not me.

The man opens his home.

He's compassionate.

He or she is high empathy.

Maybe, oh, that's not quite me.

But all the ox needs to do is pick up a tea towel and dry some dishes.

And I just get the sense like that low-hanging fruit, that low bar of entry for the ox is what makes him so precious.

We all draw the line somewhere.

This series is about exploring that line and potentially redrawing it.

I was talking with a friend who was telling me that they had an event at the zoo.

And the zoo sent him a list of things that that he shouldn't do at the zoo or bring to the zoo.

And he's like, You want to read this list?

I was like, I'd love to read it.

And he says, the first thing that the zoo is saying is that you shouldn't.

This story is a total waste of time, but it will prove a point, and but I'll I really wanted to say it.

Um because I've been I've been giggling about it for a week and a half.

Sorry.

And so they said, Um, the first thing that you can't do at the zoo is wear an animal, animal-shaped headwear.

And you know what?

When he said, when this friend said this to me, I was like, Yeah, I get that.

Because if I'm an animal in the zoo and I'm and I see you wearing my species on your head, I might I might feel a certain way about that.

And then, so so let's say we were zoo owners and we had no rules whatsoever, apart from don't jump in the lion's cage and stuff like that.

You draw a line.

They've drawn a line, they've drawn it further.

They've like, no, not only, not only be safe, but no animal headwear.

So I was like, but that's crazy.

And then there was um palm oil must be from uh ethical sources.

Any use of palm oil.

Let's go.

Let's go, zoo.

And then and then it was like um, oh no fire, no, you know, um die forks, what is that, fireworks?

You know, no flames, no what and all this other safety stuff.

But but that the palm oil and the and the headwear got me because I was like, they why don't they why don't they draw a line at leather?

No, no Canada goose.

You know what I mean?

No mink.

You know, no suede.

You know what?

No wool.

Look, this whole illustration is about drawing lines.

So that's why that's why I warn you, um sorry, you know.

If this is a call for oxes in the church, some of you are not ready to take up that call.

You're like, uh, not now.

Yep, I get it.

Well, someone the other day said to me, Why did part why do why do Christians always talk about seasons, Grady?

He's like, Why do we talk about seasons?

I was like, I don't know, but you're right, we do.

You might be in a season now where serving is like I'm just I'm kind of maxed out and I just want to come to church and be.

Cool, you came to the right church.

That's your line.

But don't be there forever.

At some point you might want to redraw that.

Someone's saying, Oh yeah, I serve, I just dabble.

I think this is just about saying, Hey, would you consider just where your line is and potentially redrawing that in the season of a time as our church grows in size and health, but also in personhood.

And I would love for you to be a part of shaping that.

Brooke will be at the back with some sign-ups at the end of the service if you'd like to get involved in any of those areas.

And there's one last thing I wanted to say, just one word I wanted to just talk about before we wrap up, and that's this word yield.

I said to um some people recently, I was like, oh, when we get to the end of our church service, one of the things I think is feels funny is that we kind of um, I feel like sometimes we like taper off.

So we have church and then we kind of finish, it kind of wraps up.

But I wanted to make the end of the service, I wanted to provide a bit more meaning.

And so one of the things I would like us to do at the end of church is maybe develop like a prayer of repentance, um, uh like a liturgical moment where we could all pray it.

Um, but I don't know, we'll we'll figure that out another day.

But the one I wanted to do today was I wanted to just talk about this word yield very quickly, and I want to encourage us to yield to Jesus, and I want to ask if you're here and you've never yielded to Jesus, if you would consider doing that today.

And you the first question you're asking is what does that mean?

I'm glad you asked.

To yield is to surrender, hey, is to hand over, to give up.

You know, I giggled recently at Jaden Taylor fighting me.

Let's say that he fought me.

He would win.

Um, but on his way to winning, I would yield.

Because I don't like being hurt, I've got a low pain threshold.

We yield, we give over, we surrender.

To yield, one of the a giveaway, giveaway sign is synonymous.

In Australia, they have the word yield.

It's to stop, to let someone go first.

I yield.

I yield the floor to you.

It's yours.

I I would love for us at a church, at a church, at our church, that at the end of the service, we would be given a moment to yield.

I think we should be doing this three times a day.

But if just once a week, I think it's really valuable.

And it means also that if that if there are people that are gathered here and you're new or you've just been coming for a few weeks and you've never yielded to Christ, this is your chance.

And so I would love to pray for you as we close today's service.

Is that okay?

Would you mind closing your eyes?

Um, just for privacy's sake, right across the room.

If you're here and you're saying, you know, uh yield, I've never even thought about it until today.

Um, surrender, I've never even considered that I would surrender to the Lord, to Jesus.

But if you're here and you're saying, I I have not yielded my life to him, I have not given my life over to Jesus, I've not repented, I've not said sorry, I've not, I I'm not right with him.

Then if that's you, I would love to pray with you before we close.

And just so I know who I'm praying for, would you mind um could you throw your hand in the air so that I can see it?

There's no one looking around, it's just you and me.

And if yeah, thank you.

Choice, you can put it down once you've lifted it up.

Yeah, amazing.

Thank you.

Yeah, you can put your hand down, thank you.

Others are saying, yeah, I need to yield and I want to pray this prayer.

And if that's you before we pray, if you haven't lifted your hand, just throw it up so I can see it.

Thank you, Lord.

We'll pray this prayer and I would and I would love for everyone to pray it together.

I'll lead us in this prayer.

Very simple, goes like this Dear Lord Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of my sin.

I yield to you.

I thank you that you forgive me.

I thank you, Jesus.

I thank you, Jesus.

I thank you, Jesus.

Amen.

Love you all.

Be blessed.

Hey, there's a few things there.

There's a three values thing.

There's a sign up to be an ox at the back.

Um, stay for a cuppa.

See you next week.

I'll be talking about another one of the four faces next week.

I think the eagle.

Yeah, the eagle.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We're gonna be talking about prayer and intercession and soaring in the heavenlies next week.

We'll see you then.