Episode 29: The Sermon

Good morning. Good to see all of you to see all of the chairs, exciting. If you're watching online. You can't tell that we don't have stacks in chairs on the size of the room anymore. Actually, the the sound from up here? Sounds different, cuz it's not bouncing off the charger. Welcome to episode 29 of the planned throughout the school year. We've been looking at the story of the Bible. From beginning to end, we started with Genesis and now we're in the ministry of Jesus. And today, we're going to be looking at The Sermon on the Mount or parts of it at least, which is unusual for the series because we've been focusing on plot and The Sermon on the Mount is dialog. But the truth is that you can't really tell the story of the Bible without engaging with a Sermon on the Mount. In fact, I would argue that you can't tell the story of the world without engaging in the story of The Sermon, on the Mount. It is been the single, most transformative set of words, ever spoken by a human being, but it also is a very important Moment In the bible where jesus shows us what he what he is teaching about the purpose of God's people and of humanities. And so I want to I want to make sure that we hit this note. So the service to be a little bit different because we're going to be talking about, we're only looking at a sermon. Through The Eyes of the people. He said it too. And so the as we get into the into the coordinates, we're going to be talking about the people listening to the sermon and what they're supposed to be hearing. But before we get into the sermon, let's let's remind ourselves of the story. We've been telling so far. The Bible is the story of God's plan, to establish a Place full of people who live out their purpose in his presents. God made the world and he put people in it. He gave him the job of ruling on his behalf and then he came down to live with them and that was on the 7th day that he called. Holy, that's what was happening. That's what the world looked like in. That was God's design and then human beings messed it up and we kept messing up and we kept messing up. And so God initiated this plan to restore that designed to the world through one group of people, the Israelites he gave him one specific place to live in. He gave them their purpose laid out in the law of Moses and he came down to live with them in the temple in the idea was that if if the world could look at Israel, Israel was doing this right then they could see What God wanted for the world? What he wanted for Humanity? And so Israel has this mission to be God's example to the world. The problem is the Israelites were not any better than any of the rest of us are obeying God. And so when people look at Israel, what they were seeing was not what God wanted and it got so bad. That it certain point. God said the guy said, the only way I can show the world who I am through Israel's by sending them in Exile to show them. That this is not me, whatever. I am. It's not what Israel has become is, what Israel has been waiting around for about 500 years. Some of them got to come back into the promised land, but they're spread around the known world and they're waiting to be restored and that's the mission. That Jesus comes to fulfill, God sends him to restore is real and 2 to call them to turn away from the the ways. They've been trying to be God's people and to get them to repent of that and to follow God and to be who he called them to be. Until two weeks ago, we talked about how he's been announcing that as the good news of the kingdom of God is coming. That's what that phrase means. He's announcing that it is ruined saying, this is what's going on. You need to turn and repent and get on board before you end up where you don't want to. Because there are there on a path is leading them to destruction. And they need to move on to God's path. And then last week, we looked at how Jesus goes around, basically restoring people into God's community and putting together, this new group of people who are following him, who are living out God's plan his way, and he turns them into a family that is that meant to be to fulfill this plan that God has for his people today. As we go into The Sermon on the Mount, we're going to be looking at how Jesus lays out for his people, what the purpose is for is usually when we read The Sermon on the Mount, we see it as a sermon about individual ethics about a new moral law, but that's not what Jesus is doing. As we read it through the length of the plan. We see him laying out, His his platform for what it means to be God's people until as we read the story, we're going to be looking at it, through the eyes of the people. He's speaking to self before. I read our opening section. Remind, remind you of how we keep our bearings in the stories first year to be. Looking for people who is the story about specifically, who is Jesus speaking to is what we're looking at his place. Where is their home, third his presents. How can I meet with God? And on the fourth one? What did God tell them to do? That's what the sermon is about. That's what we're going to be seen for The Sermon on the Mount. So let's, let's look at the beat how this sermon came about. Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues for claiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease, and sickness among the people. Now about news about him, spread all over Syrian people, brought to him all who were in various diseases, those suffering from severe pain. The demon possessed, those having seizures and the paralyzed and healed them, large crowds From Galilee to Jerusalem, Judy, and the region across the Jordan, followed him, knowing Jesus. All the crowds. He went up on the Mountainside and sat down his disciples came to him and he began to teach them. Who is the story about, who is Jesus speaking to?

His disciples are the main group. They're the ones who come to him. So he speaking to his disciples. However, he's got a whole bunch of Jews that have not yet decided these disciples were falling around because he can heal people until there a secondary audience. But the people he's speaking to are the people who have committed to following him into living out his way. And he's telling them what that way is going to look like. Where is their home right now? Their home is with client, Galilee and Judea because the Romans are in charge and they've carved up their Homeland. However, they want in the way they want. It is Galilee in the north with a vassal King called Herod and Judy and the South with a Roman Governor. So those names are a reminder to us that the Romans are in charge of the Israelites or not. How can the people of God meet with God? Where is God's presence? In Jesus, it's not in the temple. God never returned to his Temple, to Temple is empty. There's no Arc. There's no Cloud. There's no nothing inside, but the presence of God descended on Jesus. So that if you want to meet God on Earth, go find Jesus and you're in the presence of God. What did God tell them to do? Don't write anything here yet? Cuz they're about to find out. That's the whole point. Now before we get into what Jesus said to this group of people. It's important for us to know. One thing about the Jews of first-century Palestine that is unique to this group. It's the rest of the Jews and other places were not like this and Juice. Since the first century have not shared in this tray. That is a very unique trait for first-century Jews. That is this culture that they had, that was built around the temple and around our nationhood. Now, we as Americans, we have a strong sense of nationhood and a big part of our founding story that we tell is the founding fathers. Why we have these names. We all recognise there were taught to remember. In school. We have Presidents Day 2 reminds us of of Washington and then we got it Lincoln gets kind of the opposite of grandfathered in cuz he's later but you know, we have these people that are really important to our history and they are that part of our founding identity. Well, the Ezra Are the Jews at this time, in Judea had the same group of people and they were called The Maccabees, The Maccabees who are a Jewish Family, who got two hundred years before. Jesus led a revolt against the Greeks and actually managed to do pretty well and get some level of Independence. The Greeks had said that they were there going to make the Jewish law and legal and The Maccabees didn't like that very much. And so they started a rebellion and they did pretty well. And the most obvious way you can tell their influence on the culture of Jesus time is by their names. You can tell a lot by the names that people choose for their children and they've done studies of the ancient world in Jewish culture and they found that there are certain names that are far more popular in first-century Judea than any other place. And any other time in Jewish, cemeteries, and those are the names of The Maccabees. Let me, let me give you a list and see if you recognize any of them. The father was named Methodius, which is also a Mathias or Matthew. His sons were named John, Simon, or Simeon, Judas, or Judas Elie, Azar or Lazarus, and the most famous woman in the family was Mary. You heard those names before, fairly popular. There's 11 Simon's in the New Testament. There's seven Mary's. And that is a sign of how influential The Maccabees were in this culture answer. Because they held it just like, we hold up the Founding Fathers as like the American ideal. They held up The Maccabees as the Jewish ideal and let me read you. A passage from the First Maccabees. It's a book that they were definitely reading back. Then, that tells that story. And here's how the revolution, the Revolt launched. So, the Greek king sent his Messengers around all the different towns to get them to start sacrificing to Greek gods. And so, he shows up in mattifies, his town, and he gives his speech and not a thigh as have none of it. So he keeps his own speech, but then another Jew gets up and walks over to go to the altar, to sacrifice to the Greek gods. Spotify Asad, he burn with Zeal in his heart was stirred up. He gave vent to righteous anger. He ran and killed him on the altar. At the same time. He killed the king's officer who was forcing them to sacrifice and they tore down the altar. She burned with Zeal for the law mattifies cry, it out in the town of the loud voice saying, let everyone who is zealous for the law and supports the Covenant come out with me. This is what it meant to the first century. Jewish culture in Judea specifically the people live, in another place of the Jews live in other places were quite the same way. But that's what it meant to care about the Covenant, to be zealous about the lock was, you would passionately violently defend the law of Moses and your ability to observe it. And so, did you choose believe their mission was to zealously, whenever you're zealously for, that means violently, defend the law from Gentiles. Like, the guys who were trying to force them, to obey the law and sinners the Jews who actually give in and do break the law. That was what they understood to be, the ideal Jew and the mission of God's people is to follow the law, no matter what and defend it with violence if necessary. And if you were here for when we talk about Ezra Nehemiah, you can see the connection how when Ezra and Nehemiah show up and they say our obedience to God is defined by Falling all the laws and staying away from Gentiles. You can see how that would morph especially through the experience of that war into this idea that we need to defend the law with violence whenever it's frightened. Edison parkfast have that in mind. As we go into The Sermon on the Mount, choosing passages to cover from The Sermon on the Mount, we don't have time for the whole thing is like choosing favorite children, which for me is getting even harder as you just found.

But so, we're not going to start with a beatitude like Beatitudes are wonderful. But let's, let's start here at looking at Jesus giving the Jews his vision, for what it means to follow God. He says you are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot will pause there and noticed something about this. What, what Jesus is saying, it was not saying you saying, you are salt, is not saying you should be salt. You are salt salt, those two things in the ancient world gives things flavor and it preserves things from rotting before Refrigeration salt was a good way to preserve food because you are the salt of the earth. So he speaking to a group of people whose job is to provide a unique flavor to the world and to preserve it. Now, who's he talking to what? Group of people have a unique mission that involve? Different from the world and helping to preserve the world. Where were the Jews? Right? That's the plan. That's their mission. That's what he's told them to do. So when Jesus says you are the salt of the earth. He's reminding them of what their mission is, as a people and always has been ever since Abraham. So then he says, if that's who you are, then how do we measure whether you're on Mission or not? It's whether you're actually salty, you are salt. The question is, are you salty salt or have you lost your flavor? Because what good is salt in? It doesn't taste different. If it doesn't help preserve the world, it then it's just this gravel rights and if it's not salty. So that's what he's telling them. He seen as a people, you should be measuring your value, whether you're fulfilling the mission on whether you're actually being different from the world and in a way that helps preserve the world. The next example, he gives us even more clear. He says you are the the light of the world. Again. You should be not be light but you are the light. That is a phrase that Isaiah uses multiple times to describe the mission of the Jews to save the world falls in the light to the Nations. Do the town on a hill. Cannot be hidden. Neither do a people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead. They put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house in the same way. Let your light shine before others. So they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in Heaven. He's reminding them of their mission and he's not saying you'll be on fire instead of not being on fire. They are the light. It's a question of whether their light is visible because of what's been happening ever since. Ezra Nehemiah is they've had their life, but they've been protecting it from the Gentiles. They've been putting up as many barriers as they can. And now they're going around killing Gentiles. Their ideal is to kill Gentiles and sinners to protect the light from going out there, basically, making sure that nobody can see the light and that's how they protected. But what's the point of a light? That no one can see. There isn't a point. That's the whole reason you have. The light is to help people. See it was Jesus saying he was he's reminding them that their mission was to save Humanity, not destroy them. And so if you're basing, your identity around you defending this thing at all costs to the point of a killing people who disagree with you or who, who are your enemies, your off the mission because you're supposed to save them. Thank Jesus. Hear it anticipates the objection that people always make that kind of argument happens today when we talked about the fact that we need to beat know. Our mission is to save the world. And so we need to make sure that we are actually reaching people often times. The objection will be up but isn't our mission to obey the command isn't the mission actually to follow the law of motion. And so then you're saying that the law is not important anymore. You're saying that we should reach people instead of following the law and we should just abandon the lot. And Jesus says, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them. But to fulfill them for truly I tell you until Heaven and Earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not to lie. Stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from The Loft until everything is accomplished. Now, Jesus makes him very interesting and important word choices here. He says, I have not come to abolish the law or the profit. Notice what he doesn't say. He does not say I came to obey them. He says, I came to fulfill them. And then he says that none of it will be taken away until everything is accomplished. I noticed he also he doesn't just say law, he says law and profit because what Jesus is talking about is fulfilling a story. He was talking about, if you remember, when we were looking at, ezra-nehemiah the fact that God gave us the law for a purpose to accomplish a mission. And so, Jesus doesn't just talk about obeying, the law like, like staying within the lines. He is talking about fulfilling the mission that the law is meant to point towards the purpose. The reason why God gave the law. So Jesus says, I didn't come to abolish the law. But I also didn't come just to merely for fill it until like really emphasized. The lines that everybody has to stay in. I came to lead us to fulfill what the law was here for in the first place. The he sees the law as leading to a mission. That's a mission that he's been talking about. You can't separate being light and keeping the lot be keeping. The law is meant to be how you are a light to the world. If you're keeping the law in a way that's obscuring, the right, you're doing something wrong. So he says there for anyone who sets aside, one of the least of these command and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever practices and teaches, these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven side commands. I always imagine that he's talking about people on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Pharisees and the, like, we would call them hellenists. There were Jews were saying, hey, let's not keep the law. It's not that important. We can basically mold it with Homer and and, and

Play-Doh and it'll all be fine. We'll just jump. I was talking about, but he tells us exactly who he's talking about. I tell you unless your righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. You will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law, or the ones who are set aside commands. Now, wait a minute. I thought they were the ones who were really meticulous about the lot. Well, they are, but the thing is, they want the law to leave them in a Direction. They want the law to Lima different direction from the way it actually does. And so, they're famous for using legal, logic to say, well actually don't need to keep this real because this one's more important there. A couple of debates that Jesus has with Pharisees, where you point this out. He said, you're moving. You know, you're saying you're making it so people can just fall apart of the law and not the other part. But keeping with this Maccabees. They might give you another really good example. The first thing that The Maccabees did when they started their War. So they go up into the hills and they're starting this war to defend the law and then they hear that. Another group of rebels got attacked on the Sabbath and they were completely wiped out because they refused to fight cuz you're not supposed to fight on the Sabbath. So what do you think? The first thing they did was? They got together and they decided that they could that they would allow themselves to fight on a Sabbath. Even though it violates the Sabbath command. The very first thing that group doesn't fight this war to defend the law, but we will make an exception here because otherwise what will lose clear. If we follow, the law will lose this, Violet War to defend it. We're not considering is the possibility that maybe the reason that's in there is to give you have to break the law to defend it. Then maybe you're not approaching the law, the way God intended you to approach it. Right. If you're shaping the law to go in the direction you want. It's a Jesus wasn't telling them to abandon the law. He was calling them to fulfill the purpose of the law. We says, don't set aside the command to send don't mow the lawn to something that you want into something. That's a way for you to keep the Gentiles away or something that that sponsors, this war that you want to fight. I actually follow the law, and the law will show you how to be a light to the nation's, is a Jesus that gives them a series of examples of what it means to fulfill the law, rather than simply obey the law, because the The Maccabees and the Pharisees and all these were good at going up to the line and knowing exactly where the line was. So, frightened. Since he says, you have heard that, it was said, long ago, you shall not murder. And anyone who murders will be subject to judgment, but I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister Rucka is answerable to the court and anyone who says you fool will be in danger of the fire of hell. There's a difference. When the law says do not murder following the law says, okay, but what, what do you mean by murder? What where is is? Is this murder? Is this murder? What if, what if he's sacrificing to an idol? And I'm really angry in favor of the law, right? I'm really Zealot. Can I kill him? Is it murder? And you come up with all these you get right up to the line and use that. That's not the point of the law. The law isn't that if the law says danger this direction, it's not, it's not saying, hey close as you can to the danger it. Say, hey, go this way. This is the direction that I want you to go in this does the, why is pointing you in a totally different way of dealing with people if not get as close to murdering as you can or kill as many people as you can without counting and murder. He says, no, it's it's actually about donate. You shouldn't even be controlled by your anger. You shouldn't even be letting your anger dominate you in and destroy. Our relationship would actually be seeking is the opposite. He says, if you are offering your gift at the altar and their, and their remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. Who's going to be reconciled to them? Then come and offer your gift. You shouldn't be seeking violence and seeking. What's the most? I can do to somebody before I get in trouble with God. You should be going the other direction, say, no, I should be seeking reconciliation instead of violence. The fulfilling, the law means seeking reconciliation instead of violence. When the, when the law says, don't go this direction. You should go in the other direction. Another example, Jesus gives, as you have heard that, it was said eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This is in the law and it gets a bad rap today. We will not people off and say hi. And I friend. I leave the whole world blind going to remember that in the context. This was a limit on what people could do because they were in the habit of like, oh, you took my my I'm going to kill you, but you took my tooth. I'm going to take your leg to make sure you don't come after any of my other teeth. Right? And so Jesus or God was limiting them in a while, Moses to say you can't take more than you were then was taken from you. You don't got to escalate things.

You don't got to escalate things to satisfy, your anger, only take, what was taken from you? But the way the Jews use that was to say, all right, I'm going to take every single penny that that will allow me to take. I'm not going to stop until I've taken a drop of blood from them for every single drop of blood that I lost. That's when Madoff is the father of The Maccabees is dying. He gives his dying speech, and here's How It Ends, you shall rally around. You all who observe the law and Avenge the wrong done to your people, pay back, the Gentiles in full and obey the commands of the law. Pay them back in full, every single thing. They've done to you, you do to them. God has given us this boundary. We're going to take every single Cent, we can get out of it. But that's not what the laws meant to do. The laws. Not meant to give you a line and say, get as close as you can to it without Crossing. It says, I tell you do not resist an evil person. If anyone stops you on the right cheek turn to them the other cheek also, and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them to my, give to the one who asked and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. A couple things about this. That should make us very uncomfortable. Guys. Number one. Jesus is getting political here. Because a couple of things that he's talking about or explicit references to the Roman occupiers the slapping on One Cheek fingers away. You degrade someone who's a lower class and you and it's the kind of thing that Romans would do to the people. They're occupying. The more explicit one, is the carrying a pack for a mi that's something that Roman officers, Roman soldiers were at legally allowed to make any any occupy any member of their occupied Empire. Carry their pack for a mile because of grab somebody say, I want to carry this. For me for a mile. That's the first thing is Jesus getting political. He was talking about the way they deal with their occupiers. It's not just about personalized. The second uncomfortable thing is that there are no ways to wiggle out of this is what I've offered and what I will hear it and I think I've even taught at some point is there is like that this is actually a passive-aggressive law. Like if you are a shameful to slap some on the left cheek, so you're you're embarrassing them or know, the law said, only one mile. So if you carry it to my going to get him in trouble, they're going to take their that's not what Jesus is doing. There's no passive aggression. Hear what he is saying? Is that when you are dealing with people who are taking things from, you respond with generosity. Give to the people to ask you. They try to take your coat. Give him your shirt as well. Fulfilling the law means choosing generosity instead of vengeance. That's what he saying and he's not, he's not cutting off. Any kind of religious, not saying this is only in your private sphere. This isn't to do with politics isn't to do with this or that. He is literally covering everything and he's leaving. No excuses. This is how we're supposed to interact with people. You're supposed to respond with generosity. and the hardest, the hardest is a little gives in the one that explains all of this is This one you have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. The law doesn't say that it says love your neighbor doesn't say, hate your enemy, but I'm sure everybody back then was saying it everybody. Today really says it. Love your neighbor, hate your enemies, but I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your father in Heaven, that phrase is really important that you may be Children Of Your Father in heaven cuz they're supposed to be salt. Right? What flavor salt and they supposed to be there supposed to be God flavored salt, right there supposed to be a God to the world. So you're supposed to be different in a way that resembles. God. So your love should resemble. The love of God. How does God love Jesus uses? A great and very clear example. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If God, loved the way we loved, then rain would fall like like in Charlie Brown where it's just a cloud following individual people around, right? But that's what it would be like because that's how we love, but that's not what God does. In fact, isn't one of the most frustrating things about God is that he doesn't restrict his love the way, we wish he would that the rain does actually fall on anyone. Write that anyone might get sunlight that anyone's crops might grow. Well, regardless of how well they're following. God. God loves barely indiscriminately, and we hate that. Which is why we really hate to be told that that's how we're supposed to love. But if we don't love like that, then are we different from anyone else? Are we actually got flavored salt? Cuz that's what he says. He says, if you love you, love you, what reward will you get don't even attack. Collect our things in the past that they're doing that those would be the Spinners that are breaking the law that we want to kill, right? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the pagans do that? The Gentiles be perfect. Therefore as your heavenly father is perfect eye wordperfect needs complete. Be complete. Have complete love as complete as God's love. You're going to be God flavored salts. You have to love, like, God loves, so, fulfilling the law means loving, everyone. God loves, including your enemies.

Now, this is a really, really hard teaching, which means that we have spent about 2,000 years trying to figure out every way we can get out of it. There's two most popular ways that we do that one is to say that this is really just extra credit. This is for Saints and pastors and missionaries. It's not for normal people. Okay. The other one is to say that this is hyperbole. This is an exaggeration other actually like 10 most influential theologians in the twentieth century Reinhold niebuhr with Fame. It's a great name. Reinhold niebuhr was famous for, for teaching that you can actually build a society on The Sermon on the Mount. So it just gives us an ideal, but we have to be a bit more realistic about things. Those interpretations of the law of The Sermon on the Mount completely missed. The point of the conclusion that the wages of conclude that here is the conclusion of The Sermon on the Mount there. For everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like the wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down the streams Rose and the winds blew and beat against the house yet. It did not fall because it had its foundations on the Rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice, is like a foolish man who built his house on Sand. The rain came down in the streams Rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house and it fell with a great crash. If you listen to what Jesus is saying and you put it into practice and your house will stand. And if you don't listen to what Jesus is saying, you don't do that. You don't follow this Vision that he's laying out for what it means to be you guys people. And a storm comes your house will fall. And what is Jesus been telling them? As long as he's been proclaiming, the gospel remember from two weeks ago. There is a storm coming.

And when that storm hits, if your house is built on a rock, it's going to stand. And if your house is built on Sand, it's going to fall when you're talkin to the Jews about their house. What are they thinking about?

The house that the Jews would care most about that. They've invested everything in.

There's a house that's got that. Well, let me give you too many spoilers cuz we got one that I'm saving for a couple of weeks. But the point of what Jesus say in your is that you warned them the following his teachings would make the difference between success and destruction. This is not idealistic. This is not naive. This is not pie in the sky. This is the difference between succeeding in the mission God's given us and and destruction. And the interesting thing is, if you fast forward from this point in the story, 40 years and you go to caesarea, you would find a place where there was a synagogue and a Greek man who didn't like the people in the synagogue sacrifice to Chicken in front of it right before the synagogue meeting and it sparked a riot and that Riot broke out over the whole city and that right then turned into a full-on rebellion that engulfed all of Galilee and all of Judea and ended in two, complete destruction of Galilee and Judea.

And what you will find in, is you trace the history of the generation that Jesus is preaching to, is that following this teaching or not makes a huge difference in what happens to them? This is not idealistic. This is not just good advice or exaggeration. This is what it means to be God's people.

As we close, there's a couple of of morals funerals that I want us to draw from this sermon. Number one, is that the purpose of God's people is to reveal God's radical love to the world. We are meant to show the world what God is like in the story of Israel shows us that his most defining feature is his radical love. Humanity in his desire, to forgive us on a level that is absurd by our standards. And we are meant to show that to the world. That's our mission. And then so that means if you are, if you take on that mission become part of God's people, then, who you forgive, is no longer a personal choice. It's a matter of policy who you love is not a personal choice. It's a matter of policy. And so we are called to love the people that Jesus loves. Love the people that God loves and you know what? God loves your enemies. Thankfully. He also loves their enemies. Right. That's why we are loved. If you didn't love the enemies, he wouldn't love us. And it is really important for us to understand that radical love is not naive. It's not something that that is just idealistic. It's actually the only way to build God's kingdom if we build a kingdom. Any other way. We're not building God's kingdom. We're building our own.

When we, when we Embrace other ways of, of accomplishing things, when we brace other ways of treating others, we are whatever we're building. It's not the kingdom of God. And so we need to be dedicated to building God's kingdom his way. Now if that sounds hard, then you have understood me correctly. If that sounds impossible for you to do on your own, you'll understand me correctly, but radical love is not all to mately Impossible. Jesus makes it possible for each one of us.

Because Jesus doesn't just teach us a moral law. He doesn't just give us a set of rules. He actually redeemed us from the power of sin and shares with us. The Holy Spirit and initiates us into a body of people who are bound together to accomplish this mission. We have the ability as we are given the ability as we submit to Jesus and as we are transformed by him to actually love people, we would not be able to love otherwise to actually have patience. We would never otherwise have to have mercy when we otherwise never would be able to It's a disc Kind of Love is actually possible. And not only is it possible, but it's real and it's been Transforming Our World for two thousand years and it will continue to transform our world until Jesus comes back. And we have the opportunity to be a part of that.

Cuz we closed. We invite you to consider. What is the next step that God is calling you toward, you've never given your life to Jesus. And that is definitely what he's putting on your heart today. What are your feeling and are not? God is calling you to give your life to him to join his way of building the kingdom to be a part of what he is doing in the world. Today is the best day to say. Yes, if you're going to say, yes, you can come forward as we sing the fight song. You can talk to one of the ministers. After the service, you can have your online. You can contact the church or talk to a Christian that you know, or trust.

Another step you might consider taking us to join one of our small groups or a service team. These are ways to to band together with others and to support each other and help each other to live out. This really difficult calling that we have to pray for each other. And, and service teams are actually a way to love others. That's what they're built on. You can sign up for those two are connection card. The other thing, you can sign up for us to connect class, which is a way to introduce you to our church who we are and what we do and how you can be a part of it. If you're considering being a member here, getting more involved. It's not class. It's a great way to do that as well. You can check that box and will contact you about scheduling one. God, may be calling you to do something that I'd even thought of, I want your heart to be open to that as well as we stand and sing, please consider. What is the next step for you?