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"Here as in Heaven."
For more information visit : garden.church
Welcome to Garden Church Podcast. For the next 3 weeks, we have the great pleasure of hosting Pugh Hughes from KXC in London. And during this time, he'll be leading us in a mini series called awakening the culture. Worldwide, we're seeing the rumblings of a significant movement of the spirit. And as the church wakes up and comes alive, how can we assure that this awakening does not stay inside the church walls, but sets a fire in the surrounding culture?
Intro/Outro:This is gonna be good. Enjoy.
Pete:It is an absolute joy to be here. I feel like a kid in a sweet shop. I'm just so excited to be amongst you for the next few weeks, teaching this series awakening the the culture. So thank you for having me, for hosting myself, my family. It's a joy to be here.
Pete:We feel like over the next few weeks, we are living the dream. 2 of my passions, 2 things that I love are merging over the next few weeks. 1 is the lifestyle of Orange County. The second thing is being amongst the family of God in church. But let me start with Orange County.
Pete:You have the sun. Now the sun visits us from time to time in London. It dwells here, and that's a game changer. So to be where the sun dwells, that's an absolute gift. More than the sun, you have the sea.
Pete:That's a Billy bonus. More than the sea, you have In N Out Burger. Now I just want you for a moment to lean into empathy. Imagine a life without In N Out Burger. It's a nightmare.
Pete:I'm living that nightmare back in the UK. You have Chick Fil A. You have Raising Cane's. So my wife and I, our 3 kids, we arrived on Thursday evening. We've only been here a couple of days.
Pete:We've already been to In N Out Burger. We've been to Raising Cane's. We've been to the Bear Flag Tacos place. We're heading to Chick Fil A for lunch today. What?
Pete:Oh, because it's the Sabbath. You've prepared me. I need to break this news to my family. They are gonna be heartbroken. We'll find a plan b.
Pete:In 3 weeks' time, when we get on a plane, I expect to be 20 stone, but very happy, And my kids will be very, very happy too. So we are living the dream here in SoCal. And more than that, it's a joy to be with you at Garden Church. As Darren said, we've known each other for 20 or so years. We've had shared mentors.
Pete:We've known each other's stories. I heard the dream of this church before this church became a reality. I've been praying for this church. I've preached here a few times before. I love this church.
Pete:So to get to be amongst extended family, for me, this is an incredible gift, so it's a delight to be here. I wanna start by sharing my working assumption for ministry. I think it's gonna help at the beginning of the next 3 weeks for me to share where I'm coming for from my assumption in ministry. And I bring this assumption to every Sunday gathering like this, whether it's in London or here in SoCal. I bring this assumption to every staff meeting that I'm hosting to every conference, to every boardroom.
Pete:And the assumption is this, that we're at the beginning of a very significant move of God in the Western world. So I wanna name that from the get go. That's what I'm bringing to this moment. I believe we're at the beginning of a very, very significant move of the spirit. Isaiah 43, God says, behold, I'm doing a new thing.
Pete:It springs up. Do you not perceive it? This is God speaking, essentially saying moves of the spirit should be perceivable. In other words, at their beginnings, you should be able to discern that something is shifting, that something's coming. And it seems to me that prophets and pastors, apostolic figures, leaders are articulating the same thing in a Western context that the atmosphere is shifting.
Pete:Something is stirring, waves of repentance hitting the church. The church taking holiness seriously again a spiritual hunger and you can feel it in this room as we worship together pour out the praises of God together you can feel it in the room, but beyond this room there's a spiritual openness in the surrounding culture, as secularism is being shaken and beginning to crumble there is an openness to Jesus like we've not known for many many years. Something is stirring. A spiritual, move of the spirit, I believe is beginning. But how do we ensure that this move of the spirit isn't just to make our gatherings more engaging, to provide a bit more entertainment, like a bit more fire as we gather together to host the presence of God?
Pete:How do we make sure that as the fire falls upon us, it moves beyond these buildings into the surrounding culture? Because historically, this is what's always happened. Revivals in the church lead to awakenings in the surrounding culture. That's what we're contending for, and the next 3 weeks is really about how do we contend for, an opening of the spirit, a movement of the spirit that revives the church and brings awakenings to surrounding culture. That's what we're going after.
Pete:But let me start the question. What is your heart posture towards your context? Whether that be Long Beach, LA, Orange County, SoCal, what is your heart posture towards your context, your environment? And does your heart posture match the posture of the father towards your context? Because of our brokenness, there's probably a gap between the 2.
Pete:How do we close the gap? Now if you were to visit my context in Central London, in King's Cross, and find 2 people, part of our church family, and ask them, like, what's your posture towards London? There's a good chance you're gonna hear very different responses. On one end of the spectrum, you're gonna hear something like this. London is a concrete jungle, and it's really hard to thrive in a jungle.
Pete:A few weeks ago, I escaped the jungle. Just for a weekend in the countryside, I saw a tree for the first time in a while. I just had to hug it. I embraced this tree. I just held it for a few moments, gave it a little quick kiss, because I wanted to sort of ground myself in nature once more.
Pete:I saw a cow, I thought I'm not gonna kiss the cow, that's probably dangerous. But I find London pretty hard to thrive in the pace of life, the competition, the drive, it's attritional to the mind, it's attritional to the soul. I'm actually really struggling in London. That's one end of the spectrum. Other end of the spectrum would be London.
Pete:It's the greatest city on planet Earth. I used to live in LA, but this is so much better. I'm obviously joking. I love this place. The energy and the creativity, the drive, the culture, the diversity, it's a global city shaping global culture And to get to contribute a small bit into that, I count that as a privilege.
Pete:I absolutely love London. Now there's a spectrum, and none of us are static. We move on that spectrum. So I wanna ask you the question, what's your posture towards SoCal? Where are you on that spectrum?
Pete:And, what is the posture of the father towards your context? And is a gap is there a gap between the 2? And if so, we're asking, lord, would you close the gap? The late Tim Keller did a a work on the theology of cities, the theology of place of our context, and he uses the posture of Jesus towards Jerusalem as a model for how God responds to has a heart for the city, and he names 4 things. Number 1, Jesus loves the city.
Pete:He weeps over Jerusalem. You weep over that which you have deep affection for. Jesus speaks truth to the city. He confronts the powers. He goes to the temple.
Pete:He turns the tables over. He speaks to the authorities in the city. Thirdly, he weds himself to the well-being of the city. And because of that, number 4, he sacrifices himself for the city. He bleeds outside of the city walls to redeem that which is within the city walls.
Pete:And it would be equally true to say he bleeds outside of Jerusalem to redeem London, to redeem LA, to redeem Long Beach, to redeem Orange County, to redeem SoCal. This is the heart of God towards your environment. And my prayer over the next few weeks is the gap between our posture towards our context and the posture of the father towards our context would begin to close. Amen? Amen.
Pete:Now for that to happen, we need some redemptive shifts. We're praying for some redemptive shifts in the surrounding culture, but for the redemptive shifts to be present out in the culture, they have to be present in our hearts. And over the next few weeks, we're gonna look at 3 redemptive shifts we're praying for within our hearts. As part of that, we're gonna look at how God engages with 3 cities. So we're gonna look at 3 case studies, and the case study today is the city of Babylon.
Pete:The redemptive shift we're gonna explore is the journey from extraction to servanthood, from trying to take from the environment to serve serve our agendas, to actually laying down our agendas to serve what God is doing in our context. If you've got a Bible, turn to Genesis chapter 11, and we're gonna read the origin story for Babylon. Every city has an origin story. The origin story of the new Jerusalem is the Garden of Eden. The origin story for Babylon is Babel, So we're gonna look at the origin story of this city.
Pete:So Genesis 11 starting in verse 1. Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in China and settled there. They said to each other, come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They used brick instead of stone and tar for mortar.
Pete:Then they said, come. Let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, and here's the key phrase, so that we may make a name for ourselves. This isn't about the glory of god. This is about the glory of man. Otherwise, we'll be scattered over the face of the whole earth.
Pete:But the lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The lord said, if as one people speaking the same language they've begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come. Let's go down and confuse their language, so they will not understand each other. So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
Pete:That is why it was called Babel, because there, the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there, the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. If asked to summarize this origin story for the city of Babylon, here would be the key ingredients. Number 1, this is humanity attempting to make their way to heaven without god. This is a utopian vision without god.
Pete:Number 2, there's confusion regarding language. And where there is confusion, there will always be division. The people are scattered, isolation, loneliness. People are trying to be God's rivals, fierce competition, and people are making a name for themselves, living for their name, their fame, their renown, their glory, their reputation. So that's the context for this origin story of Babylon.
Pete:What happens when the spirit is poured out on a city? Now I wanna look at acts 2 very briefly. Most commentators on acts chapter 2 would say beneath the text of the Pentecost story is the story of Babel. As the spirit is poured out, there is a reversal. Let me name the the different ingredients of the Pentecost story.
Pete:Number 1, heaven makes its way to humanity. The spirit comes down. We don't hype the spirit up, the spirit comes down. Secondly, there's understanding regarding language, and if there's understanding, there is unity, a unity that replaces division. The people are gathered, a sense of family.
Pete:People become God's servants, not his rivals. They start living for the name and the fame and the renown of Jesus. When the spirit is poured out in any city, we should expect Pentecost. We should expect these ingredients. As the spirit is increasingly poured out in this context, we should expect these ingredients to be present in so kao.
Pete:This is what happens when the spirit is poured out. This is what happens. The church is set on fire, but revivals in the church aren't meant to stay within the church. The fire spreads beyond the walls and brings awakening to the surrounding culture. We're not just contending for revival, for a knees up in our gatherings, a greater sense of the manifest presence of God in our gatherings.
Pete:Yes. We're praying for that, but we're praying the fire would spread and bring awakening to the surrounding culture. We wanna see the church on fire and the city life. The church on fire and SoCal alive, experiencing his presence. That's what we're contending for.
Pete:And if you look through revival history, more often than not, these revivals that begin in the church, as the fire is poured out, they spread to the surrounding culture. And a great example would be the evangelical awakening. That within a generation, it brought about prison reform, and political reform, and educational reform, and health reform, and the abolitionist movement, and the list goes on. When the fire falls, it begins to spread. Lord, you've done it before.
Pete:Would you do it again? So back to Babylon, the case study for our gathering today. Here's the question. How can Babylon be redeemed? And this is the answer.
Pete:For Babylon to experience redemption, this city that sets itself up apart from God, For Babylon to experience redemption, it needs the people of God carrying the presence of God to be in Babylon. They need to be in location. So it needs the people of God carrying the presence of God to be in Babylon. So we're gonna explore, how does God bring redemption to Babylon? So here's the back story.
Pete:You ready for a bit of history from the Old Testament? Not really, but we're going to do it anyway. So here we go. I'm taking you back to the Exodus narrative. The people of God, they are in Egypt.
Pete:They have been enslaved. They are oppressed. They are building cities for the Egyptian empire. What were the Egyptians known for? The answer is the pyramids, and their buildings, and their spectacular cities.
Pete:How did they do all these buildings? And the answer is they overpowered the surrounding nations. They enslaved the people using them as forced labor to build all these cities for the glory of Egypt. And Israel finds themselves in this moment of slavery, oppression, building cities for pharaoh, and then god intervenes. This incredible exodus narrative, the story of the 10 plagues, the parting of the waters of the Red Sea.
Pete:They journey through on dry land, and after 400 years of slavery, they're finally free. And what does Miriam do? She did what any one of us would do. She grabs the tambourine. She leads a song.
Pete:She starts celebrating a true Pentecostal there. Celebrating freedom after 400 years of slavery. We are free. And they journey through the wilderness. They have another climactic moment at Mount Sinai.
Pete:They enter into covenant relationship with God, they continue their journey through the wilderness, they hit another mass of water this time the river Jordan and it's a repeat miracle, the waters part and they walk through on dry land, they march around Jericho, the walls fall, they establish themselves in this land of abundance, and eventually, they settle in Jerusalem. The city of shalom, Jerushalom. Think of the language of shalom. It's not just the absence of war. It's it's peace that includes wholeness.
Pete:A vision of human flourishing, being fully fully alive. They settle in the land, the city of Jerusalem. They're no longer slaves. They're sons and daughters. Sons and daughters of god dwelling with Yahweh god in his city.
Pete:And eventually, they say to god, lord, we wanna build you a home. You've established us in this land, but we wanna build you a home, and we wanna build up this city not because we're forced to, we were forced to do it in Egypt. We were forced to do it for pharaoh, but we wanna do it for you as an act of worship. With our freedom, we wanna worship you. Thank you for what you've done.
Pete:We wanna build a home for you. So they begin to build a temple for Yahweh god. But don't know if you missed that on the slide. Let me just do it one more time. But God says to them, I've liberated you from slavery.
Pete:I've given you freedom, but never, never use your freedom to bring oppression to those that surround you. Your freedom is so that you can be a vehicle of healing, and blessing, and redemption, and restoration. You you are to be a light to the Gentiles. Never use your freedom to become a vehicle of oppression. Listen to these words.
Pete:Exodus 23, God says to the nation, do not oppress a a foreigner. You yourselves know how it feels. 400 years of slavery, generational slavery. You know how it feels to be foreigners, to be oppressed, because you were foreigners in Egypt. You've been blessed to be a blessing.
Pete:Don't use your freedom to bring about oppression. Well, how does the story continue? 1 Kings chapter 9 verse 15. Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the lord's temple, his own palace, the terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo, and Giza. Notice the language there, by the way, of forced labor, the language of conscription.
Pete:That's just language for slavery. Can you notice what's happening under King Solomon? They're building a temple for the god who liberates slaves using slaves. Just want that to land in the room. They are building a temple for the god who liberates slaves, and they are using slaves.
Pete:And then they start establishing these cities, Hazor, Megiddo, and Giza. What are these cities? The answer is they're military bases. Why why do you establish military bases if you're in a moment of shalom, in a city of shalom, Jerusalem? And the answer is you build up military bases if you're intending to go to war to expand your empire.
Pete:Let's keep reading 1 kings chapter 10 verse 26. Solomon accumulated chariots and horses. He had 1400 chariots and 12 1,000 horses. For those that brought your bibles, you might wanna underline 12,000 horses. Random bit of detail, actually pretty important.
Pete:We'll come back to it. Which he kept in the chariot cities, and also with them in Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones. If you've got a Bible, you might just wanna underline that. Silver as common in Jerusalem as stones.
Pete:And cedar as plentiful sycamore fig trees in the foothills. Solomon's horses were imported from? Egypt. Let's try that one more time. Solomon's horses were imported from?
Pete:Egypt. It's pretty important. We're gonna come back to it. They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for a 150. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the Aramaeans.
Pete:Now I want you to know that Solomon is buying and selling weapons of war. That means he's become an arms dealer. Now the people of God, nation of Israel, they knew the Torah, first five books of the bible, inside out. And there are certain laws set aside for the king, the the one who's ruling over them. So Solomon would have had the Torah memorized by heart, and he knew these laws set aside for his role.
Pete:Let me read you one of them, Deuteronomy 17 verse 16. The king, this is a direct command for Solomon, the king moreover must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself, or make the people return to? The answer is always gonna be Egypt, if you wanna play this game. It's a really fun game. And miss, not return to Egypt to get more of them, for the lord has told you, you are not to go back that way again.
Pete:He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. So if we do a little analysis on how Solomon is getting on here, so 12,000 horses, well, that's not a great start. Silver as common in Jerusalem as stones. The Lord clearly said, like, you must not to accumulate lots of silver and gold.
Pete:His horses were imported from? Egypt. Answer is always gonna be Egypt. What's going on here? Well, this would be the the summary.
Pete:Solomon has become the new pharaoh. Israel has become the new Egypt. The slaves have become the slave drivers. Now let's just feel the weight of that for a moment. This is the people of God we're talking about.
Pete:Solomon has become pharaoh. Israel has become Egypt. The slaves have become the slave drivers. So here's a summary of the narrative. They start in Egypt.
Pete:They are enslaved. They are oppressed. They experienced abuse as they build cities for the Egyptian army, Egyptian empire. And then there's a moment of liberation, the Exodus story. They establish themselves in Jerusalem, the city of Shalon.
Pete:They are sons and daughters, and with their freedom, they wanna build up the city and build a temple for Yahweh, god. And then in an act of rebellion, they start worshiping the idols of the surrounding nations. They turn from God and turn in on themselves, and they start building these cities, Hazar, Megiddo, and Giza to essentially extend their empire. They're building cities for themselves. Now god's gonna intervene.
Pete:He's gonna intervene. This is his people that he's in covenant relationship with. He's not gonna let the people who are set apart for his purposes to be a light to the Gentiles, a vehicle of healing, restoration, and redemption. He's not gonna allow them to become a vehicle of oppression, so he is gonna intervene. And we'll come to that part of the story in a moment.
Pete:But before we get to that part of the story, let's just look at our context. Let's move from the biblical historical context to our context here in SoCal, because there will be people in the room that if you were to articulate how you're finding your experience in SoCal right now, the language you probably wouldn't use is, I'm living the dream. I know the sun is shining nonstop. I know there are Chick Fil A's. They're not open on Sundays, but they're open every other day, and that's incredible.
Pete:Like, I know people think this place is like heaven on Earth, but for me personally, it feels like a nightmare I'm caught up in right now. I feel trapped. I feel held captive. And I don't know what you feel held captive by, but for some in the room, it will be a growing level of despair, or chronic anxiety or debt that has a suffocating grip on you or an addiction that you can't break free from, or chronic loneliness, or suicidal ideation, or a physical condition that's overwhelming, or a cycle of poverty that's robbing you of life, but you feel like you're living a nightmare. People around you may look like they're living the dream, but you feel caught up in a nightmare.
Pete:And if you can relate to any of that, can I name 2 pieces of really good news? Number 1, you're not alone. You may think you're alone, but you are not alone. In a room like this, there'll be many others who feel like they're caught up in a nightmare. You're not alone.
Pete:And here's the second bit of incredibly good news, you have a savior. His name is Jesus. He has power to save. He has power to save. His name, Jesus, the Aramaic is Yeshua, literally means Yahweh saves.
Pete:The root word in Yeshua is the Hebrew term, Yesha, which means salvation. But more specifically, it means a wide open space. The name of Jesus contains the mission of Jesus, Literally, Yahweh will lead you to a wide open space. The God who liberated his people from slavery in Egypt, He can liberate you right now from whatever you are going through. Jesus is here right now by his spirit with power to save.
Pete:Amen? That's unbelievably good news. Now there's the other end of the spectrum, and let's be honest, this is harder to talk about. And as I talk about it, I want you to know that I'm not pointing any fingers right now. This is something I wrestle with in the context of London, but there'll be others in the room you would articulate.
Pete:You know, I am living the dream. But here's the thing, you're living your dream, and your dream is different to the kingdom dream, and your dream casts a shadow, and in that shadow, other people are living a nightmare. Right? This is how narcissism works. It's toxic to the individual, but it's a toxicity that spreads really fast.
Pete:And this mindset looks like you using and abusing your environment to serve your ambitions and your goals. So as you articulate your posture towards SoCal, if you're being brutally honest, and we struggle to be brutally honest, but if we were being brutally honest, it would be like, do you know, I'm using SoCal to pursue my dream of comfort and convenience and calling. I wanna climb some ladders in my career, and this is a really good place for that. I'm using and abusing this environment for my dream, and that dream always casts a pretty big shadow. And here's the invitation for those in the room that are brave enough to acknowledge, do you know what?
Pete:I think I'm living my dream and not the kingdom dream. Right? The invitation is towards repentance. There's there's language, biblically speaking, for this mindset of narcissism, using and abusing your environment for your goals, and the language is sin. Martin Luther, the reformation theologian, defines sin as a life turned in on itself, a life curved inwards.
Pete:A sinful posture is a posture that basically your dreams, your goals, your ambitions, your desires, that's all that really matters. And if you need to use and abuse those around you to get where you need to get to, that's totally fine. That's a lifetime went inwards. That's a life of sin. And the invitation of Jesus is repent because the kingdom of God is is here right now.
Pete:It's breaking in right now in SoCal. It's breaking in right now, and it's time to jump on board what the spirit's doing. Repentance means to turn, Literally change your thinking, change your direction, and this gap between your posture towards SoCal and the posture of the father towards SoCal, we close the gap through repentance. When we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And there'll be some in the room.
Pete:It will require humility and bravery to acknowledge that will basically need to say, god, I think I'm using and abusing my context for my dream, and I repent. I wanna serve your kingdom dream for SoCal. Back to the story. I said God was gonna intervene. He does intervene.
Pete:He basically says, during the covenant at Sinai, this is Deuteronomy 28, he basically says, look, in this covenant, we're gonna be wedded together. And if we're wedded together like this, all the blessings that are found in me will flow from me to you, and you'll experience abundant blessings. But if you break covenant, if you walk away from me, then you're walking away from the source of life. And if you're walking away from life, you're gonna be walking towards death. If you walk away from blessings, you're walking towards a curse.
Pete:And God says the manifestation of this curse will look like exile. You'll be ruled over by a surrounding nation like you were in Egypt. And what happens in the narrative is they do break the covenant. They worship the gods of the surrounding nations. They walk away from life.
Pete:They walk towards death, and they end up in Babylon for 70 years. They're slaves once more. They experience oppression once more, and they start building cities, not for the Egyptian empire, but for the Babylonian empire, like back where we started. Do you remember the question we asked at the beginning, how can Babylon be redeemed? And the answer was, it needs God's people carrying God's presence to be in Babylon.
Pete:Yeah. God's people carrying his presence to be in Babylon. Here's the incredible thing in the story. Like, the people of Israel, they've rejected God. They've been rebellious.
Pete:They've worshiped the gods of the surrounding nations. They've totally totally screwed up. They've made a complete mess of it, but they're now in Babylon, carrying the presence of God. So when it comes to the story of of the redemption of Babylon, game on right now. Game on right now.
Pete:There'll be some of you here in Orange County, SoCal. You're here because you've been raised here. There'll be some here you felt called here, either some sort of job or calling from God. There'll be others here that you're thinking, do you know what? I think I'm here because I was running from something.
Pete:A relational breakdown, a messy work situation. I just needed to hit the escape button, and I thought this is a pretty great place to escape to. It's sunshine pretty much all year round. It's sea. It's all these restaurants that I love.
Pete:I'm I'm gonna escape to there. Right? And there'll be some of them that you're like, I don't even know why I'm here in Orange County, in Long Beach, in LA. I don't even know why I'm here. Here's the thing.
Pete:It doesn't matter how you got here. You are here right now. So when it comes to the redemption, the transformation of SoCal, it is game on right now. Right? It doesn't matter how you got here, you are here right now.
Pete:And when it comes to kingdom breakthroughs, it is game on for sale, SoCal. So let's look at this text then, Jeremiah 29. This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the other people in Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, it said. Now this would have been a letter that was read aloud over the people in Babylon. In other words, they've heard that there's a letter from God addressed to them.
Pete:Now, I can imagine anxiety levels starting to rise. Right? They've totally screwed up. They've broken covenant. They're here in Babylon.
Pete:They're like, okay, this letter is going to get messy. And they were probably expecting a letter that went something like this from God. Don't wanna say I told you so, but I kind of told you so in due 20 due 2028 when I mentioned this kind of covenant and blessings, but if you break the covenant, it will lead to a curse. And then in in Deuteronomy chapter 30, I said, I've set before you life and death. And I said, like, please choose life.
Pete:I just think that's a better route for you than death. Like, there's life and death. I've given you free will, so you can choose, but I would really encourage this as a paraphrase of the text of Deuteronomy 30. I'd really encourage the life route, not the death route, but you chose death, so suck it up. The next 70 years in Babylon, it's gonna get rough.
Pete:This is gonna be medicinal. Like medicine, it's not gonna be tasty. Just get it down. Because this season of punishment is gonna purge you from your idolatry. It's just gonna, like, flush that from you.
Pete:This is gonna be a formative 70 years for you. So suck it up, embrace the survival mindset. It will go pretty fast, and after 70 years, you'll return to shalom. Right? So they might have been expecting a letter like that.
Pete:But can we read the letter they actually got? Because this is mind blowing. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.
Pete:Not suck it up survival mindset. This is thrive here. Put down roots. Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wise for your sons and give your marriage so that they too may have sons and daughters.
Pete:Increase in number. This isn't survival mindset. Increase in number. Do not decrease. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I've carried you to enter exile.
Pete:Pray to the lord for it because if it prospers, you too will prosper. I can't even begin to articulate how mind blowing this would have been for the nation of Israel in Babylon. Because they know the origin story of Babylon. It's the Babel story. And throughout the scripture, Babylon becomes more than just a place.
Pete:It becomes a metaphor for a city that sets itself up apart from God. And if they were to answer the question, what is God's heart posture towards Babylon, they'd probably say he wants to destroy it. This city has set itself up apart from God. He's gonna level it. And as they read the letter, they're like, oh my gosh.
Pete:God's hot posture towards Babylon isn't to destroy it. He wants to prosper it. He wants to redeem it. The city that set itself up apart from him, he wants to redeem it. You only redeem that which you love.
Pete:God loves Babylon. Oh my gosh. This is incredible. Let's keep reading. This is what the lord says when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I'll come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
Pete:And here's the verse that our refrigerators know really well. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the law. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and the future. Let's stop there. Just rip it out of context.
Pete:I'm joking. Let's keep reading. Then you'll call on me and come and pray to me, and I'll listen to you. You'll seek me and find me when you seek with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the lord.
Pete:I'll bring you back from captivity. I'll gather you from all the nations and places where I've banished you, declares the lord. I'll bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile. Can I highlight one verse that I think is game changing here when 70 years are completed for Babylon? When we answer the question, why were the people of God in Babylon?
Pete:Our human response is rebellion, arrogance, pride, idolatry, sin. When we think of why they're in Babylon, we might say, because this is a a formative moment. But you reap what you sow, and they're they're tasting the fruit of what they've sown. And this is a moment of formation, a journey towards holiness. This is about their redemption, their formation, their healing.
Pete:But in this letter, it's from God, by the way. God says, look, the main reason you're here in Babylon yes. I wanna redeem you. I wanna form you. I I I wanna purify you, but the main reason you're here is for is for Babylon.
Pete:You being here in Babylon, yes, you were rebellious, you were sinful, you rejected the covenant, you ran from me, but you're here right now. So when it comes to the story of the redemption of Babylon, it is game on. Whatever you're doing here in OC, if it was rebellion, pride, sin, arrogance, calling of God, or you don't even know why you're here, it doesn't really matter. You are here right now. And when it comes to the redemption of SoCal, it is game on.
Pete:Some of you might spend 70 years in this part of California, And I want you to know those 70 years aren't primarily about you. They're not even primarily about your formation. God wants to use you in his purposes to establish the kingdom of God in this part of California when 70 years are completed for Babylon. I wanna close with a story of a guy called Ernest Gordon. He was a British officer captured by the Japanese in World War 2.
Pete:His context after capture was anything but SoCal. It was far more like Babylon. In other words, it was far more like hell on earth and heaven on earth. But he grabbed a vision of heaven and saw unbelievable transformation. And if it can happen in that context, it can absolutely happen here.
Pete:So let me read you this story of Ernest Gordon, And this is a story told by Philip Yancey in his book, Rumors of Another World. So Gordon was put to work, this is after capture, working the Burma Siam railway through the thick Thai jungle for potential invasion of India. The Japanese hated those who were willing to surrender rather than die. And their treatment of the soldiers was appalling. Prisoners were beaten to death if they appear to be lagging.
Pete:They worked in a 120 degree conditions, and eventually 80,000 men died building the ill fated railroad. Gordon himself got sick and almost died. The prison camp became a case study of survival of the fittest. People fought, attacked, and schemed for the most meager of provisions. Selfishness and hate were the ethos of the camp.
Pete:Then one day, something shifted. 1 of the returning work crews was missing a shovel. The Japanese guard began screaming that if it was not returned, he'd begin shooting the prisoners. All die. All die, the guard shouted.
Pete:Tension blanketed the group. He lifted his rifle to shoot, and one man stepped forward and confessed, I did it. The guard brutally beat him to death in front of the group. Later that evening, it was discovered in a fresh inventory of the tools, that they'd simply miscounted. This act of selfish love selfless love transformed the ethos of the camp.
Pete:1 of the prisoners remembered Jesus' words, no greater love has any man than this, that he laid down his life for his friends. The truth of that verse lived and demonstrated began to shake the camp. Gordon recalls it, and I'm quoting now, death was still with us, no doubt about that, but we were slowly being freed from his destructive grip. We were seeing for ourselves the sharp contrast between the forces that made for life and death. Selfishness, hatred, envy, jealousy, greed, self indulgence, laziness, and pride were anti life.
Pete:Love, heroism, self sacrifice, sympathy, mercy, integrity, and creative faith, on the other hand, were the essence of life turning mere existence into living in its truest sense. These were the gifts of God to men. True. There was hatred, but there was also love. There was death, but there was also life.
Pete:God had not left us. He was with us, calling us to live the divine life of fellowship. He goes on to explain how the kingdom of God began to break out in the camp. And in the midst of the hell of war, the beauty of heaven shone through. They started pulling the gifts and talents of the prisoners together to form a jungle university.
Pete:Gordon taught philosophy and ethics. The university soon offered courses in history, philosophy, economics, math, natural science, and at least 9 languages, including Latin, Greek, Russian, and Sanskrit. Ballets, and musical theater. And when they were eventually Mozart, ballets, and musical theater. And when they were eventually released, they treated the guards who tortured and brutalized them with kindness and compassion.
Pete:Yancy, in his book, concludes the story with these words. Perhaps something like this was what Jesus had in mind when he turned again and again to his favorite topic, the kingdom of God. In the soil of this violent, disordered world, an alternative community may take root. It lives in hope of a day of liberation. In the meantime, it aligns itself with another world.
Pete:Not just spreading rumors, but planting settlements in advance of that coming rain. This is your mission, should you choose to accept it, as the sons and daughters of God placed in SoCal. It doesn't matter how you got here. You're here right now. And this is your mission, not just to spread rumors, to plant settlements of that coming rain.
Pete:And you can only do that if there's a redemptive shift in your heart that flows from your heart to transform your surroundings. And that redemptive shift is moving from extracting from your environment to serve your dream and saying, god, I lay down all my agendas. I wanna serve your kingdom dream. I wanna live for your name, your renown, your glory, your kingdom. This is your vision statement, church, in Long Beach as it is in heaven, in LA as it is in heaven, in Orange County as it is in heaven, in SoCal as it is in heaven.
Pete:What we're contending for in this incredible moment in church history, human history, is for the church to be revived. That's what we're longing for, contending for. Behold, I'm I'm doing a new thing. It springs up. Can you perceive it?
Pete:I think we can perceive something significant is happening. The fire of heaven is being poured out upon the church, But God doesn't want it to remain just in the walls of the church. He wants it to flow from the church to bring awakening in the surrounding culture. Lord, you've done it before. Would you do it again?
Pete:Amen.
Intro/Outro:Thank you so much for listening. For more information, please visit us online at garden.church.