Seeing Jesus: The Message is Mercy

Well, good morning, everybody. Oh, good to see you guys here.

It's some of you guys are going on vacation. Some people are about to leave for Hawaii. I was just saying that to make you jealous because I'm jealous. And, you know, we should just join in. No, don't be jealous. That's that's not biblical. Yeah, you guys don't be jealous of the people going to Hawaii. All right. So here we are. Let's just pray. I think that's a good way to start. Would you guys just join me? Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, thank you so much. Thank you that we can just enter into your word, Lord, wherever we're at this morning. For those who are watching online and sick at home and, you know, those who are on a Hawaiian island having an awesome time. Lord, wherever we're at, we want to worship you. We want to hear from you. We know that the best things in this life compare not at all to your goodness and your grace.

And likewise, the difficulties that we face, the pain, the sickness, the illness, Lord, all of that is being washed away, consumed in your love and in your kindness, God. And so we are excited to open your word today. We're excited to be in your presence today. We're excited to seek your face and to know you more, Jesus. So, Lord, give us a greater measure of excitement and anticipation, Lord. Give us a greater measure of hope and your spirit, Lord. We ask all that in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right. So we're continuing on to the book of Matthew, Matthew 8, 28. We're going to wrap up chapter 8 today. I was going to like go on to 9, but I just had to slow down a little bit. So you can go ahead and open up your Bible and you should also be prepared. I'm going to pull you over into Mark a little bit, but that's really close to Matthew. So you won't have any trouble finding that. So Matthew 8, 28 is where we're going to pick up, but we're just continuing on.

You know, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, we are reading through and talking through and thinking through and praying through the gospel of Matthew, this really the largest account of Jesus's life and ministry. And really, things are really starting to pick up in the narrative. Jesus has, you know, we get his account of his early life. And then really right away, as he grows up around his 30s, coming into his 30s, he starts his ministry and it's just explosive.

He has, at this point, we've gone through the narrative. We've seen that he is a man of great power. like he possesses a kind of connection to God where he is able to heal.

He is a powerful and authoritative teacher. We've read the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5 through 7, this definitive presentation of Jesus' ministry and everybody walks away saying, oh my goodness, this guy, he speaks with a kind of authority. Like he speaks with a kind of godliness and a kind of like authenticity that we've never seen before. And he has that, he has the power to heal. He has the power to, as we're going to see here, and as we've seen before, to cast out demons.

He has power over the spiritual forces in the world. And we're going to see next week in Matthew, he has the power to forgive sin. So we have this exhaustive presentation of the person of Jesus and his extensive authority in every realm that we could imagine him having authority. He has it. And in the narrative, Matthew's writing, he's going out of his way, In this little cycle that we're in to just demonstrate all the ways in which Jesus has power.

Has authority. So we're going to pick up there in Matthew 28, okay? Just continuing on this narrative as Jesus begins to heal two people who are demon-possessed. It says this in Matthew 28. When he had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadrenes, two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. So Jesus has crossed the Sea of Galilee. We looked at last week how he calmed the wind and the waves.

And this is just another demonstration of his authority. Even the wind and the waves obey him. And his disciples wonder, what kind of a man is this? And as if that weren't enough, he lands on the other side in this region of the Gadrenes, which honestly, scholars don't really know precisely where that is.

But somewhere on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he comes out of his boat And he is met with these two demon-possessed men and we're told that they've been living in caves, actually in tombs in this instance, because in the ancient worlds, they didn't really bury their dead. They would place, they would embalm them and then place them in tombs.

And so these places, these caves where dead people are, places of uncleanness, places where you only need to go in certain circumstances to lay dead bodies, these men are just living in there, living in the tombs on the side of the lake. And these men would have been known in the area. When Jesus had come ashore, certainly somebody would have seen him and said, don't go over there because there's this pair of violent people hiding out in these tombs and they're going to attack you.

You might have authority. So we're just looking out for you. So don't go over to that place. But I don't know if Jesus wasn't warned or if he just doesn't care. But he goes ahead and he stumbles across these people. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago, but I mean, it just keeps coming up in the narrative. So I think what's worth pointing out again, it's interesting how Matthew approaches the topic of demon possession.

He doesn't say something like we would, like if we were trying to explain the Bible to somebody in culture now, we wouldn't say, he doesn't say something like, now I know it's hard to believe, but there were these demon possessed guys. Matthew just presents it like, oh, this is like what everybody knows is true of the world, is that sometimes you meet people and they're normal, and sometimes you meet people and they have demons.

He doesn't really pull his punches. He doesn't really qualify what he's saying. He says this is what it is. The Bible is really unapologetic in talking about the reality of demonic forces, that there's a spiritual reality beyond what we can see. The Bible is unapologetic in its presentation of what the world really looks like.

And honestly, a lot of me wants to just like, like as a modern person, I want to read this and I just want to say, ah, well, you know, they had demon possession, we have addiction, you know, they had demon possession and we have, you know, depression, right? And I want to map my kind of worldview on top of this stuff. I want to just say like, who cares? I can read past those things. But I think that the reality is that understanding the world that we live in is actually full of spiritual forces.

It's pretty important. And it's just, it's important because it's really at the core of the New Testament. And I know that sounds weird. And I know like, we don't like weird stuff. But like, to an extent, if we're going to read the Bible, honestly, we kind of have to accept the presentation of reality as it comes to us.

And at least Matthew just kind of breathlessly and without apology just presents the world as being a place where sometimes people get possessed by demonic forces. And he doesn't apologize to us about that. And we've looked actually over the last couple weeks at this chart. I bring it up. I'm probably going to keep bringing it up a little bit here in this section. This chart, which is, I think, a helpful depiction of the Bible's presentation of reality.

What are the underlying worldview assumptions that the biblical authors think about the world, that comes through in the way that they talk about the world? This chart kind of makes that clear. And we talked about how the New Testament especially makes it super clear that until Jesus comes again, Again, there's an understanding that we, on this side of his return, are living in what the Bible calls in Galatians, a present evil age.

There is a sense. And I mean, Christians are sometimes kind of like poo-pooed for talking about the world this way. Non-Christians are like, what's so wrong with the world, right? And the Bible has a very clear answer to that. The Bible says there's really something that is deeply wrong with the world. Paul talks about that in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4.

He says, in their case, speaking to unbelievers, speaking to the normative default mode of all people in the world, he says, in their case, the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. So somebody who doesn't know Jesus says, what's the big deal?

What's so wrong with the world? I mean, what's wrong with the world, according to the Bible, is that Satan has authority over things that we live in this present evil age, and he's blinded people to see the goodness and grace and kindness of Jesus Christ. And that is a serious problem. It's not just like, oh, we can manage sort of problem.

It's not that sort of a problem. That this age that we live in, Satan has kind of Dominated and he's keeping people From knowing God Sin and deception are just Normative. So there's this very matter-of-fact presentation of the reality that Satan and his demons have some kind of degree of authority, degree of power in the world that we live in. I think you can totally overdo that, right? A lot of Christians spend a lot of time thinking about the demonic, but you can also underdo it.

So I'm just saying let's kind of shoot right down the middle. Let's be honest about what the Bible says about the world, the fact that the world is deceived, that the world is living in a present evil age. You know, because it's interesting, like you look at the Bible, yes, there's this kind of underlying assumption that there are spiritual forces in the world. But the Bible writers also don't spend much time giving us instructions about

how to avoid the demonic. Like a lot of people, a lot of Christians get kind of obsessed with this stuff, right? And they get into all the names of the demons and stuff like that. And it's like, that's funny because there's all very few names of the demons in the Bible. I feel like we would have that information given to us. The Bible does not prescribe fear or worry about the results of the demonic. Instead, actually, the Bible presents the problem right alongside the solution.

It presents the difficulty and the reality and the pain and the deception of the spiritual realm right along with the light of the gospel. Whenever the demonic is talked about, we're also talking about the light and the truth and the power and the authority of Jesus to save and break that power.

That is the New Testament's obsession. Whenever, whatever power Satan has, whatever authority the demons have, Jesus has greater power and greater authority. And in Matthew, it's just like trying to do this really comprehensive view saying, look at all the ways in which the world is deceived. Look at all the ways in which the world is broken. Look at all the ways in which sin has come into the world and broken things. And Jesus is presented as the solution in every single one.

He is going. He is out into the world. He is unafraid and he is setting people free. He's going into the unclean places and with the unclean people, the people who are alienated, the people who are blind, and he is mercy, power, grace, and authority in every moment, in every circumstances. He is never caught on his back foot. I mean, even the demon that Jesus encounters here on the shores of Galilee, admit that Jesus has all the authority.

Keep reading in Matthew 8, 29. So Jesus is going around, two violent, demonic-possessed men come up, and then picking up in the narrative, suddenly they shouted, what do you have to do with us, son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? A long way off from them, there was a large herd of pigs feeding. If you drive us out, the demons begged him, send us into that herd of pigs.

Go, he told them. So when he had come out, they entered the pigs and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. See, long before any of even Jesus's followers, any of Jesus's disciples have come to accept and realize who he is, this demon possessed man confesses the truth about who Jesus is. He says, you're the son of God. And this demon asks him, asks him this question. He says, have you come to torment us before the time?

And then they make a suggestion, you know, if you drive us out, here's how maybe you should do it. Because so it's like an understanding of the demon, like you can drive us out. You can do whatever you want. And minute, can I just make it a little bit easier for you? Easier for us, like easier for everybody. Let's do this in the convenient way, Jesus. We know you have the power and authority, but I don't want to stress you out too much. There's a herd of pigs. Let's just take care of it.

Okay. And there's this understanding the demon, the demon understands they're no match for Jesus. They're surprised he's here. It's kind of like we expected you, but not quite yet because he's early, right? They know, I mean, he, he, they confess this much. They have an appointed, they have an appointment with the son of God. They know that the son of God is going to show up sometime. They know, he knows, you know, they know they have an appointment with the son

of God. They know that as, as like people who are demonic forces, spiritual forces aligned with Satan, that they're going to face judgment and eternal destruction. But they think, but for now, we get to do whatever we want because this is the present evil age. And so we get to wreck things. But Jesus has shown up before the time. See, as far as the demons are concerned, this present evil age isn't over. They understand it will be one day, but for now, they think,

man, they're in charge. See, they kind of realize this bottom half of the graph, right? I'll get this chart up again, right? So we've been looking through this and it's this again. And they kind of realize, okay, we live in this present evil age. One day there's going to be judgment, but they don't think it's now. But Jesus actually, I think at the top, I'm asking you to skip one ahead, right? Sorry there, Stephen. Oh, I'm the worst with my slides. Jesus has come before the time. He's come.

His ministry of grace and mercy and kindness and power and authority is all being sealed and secured by his death on the cross. and he's introducing the kingdom of God here in the midst of this present evil age. This is what Matthew's pulling out. Because the Jewish people, like in Jesus' time, the Jews understood there's going to be a day when the Messiah is going to come. He's going to judge everything. He's going to judge the Romans. He's going to judge our oppressors.

He's going to judge spiritual forces. They would have gotten the whole bottom of the half, just like the demons got the whole bottom half. They understand that there's going to be a progression, that this present evil age is going to come to an end and the kingdom of God is going to come. And then everything's going to be great in this future age. But Jesus is coming before the time now. And he is setting up his kingdom now. What we see in Matthew is that Jesus is starting something.

He is interrupting this present evil age. Before he finally comes to judge Satan and the forces of darkness and all sin and all wickedness and put everything under his feet, he is now setting up his kingdom and he is drawing near and he's doing it for the sake of rescue and mercy and grace for people like me and like you who are living in the midst of this present evil age and stuck in our own sin and blinded by the deception that is just ingrained in the reality that we live in.

In John 12, Jesus is praying this prayer. It's so beautiful. He prays this prayer in John 12. He says, Father, glorify your name. And then what happens? A voice came from heaven, says, I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. And then the crowd standing there heard it and said, it was thunder. Others said, an angel has spoken to him. And Jesus responded, this voice came not for me, but for you. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself. And he said this to indicate the kind of death that he was about to die. So at the end of his ministry, Jesus understands, man, this is what I've come for. There's a ruler of this age. I'm going to cast him out. Now is the time. It is before the time. It is for the sake of mercy.

And as I offer myself up on a cross, as I am lifted up, demonstrating the love and kindness and grace of God, I will draw people out of their darkness, out of their deception to myself, and then they're going to have life everlasting.

And I'm going to simultaneously break the power of sin and death. I'm going to judge wickedness, judge evil, put it all on display, and I'm going to show my kindness to people. See, the demons know that one day their time will come, but Jesus says, now is the judgment of this world. Jesus knew that on his cross, he would break the stronghold of Satan. He would destroy the power of darkness and he would make a way to save.

And interestingly, Matthew doesn't actually focus on what happens to these demon-possessed men after the demons are cast out. But in the Gospel of Mark, this same story is kind of recounted with a little bit of a different perspective, just focusing on one of the men. And between Mark's account of this event and Matthew's account of this event, we get to see actually three reactions to what Jesus does here. And I actually want to spend the rest of our time just looking at those reactions.

Mark focuses on the one man. He says what happens to him after Jesus casts out the demon that was tormenting to him. And it says this in Mark 5.18. I've got it up here. we see the man's reaction. It's that as he, as Jesus was getting into the boat, like he's cast out the demon, he's about to leave. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. So first we see the man's reaction. Jesus heals him, casts out this demon.

Who knows how long he's been living in these tombs. Who knows how long he's been just basically friends with dead people. Okay. And as Jesus is about to leave, he says, no way. You're not going to leave without me. He tries to get into the boat with Jesus. He begs him. He says, let me remain with you. Begs him, let me remain with you. Because this man has just gotten something from Jesus, right? He's set free. Jesus puts no conditions upon this man. He just says, no, demon's gone.

You're set free. You can have your life back. But what's amazing about this man is he doesn't want his life back. He doesn't want the life that he had before. He doesn't want to go back to where he was. He knows what happened to him before. He knows what happened as he lived his life alone. He knows how he got to this place when he wasn't with Jesus. And he says, oh, no, Jesus, you've set me free. And I want this new life. And I just want to be where you are.

That's what I want. Like, I'll get in the boat. I don't care. I don't even know where the boat is going. I just want to be close to you, Jesus. And I can't help but think that Jesus was so pleased by that. This man models, I think, the beautiful and appropriate and awesome response to the grace and kindness and mercy that Jesus gives. And it's just that, man, when Jesus sets us free, we don't just say, thank you, Jesus.

I'm just going to go back to the life we had. We say, I just want to be near you now. And I know if you've been saved by Jesus, and I know so many of you have, you were like that once, and maybe you want that again. And can I just say, just be close to him again. Maybe you've forgotten how sweet and how good that was. It's easy to do because the God of this age is deceiving unbelievers, and he can deceive us too. We can get deceived right along with him.

But I mean, look at, we are called to be close to Jesus, just like this man was. Seek first the kingdom of God. Everything else will be added to you. It's like the refrain of scripture. Just be where the Lord is. Better is one day in his courts than a thousand elsewhere.

And you contrast that reaction to the reaction of the pig farmers. It's really interesting, right? Because a lot of people see this happening. There's this pig farmers. They were watching all this happen probably from a distance because they didn't want to get near those people, right? And they're like, oh, this Jesus guy's about to get beat up. That's probably what they're thinking, right? And much to their surprise, what happens is Jesus casts out the demons and then

sends them into their herd of pigs. And the pigs go down the hill and it's bad. So we pick that up in Matthew 8, 33. Then the men who tended them fled, right? As you would. Like, oh gosh, I'm going to get out of here. They went to the city and reported everything, especially what happened to those who were demon-possessed. At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. So the servants, right? They were watching over these now dead demon-possessed pigs. They had one job to keep those pigs alive.

And I like that he says, And they told especially about the demon possessed thing. It's just like, it's like, hey, really great news. Those guys were demon possessed. They're not demon possessed anymore. It's so great. The pigs are dead. But let's talk about the demon possessed guys, right? Because if you came to your boss and you had one job and you didn't, you just failed at that job miserably. And literally it's a financial ruin for whoever was the pig farmer here.

The pigs are dead. And then, you know, the news is delivered. And then the people react. I mean, you would react. You're going to react no matter what. There's two things have happened. Men, probably men known to them, people maybe who are part of their family, are set free from demons, and some pigs are dead. And they react, and so they go out to see Jesus. And what are they going to say to him? They're going to say, Yes, you freed the demon-possessed men!

No! What do they say? They say, when they saw him they begged him to leave their region, See, these people see the kingdom of God coming among them. They see two men set free, no doubt people that they know. They hear about the great power and kindness of mercy and mercy of Jesus to just like give people life again. But when he comes to them, they're just like, we're good. We are not interested. See, Jesus, it's bad for the pig business that you're here.

So if you just be along your way, we'll just let that be that. Good for the demon-possessed guys, but we, we don't have any demons. And so what do we need you for? Thank you for setting them free. Please be on your way. And you know, you don't get Jesus' immediate reaction to these people. But we actually do get one a little bit later. This is pretty nuanced. But I can't imagine he was surprised. Not just because he's God. But because like he knows what's in the heart of people.

After all, Jesus knows, actually he knows what the world is like. He knows that Satan has gone around blinding people to the point where they don't know up from down. They don't know left from right. They don't know good from bad. They don't know what's valuable in life and what's really not that important. And so they prize their pigs, this unclean animal, over the grace and mercy of God among them, over the kingdom of God. He's not surprised. He's not surprised.

The God of this age has deceived them into thinking that, well, life isn't so bad. It could be worse. There could be worse things. So we really don't need a savior. We really just actually wanted the pigs. Thank you very much.

We'd rather that you just go. But as Jesus talks to the man that's healed, right? We go going back to the book of Mark, going back to the account of the same demoniac here in Mark 15, we see Jesus talking to the man who is demon possessed, who now wants to get into the boat with Jesus. And this is what he says to him. Okay, so he wants to get into the boat, but Jesus did not let him.

And he tells him, go home to your own people and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. And so he went out and he began to proclaim in the Decapolis, there's 10 cities around Galilee, how much Jesus had done for him. And they were all amazed. You see, this is crazy. What happens? Jesus sets these people free. One of them wants to stay senior. I mean, pig farmers, not so much. They say, we don't want you here.

And Jesus doesn't argue with, he doesn't say, don't you know I'm the son of God? The demon knew. You don't know that I'm the son of God? What does he do? He takes the man who was healed and in just a remarkable act of mercy, he says, you go back to those people and you tell them what I've done for you. The same people who'd rather just not have anything to do with the kingdom of

God. There's people who are blind to my power and my grace and my kindness who just kind of throw it in my face and just say, would you just move along? Because we'd rather have the pigs. You go to them and you tell them what God has done. You tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he's had mercy on you. Because Jesus had mercy on that man and he had mercy on these people. He says, I know you don't want to hear it, but you have to hear it.

And that mercy is expressed by sending that man as a witness. It's amazing that Jesus, God himself, didn't just strike these people down, right? But then the fact that he says, I know you don't want to hear anything from me, but you've got to hear it from someone. And so in my patience and in my kindness, I'm going to take this person who's been set free and I'm going to send him to you and you're going to hear. You won't hear from me. You don't want to receive what I have.

Would you hear what I did for him? You've got to hear this from someone. I'm going to send this man who's been among you, who you've ignored in these caves all this time, who's been living with your dead relatives and who you call unclean. And I'm going to show you how I've loved him. The message that Jesus delivers is not watch out. It's not you better respect my authority. Ty Was that a South Park reference?

I apologize That was in the recesses of my brain Because the world is deceived, When I was a teenager I lived in Colorado I had to watch South Park. Jesus doesn't go around threatening. He doesn't go around with a message of his power. He goes around sending people proclaiming his mercy. The message of the gospel is mercy. The message is mercy every single time. You know, I love I-90. I love I-90 because we have people from a lot of different walks of life.

We have some people who have real testimonies of God's mercy. We have people, quite a few people who are in recovery. You know, they've been set free from addiction. People who should be dead, right? Who have these miraculous stories of having lived a kind of life where it's like, man, everybody else wrote me off. I was pretty much dead to the world, but Jesus just showed up in my life and he gave me so much kindness and he gave me so much grace and he saved me in the middle of that.

And so many of you guys have those kinds of stories, but other of you guys have the different sort of stories. You actually kind of have the story that I have, and that's that you were just pig farmers. I was a good pig farmer. I didn't lead a wild life. I never did. I was good in school. You know, I had my life together by all metrics. I was a good pig farmer. I could do stuff. I could take care of myself.

I didn't live in a wild way. I kept stuff together. Maybe I pushed the boundaries a little bit, but it was like really suburban kid kind of stuff. Nobody's making a movie about my life. Wouldn't be very interesting. I have my life pretty well handled. And you'd think I didn't need much mercy. I didn't really think I needed much mercy. Because I was outperforming my peers. I was getting the grades. I was making enough money. I was keeping old things on the up and up.

Which is pretty much what the world tells you life is about. Because if you're doing fine, you don't have to be the best. But if you're doing fine, what do you need? Could be doing a lot worse. If you're doing fine, what do you need mercy for? You can manage. You've got yourself to rely on. You've got your own power. You've got your own wits. Isn't that enough? But I have experienced the mercy of God. And I wasn't even looking for it.

And now I know two things. Number one, I know that he's just forgiven my sin And I could say, well, my sin compared to someone who's demon-possessed And probably did a bunch of occult stuff and got themselves into this possession Like, well, what is that? What is that? Like my little suburban, kind of silly, kind of not writing a movie about it sin Like, forgive my sin, I mean, okay, what did I really do? I can write that off, you know, but then I think about my life,

right? I think about the way that I have been. And, you know, my sin is not so much that I did all these bad things, but it's certainly this. It's that I like just am so habitually, even continue to be like so into my own self. And Jesus saved me from that. And I didn't know that I needed saving from that. I didn't know that I needed his mercy.

John 14, 23, Jesus says this. He says, if anyone loves me, he'll keep my word and my father will love him and he will come and we will come to him and make our home with him. The thing is like, like if you're demon possessed, living in a cave, you have no place to be. You've got nothing in this world. The mercy of Jesus shows up in your life and it's just like, oh man, this is night and day. This is so much better. Like I have this amazing power of God in my life.

And like, oh man, I just want to run to Jesus. But if you're a lot like me, like you're just a good pig farmer and Jesus is going to forgive your sin. You're like, yes, super important. Really at the heart of the gospel, need my sin forgiven. But to me, okay. And this is just like, maybe this is a little heretical. I don't think so. I don't think so. To me, the good news is this. Like, yeah, I so appreciate that God looks at my sin and he just says, it's gone.

It's as far as the east is from the west. But that I get this instead, that's the mercy to me. Because you know what? For all of my skill and all of my keeping my life together, I was so lonely and I was so hopeless and I had no purpose in my life. But the fact that Jesus not only would forgive me, But then he says, and then I want to make my home with you. There's no mercy like that. And that's the same mercy that we all get.

Like this guy who just like totally lost, totally demon possessed, totally given over to the powers of darkness, Jesus says, I'm going to lift you up. I'm going to give you a new life. And then I'm going to be with you. I'm going to put my word on your lips and I'm going to put my spirit in your heart. I'm going to transform your life to a level that you don't understand. And I'm going to take all your brokenness and your sin, and I'm just going to

cast it away. And the fact that God takes someone like that. And then he can take someone like, even like these pig farmers who just said, man, I'm just good. I've got my life together. Why would I need your mercy, Jesus? Like I'm not requiring your mercy and just says, you don't even know how alone you are. You don't even know how lost you are. You don't even know how deceived you are. You don't even know how silly your life is and how meaningless it is without me.

To both of those people, Jesus says, my mercy is the message that I have for you, and I want to give you something so much better than the life that you have. A life of my presence, a life of my love, a life that is marked by my care and my comfort and the power of the Spirit working in you. A life where you have a purpose, where you didn't have a purpose, or your purpose was just, you know, slaughtering pigs. A life where you have something so much more. You were made for fellowship with God.

You guys, last week I went to a conference and a couple weeks ago I told you I was going to go see N.T. Wright. N.T. Wright is the Taylor Swift of theologians. Which is really funny when you hear N.T. Wright speak. He's like, well. He's an older British gentleman and he doesn't have Taylor's charisma. But he's got a lot to say. And he actually taught this message and he basically says, hey look, and I mean, And he's like, seriously, one of the foremost authorities on scripture living today.

And he's talking about how the whole point of God's intervention, his revelation, everything that he's going to do, what's he doing? He's taking a world where since the fall, the world has just been like alien to him, and he's just filling it all with his presence. That's what God's doing. Like that's his eternal plan. The reason that he's going to judge, the reason that he's coming again, the hope and consummation of this future age and the glory of God that's coming.

It's all about making manifest the reality of that he wants to be with us, with his people, with his creation, that he wants to be known and worshipped by all things. Not just for the sake of his, you know, rightful place as God of all who deserves all glory, but because he is best known as glorious and kind and good by those who have been recipients of his mercy. He's pouring out grace, and there's so much beauty in it. And you might think, well, my life is fine. It is not.

Short of Jesus coming into your heart, making a home with you, you enjoying your life, you pursuing him, getting in the boat with him, saying, Jesus, I just want to be where you are.

Your life is not what it is meant to be, what it could be, what you are called to be, what Jesus invites you into, what his death on the cross makes possible, which is a life of fellowship, a life of mercy, and a life of grace. And so you may have never done that before. Maybe you've never just like trusted Jesus and had him come in and make his home with you, and you can do that.

Or maybe you have done that before, and maybe you just need a reminder of what it was like when you first knew Jesus, and you were just like, Jesus, I just want to be where you are. Can I just remind you that that is... You're called to. You are called to be somebody who pursues Jesus and who knows him and who loves him and who experiences his mercy and grace and kindness every day. And so I just want to invite us into that again. Why don't we just stand up?

And I'm just going to pray. I want you guys to pray and then we'll worship the Lord together. Jesus, wherever we're at, would you put it upon on our hearts. God, that you've been so merciful, that you've been so gracious, that you've been so kind. Would you remind us of all that you've done, Lord? You've taken away our sin, Lord, and then you've taken our wandering and our lostness and our obsession with false things, and you've given us yourself. Your spirit, your gospel, your word.

Lord, you bathe us, You wash us, you immerse us in your presence and in your life, Lord. We want to be where you are, Lord, and to know you more. And so, God, whatever's in the way, Lord, if it's we've grown apathetic, Lord, if it's that we've never even seen or known that mercy, Lord, if it's that we think that we're just fine on our own and what's the problem, God, would you be louder and clearer and more powerful than whatever it is that stands in the way?

And so, Lord, right now, I pray for the power of your spirit. Lord, would you come upon us? Lord, would you convict us of sin? Lord, that we can release our sin to you, that you pay the price for it, of righteousness, of a calling that we have to be in fellowship with you, of judgment, Lord, the fact that you are overcoming this world and all the things that are futile in this world, Lord, that they mean nothing in light of your kindness and your grace and your mercy and your purpose.

Oh, Jesus, Lord, would you make things clear to us? Lord, would you let us see what's good and what's right and what's valuable and what's true? Come, Holy Spirit. Jesus, let us know you more. Let us be people who beg you to be where you are, Lord. We want to be where you are, Lord.

So we seek you. We set ourselves to seek you yet again. And show yourself to us, we pray. Hey, let's worship the Lord together.