Enough Already! (Lisa Harper)

0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.280 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:10.000 Be sure to. 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.720 Subscribe so we can get you these new sermons every week. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:20.480 I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:25.200 I don't know how. Honestly, I'm flamox myself as to 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:29.880 how I slid in to the dms of Elevation. I 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:32.800 don't know how. I'm shocked. I told Holly in the 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:35.840 very beginning. I thought she got me confused with either 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:39.600 Lisa Turkerst, who sells a lot of books, or Lisa Vivier, 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:43.279 who preaches in leather pants. And I thought, I know, 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:46.200 but I can't, or it sounds like Duxter being killed. 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.120 There's a lot of squeaking if I've preached in leather 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:52.280 and so I really don't know how, other than. 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:55.000 Pure grace, that I get to be here. 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:59.120 But I am absolutely delighted I do. There's not too 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:04.480 many people respect more than Pastor Holly and Pastor Steven. 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:09.640 I love Wade and Amy, Chris, Colleen Tunis. 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:11.600 There's just so many people at. 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:14.720 Elevation who have taught me, who have modeled for me 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:17.959 what running hard towards Jesus looks like what it looks 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:21.399 like to be enveloped in a family of faith. And 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:25.040 so before we dive into God's word, let me get 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:27.119 you to reach out and touch that saint next to you. 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:28.880 This is not rhetorical. Go ahead and touch them. 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:33.920 Don't grope them, just touch them. Gentlemen, I know this 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.640 is real girly, so y'all don't have to interlock fingers. 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:43.000 You can just awkwardly pinky grip at this point. Those 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:44.639 of you joining us. 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:49.800 Online, Epham, you don't have to touch anybody. Hope you're 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.200 in comfy pants, you can just undo the top button 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:57.440 because this is a safe place to lean into Jesus, 0:01:57.440 --> 0:01:59.440 we want you to be comfortable. Would you pray for 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:03.720 those on either side of you. If you're watching by yourself, 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.040 pray for yourself and pray then in these next few minutes, 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:09.720 as we dive into this love letter called the Bible, 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:14.000 that God will give us eyes to see, bigger, ears 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:17.720 that hear louder, and hearts that are pliant enough to 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.320 actually receive the glorious good news that. 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:26.600 We have a perfect God who loves us unconditionally. 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:31.840 We're the prize, y'all, We're the prize. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:34.240 thank you for this time and the space that we 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:36.480 get to come together and focus our attention and our 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:37.359 affection on You. 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:39.080 Lord. 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:41.240 We confess that most of us come with a lot 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:46.040 of distraction. It takes me more more than four or 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:49.000 five songs to actually get my heart into place to 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:52.160 receive from you, and I wish worship had been an. 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:52.960 Hour this morning. 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:56.520 Thank you, thank you, thank you for that promise that 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:58.560 when we seek you with all our hearts, you will 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:01.280 be found by us. But Jesus, I praise you even 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.120 more so for that promise in Isaiah the beginning of. 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.200 The book, where you say, so great is. 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:09.280 Your love for us that you even reveal yourself to 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:13.480 people who aren't looking for you. Yet, we're undone this morning, 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:17.600 by your kindness, God, just undone, we confess as your 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:20.200 sons and daughters. We can't even understand scripture apart from 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:24.880 Holy Spirit. So Holy Spirit, just have your way in 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:28.400 this place, and our hearts and our minds just plow 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:34.560 up ground that's hard or numb or disappointed. Open our eyes, 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:38.680 lift our view beyond our circumstances, so that we can 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:43.240 remember this miraculous love story you wrote us into. We 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:46.440 love you, Jesus, we need you, Jesus. We pray all 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:50.120 these things and your perfect and holy name, Lord Jesus. 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:53.360 Men and amen. Speaking of. 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:04.880 Speaking of sliding into elevations DMS, this is called body glide. 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:11.280 It's a it's a stick, it's an anti chafing bomb. 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.880 It's all all about getting yourself slippery. And I just 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:20.080 wanted to start with TMI because I had to wear this. 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:25.000 The last time I was in an athletic competition, I 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:29.800 got talked into running a tin k. And even though 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:33.279 I'm wearing spanks this morning, it's probably very apparent that 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:36.640 I'm not gifted at long distance running. But a friend 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:38.840 of mine talked me into it because she said, lisaid, 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:40.119 they have this amazing swag. 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:41.640 They have really cute T shirts. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:46.680 This was in Colorado, and I thought, Okay, I'll line 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:48.840 up with all these paleo people and I'll run this 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:49.640 ten k. 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:51.640 Because the T shirts are really cute. 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.000 And so before the race, she whipped out one of 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.960 these body glide slides, and she said, I don't want 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.000 to hurt your feelings, but you know you have such 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:04.599 it's gifted legs that I think that it might help 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.400 you to rub this on your inner thighs. She did 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:10.000 not say or else she will be arrested for arson, 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:14.120 but that was the implication, And so I slathered myself 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.159 up with body glide. Gentleman is like, what in the 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:19.760 sam hill? We're getting to the Bible. We're gonna get 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:23.200 there in just a second. So I'm all slathered up 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.360 with bodyglides so I won't start a forest fire. And 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.279 the starter's pistol goes off to start this race, and 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:30.560 I have Kodak courage, so I am up with the 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:33.480 elite eight like the first two hundred yards of the 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:36.960 race because everybody's cheering. But then it turns up hill 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:40.839 and we start running up those gorgeous, rocky mountains that 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.680 were always meant to be skied down, not run up. 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:46.400 I start running up those mountains and I thought, this 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.160 is horrible. Who would do this as a hobby? 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:51.280 Who would I mean, I can understand if you were 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:54.839 being disciplined or this was some kind of parole thing, 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:57.200 but people do this on purpose. 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.200 And so about halfway through the race, I was like, 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:02.800 I can't do this. I cannot do this anymore. This 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:04.039 friction is too much. 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:09.240 I have what they call hotspots for runners, and so 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:11.000 I thought, I'm an old athlete. 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:11.839 I played volleyball and. 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:14.039 Tennis in college, and I thought, I just can't bring 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:14.920 myself to quit. 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:17.800 That just seems sissy ish, and I can't do that. 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.600 But maybe I could find a hole, and I could 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:22.680 step in a hole and break my ankle, and then 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:27.599 I could step off this course with some measure of 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:31.120 dignity left. And so I'm searching for a hole on 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.599 the race course, and all of a sudden, I hear 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:38.360 this really loud swishing sound behind me, and so I 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:42.960 look over my shoulder and y'all, there's a six foot bacon, 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:46.960 lettuce and tomato sandwich beside me. You know how some 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:50.359 people have so much energy when they run races that 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:54.159 they actually wear costumes, which I'm like, really, I'm like 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:58.240 about to crawl and cry and knock somebody over the 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.720 head who has a donut who's watching, so I can 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:04.200 take their carb, But instead these people have enough energy 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.640 to have a costume. The first guy had this massive 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:10.800 foam cut out that was like wonderbread. 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:13.560 Just his face is poking through run and cheese. 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:16.440 Just his face behind him is like this green tart 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.480 piece of lettuce. It was very lifelike. I want to 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:23.800 eat it badly. And then he's rope to a middle runner. 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.480 The middle runner, just his little face is poking out 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:31.800 from a piece of lifelike American cheese. And then attached 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:35.360 to that is three pieces of very wiggly bacon. I 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:37.240 don't know what they made that out of. Then there's 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:42.040 two other ropes pulling up the caboose. He's another giant 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:45.920 piece of wonderbread. And then he's slathered with all kinds 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:49.000 of condiments and a life size tomato, well more than 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:49.960 life sized tomato. 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:54.200 And I mean it was really incredible, so creative, this giant. 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:57.680 Six foot blt and it was passing me. 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:04.600 And that is a lot of wind resistance. And so 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:05.440 that was. 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:09.560 The lowest point of my competition. I decided, never ever 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.880 again would I compete in anything where I had to 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:18.000 wear bodyglide. So I no longer compete in ten ks. 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.240 I don't rollerblade, I don't go to Myrtle Beach because 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:28.200 because of that particular vacation mecca, there's a lot of 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.000 people there who need bodyglide. 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:33.360 It's pull a. 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:35.880 Lot of rubbing going on up at Myrtle Beach. And 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:40.440 I haven't offended you, Myrtle Beachers, but I was there 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:44.640 recently and I just mentally I couldn't handle that corporate 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:48.720 need for something to stop the chafing. 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:52.800 Now. I don't know if running. 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:55.960 Is your nemesis or if chafing is real for you, 0:08:56.960 --> 0:09:00.200 but I do know all of us can identify with 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:04.560 feeling like we're not quite good enough for whatever activity 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:09.040 we've stepped into, that we don't quite meet the minimum 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:14.560 requirement for some club, some community that we'd hoped to 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:20.880 belong to. Feeling like we're not quite good enough. That's 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:22.959 not just an athletic competition thing. 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:24.880 That's a human thing. 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:28.480 Part of the human condition is to feel like we 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:35.240 were just a little bit less than acceptable. Maybe it's 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:37.440 that your mother in law always treated you like her 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.880 boy could have done better. Or maybe you're the only 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.839 one who doesn't know how to pronounce sobaccac in your 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:48.000 e fam, Or maybe it's that you're in a double 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:50.240 Spans kind of season and you hang out with a 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:53.920 lot of quto girls. I don't know what it is, 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.880 but there's just something about the human experience that presses 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:00.920 on the bruise in our human psyche and causes us 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:04.720 at some level to doubt, am I actually good enough 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:05.280 for that? 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:08.800 And the real the real danger is. 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:12.559 When we superimpose that wondering if we're good enough onto 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:18.000 the character of our creator, redeemer. It's the human experience 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:21.080 to think we don't quite measure up. It is actually 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:26.600 not biblically defensible. It's not in this divine love story 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:28.559 we call a Bible. If you brought yours, turn to 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:32.400 Genesis forty eight and I'll prove it. Genesis forty eight. 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:34.720 It's about a quarter of an inch from the beginning. 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:36.960 Unless you have a Schofield Bible. We'll have it up 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:40.520 on the screens. Genesis forty eight, verse eight. And this 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.439 is a long one, so don't play angry birds yet. 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:44.600 I'll read fast. 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:48.600 When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said. 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:49.400 Who are these? 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.120 And let me qualify this just a minute, because when 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.760 you hear the word Israel, we forget that Israel is 0:10:56.000 --> 0:11:00.120 synonymous for Jacob. So this is one of the patriarchs 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:02.760 in in scripture, Jacob. So when I read Israel, I 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:05.200 might just start changing it. I love you, I might 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:11.520 just start changing it to Jacob because same name and Joseph. 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.520 You all remember who Joseph is. Young, talkback, I'm not 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:18.320 your pastor. He's the guy who got this really cool 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:20.240 colored coat from H and M and his brothers got 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:21.400 all jealous and through him in a hole. 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:21.880 Remember that. 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.080 And then they dragged him off as a slave. He 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:28.559 was in Egypt, and then Pharaoh's wife was a total 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:34.320 Houchi mama, and she accused him of sexual misconduct and 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:35.960 he didn't do it, but he got thrown in jail away. 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.120 Y'all remember this guy, and then he ends up being 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.920 this great leader and God uses him to actually help 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:42.360 his people not die of starvation. 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:44.040 Jaron Famine. Are you with me on the story? 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:47.760 Okay, so we're the part where he's done all that. 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:51.320 He's a grown man, he has children of his own, 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.920 and he goes back to Jacob the patriarch with two 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:58.360 little boys, his two little boys, Ephraim and Manassa, who 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:03.480 were born in each not in Israel. And so his dad, Jacob, 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:07.080 the granddaddy of these little boys, Joe says to him, 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.600 these are my sons whom God has given me here, 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:11.400 and he said, bring them to me, please, that I 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.480 may bless them. Now the eyes of Jacob were dim 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.199 with age so that he could not see, so he 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:22.000 had cataracts. And Jacob so Joe brought them near him 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.800 and he kissed them and embraced them. And Jacob said 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:27.040 to Joe, I never expect to see your face, because 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.440 remember they've been separated since his hay for brothers Thum 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:31.959 and the Pitmoll. He says, I never expected to see 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.680 your face. I never expected this reconciliation and never expected 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:35.440 you to come back to me. 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:36.400 But God has let. 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:40.920 Me see your offspring also. Then Joseph removed them from 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.240 his knees and he bowed himself with his face to 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:47.120 the earth. He's so delighted to bring his boys to 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:51.040 his father. And Joe took them both Ephraim and his 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.720 right hand toward Israel's left hand, a Manassa in his 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:55.840 left hand toward Israel's right. 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:57.800 Hand, and brought them near him. 0:12:57.840 --> 0:12:59.800 And Jacob stretched out his right hand and laid it 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:02.840 on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.920 his left hand on the head of Manassa, crossing his hands. 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:08.440 If you've got a brick and mortar Bible and your 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:12.880 comfortable writing in it, underscore that hugely significant even for us. 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:14.040 As modern day christ followers. 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:16.679 We'll get there in just a second, crossing his hands, 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:20.840 for Manassa was the firstborn, and he blessed Joe and said, 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:23.600 the God before whom my father's Abraham and Isaac walked 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.160 to God who has been my shepherd all my life 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:28.120 long to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:32.080 from all evil, bless these boys, and in them, let 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:33.680 my name be carried on in the name of my 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:37.560 father's Abe and Isaac can let them grow into a multitude. 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:38.199 In the midst of. 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:40.719 Years, when Joe saw that his dad laid his right 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.680 hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:45.959 he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:48.680 head to Manassa's head. And Joe said to his daddy, 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:51.000 not this way, Dad, since this one is the firstborn, 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:54.040 and put your right hand on his head. But his 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:58.640 father refused and said, I know, my son, I know, 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:02.000 I might have cataract, but I'm not stupid. That's not 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:07.280 literal Hebrew, it's more message point two. Nevertheless, his younger 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:09.440 brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:13.680 become a multitude of nations. So Jacob bless them that day, 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:17.280 saying bless you. Israel will pronounce blessing, saying God make 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.880 you as Ephraim and Asmanassa does he put Ephraim before Manassa. 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:23.800 Then Israel said to Joe, behold, I'm about to die, 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:25.440 but God will be with you, and we'll bring you 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:27.720 again to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I've given 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.080 to you rather than to your brother's one mountain slope 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:32.000 that I took from the hand of the Amorites with 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:34.840 my sword and with my bow. So what does that 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:38.680 Old Testament history mean to us today? Why is it 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:41.720 significant for us, especially for those of us who wonder, 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.520 how in the world could a perfect God like that 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.680 fully except fully love. 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:51.160 A damaged woman, a damaged man like me. 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:54.600 First of all, in this ancient culture, they practice the 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:58.720 law of primogeniture, and that just means the firstborn got everything. 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:04.440 Firstborn un goot everything. The law of inheritance was the 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:05.960 firstborn son was it? 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.840 Second? Really was just a spare? First is the heir 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:09.800 second as a spare. 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:14.360 And so what would happen is the patriarch of any 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:20.440 family community would bless the firstborn with this right hand, 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:24.040 because in submitted culture, the right hand is the blessed hand. 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:26.160 The right right hand is the holy hand. The right 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.040 hand is the hand that you want to bless with. 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:32.440 Left hand is considered subservient. I was just in Israel 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.680 again in marsh and none of my Jewish friends will 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:39.440 greet me with their left hand. That's considered disrespectful. The 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:42.560 right hand is the hand of blessing. That's why you 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.840 will never read in scripture that Jesus sat at the 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:46.000 left hand of God, the Father. 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:47.360 Always the right, always the right. 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:52.200 So when when Joe multicolored coat guy brings his two 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:55.760 little boys to their granddaddy and he says, I want 0:15:55.760 --> 0:16:01.440 you to bless them, dad, and then Jacob crosses his arms, y'all, 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:04.880 this is the only time that happens in all of scripture. 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.120 That's called a hay pax legomanon. Isn't that cool? Share 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:09.080 that with your efamgroup. 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:11.120 If they're thinking you're sliding, just go well, I was 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.680 reading a hay packs legomanon. It's a fancy word that 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:17.840 means it only happens once in a corpus or in 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.640 a text. You will never read this again in scripture. 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:23.280 This is the only time, you've got a patriarch crossing 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:28.360 his arms intentionally to bless the second son instead of 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.240 the first, as was their custom, as was their tradition. 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:34.240 Joseph is so flustered by it, and he's like, Dad, 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:35.320 you messed up. 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:37.480 You bless the wrong kid. And he goes, no, I 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:39.840 knew exactly what I was doing. 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.320 He says, here's the deal, Joseph, I want both of 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:51.240 them blessed. What this leads to scholars critical scholars call 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:56.360 this etology fancy word that means, this is the foundation 0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:59.880 that explains what happens later on. This is the cause 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:05.920 of something. This explains why Ephraim, who was the second son, 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:09.560 becomes prominent in Israel's history. 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:10.760 From then on. 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:13.640 From Genesis forty eight, when you hear about Manassa, he's 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:17.000 first born, it says Manassa and Ephraim. You would think 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:18.840 they were twins by the way you read them in 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:22.600 biblical narrative. And then Ephraim actually kind of gets bigger 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:23.800 than Manassa. 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:25.720 Ephram is the one. 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:27.919 Where we get a lot of the leaders from in 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.760 the Old Testament. Ephraim is the one when Israel splits 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.280 into two nations. Y'all remember when that happened, because we 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.080 had Solomon third Keen of Israel, and he was a 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.199 player and had way too many wives and concubines, and 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:39.720 they fought and they couldn't decide for an air. 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:42.040 Do y'all remember this? And so it was real Jerry Springer. 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:47.359 And so instead of Israel being one one united nation 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:51.600 under Yahweh, they split and there was Northern Israel and 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:54.840 there were Southern Israel. There were twelve tribes, y'all remember 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:56.280 who the twelve tribes came from? 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:57.440 Y'a talk back? 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:04.000 Jacob's Jacob's twelve sons who make up the twelve tribes 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.760 of Israel. Those are the tribes that step over the 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:09.240 Jordan and they go into Canaan. They're the ones who 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:11.680 occupy promised land. There are great great great great great 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:13.040 great great great great great. 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:15.159 And then some spiritual grandmama's and granddaddies. 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:20.200 Well, Ephraim and Manassa are sons of Joseph, which means 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:23.600 technically they aren't one of the twelve tribes. They're half tribe. 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.320 But do you know that after this they're called a tribe. 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:30.879 Technically they're not a tribe, but they're called a full 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:35.480 on tribe. And when Israel splits, ten tribes go to 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:39.160 the north. Two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, go to the south, 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:42.320 where Jerusalem is. Do you know what they begin calling 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:48.119 the north Ephraim. The name Ephram becomes a metonym for 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:52.359 all the Israelites in the North. So he just gets 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:55.280 bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and more prominent 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:57.640 in Israel's history. 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:01.800 But he's the second son, He's the spare. 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:06.680 It's so cool, y'all. What this means for us as 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:10.360 christ followers. It means there's no second best. It means 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:14.679 there's no jv. It means there's no lesser than. It 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:16.080 means if you put. 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:21.040 Your hope in Jesus, we're all favorites, every single one 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:24.359 of us. He doesn't go, Oh, you know what's it's 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:25.880 thanksgiving up here in glory. 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:27.280 You got to sit at the kiddie table. 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:31.600 Only the mature believers said here that is not biblically defensible. 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:35.480 He goes, there is now no more hierarchy. You humans 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:41.800 have hierarchy. You humans elevate certain ethnicities, certain sociodemographic groups, 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:47.399 certain wayte sizes, certain hair colors. You establish criteria for 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:52.560 value I don't. If you have put your hope in me, 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:55.760 you're all favorite sons. 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:59.600 Paul continues this theme. I just love this theme. He 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:01.160 can te you use it in Romans eight. 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:04.919 Romans eight is basically the hub of our theological wheel. 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:09.280 As believers, you know this Romans eight. Some of y'all 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:11.239 have instagrammed it, but you might not know it. Know 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:15.280 it Romans eight, verse fourteen. For all who are led 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:17.960 by the spirit of God are sons of God. 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:20.359 That's not a gender exclusive term, by the way. 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:25.320 Paul goes on to explain later in Galatians three. 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:27.000 He says, if. 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:29.439 You are in Christ, there is now no more Greek 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:34.159 nor Jew, male, nor female, slave nor master. So this 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:38.560 is actually not a gender exclusive term. It's just in language. 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:42.040 At this time it was a patriarchal society, so inheritance 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:43.880 language was masculine. 0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:46.320 But that's not just talking about boys there for all. 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:49.040 That's the operative word for all who are led by 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:50.639 the spirit of God or sons of God. For you 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:52.520 did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:56.800 into fear, but you receive this received the spirit of adoption. 0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:59.040 As sons by whom we cry. 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:03.760 Abba, Father, Do you know Jesus is the first one, 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:06.919 and Luke eleven when he's teaching us how to pray. 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:11.320 Prior to Jesus, the rabbis had really formal prayers and 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:13.360 they would approach yahweh God. 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:14.560 The Father with a title. 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:18.080 Jesus says, no, you get to approach him as Dad, 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:22.920 your sons, you're first born. You get to approach him 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:27.320 has dad aha father Dad. The spirit himself bears witness 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.040 with our spirit that we are children of God. And 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:35.320 if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs. 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:38.359 Underscore that, y'all fellow heirs. 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:42.520 Your translation might say co heirs with Christ, provided we 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:45.520 suffer with Him in order that we may also be 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:51.240 glorified in him. Colossians one tells us that Jesus is 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:57.240 the firstborn of all creation. He blows William, the Prince 0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:02.800 of Wales away. He's not the firstborn in UK royalty. 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:07.600 He is the firstborn of all creation. He is the 0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:10.879 definitive heir, the definitive first born. 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:14.560 And here Paul says, you're his co heirs. 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:27.240 You raggedy, broke down, prone to schaef prone to wander people, 0:22:27.720 --> 0:22:34.600 You are co heirs. The Greek term there is soon 0:22:34.680 --> 0:22:39.480 Clay Ranamos soon Clay Ramanas. It means we are properly 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:46.200 entitled to inherit every single thing. Jesus inherits, properly entitled 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:47.760 to inherit everything. 0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:53.040 Jesus, y'all that should blow your doors. Properly entitled to inherit. 0:22:54.560 --> 0:22:56.560 So Jesus doesn't say, hey, Dad. 0:22:56.440 --> 0:22:58.320 I've got a friend. I mean no, they're kind of 0:22:58.359 --> 0:23:01.720 broke down, another kind of rat. But I got to 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:04.440 know him in Charlotte, and can we just invite him in? 0:23:04.600 --> 0:23:06.920 And then they stay like they can stay in the basement. 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:09.160 That's not it. 0:23:09.760 --> 0:23:14.520 We sit right next to Jesus at the bank winning 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:16.359 table of God the Father. 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:21.280 It's stunning. Our access is stunning. We're not less than 0:23:21.720 --> 0:23:25.760 adopted children. We're co heirs. 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:29.200 Missy and I were at a Christmas event last year 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:33.439 and a man who has since become a friend, a 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:37.240 Messianic rabbi from Israel, was at this event in Nashville. 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:40.080 We were teaching him how to talk, write, and eat biscuits. 0:23:40.880 --> 0:23:44.000 And he watched Missy and I for a long time, 0:23:44.080 --> 0:23:46.000 and then he called me over and he said, Lisa, 0:23:46.400 --> 0:23:52.200 do you understand the distinction between adoption in America and 0:23:52.400 --> 0:23:57.760 adoption in a Jewish culture, especially a biblical Jewish culture. 0:23:57.920 --> 0:24:01.439 And I said, I don't think so. And he said, well, 0:24:01.960 --> 0:24:07.320 in my culture, and especially in the context of biblical narrative, 0:24:08.119 --> 0:24:14.119 a parent could disinherit a biological child, could disinherit a 0:24:14.160 --> 0:24:18.720 biological child. But it is illegal if you're an Orthodox 0:24:18.800 --> 0:24:24.440 Jew to disinherit and adopted child. He said, we don't 0:24:24.440 --> 0:24:27.639 even realize how significant it was when Joseph went with 0:24:27.880 --> 0:24:32.960 Mary to have the first born sacrifice made a week 0:24:33.040 --> 0:24:34.400 after baby Jesus was born. 0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:37.600 You read this in Looke too. That's where Simeon sings over. 0:24:37.560 --> 0:24:39.760 Jesus and says, this is the Savior, this is the 0:24:39.760 --> 0:24:41.360 man you have been waiting for all this time. That's 0:24:41.359 --> 0:24:43.560 where Anna remember she was waiting there for almost one 0:24:43.600 --> 0:24:44.280 hundred years. 0:24:44.600 --> 0:24:45.520 Simeon's old. 0:24:45.800 --> 0:24:48.040 I always imagine her back in the bathroom, like filling 0:24:48.040 --> 0:24:49.879 the paper towel dispensers. 0:24:50.359 --> 0:24:51.600 And she knows Simeon. 0:24:51.600 --> 0:24:54.240 They're really close friends from the Jewish retirement home across 0:24:54.240 --> 0:24:56.840 the street from the temple. They're both big volunteers and 0:24:56.880 --> 0:25:00.359 temple been there for decades. And she hears me in 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:03.720 warbling and she's back for filling the tape paper towel dispenser, 0:25:03.760 --> 0:25:05.720 and she thinks, al' know, aw, he's broken his hip again. 0:25:06.000 --> 0:25:09.600 And she goes running or kind of wobbling into temple 0:25:09.680 --> 0:25:10.800 and she looks up and. 0:25:10.720 --> 0:25:12.240 She see these sees, these. 0:25:12.040 --> 0:25:16.560 Teenagers and the boy has a pigeon squawking in his backpack. 0:25:17.800 --> 0:25:19.000 Mary and Joe were poor. 0:25:19.080 --> 0:25:22.600 They couldn't afford a normal sacrifice, so they brought a 0:25:22.640 --> 0:25:26.280 pigeon and they've got a baby boy. And Simeon is 0:25:26.320 --> 0:25:30.479 holding this baby boy, and Simeon's face is lit up 0:25:30.520 --> 0:25:34.200 like a Christmas tree, and he says, this is the one, 0:25:34.600 --> 0:25:36.600 and this is the one we've been waiting for. 0:25:36.680 --> 0:25:40.240 All these are this, this is the Christ. This is 0:25:40.280 --> 0:25:40.680 a man. 0:25:40.880 --> 0:25:41.560 You how. 0:25:43.560 --> 0:25:47.840 My friend Samuel said, Lisa when that happened, when Joseph 0:25:47.960 --> 0:25:51.719 voluntarily went to temple and said, this is my first born. 0:25:52.440 --> 0:25:56.360 What he was saying is this one gets my full inheritance. 0:25:57.560 --> 0:26:00.159 Even though i'm technically the step dad. I did and 0:26:00.200 --> 0:26:04.480 get Mary pregnant technically on the step dad, this is 0:26:04.960 --> 0:26:10.119 my son, and every single thing I have I'm given 0:26:10.840 --> 0:26:15.840 to this boy. He said, that's what we have. It 0:26:15.880 --> 0:26:21.560 says we're co eers with Christ. We're co eers with Christ. 0:26:21.720 --> 0:26:24.960 We get everything he gets. That is so hard for 0:26:25.080 --> 0:26:32.080 me to understand. It's become a little more tangible now 0:26:32.080 --> 0:26:35.320 that I'm a mom myself. I became a mom through 0:26:35.359 --> 0:26:38.359 the miracle of adoption. The year I turned fifty. I 0:26:38.520 --> 0:26:44.000 was really broke down, probably all the chafing in my 0:26:45.280 --> 0:26:48.680 twenties and thirties, and I was really afraid of intimacy. 0:26:48.760 --> 0:26:50.720 I didn't get married in my twenties and thirties. I 0:26:50.760 --> 0:26:53.359 was really drawn to abusers. God protected me from the 0:26:53.400 --> 0:26:56.359 men I was most drawn to you. And this is 0:26:56.359 --> 0:27:00.960 of course pre online dating, which that's been to train 0:27:01.000 --> 0:27:01.680 wreck for me too. 0:27:01.760 --> 0:27:02.480 I won't go there. 0:27:02.560 --> 0:27:06.280 But the few good godly guys I dated, God protected 0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:09.680 them from me because I was just crippled with shame. 0:27:10.000 --> 0:27:12.480 Even though I knew Jesus, I knew him as my savior, 0:27:12.480 --> 0:27:14.320 I didn't know him as my liberator in my twenties 0:27:14.320 --> 0:27:17.200 and thirties and so to. And by the way, when 0:27:17.240 --> 0:27:21.240 I hear babies, I love the sound of babies in church. 0:27:21.320 --> 0:27:22.479 Don't worry about a baby. 0:27:23.200 --> 0:27:27.600 When I see people in church give dirty looks to 0:27:27.760 --> 0:27:32.280 parents or grandparents or aunties or uncles with babies. I 0:27:32.320 --> 0:27:34.280 always pray the people give them the dirty looks would 0:27:34.280 --> 0:27:39.480 get hives because I'm like, Lord, have mercy, if ever 0:27:39.640 --> 0:27:43.159 we should celebrate babies. But to get to have my 0:27:43.240 --> 0:27:46.159 story redeemed, to get to become a mom at the 0:27:46.200 --> 0:27:48.879 age of fifty through the miracle of adoption after my 0:27:48.880 --> 0:27:52.480 little girl's first mama died in Haiti, I just I 0:27:52.480 --> 0:27:55.120 feel like I'm still in the honeymoon season of how 0:27:55.160 --> 0:27:57.600 God restored that part of my story and getting to 0:27:57.640 --> 0:28:04.680 be Missy's mom. Getting to be Missy's mom has helped 0:28:04.760 --> 0:28:10.320 me understand more about being a child of God. Head 0:28:10.359 --> 0:28:15.800 backwards to Luke's Gospel. I love Luke's Gospel. Luke is 0:28:15.800 --> 0:28:22.040 the only known non gentile author of Scripture. He wrote 0:28:22.080 --> 0:28:24.600 the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, 0:28:25.480 --> 0:28:27.320 and he was an outlier. 0:28:28.240 --> 0:28:29.600 He was not a Jew. 0:28:29.880 --> 0:28:33.160 All of the other authors of Holy writ are Jews. 0:28:33.560 --> 0:28:36.080 Got a few books that are formally classified as anonymous, 0:28:36.080 --> 0:28:38.600 but most of them were written by Jews, and so 0:28:38.720 --> 0:28:42.120 Luke is a gentile knew what it was to wonder 0:28:42.160 --> 0:28:46.040 if he fit that he actually didn't meet the minimum 0:28:46.520 --> 0:28:51.560 requirement for an author of a euon Gelon, a gospel, 0:28:52.080 --> 0:28:56.200 and so his stories are just riddled with compassion and 0:28:56.240 --> 0:28:59.440 with the idea of what it means to be close 0:29:00.280 --> 0:29:04.360 to this God who calls us his children. And this story, 0:29:05.160 --> 0:29:08.120 this story that Jesus tells in Luke chapter eleven, you 0:29:08.280 --> 0:29:11.760 half of his sermon material was parabolic. It was story. 0:29:12.400 --> 0:29:16.240 This story he tells just slays me. Begins in verse five. 0:29:16.360 --> 0:29:19.120 He's taught them how to pray. And then Jesus said 0:29:19.120 --> 0:29:22.000 to them, he's talking to disciples. Which of you has 0:29:22.040 --> 0:29:23.920 a friend, will go to him at midnight and say 0:29:23.920 --> 0:29:26.600 to him, friend, lend me three lows. 0:29:26.680 --> 0:29:28.120 This is Luke eleven, verse six. 0:29:28.840 --> 0:29:30.760 For a friend of mine has arrived in a journey, 0:29:30.760 --> 0:29:32.440 and I have nothing to set before him, and he 0:29:32.480 --> 0:29:35.200 will answer from within, do not bother me. 0:29:35.800 --> 0:29:38.120 The doors now shut. My children are with me in bed. 0:29:38.160 --> 0:29:40.640 I cannot get up and give you anything I tell you, 0:29:41.160 --> 0:29:43.160 though he will not get up and give him anything 0:29:43.200 --> 0:29:48.600 because he is his friend. Yet because of his impudence. Again, 0:29:48.600 --> 0:29:51.080 if y'all comfort writing in your Bible's underscore that one 0:29:51.120 --> 0:29:53.800 that is such an interesting word, this too is a 0:29:53.840 --> 0:29:58.080 heypax legomenon. This is the only time this particular word 0:29:58.240 --> 0:30:01.280 is used anywhere in the Bible. The Greek of that 0:30:01.400 --> 0:30:08.520 English word is nadea, and it's this audaciousness anytime you 0:30:08.560 --> 0:30:09.920 read about this in history. 0:30:10.000 --> 0:30:11.360 Josephis talks about it a lot. 0:30:11.400 --> 0:30:14.400 He was first century historian, and he always uses it 0:30:14.440 --> 0:30:18.840 in the pejorative sense. So he says, because the neighbor 0:30:18.960 --> 0:30:24.720 is so audacious in his banging, the dad eventually rises 0:30:24.760 --> 0:30:27.880 and gives him what he needs verse nine. And I 0:30:27.960 --> 0:30:29.720 tell you, asking, it will be given to you. Seek, 0:30:29.760 --> 0:30:31.120 and you will find, knock, and it will be open 0:30:31.160 --> 0:30:33.600 to you for everyone who receives, and the one who 0:30:33.640 --> 0:30:36.280 seeks finds, And to the one who knocks it will 0:30:36.320 --> 0:30:36.920 be opened. 0:30:37.280 --> 0:30:38.760 What father among you. 0:30:38.720 --> 0:30:40.480 If his son asks for a fish, will instead of 0:30:40.520 --> 0:30:42.440 a fish, give him a serpent. Or if he asked 0:30:42.480 --> 0:30:44.640 for an egg, will give him a scorpion. And if you, then, 0:30:44.680 --> 0:30:46.200 who are evil, know how to give good gifts to 0:30:46.240 --> 0:30:50.719 your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give 0:30:50.760 --> 0:30:53.120 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. I grew 0:30:53.200 --> 0:30:56.920 up half Baptist. My mom's a Baptist at the bone. 0:30:56.960 --> 0:31:00.240 My dad's Pentecostal. So I'm Bapticostle, which means I want 0:31:00.320 --> 0:31:03.680 to dance, but I have no rhythm, and I've seen 0:31:03.720 --> 0:31:07.120 almost all of these stories, Flannel graft, I've heard that 0:31:07.240 --> 0:31:09.440 story in luke Levin. I bet I've heard that preach. 0:31:09.920 --> 0:31:11.600 I don't know, Holly a thousand times. 0:31:11.920 --> 0:31:12.440 You have too. 0:31:12.440 --> 0:31:14.640 I'm sure you've preached it before, seen it, Flannel graphed. 0:31:14.680 --> 0:31:17.479 I mean, I thought I knew every nuance to that story, 0:31:17.520 --> 0:31:21.080 as horrifically arrogant as that sounds. And then in a 0:31:21.120 --> 0:31:23.959 seminary class I'm finishing up a doctorate at den sim 0:31:24.080 --> 0:31:27.520 I heard one of the he's considered the foremost authority 0:31:27.560 --> 0:31:31.720 on the parables, doctor Craig Blomberg, preach on this particular passage, 0:31:31.880 --> 0:31:35.000 and I was just undone by his application. One of 0:31:35.000 --> 0:31:38.360 my other favorite theologians living one anyway, I love all 0:31:38.360 --> 0:31:41.560 the dead guys, but doctor Craig Keener is alive and 0:31:41.680 --> 0:31:45.160 kicking at Asbury Seminary in Kentucky, and doctor Craig Keener 0:31:45.200 --> 0:31:47.000 says this, if you get out of the Bible what 0:31:47.040 --> 0:31:49.360 you're expecting to get out of the Bible, you need 0:31:49.400 --> 0:31:54.680 to change your expectations. It's always bigger, it's all ways better. 0:31:55.040 --> 0:31:58.440 I thought that story in luke Levin was about prayer. 0:31:59.160 --> 0:32:01.960 I thought it was about persistence in prayer because the 0:32:02.000 --> 0:32:06.520 takeaway is always asked seek knock, and doctor Blomberg said, well, 0:32:06.560 --> 0:32:10.240 that's one of the applications. But you actually have to 0:32:10.240 --> 0:32:13.560 dig a little deeper and look at the parabolic semblance 0:32:13.760 --> 0:32:17.920 in this story. So any time you have a dad 0:32:18.360 --> 0:32:21.200 in one of Jesus' stories, or a master, a vineyard owner, 0:32:21.360 --> 0:32:25.400 who does that represent always always young, talk back God always. 0:32:25.720 --> 0:32:28.840 If it's a father in the story, Jesus always represents God. 0:32:28.880 --> 0:32:32.120 The father, master always represents the kingball King's always alway always. 0:32:32.320 --> 0:32:35.840 So you've got a dad, he's in bed, he's asleep 0:32:36.200 --> 0:32:39.800 in his house. If you know anything about first century 0:32:40.360 --> 0:32:46.360 Jewish or Semitic architecture, you'll know they had one bedroom. 0:32:46.840 --> 0:32:50.120 So if you're asleep as a dad, or as a mom, 0:32:50.600 --> 0:32:52.960 or as a granddad or an uncle or foster parent, 0:32:53.360 --> 0:32:56.680 your kids are with you, and I don't have separate 0:32:56.680 --> 0:33:01.720 bedrooms where they're playing PlayStation or texting naughty things. 0:33:01.720 --> 0:33:02.720 They don't have that. 0:33:03.280 --> 0:33:06.720 They're with you in that one sleeping room. So you've 0:33:06.760 --> 0:33:10.560 got the dad, and then you've got the neighbor. And 0:33:10.640 --> 0:33:13.720 so the neighbor comes over because the neighbor wasn't prepared 0:33:14.040 --> 0:33:16.160 for a guest who comes to his house and didn't 0:33:16.160 --> 0:33:18.640 takest ahead of time, and so he pantics because he's 0:33:18.640 --> 0:33:21.520 got nothing in the pantry. He comes to the sleeping dad, 0:33:21.520 --> 0:33:24.120 bangs on the door and says, I need something, tortillas, 0:33:24.480 --> 0:33:27.640 you know, just anything, even though reduced fat trisk gets anything. 0:33:27.640 --> 0:33:29.520 I've got to have something because I don't have anything 0:33:29.560 --> 0:33:32.520 to put before this guy. That is unheard of in 0:33:32.560 --> 0:33:35.920 their culture. It's hospitable culture. You always had bread. So 0:33:36.040 --> 0:33:37.920 the thing I love about the Bible because carbs are 0:33:37.960 --> 0:33:40.080 elevated in the Bible, which I think. 0:33:40.040 --> 0:33:40.680 Is a good thing. 0:33:41.280 --> 0:33:48.360 I think Cayle is just about from the devil. But anyway, anyway, 0:33:48.640 --> 0:33:51.120 you always had bread. This guy's run out of bread, 0:33:51.160 --> 0:33:53.440 so he pantics. Comes next door. He starts banging on 0:33:53.480 --> 0:33:56.040 the door. And when he's banging on the door, the 0:33:56.120 --> 0:34:01.480 dad goes, go away. I've already read the bedtime story. 0:34:01.520 --> 0:34:04.240 We've already had the water, we've already done everything. We 0:34:04.440 --> 0:34:08.600 are asleep, go away. This is so rude an idea. 0:34:08.719 --> 0:34:13.680 He's audacious. The guy's persistent because he's painicked. He just 0:34:13.760 --> 0:34:15.680 keeps banging on the door because he's like, I need 0:34:15.920 --> 0:34:20.479 something e linguising anything, I need something to give my guest, 0:34:20.560 --> 0:34:25.560 And it says because of his impudence, the dad eventually 0:34:25.640 --> 0:34:31.680 gets up and gives them a snack for his guest. 0:34:32.200 --> 0:34:34.440 And then usually the application is if you bang a 0:34:34.480 --> 0:34:38.520 little harder, God will answer. Now, that's not biblically defensible. 0:34:38.560 --> 0:34:42.840 It doesn't even go with a story. The stranger, doctor 0:34:42.880 --> 0:34:46.600 Blomberg says, likely represents an unbeliever. 0:34:47.880 --> 0:34:55.160 Dad represents God. Where are we? Where are we? 0:34:56.840 --> 0:35:02.000 Are we outside banging or are we in side reclining right 0:35:02.120 --> 0:35:05.760 next to our dad? Yeah, this is less about prayer 0:35:05.760 --> 0:35:08.840 and it's more about proximity. 0:35:09.520 --> 0:35:12.279 It's less about us banging on the door. 0:35:12.440 --> 0:35:15.880 That doesn't bear out with theological logic. We don't have 0:35:15.960 --> 0:35:19.560 to beg God to act on our behalf. 0:35:19.880 --> 0:35:23.600 We're favorite sons and daughters. He loves us. 0:35:23.719 --> 0:35:27.160 On our worst day, we'll get disciplined from our dad, 0:35:27.200 --> 0:35:29.680 But not disciplined because he's a unibrad library and who's 0:35:29.680 --> 0:35:30.279 mad at us. 0:35:30.480 --> 0:35:34.200 We get disciplined because he loves us, He's for us. 0:35:34.960 --> 0:35:39.799 Three years ago, Missy and I went from Nashville to Kalispell, Montana. 0:35:39.880 --> 0:35:41.600 It was kind of toward the end of COVID. 0:35:41.960 --> 0:35:45.400 We were so excited to actually be leaving the house 0:35:45.560 --> 0:35:48.600 because you know during COVID how you're not traveling much, 0:35:48.640 --> 0:35:51.040 and I travel a lot for work, and I got 0:35:51.080 --> 0:35:53.200 so bored at home and I accidentally cut through my 0:35:53.239 --> 0:35:56.080 propane line with a chainsaw. 0:35:56.560 --> 0:35:59.080 It's actually not hyperbolic. I did almost killed us. 0:36:00.120 --> 0:36:02.160 Single and old, and my dad was a contractor, so 0:36:02.200 --> 0:36:03.680 I know my way around a power tool. 0:36:03.719 --> 0:36:07.000 And I was buzzing this this bush and I thought, 0:36:07.040 --> 0:36:08.440 I just will do some landscaping. 0:36:08.480 --> 0:36:10.760 And I'm kind of a slow reactor, and I smelled 0:36:10.800 --> 0:36:14.399 propane and realized, oh, I just cut a propane line. 0:36:14.400 --> 0:36:15.960 Almost killed us. So I thought it's good for us 0:36:16.000 --> 0:36:16.719 to get out of the house. 0:36:17.200 --> 0:36:21.240 And so I was thrilled when Levi and Jenny said 0:36:21.320 --> 0:36:24.040 come up to Kalispell. They have a church called Fresh Life, 0:36:24.320 --> 0:36:26.080 and he said, come up, we'd love to love to 0:36:26.080 --> 0:36:28.439 host you at Kalispell. And it took us a while 0:36:28.480 --> 0:36:30.280 to get there because you know that tail into COVID, 0:36:30.320 --> 0:36:32.279 there weren't as many flights, and so we flew from 0:36:32.360 --> 0:36:36.880 Nashville to Chicago, long lay from Chicago, finally got to Kaalaispell, Montana. 0:36:37.160 --> 0:36:38.800 It was late in the afternoon, but I didn't have 0:36:38.800 --> 0:36:41.880 anything to do until the next morning. So I said, hey, baby, 0:36:42.200 --> 0:36:44.440 you know, since we've been sitting forever, you want to go. 0:36:44.520 --> 0:36:46.400 You want to go stretch your legs. There's some great 0:36:46.520 --> 0:36:51.799 hiking trails around here. Miss He said, no, ma'am. I 0:36:51.840 --> 0:36:54.880 was like, okay. I said, well, honey, they've got a 0:36:54.920 --> 0:36:56.960 lake right by the hotel and there's some canoes there. 0:36:57.000 --> 0:36:58.160 You want to get in the canoe and go for 0:36:58.160 --> 0:37:03.040 a canoe ride. No, man, it's like, okay, Well, we 0:37:03.120 --> 0:37:06.439 came through this darling little mountain village on the way 0:37:06.440 --> 0:37:09.120 to the hotel, and there is a candy shop there 0:37:09.160 --> 0:37:10.920 and they have got ice cream and chocolate and all 0:37:11.000 --> 0:37:12.560 kind of stuff. You want to walk up and get 0:37:12.560 --> 0:37:16.000 some candy at the candy shop, No, ma'am. 0:37:16.280 --> 0:37:18.600 And then I pulled out my piece to resistance. 0:37:19.320 --> 0:37:22.680 I and my apologies if you build these are like these, 0:37:22.719 --> 0:37:27.080 But I just abhor hotel pools because I think they're 0:37:27.160 --> 0:37:32.120 just like big basins of bacteria. And so I love pools, 0:37:32.120 --> 0:37:35.880 but just not you know, pools with that much strange 0:37:35.880 --> 0:37:38.520 flesh in it, And so I don't usually swim in 0:37:38.560 --> 0:37:39.320 the hotel pools. 0:37:39.400 --> 0:37:43.200 Missy loves hotel pools. So I kind of pulled. 0:37:42.920 --> 0:37:45.160 The last trick out of my bag and I said, baby, 0:37:45.719 --> 0:37:47.600 you want to go swim in the hotel pool. There's 0:37:47.640 --> 0:37:52.560 like a big slide in everything. And she said, no, ma'am. 0:37:53.000 --> 0:37:55.960 It takes me a long time. I am not the 0:37:56.000 --> 0:37:59.120 sharpest tool in the shed. But I finally, after four 0:37:59.160 --> 0:38:02.560 flat refusal, realized I am getting on my child's nerves. 0:38:03.560 --> 0:38:05.960 You know, she's she was eleven at the time. 0:38:06.080 --> 0:38:09.240 She's just stepping into pubrey and I thought, oh my goodness, 0:38:09.320 --> 0:38:11.640 I'm not her hero anymore. I'm getting on your nerves. 0:38:12.239 --> 0:38:15.560 And so I said, honey, am I getting on your nerves? 0:38:15.920 --> 0:38:21.959 And she said yes, ma'am. She said, is that disrespectful? 0:38:22.000 --> 0:38:25.240 I said, no, baby, that's not disrespectful. That's so normal. 0:38:25.520 --> 0:38:27.200 As a matter of fact, over the next few years, 0:38:27.239 --> 0:38:29.160 I'm going to get on your last nerve. 0:38:29.760 --> 0:38:31.279 That's part of what growing up is. 0:38:31.320 --> 0:38:33.680 I said, that's not disrespectful, honey, that's just normal. 0:38:34.080 --> 0:38:36.919 So here's the deal. I'm going to draw an imaginary 0:38:37.160 --> 0:38:38.400 line down. 0:38:38.320 --> 0:38:40.960 This hotel room, and you get to stay on this 0:38:41.040 --> 0:38:42.839 side of the hotel room, and you've got a little 0:38:42.840 --> 0:38:44.840 bit of homework. She can do the homework on your iPad, 0:38:44.960 --> 0:38:47.040 and then after that you watch whatever you want to watch. 0:38:47.440 --> 0:38:49.160 And then I'll stay on this side because I've got 0:38:49.200 --> 0:38:51.400 a little bit of homework too, and we can just 0:38:51.480 --> 0:38:55.080 stay on our separate size of the hotel room. And 0:38:55.080 --> 0:38:58.439 if you need me, just call me, but I'll stay 0:38:58.480 --> 0:39:00.920 over here and I won't bug you anymore. 0:39:00.960 --> 0:39:02.480 And she said, yes, ma'am. 0:39:02.680 --> 0:39:06.360 And a couple of hours went by in that companionable silence, 0:39:06.920 --> 0:39:08.560 and then the sun went down. It was time for 0:39:08.640 --> 0:39:11.040 us to get ready for bed, and so we brushed 0:39:11.040 --> 0:39:14.640 our teeth. They had two sinks, and then we went 0:39:14.760 --> 0:39:17.000 to bed. They had two beds. Missy got in her 0:39:17.040 --> 0:39:19.600 little hotel bed and I got my little hotel bed. 0:39:19.680 --> 0:39:20.600 I turned out the light. 0:39:21.320 --> 0:39:26.120 Maybe thirty seconds passed, and then I heard my little 0:39:26.120 --> 0:39:28.759 girl and she said. 0:39:28.760 --> 0:39:33.680 Mama, will you come over here and goud on me, 0:39:33.840 --> 0:39:36.600 because I don't think of the hills are going to 0:39:36.640 --> 0:39:38.960 sleep if you don't come over here. 0:39:39.360 --> 0:39:40.000 And cut on me. 0:39:42.160 --> 0:39:45.680 And I said, I'll tell you what you can do. 0:39:46.920 --> 0:39:48.520 You can climb out of the window, and you can 0:39:48.520 --> 0:39:50.399 get in the snow and you walk through the snow, 0:39:50.440 --> 0:39:52.200 and you can go to the concierge, and you can 0:39:52.239 --> 0:39:54.879 ask the concierge if he'll bring you up to this floor, and. 0:39:54.800 --> 0:39:56.239 Then you can knock on the door of your bang 0:39:56.280 --> 0:39:57.640 really loud that I might answer the door. 0:39:57.680 --> 0:39:59.920 But I'm not sure. Do y'all think that's what I did? 0:40:02.280 --> 0:40:04.840 When she said, I just need to get pentecostal for 0:40:04.840 --> 0:40:05.560 a minute, like. 0:40:05.560 --> 0:40:08.320 I don't feel like I really preach unless the veins 0:40:08.360 --> 0:40:10.880 start poking out. And I did spit a little bit. 0:40:10.920 --> 0:40:13.680 I'll be just a little bit as fit. We call 0:40:13.719 --> 0:40:16.840 that annoying. I didn't yell. 0:40:16.960 --> 0:40:18.920 I didn't tell her she had to go outside and 0:40:18.960 --> 0:40:22.200 bang on the door. When she said, Mama, will you 0:40:22.320 --> 0:40:23.600 come over here and cuddle me? 0:40:23.960 --> 0:40:24.240 Y'all? 0:40:24.320 --> 0:40:28.560 I leapt from my bed to hers, and I brought snacks. 0:40:29.560 --> 0:40:34.200 I mean, this is my kid, this is my daughter. 0:40:34.520 --> 0:40:39.200 I will give her anything I have. And my love 0:40:39.280 --> 0:40:45.120 for my kid pals next to God's love for us. 0:40:45.239 --> 0:40:49.960 We forget that we're co eers, we forget that we're 0:40:50.040 --> 0:40:51.160 right next to him. 0:40:51.200 --> 0:40:58.000 We don't have to bang. He's for us, not against us. 0:40:58.080 --> 0:41:01.440 One glance of your eyes, you've captured his heart. 0:41:01.880 --> 0:41:04.239 You don't have to put on matching T shirts and 0:41:04.320 --> 0:41:07.520 drive a long way to be in the presence. 0:41:08.520 --> 0:41:14.399 Of your creator, redeemer. He loves you. He loves you. 0:41:14.800 --> 0:41:18.280 He is a perfect holy God. 0:41:19.320 --> 0:41:25.640 That means he's transcendent, but he condescends. 0:41:24.880 --> 0:41:29.160 To be close to us. He's a relational god. He's 0:41:29.200 --> 0:41:35.560 a father, and he says, you are my favorite. You're 0:41:35.600 --> 0:41:40.239 my favorite. You're my favorite. You're my favorite. You're my favorite. 0:41:40.440 --> 0:41:41.480 You're my favorite. 0:41:42.480 --> 0:41:45.080 Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:41:45.600 --> 0:41:48.200 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:41:48.239 --> 0:41:50.839 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:41:50.840 --> 0:41:53.640 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:41:53.719 --> 0:41:55.520 thank all of you who are a part of Elevation. 0:41:56.040 --> 0:41:59.360 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 0:41:59.719 --> 0:42:02.719 just these messages, it's because of you that we're able 0:42:02.760 --> 0:42:05.520 to reach people all around the world. And if you 0:42:05.600 --> 0:42:08.480 want more information on how to be a part of Elevation, 0:42:09.040 --> 0:42:12.400 click the link in the description. Thanks again for listening. 0:42:12.400 --> 0:42:15.759 Make sure to leave a review, share the message, and subscribe. 0:42:16.040 --> 0:42:25.440 God bless you.