The Cross Orlando Values: peace II

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0:00 that the scriptures that are such a part of our gathering and our lives are not merely or simply a guidebook or a group of doctrines, but they are the story of God's dealings with people on earth. And then we talked about how that story is ongoing and that we have roles to play in the story of God in the world. We looked at that really compelling little phrase

0:32 from St. Paul, that first missionary of the church that said that in his work, he is making up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. And we stumbled on this idea that like Christ conquered the whole world on the cross forever and then waited for Paul to go around and tell people that he had done that. And I don't think I would have done that. I think if I had conquered the world at the cost of my life

1:04 and the burden of the guilt of all the future, I would have proclaimed it loudly. But God has some interesting value in humanity that he is interested in co-laboring in the world with humanity. And if it's true of Paul, it's also true of you. So story, we walked away from a story realizing that this thing, these scriptures give us a glimpse into the character of God by telling the story

1:36 of what he's done through humanity and then animate our place in the world. It's a meta-narrative that we continue to live out of and there's deep satisfaction and significance in that. And then last week we started talking about the peace of God. And what was interesting to me is to compare the experience of Adam and Eve after they eat the fruit in the presence of God. Where they feel a degree of shame, conviction, guilt,

2:08 all these negative emotions for the first time when they eat the fruit. And then when God comes, when the presence of God comes into the story at that point, their shame and guilt is amplified. And they run and hide. We compared that moment where the presence of God amplifies their shame and guilt with the moment at the mount of transfiguration with Peter, James and John. Where the presence of God creates such an experience

2:41 that Peter says, let's never leave. His close friends and all his work are down the mountain. At that moment in the presence of God, he says, this is so good, let them fend for themselves. We'll just stay here, build houses and never leave this moment. And the difference in that post fall garden experience in the presence of God and the mount of transfiguration presence of God is the person of Christ.

3:12 And we talked about the reality that on this side of the incarnation of Christ, when we enter into the presence of God, we needn't feel greater guilt. We needn't feel deeper shame. On this side of the incarnation, in the presence of God, we encounter deep and confounding peace.

3:42 And we'll talk a little bit more about that piece today and maybe how we might find it. And so we've been working through kind of, I don't know, serendipitously. Paul in Romans 4, 5 and 6. I'm probably reading into it a little bit, but you can find this progression, story, piece, lineage, life, in Romans 4, 5 and 6. And so we've been working through that and we're in Romans chapter 5 today.

4:14 If you want to look there with me, Romans is the letter that Paul, that same Paul, that first missionary of the church, that he wrote to the church in Rome. And so it's towards the beginning, the first half of the New Testament. So the New Testament is in the back, maybe quarter of a paper copy of the scriptures. And then it goes Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans 1 and 2 Corinthians. Our middle schoolers just occurs to me,

4:45 we're gonna teach you that. There's a little song to learn the books of the New Testament. So you can ask me about that on Thursday when we see you all. That's how I always remember, I could hear the song in my head, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Romans chapter 5. And last week we did the first couple verses. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And we talked about like that, that we're justified so confusing,

5:16 the shorthand version of it is, that we have no need to justify our existence. We have no need to justify our failures, our successes. When we come into the presence of God, we stand wholly and completely justified by him, not by us, that God justifies our existence for us. We don't need to feel embarrassed or afraid or shamed or guilty.

5:50 These are not emotions that have a place in us, the children of God in the presence of God, because God has done the work of justifying us. He has justified our existence. Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through him we have obtained access by faith into his grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, all of a sudden, instead of like Adam and Eve at the garden

6:21 where the glory of God God is revealed for the font of justice, the like culmination of beauty, the pinnacle of creativity, everything, when God is revealed for who he is, in his fullest glory, it amplifies in Adam and Eve what they are not. It amplifies what they are not. And so they run and hide because they're terrified at how unjust they are, how unmerciful they are,

6:52 how unforgiving and loving they are, when they see God as the source of all those things. But something happens, something different happens for Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration with the person of the incarnation of Christ. Now the glory of God is hope. When they see God as the source of all justice, they encounter in themselves the seeds of justice. When they, when they, when God is revealed as the beginning of beauty and creativity, awakened in themselves

7:24 is beauty and creativity. The glory of God for those who have been justified by God is hope not guilt or fear or condemnation. The presence of God, part of the peace of God is the glory of God, which calls out of you the best versions of yourself. Love, justice, mercy, forgiveness, generosity, creativity. Okay. In which we stand, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And here's the new part for us this morning in verse three,

7:56 more than that. So it's like, people, there's a little bit of debate about where Paul was at when he was writing this. So we're all pretty sure that he had not been to Rome yet. When you've all, it's all the story of Paul in Acts and Galatians, he was getting himself in trouble because he was causing upheaval in towns because he was announcing the reign of Jesus, the Christ who was called the son of God. And unfortunate for Paul,

8:26 the emperors also would have liked to have been called the son of God. And so there was this like challenge, right? And then that like challenge came down very practically. Not only was it a battle of egos, the Romans, but the Romans had figured out if they could, the emperors had figured out they could merge God and political order, they could get a lot more allegiance from people in a wide and dispersed empire.

8:58 And so minted on the coins were son of God. Required to participate in the markets was an agreement that the emperor was the son of God. So when Paul goes around announcing that Jesus is the son of God, in fact he is the king of kings, he set up a kingdom that will never reign. It creates problems for the worshiping communities. All of a sudden people are not buying the idols that they used to buy, he's disrupting business,

9:29 but now also he's disrupting the markets because people don't know whether they should go into the markets and participate as before. It's all kinds of trouble and so Paul gets himself arrested because he just keeps preaching. And then when you follow the story further, it looks like because he's a Roman citizen, they're gonna let him out. But Paul has this idea that if he gets to go pleat his case in front of the emperor, he can convert the emperor. I like his confidence.

10:00 Like he's sure he can convince anybody if he gets in front of them and is given enough permission to talk long enough. I can relate. I feel like I can convince anybody of anything if you give me enough time. And he was sure he could convince and so he stays but he had heard that there was a church and so he writes this letter. But we're pretty sure that he at least is in prison. And we know when you follow the story that he has been stoned, pretty brutal.

10:30 Right? Stoning is brutal. There's like, you hear that of ways that stoning is carried out and like hidden corners of kind of lawless countries today. At the time of Paul and of Jesus, stoning was a regular practice and the intent of stoning was to kill people. Like we throw the word around maybe sometime in the scripture without thinking about it.

11:01 The intent in stoning people is for a mob of folks to kill people. And the reason that they did it is because it was effective. That means on more than one occasion, enough that it was a customary practice that if you use the word, people knew what you were talking about. On enough occasions, a mob of people killed people by throwing rocks at them. They tried to kill Paul this way.

11:31 Let's remember again what Paul is caught up in. Remember, like Jesus conquers the world, waits for Paul to go tell people. And then as emissary of the King of the world, he's on the brink of death over and over again. Shipwrecked, poisoned, run out of town, stoned. When Paul says, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, that sounds beautiful because it is, but we don't live up on the mountain of transfiguration,

12:03 nice as that would be. It's easy to find peace when you're up on a mountain early in the morning with three of your best friends, the incarnate God in front of you, Moses and Elijah on either side. There is the peace of God, right? That sounds fantastic. I can understand why Peter didn't want to leave. I love to imagine what that feels like. It's harder to understand the peace of God as you awake from a mob trying to stone you to death.

12:39 And Paul says, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. But not only that, he says, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. More than that, he said. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings. Bummer. I wish that once you kind of took up your roles in metanarrative once, I realized it is my job

13:11 to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. I get some kind of spiritual escort that ushers away all suffering and hardship. I'm on an important mission after all, right? Like, I'm kind of a big deal. I'm filling up what is lacking in the affliction. I'm kind of a big deal. There's one place where Paul says,

13:42 I count it like an honor to suffer along with Christ. Each of the 11, tradition tells us that each of his 11 disciples, minus Judas, each of the 11 were crucified, like, well, not all crucified, but were all martyred.

14:12 When he says he rejoices in his suffering, Paul knows what he's talking about. And if you and I, the deeper we go into the story, the metanarrative that we're living out of now, the deeper we go into the story of the notion of what it means to, we'll learn two things. One, Paul says, it is, you are a big deal. This was important. I kind of grew up with like,

14:43 I mean, probably got modeled healthy humility, but in my own little thing, it turned into weird false humility, where I like was really proud, but also was falsely humble about it. It's kind of complex asking about it afterwards. But something really helpful triggered for me as I realized I was gonna live in Orlando for the foreseeable future.

15:15 And something different happened to me where I realized, man, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is at work in me. I can't remember feeling like honestly, Orlando, you're welcome. I carry in me the life-giving spirit of the universe. You're welcome. I'm not going anywhere.

15:47 Where I go, I carry the spirit of God, and that is not nothing. In fact, there is nothing more significant. You could turn that to something unhelpful and prideful, but you don't have to. Paul says, I am filling up the afflictions of what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. I am completing the great meta-narrative of humanity in the world.

16:19 It is being fulfilled in the choices that I make in the world. And the same is true for you. You are walking around, carrying the great spirit of you are a very big deal. The will, intent, power, and creativity of the God of the universe has been leveraged on your behalf to make you who you are today.

16:49 You ought to have high expectations for yourself. And also, you ought to expect some sufferings. And this is where I got tripped up a little bit. Because now it gets real like there are very few guidelines

17:23 God is personal and committed to you. I started trying to understand what sort of suffering I ought to encounter. I looked at the life of Jesus and realized, God is laying out the course for humanity. He knows the courts of the emperor as well as he knows the backwoods, hobbles of Bethlehem and Nazareth. He could have put the incarnated word of God anywhere.

17:56 We've talked about it before here, but it seems like kind of an obvious idea to put the incarnated God in Rome where at the time all roads lead to Rome. If you want to conquer the world, go to the middle of the world where there is power and authority and money. But God tells us something significant about himself that he'd been whispering at all throughout the story of scripture when he incarnates in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

18:27 When he's born in a stable in Bethlehem, theologians at different times have called it God's preferential option for the poor. That he could have been born anywhere, but he picked here. And when you look at the whole story, take the narrative in total, you realize there's no other place like the character of God forces him

18:57 to the margins of society, to the places of poverty. And when I begin to tell Orlando, you're welcome, I'm gonna go now, where do I take the spirit of God in dwelling inside of me? Where do I walk with my feet? Where do I speak with my mouth? What work will I put my hands to animated by this great spirit of God?

19:32 And I came to this notion that I first needed to find the places of poverty. And then I began, what will happen pretty quickly, if you start to take this stuff seriously, is you see that all the people who fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ in the stories of scripture have very real and legitimate sufferings. And then you hit a fork in the road because though I am willing, actually, would love to be count the disciple of Christ,

20:02 I am not first in line for pain and hardship. And I am certainly not first in line for poverty. Though I can intellectually look at the poor and see they are closer to Christ, I did not come from poverty. And if I assess my deepest intuitions and callings, I do not feel a calling to poverty.

20:35 I do not want to give up everything I have. He says more than that, we rejoice in our sufferings. Why does he rejoice in his sufferings? He knows that his suffering produces endurance and his endurance produces character and his character then produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame because God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit when I begin to say,

21:06 how do I find the hope in God that will not put me to shame? He appreciates his suffering because there is suffering launches him onto a track which puts his hope in God where it will not ever disappoint. He appreciates his suffering because he realizes when he is near death, he has no hope but God. When he is amongst poverty, he is forced to rely on God. As I started to go down this road, I see why Paul rejoices in his sufferings

21:38 even though it would be hard. And I remember the little phrase where Jesus, the young wealthy man comes to Jesus and says, hey, what do I have to do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus says, you know the law, man, keep it. Love your neighbor as yourself, love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. He said, I've kept all these, my whole life. He says, cool, one more thing, go and give all you have to the poor. And again, I'm faced with the question. Where do I, is the only path for me

22:10 to the peace of God, poverty? And I think it's a question worth asking. What does it look like for me to take seriously the invitation to carry out the story of scripture? To what degree is my hope in the God who does not disappoint? And what degree have I put it in other things?

22:44 What degree have I put it in retirement plan or job or the people around me? To what degree is my hope in God? And so I was thinking about this thing where he forces the rich young man. He says, give everything you have away. And then I wanted another word. I found this one from John the Baptist in Luke chapter three, if you wanna look there with me. Luke chapter three, verse 10.

23:22 All these people, you remember the story of John the Baptist? Jesus says there's no person born of woman greater than John the Baptist. Jesus says that, pretty great. He's out in the desert and he's telling people to repent and commit themselves again to the way of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And as that act of repentance, he's baptizing them in the Jordan River and he gets a lot of attention probably because the call was working.

23:54 People were going out to see John the Baptist. They were hearing what he had to say. They were being convicted. They were being baptized and their repentance was bearing fruit in the city where they were glimpsing peace of God, living according to the way of God. Like it was probably working. That's why more people were coming back to him. John the Baptist said he was preparing the way for Jesus so that there would be people who when they heard the message of Jesus, it resonated with their repentance and heart already. And so there's one section in Luke chapter three,

24:24 looking at verse 10 where John the Baptist is talking and the crowds ask him first a question in chapter 10. Hey, they said, he's talking about the need for repentance and the crowds asked him, well, if God is ready to judge, if we need to repent, what should we do? And he said to them, hey, whoever has two tunics should share with them who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.

24:57 This seems reasonable actually. Like at first it's like, yeah, yeah, we get it, give what you have. But he doesn't say everybody should give a tunic. He doesn't say take what's off your back and give it to the other guy. He says, look, if you've got more tunics than you need, give one to somebody who doesn't have one. And if you're in a position where you've got food that you could share, just share the food, would you?

25:27 This is interesting. And then he goes a little bit further, whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none and whoever has food is to do likewise. Verse 12, tax collectors also came to him to be baptized. Remember a tax collectors, like they're infamous in the life of Jesus, they get beat up real bad. But they're just like very pragmatic dudes trying to make their way in the world. They make an agreement with the occupying government to collect dollars.

25:58 And immediately because they make this agreement, they are in a position of power. They have a favored relationship with the occupying government and they get to take money from their countrymen and give it to the people of power. And if they can take more, they take more and they live off of what they can take. Immediately, when you're greeted be a tax collector, you are in a position of power. And then if you are kind of sly, you can use that power to become in a position of wealth. So tax collectors sit in a place of power and wealth.

26:32 And they've slid into a station of privilege. So tax collectors get a very bad rap in the store of scripture, but pay attention, they are in a position of power, wealth and privilege in the culture. And from their place of power, wealth and privilege, they come to John the Baptist, of whom Jesus said, no man born and born woman is greater. And they say, what would you like us to do, John the Baptist? And given the reputation of tax collectors,

27:05 my hunt should be John the Baptist would say, quit your job, man. Get out of that deal. Give all you have to the poor tax collector. Remember Nicodemus? Today I pay back everybody I've stole. Okay, so the tax collectors come to them and to be baptized and to say, teacher, what shall we do? Verse 13, and he says to them, hey, collect no more than you are authorized to collect.

27:41 Interesting. Hey, you are in a place of power, privilege and wealth. Don't want to abuse it. You are in a place of power, privilege and wealth. Just don't abuse it. John the Baptist knew suffering, right? Like Jesus and Paul and Peter, he was imprisoned

28:15 and eventually martyred. He knew suffering. Like Paul, he could say, I rejoice in my suffering. And when the people of power, privilege and wealth came to him and said, what would you like us to do? He did not say, quit your job, join me in the desert. We're all going to jail together. He did not say that. He said, your story has taken you to a place of power, privilege and wealth.

28:45 Don't abuse it. Like be agent of joy. If there was a tax collector who did not extort, that tax collector would be known villages around. A just tax collector, the word of a just and merciful tax collector would spread throughout the countryside.

29:15 The degree of mercy that would have to multiply inside the heart and mind of a tax collector, not to take what he could take, what the world would tell him is his, to live according to a different governing principle than that of the culture that has put him in power and privilege. To live according to the governing principle of the reign of God, though he sits with power, privilege and wealth, would be remarkable. John the Baptist is not giving the tax collector a pass.

29:45 He is inviting him to a serious challenge. Spur the way of the world and live under the reign of God right where you are. Spur the way of privilege and live under the reign of God right where you are. And every time that tax collector, if he takes up that call, goes to turn in his money. When he sees what his bank account looks like relative to his peers, when he sees what other investments he's able to make relative to his peers,

30:17 he becomes acquainted with suffering. And if he's going to endure on the path of justice and mercy, he will need to hope in that eternal glory of God. Well, he does it again. Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, collect no more than you are authorized to do. Soldiers also asked him, agents of the state, like at best defenders of the peace,

30:55 like soldiers in Jerusalem are not like on the, like usually they're there just to make sure everybody does what they're supposed to do. There's no upheavals or rebellions. If rebellion starts to come, if like someone says we're going to kick out these Romans, then the soldiers enforce peace, right? Their life is kind of fraught with a lot of difficult decisions if they want to be a decent person. And they come to him and said, teacher, or they say soldiers came to him and said,

31:26 and what shall we do? And he said to them, just, man, do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusations. And just be content with your wages. What would it take for the soldier who, the culture and the norm? Their peers intimidate people by fear and take what they want and they live better for it, for a soldier to spurn that position, to not extort, to be content with their wages,

32:03 would mean they need to trust the glory of a God who says, I am the beginning and end of provision for you. I can take care of you. And they would find their own version of suffering. For me, the moments of peace, the

32:34 when I am living from a place of peace, it's because I have taken seriously the real and valuable call on my life, that at the expense of death, God has bought me a future. It will not be wasted on me.

33:04 I take seriously the call on my life that says he is spending the life-giving spirit of the universe to animate me and it will not be for nothing. I take seriously the call that I carry the spirit of God with me, where my feet walk, where my mouth speaks, where my hands work, the spirit of God is there. I take seriously that call. And then also, I take seriously the station that God has put me in.

33:42 I do not spurn the privilege or wealth or power that God has given to me. Instead, I ask, what should I do with this? Privilege, power, wealth. When I am able to do those two things, one, life gets harder. I am not in like an existential way, like in a very practical way.

34:16 Because my tendency would be to ignore the fact that the spirit of God is in me and that I have been given a station in life for something. My tendency would be to make money, spend it on what makes life easier, and find entertainment. Like, and kind of just go through life with comfort and entertainment and then increasing isolation because it is harder to be around people than it is to be with myself and stories and TV shows and experiences. So immediately, if I take seriously that Christ bought my life with the Holy Spirit,

34:49 has put me in station for a reason to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. Immediately, my life will get harder. And when the life begins to get harder, I have a turning point, and I turn both ways all the time. The turning point is either quit at suffering and retreat to comfort at or... turn into the suffering with Christ like Paul.

35:21 Rejoice in my sufferings because I know suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope. And when I arrive at hope in the God of the universe, I will not be put to shame. And I can move in the world carrying the peace that confounds even me. Why are you at peace? I don't know.

35:51 Looking at the circumstances, life is hard, I should not have peace. And yet God is real and he has not abandoned me. I hope in his glory. Let me pray that we could be those people today. Hey Lord, make us people of peace. Allow us to see our station, unearth our suffering, and move into it with Christ.

36:32 In order that we could move through it to hope in you. That will not put us to shame. Give us your peace that confounds the world today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.