God's Committed to Every Stage of Life

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0:00 So we're going to look at the apostles' pre-together. It's sort of an ancient document written about our faith that throughout history people have sort of gathered around and put their folk in and just talks about tedious, and there's like a solid trend of hate on that, and you can read along with me or you can just listen, whatever you want to do.

0:30 I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius's heart, was crucified, dead, and was spared. He descended into heaven, the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

1:04 From there he will come to meet Judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of saints, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. And it's that beautiful right now, I would hear from the word and speak to us and help us to know you more and do you think.

1:35 The Apostle's food is one of my favorite little artifacts of our faith. It's not literally, it's like this corner stuff, right? And I love it because it's ancient, that the origins of it are older than some of our New Testament letters. They started using phrases that are in the Apostle's food before Paul wrote some of his epistles,

2:06 which are some of the earliest stuff we have. It's clear from the beginning that our people gathered together in little communities around Asia Minor wanted to have some standard, some way to preserve, some unifying phraseology about what the way of Jesus was. And very early, coalesced into what is the Apostles created. The reason I love it is because in order to accept the free, I have to accept that there is a dynamic group of people holding on to the teachings of Jesus and waiting for him to return.

2:42 And when we reaffirm that ancient period, it feels like to me we're taking our place in the strong line of people who have existed unbroken to Jesus. And because to Jesus, then through Jesus, all the way back to the first one. It feels very intimate to what it means to be a follower of Jesus to affirm that period. And so I was glad we would do that. And because it comes into the way that I want to think about the story of scripture this morning a little bit, we've been looking at these, like, what can we take away from the story of Christmas?

3:21 What are some things that we learn about the God of creation in life, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Christ from the church? What are some things that we learn about this God through the story of Christmas? And we've talked about this God's commitment is preferential option for the poor. It's commitment to places and people of poverty. We surface questions about, like, who do I actually care about?

3:51 And where is the poverty in me? We talked about how God, the Christmas reveals that this God, our God, is disproportionately committed to humanity. Like, over and over again, throughout the whole story of humanity, the, like, meta of who we are in the world. We've seen this God coming and offering a beautiful and expansive life. And humanity's response over over again is this, like, fearful myopia.

4:25 Sure that the world won't work out well for us. We fix it on the three things with our fear. And you can see that after the author of the story of scripture and it, there's a way to look at our lives where this happens over and over again in our lives. And in spite of our myopia and fear, our God continues to come back and resolve issues, solve problems, and offer us beautiful, expansive lives. And Christmas is an evidence of that. He is forever committed to humanity.

4:55 Last week we talked about that Christmas reveals to us that God is committed to flesh and bone. Oh, it's so amazing that this creator of the universe, in flesh, is itself in a person. The person Jesus of Nazareth. And that the resurrection will include the body, but the salvation does not leave your body, that all parts of you have been redeemed. So that you matter all the way through your body matters.

5:28 And God died in order that your body would be redeemed and resurrected so that you matter all the way. And today I want to look at this. Like I want to think about the reality that Christmas shows us. God came as a as a baby that we know the whole origin story of God. I just this year we started paying attention to all these marvel movies that they made.

6:03 It's funny that the first ones feel stated because I remember when they came out. It was like all exciting and someone had bought the lights in the marvel movies. And if you watch like the first Iron Man, you feel like am I watching something from the 90s? What's going on here? That they're already some jaded. But one of the things that they got us really comfortable with is this idea of origin stories. You know you would learn about one of the superheroes and then in a later movie they come back and tell the origin story of that.

6:38 And you might know a superhero but not know where they came from until they rolled out the origin story. Yesterday I was listening to a podcast with this guy that you kind of like now and then it's named a silent cynic. And he was talking about how each person has a unique why for their life. That's an accumulation of their still sets and their story and their family that animates what they do. It's important to know your personal why in your life.

7:10 And I was thinking about how unique it is that we know the whole origin story of the person Jesus of Nazareth. That our Savior doesn't just like walk out of the desert like fully grown person ready to accomplish salvation. That it's not like he just walks out of the desert across the Jordan River into the temple, accused the Pharisees and they kill him.

7:41 And it's not like this transactional salvation. Like Jesus Christness demonstrates to us that our God is more interested than nearly transaction, more interested in us than nearly transacting salvation. This means a lot of things but the first thing that it means is that your relationship to the God is deeper than transactional.

8:15 If you've been sold the idea that relationship with God is about a particular moment in life where you make a particular decision and then you move on. If you've been taught at some point in your life that relationship to the God is transactional, you've got this small portion of what it means to be a person living under the reign of God. There is nothing Christmas is the full realization that there is nothing transactional about the God of creation in life.

8:50 They've got an Abraham as a New Jacob. They've got a Christ in the church. Isn't that compelling? That our God starts life as a baby. I tried to find the infant mortality rate of babies in first century and I couldn't get a number I was confident sharing. You can Google it and see what all the people are saying out there about it. But let's say it's worse than it is now.

9:21 More people died in childbirth than in dynamic in childbirth. Hopefully we can think. It's so interesting to me that God risks that. That he comes to a woman and then a woman who's never done it before. She's never had a kid before. We went through three. The third one, the experience of the third one is very different from the experience of the first one.

10:00 God is like all in on experiencing life. Every aspect of it. The God of Abraham as a New Jacob is fully committed to immersing itself in the experience of life and flesh, oxen, and real. Birth with all of its kind of vulnerabilities and risks.

10:32 And not just as average vulnerabilities and risks. God comes down, accomplishes the incarnation. I don't know if something had happened that traveled if God could have incarnated again. Like everything I know that the church has taught us about incarnation is this one-time thing that God accomplishes like a second creation. That's so significant that only God could do it and even God can't undo it. So that the word of God, the second person of the training is forever in flesh and in Jesus of Nazareth.

11:03 The Jesus of Nazareth exists flesh and body, soul and bone, sitting somewhere now waiting to greet us upon his return or our death. So I don't know if something had happened in the child, but he makes it through the child birth and then what? Herod goes on like mass murder and kills all the boys. He flees from Nazareth to Egypt.

11:34 What? He flees from Nazareth to Egypt. And four in Kings come to see him. And then I like his story when he's twelve, right? Where he's like, you know, he's Jesus. I don't know if I'm going to say that he disobeyed his parents, but why the heck would he tell them that he was just going to stay back at the church? You know? When he's twelve and they lose him for a couple days and then they finally find him at the temple and they're like,

12:08 Hey, what are you doing? And he's like, didn't you know I'd be here? And they were like, no, actually, we didn't know you'd be here. Right? But that's a classic twelve year old thing. Like I just am not really thinking of it. Maybe I should tell you. Like he's fully twelve. Right after that story in Luke, it says that then he grew in stature and in and out with God and men. Like the God of the universe here to accomplish our salvation, fully committed to life, born of a woman who's never gotten it before.

12:45 Flee, tyranny and unjust persecution as a baby comes back and goes through the challenges of adolescence. Like why put yourself through that? Right? Because God is fully in on the experience of life. Fascinating. And then there's one story I really like. There's a couple of them I really like. But one that occurred to me is like, any Matthew, we're going to look at a couple of really short stories this morning.

13:19 So if you have the energy to flip along, then that's great. If you're like, on your phone, you can just type it in. It's maybe easier. But I want Matthew chapter nine. And this is like, I don't know. Well, there's a lot. But it seems late to do the calling of Matthew. This is actually a certain amount and everything. Matthew arranged this story of the gospel. I don't know why he put his calling here. I would assume that Matthew was around for the certain amount. But the way the theology of this gospel is he's not.

13:49 It's in Matthew chapter nine, he calls him. Matthew chapter nine, verse nine. Says in Jesus passed on from there and he saw a man called Matthew sitting on a tax suit. And he said to him, follow me. And he rose and followed him. It's not a Jedi mind to resist that Matthew like we would think that Matthew is pretty smart, savvy because he made it to be this kind of key tax sector in the region. But like he growing up, he grew boy, the idea that he would get to be the disciple to a rabbi is like the culmination of education.

14:28 It's like the highest form of education. So the fact that he's a tax collector means at some point he wasn't advancing further in Hebrew school. He just kind of wasn't going to make a cut. And so he went to learn a different way. You keep going in Hebrew school. Then if you graduate and are ready to keep going, then you get to pick out a disciple, follow him. I mean a rabbi follow around and learn his teaching and then you become a rabbi once he passes on. So when Jesus comes and he sees this tax structure and invites you to follow, Matthew has enough where we're called to go.

14:59 Here's my opportunity. This guy's a rabbi who's going to give me a chance. He leaves. There's a lot that could be said there, but I just want you to catch that there wasn't a Jedi magic. And then he was interested in the experience of following this rabbi and Jesus extended the opportunity to him. And they're creating something real together. This is not like religious or spiritual automation. This is an experience between two men who want to do something together in life.

15:33 This is in terms of a tax structure dissatisfied with his money and power and wants an experience of something different. And the rabbi offers it to him and takes it in the house. And then what do they do next? Follow me and he grows and follows him in verse 10. And Jesus reclined at the table in the house of the vault. Many tax structures and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And he goes to Matthew's house and he's got money. And he's a two tax structure.

16:04 So he goes apart in it. We got drinks. We got food. He's under the very first miracle of Jesus. John records it. He's like an adult wedding with his disciples. And they run out of wine because people have drunk all the wine. The wedding isn't for centuries. Jerusalem were multiple day affairs. The whole town would get together. And you would have wine for multiple days.

16:35 They ran out. So Jesus makes more wine for everyone. Like the best wine they've ever had. Jesus calls Matthew the tax structure. The first thing they do is they go and have a party with other tax structures and Pharisees. Jesus is interested in the full experience of life. Not as a mission field, but because he's experiencing life. He's like interested in it. He's engaged fully in life.

17:11 I mean that's interesting. Sorry, I got a couple more of these. Oh, he goes home to his neighbor. His neighbor where he grew up. Remember that story where he goes back and he's teaching their life into it. And then all of a sudden, wait a minute. Aren't you Joseph and Mary's kid? Why would Jesus experience his rejection of his hometown? His family gets embarrassed and tries to call him out.

17:43 It's this crazy man. He experiences rejection from his family. He knows what his life has, his hometown of the Jenkins and not to be discredited. He knows what it's like for his parents to say, you're crazy. Stop acting crazy. Not believing him. He knows what that's like. Like he goes through all of it. Jesus, in Cartagena, got it.

18:13 Questions is calling in life. Like, hey, I'm up for anything. Are you sure this is what we're supposed to be? Remember the Bible that said me? It's like, are you sure this is what we're supposed to do? Because I really don't want to. Are you sure Jesus, the Savior of the world, the incarnated infinite God, goes, ehh, I don't know if this is my calling in life.

18:43 He experiences loss of his friends. Remember when he reaps at Lazarus? I found this little story right outside of there. Today I was looking for it. I was looking at that story about Lazarus. Looking at John with me. John chapter 11. I think it's in the 11. Oh yeah, it is. John chapter 11. This is where he goes back. And the whole story of Lazarus is really cool.

19:13 But he raises losses from the dead and then, look at chapter 11 verse 45. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seemingly did believe in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what are we going to do, man? This man performed signs. If you let him go, I'll let this, everyone will believe in him. And then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.

19:47 But one of them, Kephas said, hey, you know nothing at all. I know you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not the whole nation should perish. And he said this to all of his own accord, but being high priest, you prophesied Jesus with died for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also the God of the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day they made plans to put him to death. This is the verse I read about, people verse 54. Jesus, therefore, no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness

20:20 to a town that called Ephraim, and there he stayed with his disciples. I really like this because I think this notion that Jesus is like fomenting the church folk into a point where there are pillars and you can accomplish this mission, and he's getting there. And my notion of Jesus as courageous and beautiful as it is is that he just walks right into it. But I love this little story that he notices they're applying the pillars, and so he takes his friends

20:52 and they go into this little village near the wilderness together, to Ephraim, to the Ephraim retreat near the wilderness. And there they stay. One of the things I'm going to ask him is, Jesus, can you recreate the Ephraim retreat for me? I want to like it. I would love you a participant, but I'll take a feeling of flying on you all.

21:22 How long did you stay there? What did you guys talk about? I know that you could make wine, so surely you made some wine, but you ate and you explored, but also you probably talked. He goes from the Ephraim wilderness retreat into the triumpling tree. Before the triumpling tree, he has the Ephraim wilderness retreat with his friends, man.

21:52 I think Christmas showed us that God is fully present in every stage of life. Last week I quoted this phrase from Saint Basil. He was speaking about it in respect to the waters of baptism, but it applies here as well. Saint Basil says, that rich is Savior in habits. He blesses.

22:25 You can see he's saying that with the waters of baptism, meaning when you go into the waters of baptism, you're going into the same waters that Christ went into. So it is blessed. But think about it with respect, because when you are born vulnerable and exposed, that stage of life is blessed. When you are young and growing and working out what it means to have authority, but also your own motivations and thoughts, that stage of life is blessed.

23:06 When you are questioning your calling, when you're assembling friendships, when you're facing challenges, when you're retreating and preparing every stage of life, has been blessed for you. Not only is God know what it is to be at the stage of life that you are at right now, not only that, but he has redeemed this stage of life for you.

23:43 Christmas shows us that he is interested in redeeming all aspects of our lives. This is very practical and significant for you, because it means at no point are you required to merely bring and bear it through life.

24:13 Now, our Savior was fully present to all of the emotions in every stage of life, and he made it. Because he made it, he passes on to do that same capacity. Not the frail human spirit you were born with, a redeemed infinite spirit, given to you on the other side of the cross, that will endure with you forever in the resurrected body and the life to come.

24:50 You can live out of the resurrected life now, to live under the reign of God, means that you have the capacity to be fully immersed in life and present, to experience the full range of emotions and come out alive, vibrant, full, expansive, beautiful, glorified lives coming. And starting now, I love that that which twice inhabits he blessings, which means every stage of life is blessed.

25:34 I used to feel, you know, at this point now, Krito is approaching ten years old and lots of little spin-off projects. I have a lot of things where I have like, I used to feel bad because I could see all these things that I started the way they would fall apart. And then I heard this interview one time with Bill Gates.

26:06 You know, he turned over operation in Microsoft. When he turned it over, he was the wealthiest person in the world. Right? If money is the measure of success, he's most successful. He wins. And he turned it over and then he runs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with his wife right now. Right? He was like trying to solve the hardest problems. Somebody asked him in the interview if he missed running Microsoft. And he said, you know, the struggle with when you start something is you always see how it could fall apart.

26:44 And so he's like, I don't miss running Microsoft. It's no matter how successful Microsoft I have this like fear that it would all crumble down. That did two things for me. One, it showed me that I am a fool to think I can hold together the little things that I have built. Two, it said, if it works for today, that's good enough. My fear that everything would fall apart, kept me fully enjoying that it hadn't.

27:19 One of my phrases for last year was, it all may fall apart tomorrow, but today it didn't. Right? And I started running out of make cocktails because it was a celebration that today had worked. I have a little party at the end of the day. To be in a place to fully experience that God can tomorrow have enough evil for itself. What can I celebrate today? We are in any position I think in the world to just not experience life at all.

27:51 You know, when you're young you're always planning for the future. When you're in the midst of the struggle you're nostalgic about the past and hopeful about when you won't have the struggle anymore. When you're on the other side of work you're nostalgic about the past and fearful about the future. And we have all these schools to keep us from actually fully being present and available. Christmas tells me that our God is interested in us having a capacity to be fully present and available.

28:22 And he has lived life, conquered the grave and risen again in order that you and I could do that. You have the capacity to be fully present and available because of Christmas, because of the Christ. We can be the ones. You can be the ones. People look at their eyes and our person is holding alive today. Let me pray that we could be those people.

28:52 Hey, we're thankful for the gift of life and more commitment to it. That you are committed to every stage of life. Teach us how to be present today. And available to you and the experiences the full range of emotions. And know, teach us that we don't face those emotions alone. That you have knit us together in friendships and that you and your great spirit, the comforter, are available to us.

29:22 Teach us how to avail ourselves of your presence and your redemption moment to moment season by season, year by year. In Jesus' name we pray.