Boston North PCA

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Jesus points to the gospel to encourage us to pray, but if we assume God must be cajoled, then instead of hearing the Gospel, we hear Jesus calling us to try harder.Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

This is a hard passage! Is Jesus really commending being dishonest? Following on the Lost Sons in ch 15, Jesus is still talking about loves of the heart, what we look to in order to feel enough. We gonna walk through this story looking at what Jesus says the point is, not what we think the point is. We’ll see that Jesus commends using resources to build relationships, and he notes that non-believers are often better at that than Christians.Pastor Sean Referred to the following media in this sermon.https://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2019/august/virtue-vice-why-niceness-weakens-our-witness.html Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

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Jesus is at a dinner party with the influencers of the day. They have grumbled against him b/c the wrong people hang out with him. Jesus confronts their mentality with three parables: the lost sheep & coin from last week, and now the Lost Sons.After the lost sheep and the lost coin, Jesus gives a human picture of those two parables and of his audience. This parable of the Lost Sons shows how utterly helpless the two sons are to restore themselves, and  what the rejoicing at being found in v7 & v10 looks like.Pastor Sean references the following media in today’s sermon:Dr. Scott Hershovitz New York Times, “Taylor Swift, Philosopher of Forgiveness”https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/opinion/sunday/taylor-swift-lover.htmlSupport the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

Today—we see Jesus hanging with questionable people, and when challenged by the religious elite about his choice of companions, Jesus tells two stories teaching that God seeks & rescues the desperate rather than the comfortable.Pastor Sean referenced the following media in this sermon:Review of Tom Holland’s Dominion https://www.newstatesman.com/dominion-making-western-mind-tom-holland-review Christian Century article on Total Depravity  https://www.christiancentury.org/article/first-person/how-i-learned-love-doctrine-total-depravity Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

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Jesus is at a dinner party, and right before this passage, he watches all the guests jockey for the best seats. He confronts them about it, bucking their system of rank. Now he is going after the “good ole’ boy” system that got stuff done, that made some feel superior to others.The people at this party were the insiders, the connected people, and those who were outside of power & status were also outside the party, b/c they didn't matter. And these folk knew, they just knew… God had the same opinions of people that they did.Jesus confronts the assumption that God favors the right people by reminding then that God has a different idea of who the right people are.Pastor Sean references the following media in this sermon:Short Story- “The Social Triangle” by O’Henry https://americanliterature.com/author/o-henry/short-story/the-social-triangleArticle-Brad Gray, Successful People Don’t Sleep,   https://mbird.com/2019/09/successful-people-dont-sleep/ Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

Pastor Sean continues in the parables of Jesus. Parables are stories that Jesus used to teach truths. One of the main themes we're tracing in these parables is what our culture calls “enoughness”- a feeling that we are valuable, worthy, acceptable. Often being enough is based on our accomplishments or status or possessions, as we are going to see today… we also look to Freedom to make us enough.In this passage Jesus demands that a woman have freedom, he then preaches freedom, and ultimately the message of Xnity is that Jesus provided freedom to all of us in his death and resurrection, and in Jesus we find enough.Pastor Sean referenced the follow media in this sermon:Articles: ~Amanda Mull, in The Atlantic, “White Claw is What Happens When Cool becomes Exhausting” https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/08/why-summer-white-claw/596920/ ~Ross Douthat, in the New York Times, “The Age of American Despair” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/opinion/sunday/the-age-of-american-despair.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

Parables are stories that Jesus used to teach truths. One of the main themes we're tracing in these parables is  what our culture calls “enoughness”- a feeling that we are valuable, worthy, acceptable- often based on our accomplishments or status or possessions.      In this story, we see a man looking to material success in order to feel enough and have peace. The point Jesus presses home is our biggest debt, the thing that causes our angst and anxiety, the reason we strive to be enough is because we are alienated from our creator by sin. In our quest to be enough, Jesus wants us to hear: nothing in this world, nor everything in this world, can satisfy our hearts.      Jesus says that a connection to God is the source of satisfaction. The riches of God are found in the person of Jesus Christ who through his life, death, and resurrection bring us into the family of God—the sonship that is true of Jesus becomes your daughter-ship when you place your faith and trust in him. Pastor Sean references the following media in this sermon:Book: Shantung Compound, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/815812.Shantung_CompoundArticles: “The Myth of Making It,”   https://longreads.com/2019/09/06/the-myth-of-making-it/“The Many Fears of Bill Hader,”The New York Times Magazine Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

The parable last week was about our relationships with other people, how until we can be changed on the inside, until we can feel what our culture is calling “enoughness” inside, we live competitive lives of judging others. This famous story continues in the same vein. A very good, religious person wants to test Jesus, but he also reveals his own hang-ups b/c he basically asks Jesus: how will I know that I am enough? Jesus challenges his assumptions about God and himself.Pastor Sean references the following media in this sermon:https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/09/justin-biebers-drug-recovery-message-youre-not-alone/597355/Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

Jesus changes how we relate to others by changing how we view God and ourselves.  In vv37-8 Jesus gives practical advice for humanity as it was meant to be, but v39 shows that our blindness stops us from leading ourselves to that place. In v40 Jesus says we won’t listen to his instructions b/c we think we are above him, but when we are made complete, or equipped by him, we will be like Jesus. Until then, v41-2 says we should notice our own hypocrisy before rejecting Jesus’ way. We should remove our specks, but in v43-4 our specks are our fruit—products of our nature. We can’t change our nature since in v45 our deepest love determines who we are, and until we set free to have another love, we are going to judge. Jesus offers himself, not a new teaching, as the key to the new humanity.Pastor Sean referenced the following articles today:https://mbird.com/2018/10/what-if-millennials-were-enough/https://medium.com/the-understanding-project/ever-wonder-why-youre-so-judgmental-6ce3a62da34bSupport the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

David, the great King of Israel, after years of warfare, after the tribes being united, finally at his coronation, the nation is together as one, unified under the God-ordained King. David looks out on the throngs of people in Jerusalem, and proclaims this Psalm.Later, it became one of the Psalms of Ascents, sung as they went to worship in Jerusalem, not as 12 tribes, but as the people of God, the community of those given life. And so, as the people of God, this is our song to sing!Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

Psalm 132 is a song of "remembering."This longest of the Psalms of Ascent is written from the perspective of those standing in the rubble of Jerusalem after it had been destroyed and abandoned, when all God's promises seemed to be a failure. So the Psalm calls on God to Remember his promises of grace and rescue.Pastor Sean references the following resources:Chris Arnade-https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/24/atheism-richard-dawkins-challenge-beliefs-homeless https://www.firstthings.com/article/2019/06/back-row-americaCurt Thompson -https://www.beingknown.com/ Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

Ps130 is a psalm of hope received, relished, and bragged about!  Where Ps 129 was a sort of emotional response to legit pain & injustice, and how to be both faithful and authentic in such responses, in Ps130 we have trials & disappointments that are more holistic in scope than the incidents of injustice. This psalm shows that from the depths of pain, long-term grief, guilt, failure, disappointment, the only remedy is to throw yourself onto the mercy of God! Pastor Sean reference the following articles in this sermon:From The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-workism-making-americans-miserable/583441/From the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/business/against-hustle-culture-rise-and-grind-tgim.htmlSupport the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

Recognizing past injustice, the community vents it’s resentment and then rests in God’s justice rather than seeking vengeance.Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

Ps126 is a psalm of remembering & asking, where they recognize a current difficulty, but base their hopeful prayer on God’s past mercies. God’s restoration in the past brought joy and now fuels a prayerful hope toward restored joy in the present.Support the show (https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=9EC752B3F40A43B)

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