1 00:00:00,383 --> 00:00:03,203 This is a reading from 1 Peter 2"13 2 00:00:03,203 --> 00:00:06,206 - 25. 3 00:00:16,499 --> 00:00:19,669 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, 4 00:00:19,953 --> 00:00:23,456 whether it be to the Emperor as supreme or to governors 5 00:00:23,456 --> 00:00:27,894 as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 6 00:00:28,011 --> 00:00:30,830 For this is the will of God, that by doing good 7 00:00:30,830 --> 00:00:33,833 you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 8 00:00:34,217 --> 00:00:37,737 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom 9 00:00:37,737 --> 00:00:40,740 as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God. 10 00:00:41,007 --> 00:00:43,259 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. 11 00:00:43,259 --> 00:00:46,262 Fear God. Honor the Emperor. 12 00:00:46,346 --> 00:00:49,983 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect. 13 00:00:49,983 --> 00:00:53,620 Not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. 14 00:00:53,636 --> 00:00:55,488 For this is a gracious thing. 15 00:00:55,488 --> 00:00:59,993 When, mindful of God, one endures sorrow while suffering unjustly. 16 00:01:00,026 --> 00:01:04,848 For what credit is it if, when you suffer and are beaten for it, you endure? 17 00:01:05,515 --> 00:01:08,551 But if one you do good and suffer for it, you endure. 18 00:01:09,002 --> 00:01:11,638 That is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 19 00:01:11,638 --> 00:01:15,742 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, 20 00:01:16,042 --> 00:01:20,063 leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. 21 00:01:20,930 --> 00:01:22,348 He committed no sin. 22 00:01:22,348 --> 00:01:25,051 Neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 00:01:25,051 --> 00:01:28,254 When he was reviled, he did not revile and return. 24 00:01:28,671 --> 00:01:31,674 When he suffered, he did not threaten, 25 00:01:31,674 --> 00:01:35,628 but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 26 00:01:36,229 --> 00:01:39,232 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, 27 00:01:39,482 --> 00:01:44,370 that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds. 28 00:01:44,687 --> 00:01:46,623 You have been healed. 29 00:01:46,623 --> 00:01:49,826 For you are straying like sheep, but have now returned 30 00:01:49,826 --> 00:01:52,879 to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. 31 00:01:56,900 --> 00:01:57,767 Well, good morning and 32 00:01:57,767 --> 00:02:01,237 welcome to the weekend gathering of Christ Community Chapel. 33 00:02:01,254 --> 00:02:02,188 My name is Zach. 34 00:02:02,188 --> 00:02:03,690 I'm one of the pastors here, 35 00:02:03,690 --> 00:02:07,377 and I'm so glad that we get to be part of your weekend. 36 00:02:07,710 --> 00:02:12,282 We're continuing our fall sermon series, going through the Book of First Peter. 37 00:02:12,298 --> 00:02:16,352 We're about halfway there, which means there's a second half 38 00:02:16,352 --> 00:02:17,220 and then it's Christmas. 39 00:02:17,220 --> 00:02:21,808 The year is going by quickly, so if you have a Bible, 40 00:02:21,808 --> 00:02:25,829 would you take it out and open it to first Peter chapter two? 41 00:02:26,246 --> 00:02:29,215 Perfectly okay to take out your phone or tablet. 42 00:02:29,215 --> 00:02:31,968 And hey, if you're here and it's been a little while since you've been in 43 00:02:31,968 --> 00:02:35,638 church, maybe church, the Bible is not part of your story. 44 00:02:35,638 --> 00:02:37,707 You have no idea where First Peter is. 45 00:02:37,707 --> 00:02:39,392 Take a deep breath. That's okay. 46 00:02:39,392 --> 00:02:40,226 It's going to be on the screen 47 00:02:40,226 --> 00:02:43,947 behind me when I reference it, and you are in exactly the right place. 48 00:02:43,980 --> 00:02:46,983 So glad you came this weekend, and everything I have to say 49 00:02:47,150 --> 00:02:50,420 is as much for you as it is for anyone else. 50 00:02:50,870 --> 00:02:53,573 But first, Peter is a letter written 51 00:02:53,573 --> 00:02:57,827 to a growing church in the midst of a hostile culture. 52 00:02:58,127 --> 00:03:00,897 And we think there are a lot of parallels between that church 53 00:03:00,897 --> 00:03:04,100 and this one, between that culture and this one. 54 00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:08,238 And so we're seeking to uncover what was God's message to that church, 55 00:03:08,238 --> 00:03:11,291 and what is his message to our church? 56 00:03:11,307 --> 00:03:13,643 What is he looking for us to do? 57 00:03:13,643 --> 00:03:16,713 And be in our present time? 58 00:03:16,713 --> 00:03:20,483 So to talk about first Peter to and to guide our time together, 59 00:03:20,483 --> 00:03:22,802 I have three points I'm going to use as an outline. 60 00:03:22,802 --> 00:03:23,836 Very simple. 61 00:03:23,836 --> 00:03:27,140 And they go like this I want to show you that God has a vision, 62 00:03:27,924 --> 00:03:31,311 God has a strategy, and God has a resume. 63 00:03:31,611 --> 00:03:32,512 God has a vision. 64 00:03:32,512 --> 00:03:33,980 God has a strategy. 65 00:03:33,980 --> 00:03:36,266 God has a resume. 66 00:03:36,266 --> 00:03:36,449 All right. 67 00:03:36,449 --> 00:03:37,650 Let's start with the first point. 68 00:03:37,650 --> 00:03:39,869 God has a vision. 69 00:03:39,869 --> 00:03:43,189 You know, anytime we do a sermon series where we're going through 70 00:03:43,189 --> 00:03:46,192 a book of the Bible, it's important to remember 71 00:03:46,226 --> 00:03:49,262 that we section the book out because we have to 72 00:03:49,279 --> 00:03:53,850 we have limited time together, but those sections are arbitrary. 73 00:03:54,050 --> 00:03:55,218 In first, Peter is a letter. 74 00:03:55,218 --> 00:03:59,072 It's meant to be read up front to back, beginning to end. 75 00:03:59,072 --> 00:04:03,476 We don't have that kind of time, so we chop it up, which means sometimes 76 00:04:03,776 --> 00:04:07,764 those sections can cause us, if we're not careful, to miss out a little bit. 77 00:04:08,064 --> 00:04:12,201 Like, for example, the verse that gives this passage today, 78 00:04:12,468 --> 00:04:16,372 its context actually comes in the section right before it. 79 00:04:16,372 --> 00:04:18,024 It's at the end of the section. 80 00:04:18,024 --> 00:04:22,262 It was the last verse of the passage that Pastor Joe looked at last week. 81 00:04:22,262 --> 00:04:24,414 But it's important one to have in our minds 82 00:04:24,414 --> 00:04:26,366 as we look at our passage this week. 83 00:04:26,366 --> 00:04:29,519 So let me read it to you first Peter chapter two, verse 12. 84 00:04:29,669 --> 00:04:30,420 Here's what it says. 85 00:04:31,554 --> 00:04:35,275 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles. 86 00:04:35,275 --> 00:04:36,392 You can understand that word. 87 00:04:36,392 --> 00:04:40,113 It just means non-Christians, nonbelievers, honorable. 88 00:04:40,530 --> 00:04:43,733 So that when they speak against you as evildoers, 89 00:04:43,733 --> 00:04:48,121 they may see your good deeds and glorify God. 90 00:04:48,121 --> 00:04:52,191 On the day of visitation, Peter says that when God 91 00:04:52,225 --> 00:04:57,330 is looking at the hostile culture in which the church in its present context, 92 00:04:57,330 --> 00:05:03,119 and certainly in our context exists, and he sees those who hate Christianity, 93 00:05:03,803 --> 00:05:07,607 who hate the Bible, who hate church, who who disbelieve in God, 94 00:05:07,607 --> 00:05:10,643 those who would be considered enemies of the faith. 95 00:05:10,643 --> 00:05:13,913 When God looks at them, he wants one thing. 96 00:05:14,514 --> 00:05:18,267 He wants them to go from enemies to friends. 97 00:05:19,202 --> 00:05:24,023 He talks about living in such a way that those who currently hate you. 98 00:05:24,023 --> 00:05:28,795 He says on the day of visitation, which is a reference to the Day of Judgment. 99 00:05:28,795 --> 00:05:30,563 When Christ returns, 100 00:05:30,563 --> 00:05:33,950 he says, I want you to live in such a way that those who are currently enemies 101 00:05:34,100 --> 00:05:37,470 will be excited to see Jesus when he comes back. 102 00:05:38,187 --> 00:05:40,606 In other words, Peter says, I want you to think about the person 103 00:05:40,606 --> 00:05:43,943 who's the most hostile, the most antagonistic, 104 00:05:44,060 --> 00:05:46,579 who makes fun of your faith, who has no interest. 105 00:05:46,579 --> 00:05:50,900 And I want you to understand that God's vision for that person 106 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,187 is that they become a fellow worshiper. 107 00:05:54,187 --> 00:05:56,039 A God is a God, a vision. 108 00:05:56,039 --> 00:06:01,127 And what I mean is, God does not look at the world the way it is. 109 00:06:01,127 --> 00:06:04,130 He looks at the world the way he wants it to be. 110 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,283 He doesn't look at your family the way it is. 111 00:06:07,283 --> 00:06:10,053 He looks at your family the way he wants it to be. 112 00:06:10,053 --> 00:06:12,989 He doesn't look at your life the way it is. 113 00:06:12,989 --> 00:06:14,640 He looks at what he wants it to be. 114 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,460 Let me give you a metaphor to drive this home. Now. 115 00:06:17,460 --> 00:06:19,412 I've been married for 20 years. 116 00:06:19,412 --> 00:06:23,850 Over the course of those 20 years, my wife Amy and I have owned different homes. 117 00:06:23,850 --> 00:06:25,318 As we've moved in different towns. 118 00:06:25,318 --> 00:06:29,272 We bought and sold homes, which has taught me an important lesson. 119 00:06:29,272 --> 00:06:33,059 You know, every time we go to look at a home, my wife gives me 120 00:06:33,059 --> 00:06:37,280 the same speech on the way to the house and she says, no, Zach, 121 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:40,283 I don't want you to worry about the way it looks now. 122 00:06:40,817 --> 00:06:44,120 The carpet, the wallpaper, the paint, so we can change all that. 123 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:46,923 Don't don't worry about the way it looks now. 124 00:06:46,923 --> 00:06:50,243 And every time I say to her, of course I'm not an idiot. 125 00:06:51,861 --> 00:06:53,930 Then we get to the house, we walk around. 126 00:06:53,930 --> 00:06:54,947 She says, what do you think? 127 00:06:54,947 --> 00:06:57,083 And I say, I don't like it. 128 00:06:57,083 --> 00:06:58,367 This is what don't you like about it? 129 00:06:58,367 --> 00:07:01,521 And I said, well, I guess maybe the paint, the wallpaper and the carpet. 130 00:07:02,488 --> 00:07:06,442 You see, when it comes to house buying, I am not a person of vision. 131 00:07:06,442 --> 00:07:11,581 I see things the way they are and I can't, I just I can't see myself living there. 132 00:07:11,581 --> 00:07:13,766 I can't see our furniture working. 133 00:07:13,766 --> 00:07:15,451 But my wife is the opposite. 134 00:07:15,451 --> 00:07:17,937 She is a woman of vision when it comes to house buying. 135 00:07:17,937 --> 00:07:22,442 So when she walks in, she doesn't see the paint or the carpet or the wallpaper. 136 00:07:22,442 --> 00:07:26,762 She sees what it will be when she gets done with it. 137 00:07:27,713 --> 00:07:29,449 I wonder how many of us are 138 00:07:29,449 --> 00:07:32,568 like me when it comes to our lives. 139 00:07:33,603 --> 00:07:36,589 How many of us are living in lives we don't love, 140 00:07:37,290 --> 00:07:40,827 in families that are broken, in communities 141 00:07:40,827 --> 00:07:44,547 that are struggling, in a world that feels full of despair. 142 00:07:44,664 --> 00:07:47,667 And we're looking at the paint and the wallpaper and the carpets 143 00:07:47,867 --> 00:07:49,168 and we're saying, you know what? 144 00:07:49,168 --> 00:07:53,122 I just don't like living here. 145 00:07:54,323 --> 00:07:57,326 But God is more like my wife. 146 00:07:58,010 --> 00:08:02,965 He sees what you can be, what your family will be, 147 00:08:02,965 --> 00:08:05,968 what your community, what the world could be. 148 00:08:06,002 --> 00:08:07,703 He has a vision. 149 00:08:07,703 --> 00:08:11,157 That means if you came in this weekend and you thought, man, my life is broken, 150 00:08:11,157 --> 00:08:15,444 my family is broken, my community, my world is broken and there is no hope. 151 00:08:16,345 --> 00:08:18,631 Your problem isn't that there isn't hope. 152 00:08:18,631 --> 00:08:20,132 Your problem is you're like me. 153 00:08:20,132 --> 00:08:21,267 You can't see it. 154 00:08:21,267 --> 00:08:23,152 But God can. 155 00:08:23,152 --> 00:08:25,738 And God does. 156 00:08:25,738 --> 00:08:27,590 Of course, there's a difference between my wife and I. 157 00:08:27,590 --> 00:08:30,293 When we go to look at homes. You probably already guessed it. 158 00:08:30,293 --> 00:08:32,211 I am not handy at all. 159 00:08:33,179 --> 00:08:33,963 In fact, full 160 00:08:33,963 --> 00:08:37,383 disclosure, when I decided to use this easel in my sermon, I asked, 161 00:08:37,383 --> 00:08:41,671 could someone else set it up for me because I wasn't 100% sure I could do it? 162 00:08:42,238 --> 00:08:43,339 Okay, I'm not handy. 163 00:08:43,339 --> 00:08:48,077 So when I walk into a house and I see the wallpaper and the carpet in the paint, 164 00:08:48,211 --> 00:08:51,714 the reason I can't see what will be is because I don't know how to change 165 00:08:51,797 --> 00:08:55,701 wallpaper, paint, or carpet, so I just assume it can't be done. 166 00:08:56,786 --> 00:09:00,990 But my wife can, so she sees not just what the house will be. 167 00:09:00,990 --> 00:09:02,992 She knows how to get it there. 168 00:09:02,992 --> 00:09:06,746 You see, every business leader, every entrepreneur will tell you vision is 169 00:09:06,746 --> 00:09:10,850 awesome, but vision is meaningless unless you know how to get it done. 170 00:09:11,851 --> 00:09:13,803 That's why my first point is God has a vision. 171 00:09:13,803 --> 00:09:17,573 But here's my second point God has a strategy. 172 00:09:18,257 --> 00:09:20,643 It isn't just that God sees what could be. 173 00:09:20,643 --> 00:09:22,678 He knows how to get there. 174 00:09:22,678 --> 00:09:26,148 He knows how to bring change into your life, into your family, 175 00:09:26,515 --> 00:09:28,434 your community, into your world. 176 00:09:28,434 --> 00:09:30,052 I wonder if I had you. 177 00:09:30,052 --> 00:09:34,490 Guess what God's strategy for changing you is? 178 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,226 For what God's strategy for changing the world is. 179 00:09:37,226 --> 00:09:40,079 If you could guess, it. 180 00:09:40,079 --> 00:09:41,731 I don't think so. 181 00:09:41,731 --> 00:09:44,216 Look with me at verses 13 through 17. 182 00:09:44,216 --> 00:09:47,420 Let's see God's strategy for changing the world. 183 00:09:47,820 --> 00:09:49,038 Here's what it says. 184 00:09:49,038 --> 00:09:52,041 Be subject for the Lord's sake 185 00:09:52,158 --> 00:09:55,161 to every human institution, 186 00:09:55,645 --> 00:10:00,416 whether it be to the Emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him 187 00:10:00,416 --> 00:10:04,220 to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 188 00:10:04,937 --> 00:10:07,607 For this is the will of God, that by doing good 189 00:10:07,607 --> 00:10:11,093 you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 190 00:10:11,093 --> 00:10:15,047 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom 191 00:10:15,047 --> 00:10:18,384 as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God. 192 00:10:18,567 --> 00:10:22,321 Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear 193 00:10:22,338 --> 00:10:25,341 God, honor the Emperor. 194 00:10:25,891 --> 00:10:29,395 Peter says God's strategy for accomplishing his vision 195 00:10:29,762 --> 00:10:34,367 of turning enemies into worshipers, of turning enemies into family 196 00:10:34,550 --> 00:10:35,368 is pretty simple. 197 00:10:35,368 --> 00:10:38,971 Here's his strategy your and mine submission 198 00:10:40,706 --> 00:10:42,408 are surrender. 199 00:10:42,408 --> 00:10:45,895 Now you notice, he says, to submit to the government, 200 00:10:46,862 --> 00:10:48,898 to submit to the Emperor. 201 00:10:48,898 --> 00:10:51,901 Some of you are worried I'm going to get political, 202 00:10:53,419 --> 00:10:54,887 but that's the point. 203 00:10:54,887 --> 00:10:57,506 You see, the Emperor at this time in the writing of this 204 00:10:57,506 --> 00:10:59,458 letter was a guy named Nero. 205 00:10:59,458 --> 00:11:00,626 Maybe you've read a history book. 206 00:11:00,626 --> 00:11:02,244 You know about him. 207 00:11:02,244 --> 00:11:04,830 For instance, when Nero would throw cocktail parties, 208 00:11:04,830 --> 00:11:06,532 he would build these wooden structures 209 00:11:06,532 --> 00:11:10,553 and he would put Christians on the top of them, and he would light them on fire 210 00:11:10,970 --> 00:11:13,639 and they would burn as the candles that lit the party. 211 00:11:13,639 --> 00:11:14,306 You imagine 212 00:11:14,306 --> 00:11:16,225 2 or 3 people drinking a cocktail, talking 213 00:11:16,225 --> 00:11:19,412 about how their day was while a Christian burns above them. 214 00:11:19,412 --> 00:11:22,398 Nero is the guy who fiddled while Rome burned. 215 00:11:22,398 --> 00:11:24,500 He was a sociopath. 216 00:11:24,500 --> 00:11:26,268 He was crazy. 217 00:11:26,268 --> 00:11:29,989 So when Peter says honor the Emperor, his point 218 00:11:30,022 --> 00:11:33,359 isn't that they should find something good about Nero. 219 00:11:33,392 --> 00:11:34,944 There wasn't much good. 220 00:11:34,944 --> 00:11:39,298 He's not talking about surrender to Nero or submission to Nero. 221 00:11:39,348 --> 00:11:41,517 He's talking about submission to God. 222 00:11:42,685 --> 00:11:44,036 He's saying no 223 00:11:44,036 --> 00:11:48,708 matter what God asks of you, even if he asks you 224 00:11:48,774 --> 00:11:52,561 to honor a crazy emperor, look at the very next verse. 225 00:11:52,561 --> 00:11:56,248 Even if he tells you servants to obey your masters 226 00:11:56,248 --> 00:11:59,702 no matter what God asks, give it to him. 227 00:11:59,702 --> 00:12:01,937 No matter what he wants. Surrender to it. 228 00:12:01,937 --> 00:12:04,457 Because if you do, 229 00:12:04,457 --> 00:12:06,292 he'll change your world. 230 00:12:06,292 --> 00:12:07,910 Let me give you four reasons why. 231 00:12:07,910 --> 00:12:11,213 Submission is God's strategy for changing your life 232 00:12:11,213 --> 00:12:13,199 and changing your family and changing your world. 233 00:12:13,199 --> 00:12:14,216 Here's the first one. 234 00:12:14,216 --> 00:12:17,219 Submission is personal. 235 00:12:18,170 --> 00:12:19,105 In our culture. 236 00:12:19,105 --> 00:12:22,441 When we think about God, we tend to think of him as a concept, 237 00:12:23,309 --> 00:12:25,127 a concept really of our own making. 238 00:12:25,127 --> 00:12:29,281 It's why we use sentences like, well, when I think about God, I think about him 239 00:12:29,281 --> 00:12:33,536 like this, or to me, to me, God is like this. 240 00:12:33,536 --> 00:12:35,721 My God would say this. 241 00:12:35,721 --> 00:12:38,274 My God would never say that. 242 00:12:38,274 --> 00:12:39,708 But the Bible says sentences 243 00:12:39,708 --> 00:12:43,496 like that don't make any sense because God is not a concept. 244 00:12:43,496 --> 00:12:45,448 He's a person. 245 00:12:45,448 --> 00:12:48,651 He actually tells us what he likes and doesn't like. 246 00:12:49,168 --> 00:12:51,387 Let me make let me use a metaphor. 247 00:12:51,387 --> 00:12:54,390 Let's say that you and I were going to lunch. 248 00:12:54,473 --> 00:12:56,792 I know fulfilling your wildest dreams. 249 00:12:57,893 --> 00:12:59,328 You and Pastor Zach going to lunch. 250 00:12:59,328 --> 00:13:01,947 You put it on Instagram. Hashtag besties. 251 00:13:01,947 --> 00:13:04,950 Pastor Zach and I going to lunch, and I get in the car and you say, 252 00:13:05,034 --> 00:13:07,520 hey, Pastor Zach, I've been so excited to have lunch with you. 253 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:08,420 I can't wait. 254 00:13:08,420 --> 00:13:12,091 And I'm I'm going to take you to this Mediterranean restaurant that I like. 255 00:13:12,291 --> 00:13:14,393 I've had my heart set on Mediterranean food. 256 00:13:14,393 --> 00:13:17,429 Pastor Zach, Mediterranean food's going to be an amazing lunch. 257 00:13:17,429 --> 00:13:18,931 And I would look at you in that moment. 258 00:13:18,931 --> 00:13:23,219 I would say, oh, man, so sorry, I don't like Mediterranean food. 259 00:13:25,554 --> 00:13:28,557 Can you imagine if you said to me what? 260 00:13:28,607 --> 00:13:30,810 No, no, no, no, my pastor 261 00:13:30,810 --> 00:13:33,813 Zach likes Mediterranean food. 262 00:13:33,963 --> 00:13:37,433 I mean, when I think of you, Zach, I think of you eating lamb 263 00:13:38,784 --> 00:13:40,653 or olives or feta cheese. 264 00:13:40,653 --> 00:13:44,390 I mean, Pastor Zach, I mean, to to me to me, 265 00:13:44,507 --> 00:13:47,426 you are someone who likes Mediterranean food. 266 00:13:47,426 --> 00:13:50,429 How absurd would that be? 267 00:13:50,913 --> 00:13:52,381 But, friends, it's no less absurd 268 00:13:52,381 --> 00:13:55,367 when you say those things about God. 269 00:13:55,367 --> 00:13:58,103 You don't get to decide what God likes and what he doesn't, 270 00:13:58,103 --> 00:14:01,073 what he's for and what he's against. God is a person. 271 00:14:01,073 --> 00:14:02,157 He's not a concept. 272 00:14:02,157 --> 00:14:04,076 He tells you what he likes. 273 00:14:04,076 --> 00:14:07,763 Submission is dealing with a God who's not conceptual. 274 00:14:07,796 --> 00:14:09,481 He's real. 275 00:14:09,481 --> 00:14:10,099 Here's the second. 276 00:14:10,099 --> 00:14:12,568 The reason submission matters not just because it's personal. 277 00:14:12,568 --> 00:14:14,253 Second, it's relational. 278 00:14:14,253 --> 00:14:17,489 I mean, in that moment when you say Pastor Zach Mediterranean food 279 00:14:17,489 --> 00:14:18,407 and I say, I don't like 280 00:14:18,407 --> 00:14:21,477 Mediterranean food, and we come to a red light, you have two choices. 281 00:14:22,645 --> 00:14:24,830 You can decide you want lunch 282 00:14:24,830 --> 00:14:29,118 with me so badly that you will pivot on where we're going. 283 00:14:29,752 --> 00:14:32,488 You'll say something like, well, you know, how about Mexican? 284 00:14:32,488 --> 00:14:33,806 Or how about a burger, right? 285 00:14:33,806 --> 00:14:36,742 Because you want to have lunch with me, or you'll decide 286 00:14:36,742 --> 00:14:40,045 you want Mediterranean food so badly that you'll open my door 287 00:14:40,045 --> 00:14:43,048 and say, get out. 288 00:14:44,817 --> 00:14:47,219 But if you look at me and say, well, I'm going to be better 289 00:14:47,219 --> 00:14:50,573 at Mediterranean food anyways, we're going to have a problem. 290 00:14:52,608 --> 00:14:54,410 Can you imagine any world where you go, well, 291 00:14:54,410 --> 00:14:55,861 I hate to hear that, but that's where we're going. 292 00:14:55,861 --> 00:14:58,547 And I go, okay, 293 00:14:58,547 --> 00:15:01,467 well friends, why do we think that's how God is? 294 00:15:01,467 --> 00:15:04,820 Why do we think that when God says this is what appropriate sexuality 295 00:15:04,820 --> 00:15:07,706 looks like, this is what it looks like to manage your money? 296 00:15:07,706 --> 00:15:09,892 Well, this is how you should raise your family. 297 00:15:09,892 --> 00:15:11,760 This is how you should do your marriage. 298 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:13,612 That we look at him and go, you know what, God, thanks, 299 00:15:13,612 --> 00:15:15,347 but I'm not going to do it that way. 300 00:15:15,347 --> 00:15:18,384 Why do we think that God would look back at us and go, okay, 301 00:15:19,702 --> 00:15:22,705 just because he doesn't 302 00:15:22,972 --> 00:15:24,590 and he won't? 303 00:15:24,590 --> 00:15:26,308 Submission is personal. 304 00:15:26,308 --> 00:15:29,161 It's relational, by the way. Every relationship changes you. 305 00:15:29,161 --> 00:15:30,362 You must know that. 306 00:15:30,362 --> 00:15:32,881 I mean, I'm 42 years old. I've been married to my wife for 20 years. 307 00:15:32,881 --> 00:15:37,102 I'm a different 42 year old man than I would be if I hadn't married Amy. 308 00:15:37,586 --> 00:15:39,622 She challenges me. She contradicts me. 309 00:15:39,622 --> 00:15:44,009 There are things that are true of her that force me to reckon with who I am. 310 00:15:44,193 --> 00:15:45,361 That's inevitable. 311 00:15:45,361 --> 00:15:47,029 Of a relationship with a person. 312 00:15:47,029 --> 00:15:48,497 How much more so? 313 00:15:48,497 --> 00:15:51,617 A personal, relational God. 314 00:15:52,501 --> 00:15:54,620 But here's the third thing I want to tell you about submission. 315 00:15:54,620 --> 00:15:58,290 It's pivotal, meaning it makes all the difference. 316 00:15:58,741 --> 00:16:01,460 Now, some of you have not heard a single thing I've said this morning 317 00:16:01,460 --> 00:16:02,778 because you're wondering what this is about. 318 00:16:04,129 --> 00:16:06,448 Let me bring you back into the sermon, okay? 319 00:16:06,448 --> 00:16:08,250 And tell you that here's here's what I want you. 320 00:16:08,250 --> 00:16:09,201 I'm going to draw this. 321 00:16:09,201 --> 00:16:10,436 I hope you can see it 322 00:16:10,436 --> 00:16:12,688 no matter where you're sitting. I think it'll be on the screen, 323 00:16:12,688 --> 00:16:14,657 but I think it'll be more helpful if I draw it. 324 00:16:14,657 --> 00:16:19,411 Let's say that this circle or oval or whatever shape this is represents me. 325 00:16:20,312 --> 00:16:21,947 This is everything that is true of me. 326 00:16:21,947 --> 00:16:22,798 Everything I think, 327 00:16:22,798 --> 00:16:26,635 everything I like, everything I believe, okay, I will all that is true of me. 328 00:16:26,852 --> 00:16:29,838 And then let's say this circle 329 00:16:30,356 --> 00:16:32,424 represents Jesus. 330 00:16:32,424 --> 00:16:33,692 It's everything that's true of Jesus. 331 00:16:33,692 --> 00:16:35,394 Everything he taught, everything he believes, 332 00:16:35,394 --> 00:16:37,112 everything he's for, everything he's against. 333 00:16:37,112 --> 00:16:38,063 That's Jesus. 334 00:16:38,063 --> 00:16:40,432 I want you to see that there's some natural overlap, 335 00:16:41,550 --> 00:16:42,451 meaning Jesus. 336 00:16:42,451 --> 00:16:45,437 And I naturally agree on some things. 337 00:16:45,587 --> 00:16:48,590 There are some things that Jesus talks about that I just I get 338 00:16:49,008 --> 00:16:51,894 and I would have gotten them whether I was a Christian or not. 339 00:16:51,894 --> 00:16:53,162 Some people are just generous. 340 00:16:53,162 --> 00:16:55,230 They're just kind, they're hard working. 341 00:16:55,230 --> 00:16:59,118 And yes, there might be some Bible verses that affirm those things, 342 00:16:59,118 --> 00:17:02,121 but they were going to always be and do those things. 343 00:17:02,121 --> 00:17:03,889 They just happen to agree with Jesus. 344 00:17:03,889 --> 00:17:05,357 Can I let you in on something? 345 00:17:05,357 --> 00:17:08,477 If you've been a Christian for a while, if you've been coming to church for a while 346 00:17:08,544 --> 00:17:10,279 and you're bored, 347 00:17:10,279 --> 00:17:12,347 you're bored with Christianity, you're bored with the church, 348 00:17:12,347 --> 00:17:14,783 you're bored with the Bible, and you don't feel like you're changing. 349 00:17:14,783 --> 00:17:17,870 Here's why. If you always hang out 350 00:17:17,870 --> 00:17:21,123 in the areas you agree with Jesus, nothing will ever change. 351 00:17:22,708 --> 00:17:25,277 You already agree with them. 352 00:17:25,277 --> 00:17:27,329 Every pastor in America knows this. 353 00:17:27,329 --> 00:17:30,332 There are certain topics that if I talk about, I get encouragement 354 00:17:31,667 --> 00:17:34,470 because it just so happens those are areas Jesus talked about that agree 355 00:17:34,470 --> 00:17:35,337 with our culture. 356 00:17:35,337 --> 00:17:36,388 And then there are certain areas, 357 00:17:36,388 --> 00:17:39,391 if I talk about it, I get whatever the opposite of encouragement is. 358 00:17:40,309 --> 00:17:43,312 But here's what I want you to understand. 359 00:17:43,979 --> 00:17:47,149 Following Jesus means dealing with this part of the circle. 360 00:17:48,150 --> 00:17:51,737 Agreeing with Jesus means hanging out on the things that you already agree with. 361 00:17:51,837 --> 00:17:54,990 Following Jesus means pushing into the stuff 362 00:17:54,990 --> 00:17:57,993 that you wouldn't think about if not for him, 363 00:17:58,277 --> 00:18:00,829 the way you wouldn't live if not for him. 364 00:18:00,829 --> 00:18:03,031 That is the magic of Christianity. 365 00:18:03,031 --> 00:18:06,235 That is the supernatural aspect of Christianity, 366 00:18:06,235 --> 00:18:09,538 because it's the supernatural aspect of every relationship. 367 00:18:09,655 --> 00:18:13,759 It's when the person you are in relationship with challenges you. 368 00:18:13,892 --> 00:18:16,829 The change actually happens. 369 00:18:16,829 --> 00:18:21,266 If you feel stuck, it's because all you're trying to do is agree with Jesus. 370 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,386 But if you want to get unstuck, you're going to have to follow him. 371 00:18:24,386 --> 00:18:27,022 And that's the pivotal part of Christian. 372 00:18:27,022 --> 00:18:28,040 I got news for you. 373 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:31,977 If all you ever if all you ever do is stay on the areas 374 00:18:31,977 --> 00:18:34,947 you agree with, Jesus, I don't think you're following him. 375 00:18:36,031 --> 00:18:38,150 You're just agreeing with them. 376 00:18:38,150 --> 00:18:41,720 Followers of Jesus or those who invite him to talk 377 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,723 about the other part of the circle. 378 00:18:44,957 --> 00:18:47,126 Here's the fourth thing about submission. 379 00:18:47,126 --> 00:18:49,728 It's not just personal dealing with a God who can be known. 380 00:18:49,728 --> 00:18:52,731 It's not just relational actually being in relationship with that God. 381 00:18:52,848 --> 00:18:53,966 It's not just pivotal 382 00:18:53,966 --> 00:18:57,503 being in relationship with a personal God in the way that it changes you. 383 00:18:57,603 --> 00:18:59,905 It's also missional. 384 00:18:59,905 --> 00:19:02,157 And what I mean by that is remember Peter's goal. 385 00:19:02,157 --> 00:19:04,977 His goal is to turn enemies into worshipers. 386 00:19:04,977 --> 00:19:07,112 Let me draw this for you page. 387 00:19:07,112 --> 00:19:10,098 Turn. 388 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:13,068 Have not done that well in any service. 389 00:19:13,068 --> 00:19:15,287 By the way, 390 00:19:15,287 --> 00:19:16,638 if over time 391 00:19:16,638 --> 00:19:19,908 I follow Jesus into that part of the circle, 392 00:19:19,908 --> 00:19:23,428 I become a Jesus led Zach, 393 00:19:24,146 --> 00:19:26,431 a new version of myself, 394 00:19:26,431 --> 00:19:30,469 a version of myself that looks like Jesus, that talks like Jesus. 395 00:19:30,652 --> 00:19:34,590 And as a result, the people around me begin to notice. 396 00:19:34,590 --> 00:19:38,126 Let me use another construction metaphor, which is hilarious if you know me. 397 00:19:38,610 --> 00:19:41,280 But two weeks ago they had me shoot a video and I was wearing a hard hat, 398 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:43,081 and I feel like it's changed me as a person. 399 00:19:45,300 --> 00:19:45,801 When a 400 00:19:45,801 --> 00:19:50,222 developer is building a neighborhood from scratch, what they'll often 401 00:19:50,222 --> 00:19:53,208 do is build one house right at the beginning of the neighborhood. 402 00:19:53,208 --> 00:19:55,344 They call it a spec house, and they'll say, 403 00:19:55,344 --> 00:19:59,214 come walk through it and see what the other houses are going to be like. 404 00:19:59,214 --> 00:20:03,902 When you and I, fellow Christian, when you and I have a relationship 405 00:20:03,902 --> 00:20:08,190 with a real personal God that begins to change us, 406 00:20:08,273 --> 00:20:11,927 we become the spec house for everyone around us. 407 00:20:14,279 --> 00:20:16,231 For those in our family, 408 00:20:16,231 --> 00:20:18,533 for those in our community, for those in our world, you see, 409 00:20:18,533 --> 00:20:22,588 they begin to realize that if they would set down their conceptual 410 00:20:22,588 --> 00:20:27,509 God and reckon with the actual God, things would begin to change. 411 00:20:27,509 --> 00:20:32,481 If you and I let Jesus talk to us about sexuality 412 00:20:32,581 --> 00:20:36,451 or money or career or parenting or any of the things 413 00:20:36,451 --> 00:20:38,186 that we have been shutting him out, 414 00:20:38,186 --> 00:20:43,609 if we let Jesus lead us into the areas we don't naturally agree with him, 415 00:20:43,742 --> 00:20:47,279 we become the spec house for people around us. 416 00:20:47,329 --> 00:20:51,566 Watch what God can do with submission. 417 00:20:54,453 --> 00:20:56,722 You want to change your life. 418 00:20:56,722 --> 00:20:57,990 You want to change your family. 419 00:20:57,990 --> 00:21:00,392 You want to change your community. Want to change the world. 420 00:21:00,392 --> 00:21:03,812 Submit to the leadership of Jesus. 421 00:21:04,613 --> 00:21:06,648 Now I know, I know, you think well, hold on a second. 422 00:21:06,648 --> 00:21:11,870 You're telling me if I submit to Jesus as it relates to money 423 00:21:11,870 --> 00:21:15,290 or career, sex or parenting or marriage or whatever it is I'm doing, 424 00:21:15,290 --> 00:21:19,261 if I surrender to Jesus, somehow that's going to change the world. 425 00:21:19,911 --> 00:21:22,914 Me? Yes. 426 00:21:23,298 --> 00:21:24,983 So I don't know if I believe that. Okay. 427 00:21:24,983 --> 00:21:25,651 That's fair. 428 00:21:25,651 --> 00:21:28,103 That's why my third point is not just God has a vision, 429 00:21:28,103 --> 00:21:31,189 not just God has a strategy, but God has a resume. 430 00:21:32,057 --> 00:21:33,542 You see, it's a little bit like a job interview. 431 00:21:33,542 --> 00:21:34,893 If you've ever interviewed anyone, 432 00:21:34,893 --> 00:21:36,378 you say, well, tell me what you'd bring to the company. 433 00:21:36,378 --> 00:21:40,549 And they say, oh, you know, sales will be up 50% and no one will ever quit. 434 00:21:40,549 --> 00:21:42,868 In fact, I'm such a good manager. People probably work for free. 435 00:21:42,868 --> 00:21:43,402 Mean, I don't know, 436 00:21:44,519 --> 00:21:44,820 right? 437 00:21:44,820 --> 00:21:47,372 Everybody paints this big vision of what they can accomplish. 438 00:21:47,372 --> 00:21:49,858 And if you're a smart interviewer, you know, to say, 439 00:21:49,858 --> 00:21:52,861 well, where have you done that before? 440 00:21:53,462 --> 00:21:55,347 So fair question to God is, okay, 441 00:21:55,347 --> 00:21:58,734 you're telling me my surrender will lead to the world changing? 442 00:21:58,734 --> 00:22:03,288 Where have you done that before I did, you know that's how he ends the passage? 443 00:22:04,039 --> 00:22:05,424 Because me pick it up in verse 21. 444 00:22:05,424 --> 00:22:07,259 Here's what he says. 445 00:22:07,259 --> 00:22:10,012 For to this you have been called 446 00:22:10,012 --> 00:22:13,015 because Christ also suffered for you, 447 00:22:13,548 --> 00:22:16,952 leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. 448 00:22:16,952 --> 00:22:20,939 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 449 00:22:21,139 --> 00:22:24,142 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. 450 00:22:24,142 --> 00:22:27,863 When he suffered, he did not threaten but listen, but continued 451 00:22:27,863 --> 00:22:31,500 entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 452 00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:36,421 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin 453 00:22:36,421 --> 00:22:37,639 and live to righteousness. 454 00:22:37,639 --> 00:22:41,927 By his wounds you have been healed, for you were straying like sheep, 455 00:22:42,027 --> 00:22:46,098 but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. 456 00:22:46,098 --> 00:22:49,101 See, what Peter says is, if you doubt that surrender 457 00:22:49,101 --> 00:22:54,056 can change the world, consider this the epicenter of your faith. 458 00:22:54,056 --> 00:22:58,427 Is it the Son of God submitted to the will of the father? 459 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,662 And that's what changed the world. 460 00:23:01,730 --> 00:23:03,081 The submission of 461 00:23:03,081 --> 00:23:06,151 Jesus is what leads to your forgiveness. 462 00:23:06,151 --> 00:23:09,204 It is what leads to your sanctification. 463 00:23:09,204 --> 00:23:14,042 It is what leads to your includes and in the kingdom that God is building. 464 00:23:14,042 --> 00:23:19,281 Peter is referencing Luke 2242, in which Jesus, the night he was arrested, 465 00:23:19,398 --> 00:23:22,350 said, this father, 466 00:23:22,350 --> 00:23:25,921 if you are willing, remove this cup from me. 467 00:23:25,921 --> 00:23:29,941 Listen nevertheless, not my will, 468 00:23:30,258 --> 00:23:33,261 but yours be done. 469 00:23:34,045 --> 00:23:36,081 You know why your sins are forgiven. 470 00:23:36,081 --> 00:23:38,417 You know why you have hope of being changed. 471 00:23:38,417 --> 00:23:42,204 Do you know why you'll be included in God's kingdom forever and ever? 472 00:23:42,204 --> 00:23:43,922 Follow Christian. Here's why. 473 00:23:43,922 --> 00:23:48,827 Because Jesus Christ, the King of heaven, the Son of God, fully God, fully man. 474 00:23:49,277 --> 00:23:52,280 Submitted. 475 00:23:52,697 --> 00:23:55,100 Peter says, don't you see 476 00:23:55,100 --> 00:23:56,785 this is God's template. 477 00:23:56,785 --> 00:23:59,754 He uses submission 478 00:23:59,754 --> 00:24:02,090 to change the world. 479 00:24:03,241 --> 00:24:06,778 Friends, I know in evangelical Christianity 480 00:24:06,778 --> 00:24:10,348 there are a lot of methodologies being held out to you. 481 00:24:11,516 --> 00:24:13,952 Hide while the world crumbles. 482 00:24:13,952 --> 00:24:16,955 Fight while the world crumbles. 483 00:24:17,305 --> 00:24:20,308 You can choose either of those. 484 00:24:20,909 --> 00:24:22,194 But neither of them 485 00:24:22,194 --> 00:24:25,197 are the approach of Jesus, 486 00:24:25,547 --> 00:24:28,850 because the message of God to you is fighting and hiding 487 00:24:28,850 --> 00:24:30,902 won't change the world, 488 00:24:30,902 --> 00:24:33,388 but surrender to the will of God. 489 00:24:33,388 --> 00:24:35,640 Will you know why the world is the way it is? 490 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,895 That's the world we get when we listen to ourselves. 491 00:24:41,313 --> 00:24:44,299 You went out. 492 00:24:44,666 --> 00:24:47,669 You'll have to listen to him. 493 00:24:48,153 --> 00:24:51,623 Let me pray for us, father God, I submission is hard, 494 00:24:52,674 --> 00:24:56,628 especially in this culture where the chief virtue is individual autonomy. 495 00:24:57,028 --> 00:24:58,413 I am what I say I am. 496 00:24:58,413 --> 00:25:01,099 I can be what I say I want to be, and that's true. 497 00:25:01,099 --> 00:25:03,318 I can believe all those things. 498 00:25:03,318 --> 00:25:04,736 And then I get the family. 499 00:25:04,736 --> 00:25:09,474 I have the life, I have the community, I have the world I have. 500 00:25:09,474 --> 00:25:12,444 But God, we want more than that. 501 00:25:13,612 --> 00:25:14,629 Holy spirit, would you 502 00:25:14,629 --> 00:25:18,800 show us how the call to submission is a call 503 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:23,305 for the glory of God, and for our good and for the good of those around us 504 00:25:23,371 --> 00:25:27,325 who might be enemies today, but can be worshipers tomorrow 505 00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:30,629 if they see a God who is real and relational 506 00:25:30,629 --> 00:25:33,632 and changing and available. 507 00:25:35,033 --> 00:25:38,186 I do that for your glory and our good. 508 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:40,739 In Jesus name we pray. Amen.