2. Yahweh is our God - I Am Who I Am - Tim Mackie (The Bible Project)

we're just continuing riot along and I think we learned from last week Jay can I do this right in front of you all right co-op to put these things down here for a full chalkboard exposure we are doing this series for the next three months exploring the identity of this word right here what what do Christians mean when we use the word g.od and the reason is that it's our conviction that there's quiet a lot of ambiguity and fogginess for Christians in in America when we use this word we often assume that we're all talking about the same thing and I'm pretty convinced that we're not a lot of the time and that's just within you know within the church within Western culture in general it gets even more complicated and it's funny because especially in American media and politics and so on the word God gets brought up quite a lot and the general assumption is is we all know what we're talking about when we use that word or that we're all talking about the same being or the same thing and as Christians I think we need to begin to to discipline our thinking and to think carefully and intentionally about who we are referring to when we hear this word and another major factor you know we all come to our definition or what we understand this word to refer to by lots of different things we talked about this last week by our family of origins by our experiences growing up and so on another major factor at least for cities especially in the West is the fact that over the last 50 years or so with with increased immigration and mobility the world's urban centers have become what America was 200 years ago I use the melting pots and so you know odds are if you you know we're born in the 70s 80s 90s and you grew up in a city that you grew up knowing and just oh I have neighbors in school school friends and so on people of different ethnic or cultural backgrounds different religious backgrounds and that you had a very different experience that way than your grandparents did growing up say in a city here in America our cities are much more diverse and so you have you have a Chinese Buddhist or you have a Catholic from you know from South America or something from Costa Rica and you have a Hindu from India and then you have you wherever you happen to grow up and people learn English and what all these different religious backgrounds and so on and we have one word to talk about God but yet all of those people do not at all mean the same thing when they use that English word you guys with me and so this is a reality of living in a religious and culturally plural pluralistic society that we need to gain clarity just for your own sake but also for the sake of understanding who is this person that you're trying to get to know what God are you trying to get to relate to in some way and trying to understand and connect with so one way one way to think about this in terms of our culture is think about the thing about like this and and I think why for many of us we have trouble relating to God it's because we just have such a muddled idea of who God is in our minds but yet we have a word for it that we think we know I think we know what it means the thing to think of it this way this will underscore the problem I think that many of us have so my name is Tim hi if I didn't say that already my name is Tim right so Portland's not the biggest city in the US by a longshot what do you mean iam city large city I was just thinking about this the other day large small medium this is your three options hahaha so I didn't help anything did it okay I suppose it depends on where you from and your perception of what big is okay well that didn't help nevermind so Portland is a city it is a city all right there's a city so my name my name is Tim how many Tim's do you think there are in the city of Portland hundreds of thousands sounds probably probably how many thousands I have no idea I have no idea so using the word Tim if you're in how many Tim's in the room right now any other Tim's hey there hey hey man how's your popping any others you and me all right so that's great that's a great example so right in this room right now the word Tim will not be helpful because we're both going to go well if you say if we say our name and so it's the same word but it could identify and refer to different people altogether so how would you how would you gain clarity on which Tim you are talking about what further would you want to say or get to know what are you talking about me or Tim sonar we'd last names the first thing we would go and so you would learn my name is Tim Maki Maki is my clan Scottish and proud right so Scottish term proud right if it's not Scottish its cropped right and you know that thing so so Scottish lowlands tribe the tribe of Makai that's me so so that's how you would further I like to know my identity is my name my full name so that would get you a step of the way there until you discover that there are actually a handful of Tim Mackey's in the city of Portland like not a small number actually I discovered that a long time ago and so what how would you further clarify what Tim Maki you were talking about you can't say middle name pretend middle names don't exist right now that's a loophole in my argument but so the pretending the villain names exist how would you go about doing I you can do another a number of ways the easiest one would be to tell my story how do you well which team are you talking about the one who was born at Adventist Hospital grew up on South East 22nd in Hawthorne and went to such-and-such a school you tell someone's story that's how we identify people named by someone's name and by someone's story are you listening this is just this is not complicated you're not really learning anything right now right this is this is so commonplace when it comes to people that it's funny that we never think to use the same type of categories or ideas when we're talking about this word here so what God are we talking about well I guess you would it would help to know this God's story to help you identify what particular God we're talking about and also to know if this God has a more specific name other than the generic title of deity right or God and as Christians both of those are incredibly important things supposed to know and to learn and to internalize that the God that we worship revealed in Jesus has a name and a story so think about the first sentence of the Bible for example we'll just throw just throw it up here it was there and no come back again I'm sure soon so think about the first what's the what's the title for God in the first sentence of the Bible there it is it's right there and it's right here - it's right here so you're going to learn you know how it is with me I'm going to learn some Hebrew Hebrew words today so the Hebrew word for God's the word Elohim Elohim once you say it with me I'll aim so I'll owe him it's the same in Hebrew at it as it is in English it's a title it's not a name the generic word title referring to the deity so here's some interesting to think about that if you if you only read the first sentence of the Bible you've narrowed the list down pretty good right because we're talking about gods who have the power or the generosity or the creativity to spin a world into being so that takes a whole bunch of deities off the list right because not all gods are gods that could do that kind of thing but many religions and cultures believe in some kind of being that did this so the first sentence of the Bible narrows the list kind of but stopped not entirely you still don't know well what kind of Oh God are we talking about here and so what do you what do you do so what you do is you learn as a Christian to develop this discipline of reading the Bible as a way of helping you clarify the identity of God and letting these stories begin to shape your thinking about the character qualities and and the purposes of this God that we say that we believe in and so to do that you have to simply continue on in reading the story with that set of glasses on so once you grab your Bibles and turn to me to the book of Exodus the book of Exodus chapter 2 and we're going to ponder and contemplate a story that both reveals the name and the story of God and really significant way if by the way you come and you forgot a Bible or you don't have one or something like that just to remind you we always have Bibles available for you to use or even just take one at take it home we got them out of the boxes in the basement finally so they're always going to be at the table by the tea right there underneath the tea table not fitting Bibles by the tea table yeah Exodus chapter 2 let's just dive dive right in here verse 23 Exodus 2 verse 23 during that long period the king of Egypt died and the Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God or say in Hebrew even 9 went up to Ella good job you spoke a bit of Hebrew there ok so pause this we're jumping right into the middle of a fast-paced developing story here so this God who created and spun a world into being commissioned a particular creature that that he made in his world this creature called Adam humanities where we get our name Adam and humanity was made in and made to reflect the creator's image out into the world and they're very much in the story they're depicted as partner with the Creator God in responsibility and in management of the flourishing of God's good world and he gives them real responsibility and real dignity real freedom and real choice of how they're going to go about building this world with God and how how does that story go so that's page two of so it doesn't go well at all the humans the humans begin to doubt the creator's goodness they they believe the creator's holding out on them and instead of trusting the creator's definition of good and evil and wisdom they they seize the opportunity and define good and evil for themselves and in ways that are most convenient for them and it leads to the ruin of our world as the story of the Bible tells us and so what do we learn about this Creator God this Creator God is so passionate and committed to the goodness of his world and committed to these human beings that I've totally turned away from him but he sets in motion a plan to rescue and bless and drew demon to save this humanity and his world and so he does that by I'm having a conversation with his random guy named Abraham Abraham and says through you and your family going to do something that's going to bring blessing and salvation to all of the nations and so this is the God that we're talking about here let's keep reading here verse 24 God Elohim he heard Israel's groaning and he remembered his covenant with him with Abraham with Isaac's and with Jacob and so he looked on the Israelites he was concerned about them so this people group is crucial to God's plan somehow we don't know yet you just got to keep reading the story of how he's going to bring blessing and salvation to all of the nations so we're still using the generic title but we're cluing into this God's story this is the God I mean a covenant with Abraham and through his family he's going to somehow bring blessing and salvation to the world so God looks and he's concerned because Abraham's family is now in slavery in Egypt and oh my goodness what's going to happen what what's God going to do chapter three verse and I just got a Moses and he was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law the priest of Midian and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and he came to Horeb which is the mountain of God now this is good stuff for saying this good Old Testament storytelling style right and see like all the people are enslaved and they're crying out help us help us and God says yes I'm going to help you and then you cut the scene and it's just like this guy wandering in the wilderness with a flock of sheep or something it's like what what did happen right so I want to know what's God going to do to rescue the people and so this is called good storytelling is what this is called right it's called literary art and beautiful storytelling there's some connection though you don't know yet you got to read the story so this is guy Moses and you know about him from chapter 2 rescued out of the water and you've seen the movie right so he he's leading his flock to the far side of this mountain comes to this mountain that's called Horeb here it's other name in the Bible is Mount Sinai Mount Sinai and that's where the people is realized were going to go later on in the book of Exodus so he's these other cruising with his flock and they're the angel of not Elohim the angel of was it saying so it says Lord and this is something I've mentioned this a few times before but when you see Lord in all capital letters in your Bible that it's kind of funny exactly why did they spell it in all caps and that's your English translators giving you a little clue that the Hebrew word used is not just the word for master or Lord it's actually the divine name that's going to be revealed in this very very store here and the traditional and most likely way that this name was pronounced by ancient Israelite is Yahweh and this story is actually about the revelation of that name and the meaning of this name and so it's the angel of Yahweh who appears to Moses and he appears in the flame flames of a fire from within a bush now Moses saw that even though the bush was on fire it didn't burn up that's quite strange that's quite it's quiet hurry with me that's weird if you would freak out if you saw that you wouldn't be calm and collected like you are right now right so you would what on and now it's not strange to see a bush on fire right anybody any little kid could light a bush on fire but it's like going on and on it's not burning up starting to freak out Moses thought quiet we'll go over and see this strange sight I mean why isn't the bush burning up now when Yahweh saw that he had gone over to look God called to him from within the bush Moses Moses and Moses said here Here I am so you on camera like what's going on so the bush is talking to me this is quite strange quite strange response don't come any closer God said take off your sandals for the place that you are standing is holy ground so here's another way that this story is is trying to shape our view of the character and attributes of this Yahweh Elohim of this Yahweh God and this God is holy with this God which doesn't mean like you know a moral morally uptight or something like that this kind of what it means in our key Sokoli you think cheese makes you so holy or something like that it doesn't mean morally uptight that's not what it means in the Bible it means unique and and different and this is this is for most use of Yahweh Elohim the this God is so utterly other and unique and transcendent this God has within God's own self the resources to spin a universe into being and the creativity and and this God is the very definition of justice and in moral goodness and beauty and purity and so on and so to comment to the presence of such an utterly unique being means to come into the proximity of unique and sacred and holy space that's the concept here and so just like you would never I was in the habit of I don't know why but I would come in to my house when I was a little kid growing up and you know you take off your shoes and you bring them right into the dinner into the kitchen or something and I I don't know my mom got on me about this I thought this is very common for kids so that I share death and I am fairly this is quite uncommon I would just throw my shoes on the kitchen counter or something I guess we're supposed to take off our shoes we come into the house it was one of these old houses in Portland with nice hardwood floors and stood tougher on the counter and of course my mom you know was not happy about that and what she's not happy about that for the same reasons that Moses is supposed to take off issues what have I been walking on on this on Hawthorne xx and Hawthorne you what kinds of things or ayats you have like the oils from the cars and so on is people who have drive these vintage cars that are cool that drip oil everywhere all over our streets you know and you have like piece of gum and cigarette butt and so on and so I I bring that into the house what are the kitchen counters for what's their unique specified purpose the preparation of food right and so the sacred space is a sacred unique holy spaces for that one purpose and my shoes like what I bring in off the streets does not belong there it's a similar principle here Moses is a shepherd what's he probably walked in today you know and so hey guys hey come off this is a unique experience a unique and holy being that you're coming into proximity with and in this god this Elohim further clarifies his identity verse 6 he says then I said I am the Elohim of your father the Elohim of Abraham Elohim of Isaac Elohim of Jacob he's identifying himself by a story of what God has been up to at this Moses hid his face he was afraid afraid to look at God then Yahweh said I indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt I've heard them crying out because of their slave drivers I am concerned about their suffering so I've come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land a land flowing with milk and honey which doesn't mean the rocks are just oozing milk and honey right so also that when I first heard this that was an image that came into my mind so what what does it mean the lands flowing of milk and honey what makes milk goats cows what makes honey is it's a land full of ghosts and bees that's what this land the land flowing with good in other words just by itself without full farming and cultivation it's just flowing with resources that's the idea and it's the home of these people groups already the Canaanites the Hittites amirite Perizzites the Hivites and Jebusites so now the cry of the Israelites has reached me I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them now go I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people that Israelites out of Egypt again if it's our stories that reveal who we are what is this story revealing about the character of Yahweh Elohim this God cares deeply about how human beings treat each other the stuff just put it at its most basic all right so this is a God who cares deeply about how his image bearing creatures treat other image image bearing creatures and when there's oppression when there's evil when there's injustice this God cares this God internalizes the pain and the grief and is driven to do something now this God is driven to do something and what does this God do how is this God going to act he says I'm going to do something and what does he do he says Moses you go you go and we think why doesn't God just get directly involved and that's stop it stop it but you haven't you have a view of God that God if he's involved in the world what that means is that he popped down miracles from heaven and just kind of pull the strings and Boop you know it's lit that's how we think got off to act have you actually read the Bible and realized that's how God almost never acts mother dad almost never acts very rare are the moments when God actually works in history without any human mediation whatsoever if you reads actually read the story of the Bible about Yahweh Elohim he almost always acts through his people through commissioning people and we might say that's a very inefficient way of going about things right and so clearly efficiency is not one of the huge carriers of this God right this God has other other high items on his agenda than simply being efficient namely the shaping and cultivation of the character has its people which takes time takes time and so he's going to send Moses imma send you to Pharaoh bring my people Israelites out of Egypt as must think about this plan bad idea it's really best if you do all right their lives first response there's an objection Moses says to God Who am I Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt and gods response answers his question by ignoring his question look whatever God's response what a God say I will be with you just think about what's happening yeah Who am I I'm listen I am NOT the candidate not qualified I don't actually want to do this Who am I that I should go and God says in essence it doesn't actually matter who you are what matters is who I am and what I am is with you you get what's happening right here now this is very powerful and I'm going to actually teach you the Hebrew word for I will be because this is all all connected here so God says I will be and how you say that and me bru is a very breathy word that you shouldn't say after eating lots of garlic it's the word s yes stay with me yeah yeah now Hebrew um just like English has developed and changed over time you know just like how they talk signing and Shakespearean plays versus how you talk now so actually the way this is super geeky Hebrew grammar but come on Marty what did look at this so anyway the way great-great grandpa would have said this is a quest a quest and the significance for a reason that you'll see in a model she say that with me okay so what what God says to Moses is a quest and then with you Imam I will be now is God saying in about five minutes I'm going to be with you that would mean it says it's future I will be with you but is that what he means excuse me seven I've something else I got to do real quick you know so it means I am and will continue to be with you it's a statement about the present and on going into the future and that's why some of your translations have not I will be against though some of your translations might have simply I am with you and that's because God's not saying in the future one day I'll be with you Here I am and from here on out I am will be with you tuck that away keep reading Who am I it doesn't matter Moses I swear I will be with you and this will be the sign to use that it's I who have sent you if you in face move out and do what I'm asking you to do when you've brought the people out of Egypt you're going to come worship God on this mountain and this is the mountain that the Israelites are going to camp out for a year upcoming later on in the book Moses said okay that didn't work that evasive technique didn't work so let me try another one right evasive technique number two verse thirteen Moses said to God well you know suppose I go to the Israelites and I say to them the Elohim of your father's has sent me to you and they're going to ask me what's his name then what am I supposed to tell them I don't named sleep I'm probably not your guy that's the that's the implied there's another objection here and God responds as if this question is actually a question that he's now equipping Moses to go do and God said to Moses he says fs:i share equi I will be what I will be or because of this dynamic of it's not in about five more minutes I will be when I'm going to be I am who or what I am is what many of our other translations read if you look at it the footnote for that little word in verse 14 you'll see a whole bunch of different notes about the translation of this phrase right here so that's what that's what's going on here God's saying I whatever it is that I am I am that that's my name and that's the significance of my name for you and for these people in slavery right now let's just let's just pause this is very profound and powerful what what he's saying and maybe you've heard this phrase before I am what I am or I am Who I am and you think ooh that sounds philosophical and cool okay keep reading you know we just kind of moved past it or whatever so notice there's actually not that philosophical at all this is a deeply personal character statement about Yahweh who is the Elohim that we say we worship and so we should hone in on this what is with God saying Here I am and will continue to be what I am and will forever be so what God's saying is whatever character traits or whatever attributes that God displays he is that it's as if he's saying like you look up in the dictionary merciful oh there's Yahweh you'll find here right so you always merciful he whatever Yahweh is he's merciful he is the the perfect embodiment the most consistent reliable mercy that you will find anywhere in the universe this God is the God who clearly cares about how human beings treat each other and that they do so with love and with justice this is a God of justice he is just there for he is the very definition the embodiment of perfect beautiful justice that's what he's getting at right here whatever character trait Yahweh has he is that he defines it and it's very it's very being now this is in contrast to you and I for example that's because you and I are only sometimes what we are so you you have a friend and you're really enjoying getting to know each other and get along famously and you're like we have what a great person of integrity and they're so generous and kind and so on and be a great roommate done and so then you guys get an apartment together and maybe even with a third person and then what what do you find out about this person who you think is kind and generous and gracious you will find out that they are only sometimes good and generous and gracious if you're dating someone and you're like the most amazing man he's so incredible and he's so generous and he's time and then you marry him and then you realize that he is only sometimes amazing to cut right so this is this human being we are on we are only sometimes what we are Yahweh is what he is you see the difference that's the idea here so you you can depend on human beings sometimes to be what they are you can always depend on Yahweh to be what he is you never have to worry about Yahweh all of a sudden changing the rules on you and like being somebody else than what you thought Yahweh was all about you always know where you stand with Yahweh he keeps his word and and not only is he what he is he's actually already revealed in his first character trait by using his name right here because his name is s we're a share a quest and what did he already say look back up at verse 12 he already said something that Yahweh is What did he say to Moses I will be or I am what with so this is yet another character trait of of Yahweh Elohim so we look out at the world and we assume it's super screwed up and you don't feel close to God or you don't sense God in our lives I certainly feel that way a lot of the time and you go where is God and in wet in the Western conception of how we've come to define this word we think of some detach to remote being who if you believe in this God set the universe into play by whatever laws and physics or something and then just kind of lets it spin out and he's on its perpetual vacation and occasionally we'll answer a prayer or two that's the basic default I think American conception of God and so the story of Yahweh Elohim is exactly the opposite is that this god is with us he is what he is and he is with us and so where people are suffering in slavery and and being abused by other human beings this God is right there and we think well if God was right there why doesn't he do something about it so wishes story the Bible would say well what people are doing something about it because God is calling them to do that that's what God is doing something about us man yeah it's allowing these stories to redefine God's identity for us when we when Christians are called to pray like may your kingdom come may your will be done I think our American conception of God would say okay God work a few miracles and solve the problems of injustice and so on and kind of do that would you whereas Jesus's conception of God is very clearly that you actually begin to participate through your obedience to his teachings in the actual assuring end of the kingdom of God in your day-to-day lives and relationship you are part of the answer of that prayer that's how God's kingdom is coming so this is these stories are trying to redefine even what it means for God's to be present and active in the world and so this God is fundamentally his commitment is to be with his people even when they're in deep suffering and slavery that doesn't mean God is not with them it's precisely that's one of the most powerful moments where he can reveal who he is and who he is is with with us let's keep keep going here so verse 14 God said I am what I am whatever it is that I am I am that and so God says this is what you were to say to the Israelites F West has sent me to you look at the next verse God also said to Moses okay so say to the Israelites and then he says not as when he says Yahweh the God of your father the God of Abraham the god of Isaac God of Jacob has sent me to you this is my name forever this is the name used to call me from generation to generation now so here's what's interesting when when God says his own name he says F where I will be when he puts the name of God in Moses's mouth to go speak to other people he says Dawood and the difference between these two is the difference between these letters right here this is full-on Hebrew grammar in church right now I don't know what's happening right now I don't know so the act is I the yah is he these will be or he is in other words when Moses and goes and says okay here's the name of God he can't say equi because would be like I am has sent you like you are what Moses I am this bad grammar Restless so when God's name is on other people's lips we call him Yahweh which means he is only God can say F way about himself when we use God's name we he we said he is what he is if he we will be what he will be and so this story we just read it right here this is the kind of foundation story for the revelation of God's name what God is it that creates the heavens on earth and whose story is told in the Bible it's Yahweh it's Yahweh Elohim now let's take another step forward here so this is the name by which Yahweh studies to be known and it's an name that's just not and you know and the other name is the name that has deep meaning and insight into this God's character and so flip foot forward with me to the book of Deuteronomy few books of the Bible forward book of Deuteronomy hi guys done this is just a dump truck of content today and I don't apologize at all alright so Deuteronomy chapter chapter 5 and if you look at the heading if your Bible has little heading summary headings of Deuter of chapters and so on what what do you find to do out Deuteronomy chapter 5 hey Ten Commandments you've heard of those before right so let's I just want to look at the the first commandment right here it begins in verse 6 and this tie is all the pieces together here and this is where this starts why this is all significant for people who live in a culture of religious pluralism this is where this comes in look at verse 6 he says I am Yahweh your Elohim so name here's my name remember the two ways we identify people by people someone's name or someone's story and God appeals to both right here here's my name I'm Yahweh your Elohim and just in case you forgot I'm the particular Yahweh Elohim who brought you out of Egypt out of the land of slavery this God is characterized by His mercy and concern to rescue to rescue his people so look at the implication verse 7 you shall have no other Elohim before me so just stop right there the what does this verse assume are there other Elohim on offer in the culture around them so that they could give their allegiance to answer yes should they know what did those gods ever do for Israel that God didn't rescue out of slavery and he just like what it wasn't they going to do for you that I haven't done for you 100 times over even better you know the idea here all right your god they didn't rescue ya I rescued you I'm your I'm your your Elohim it's acknowledging that there are in fact other Elohim now this might spin some your brain because you might have learned a fancy word somewhere along the way that refers to a belief common to Christianity Judaism and Islam namely the belief in one God and what is that fancy word the monotheism and what that's often mistaken mistakenly thought to mean is oh I believe that there only exists one spiritual being and that spiritual being is my god and that's not that's just nowhere in the Bible the Bible acknowledges the existence of many many spiritual beings and in the Old Testament the the Hebrew word that they're usually described with us the word Elohim and Yahweh is among these spiritual beings but Yahweh is the only one who is the creator of all that is in fact he is the maker even of things visible and invisible of those other spiritual beings themselves and so in the New Testament they are sometimes called gods more often they're called by another a greek word called diamond diamond which means lesser deity or or demigod and it got transliterated into english not as what word diamond diamond right and so immediately we're led astray by Dante's Inferno and Red Tails and pitchforks and so on and it's utterly ridiculous right and none of that is in the Bible so these are real spiritual beings there are people in other cultures other religions that worship another god and they're not worshiping nothing there's something that they're really in touch with and it's not Yahweh and this is where we get into the scandalous claim of the story of the Bible is that Yahweh who will continue to reveal himself as we believe in Jesus is the one true Elohim that when you connect yourself to this God and give your allegiance to this God that you will find life that you will rediscover your humanity and who you were made to be and that when you connect yourself to other Elohim you will slowly die you'll slowly be destroyed because these other Elohim that are out there don't have your best interests in mind and might think too but they don't and immediately you become unpopular at a Friday night party here in Portland right when you say something like that I will so we'll talk about that in a second how do you handle the party conversation right so idiot anyway so you just like replay this whole talk for them and talk about Hebrew grammar yeah but you should do no don't do that so so here's so there's ideas no one have any other gods flip the page to Deuteronomy chapter 6 the last passage we'll look at chapter 6 verse 4 and here is one of the most famous prayers and passages in the whole of the Old Testament here o Israel is Moses calling the whole people of Israel listen listen o Israel Yahweh our God Yahweh is what is one love Yahweh your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength these lines right here the called the Shema in Jewish tradition and they are prayed and have been prayed by devout Jews for over 3,000 years morning noon and night and this is the fundamental confession here but of all the other Elohim that you could give your allegiance to Yahweh is our Elohim Yahweh is the one and only right now what's interesting is after now this is a history lesson I told you to dump load of contract load of content a dump load of content a load of content here so after Christianity and Judaism parted ways after Christians began to betray Jesus by persecuting Jewish people they all of a sudden this verse came to be used by a Jewish rabbis interpreters as arguing again the Christian view of God namely that God is three and one father spirit and son and but as you can see from the original setting this is not talking about the internal being of God to say God is one it's saying there are lots of Elohim out there on offer we have only one Elohim and it's the Yahweh that's what this prayer is all about many Elohim Yahweh is our Elohim because he's the God who rescued us he's the God who looked down us in our plight and had mercy and sent a deliverer so that we could be so he could be rescued that's what this prayer is about now okay last 2 pounds of dirt that I'm gonna heap heap on yo alright so so this is who Yahweh revealed himself to be in the storyline of the Old Testament and this is all in a setting of religious pluralism many Elohim on offer Yahweh is our particular Elohim so as the storyline develops and as Jesus comes on to the scene he begins and we'll talk about this later on in series when we get to Jesus he both in his teaching and in his symbolic action is walking around the place acting as if he's Yahweh he is walking around doing and saying things that in their culture only Yahweh had the prerogative to do and in his cultural setting it was sending loud and clear signals to everybody about the claim that he was making about himself and so when after Jesus's life and his death in his resurrection when the Apostles and the earliest Christians started talking about Jesus they began to use this language from the Old Testament but redefined in light of who Jesus is so watch watch this this is so awesome this is one of my favorite verses in the whole New Testament okay and I won't make you look it up it's right here in in Paul's letter to first Corinthian so Paul's writing to a bunch of new Christians who are living in a city Corinth that is full full of diverse gods and religions and so on and these Christians are a minority no one believes what they believe or thinks what they think sound familiar to anybody in the room right so this is what this is Paul's counsel how do you go about discerning and growing as a Christian and talking about God he says listen even if there are so-called God whether in heaven and on earth and indeed let's be clear there are lots of gods and lords up there there are many spiritual beings to which you could connect yourself or give your allegiance yep for us there is but how many gods one what's he quoting right here what passage from the Old Testament is equal ease quoting the Shema prayer that we just read right we have but one God the Father from whom all things came and for whom we live and there is but one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things came and through whom we live this is so great this is so awesome what probably here now that second half of the paragraph here is a little poem and look at the next slide and I kind of outlined up the poetry for you okay so look a little what Paul's doing this is this is a pastoral and moved but also a move of deep theology here so he's using the language of the Shema the Lord is our God the Lord is one and he doesn't listen there's lots of God's out there that your friends worship or that people say they're in touch with but for us no no there's one there's one God it's the father from whom are all things and we exist for him and we also only have one Lord now when he says the word Lord there what is he referring to what does the word Lord mean when it's in Hebrew your jaws should be on the floor right so did you see what he's saying here he's saying we have we have one God one Elohim and that's the father and we have one Lord we have one Yahweh and who's that wait the Shema says God is one yes so who's God and Lord the Father or Jesus yes yes yes well how can that be that doesn't well this God is the most unique and holy thing in the universe we believe and so if there's one thing that you need to have room for the utterly breaks any categories you have about how things work in the universe this being is the best candidate right and so there you go there you go I mean we're right here he's broken the Shema open and stuffed Jesus right into it and so who's God Jesus and the father and this leads us right back to where we were last week Father Son and spirit are God for Christians not for other feet not for a Buddhist not for a Muslim this is different different God and it doesn't mean you have to hate on each other what a ridiculous idea but it doesn't mean that you need to be able to disagree and then go have a beer and talk about it and and be friends but recognize like we don't agree we don't agree and that doesn't mean you're a bad person that doesn't mean I'm a bad person I think you're wrong let's go have a drink I mean that that's that's America and to me that's the beauty of living in a culture of religious pluralism and what happened here's what happens you guys is here in the Friday night party you're seen as a hater simply because you think someone else is wrong about their view of God and that seems like it's very in touch and very open-minded and so on but really you're doing such a dishonor to the people who actually believe these religions you think devout Muslims in Morocco actually think that they believe in the same God as the father son in spirit that we believe in no if you think but they don't think that right and but America let Americans like we get all in a tussle about this and so here's really I think where this where this comes down to is that in America and especially an American kind of civil religion and so on we've so neutered and made ambiguous this word right here that we kind of make it just one account for everybody and so you're a Muslim you're Buddhist you're a Christian listen we all just want to get along so let's just all recognize that all paths lead to the top of the same mountain right and so you're worshipping your God as Allah and you're worshiping your God is Vishnu and we worship God is Jesus and so on and that seems like a very open-minded like a very humble point of view when in fact if you really think through it cleanly it's actually the most presumptuous close-minded view you could possibly have because what you're saying is and Here I am the enlightened American and I know that the Christians are actually wrong that their God is the one true God I know that the Hindus are wrong that their God is one true God and I know that you know what I'm saying and and hear from my elevated vantage point I can see that all of the religions are actually going to the same God and where did you get that information from what did you get a vision from heaven about that like what that's actually a very presumptuous claim but it comes off it's very open-minded and so on and so again I think as Christians we need in this culture of tolerance where we're told to simply tolerate people who disagree with us we need to first of all recognize that tolerate is something you do to your neighbors noisy dog so we're not called to tolerate people what are the two great commands diese said from you with us what's the greatest command in the Torah what are they love God love your neighbor as yourself we're called to love people and you don't have to disagree with someone and to say that they're wrong this time being that you hate them it means that you respect them as a human being and you respect their decision and that is very different for years you think they're wrong they think you're wrong let's go have a drink and talk about it right and have it out and and that's that's okay and for somehow as Americans we have just become like allergic to those kinds of conversations you guys with me here and so we're unapologetic where we're a church full of people who believe that God means the father revealed in the son Jesus Christ who was empowered by the Spirit as a community of eternal love they have worked about to bring about the redemption of broken sinful humanity and this God is so committed to being with his people with and committing himself to broken inward focused sinful human beings that he not only just sent a deliverer he actually became a human being in the person of the son empowered by the love of the Spirit so that he could absorb the pain and the sin and the guilt and all of the the wreckage that's caused in our world because I only sometimes them what I say I and because all of our characters are so flawed and distorted 7 billion of us making the world what it is and this God doesn't Siddal is he actually comes among us to absorb that pain and sin and death into himself on the cross so that he can overcome it and conquer it by his love and so that he can invite any human any image bearing human being who will come to him and face to be invited into the heart of the love between the father of the son and the spirit this is who God is to us amen and then we're not called to tolerate people that we disagree with we're called to love them and lovingly share what we believe and not be a jerk about it but do it precisely with the same attributes of mercy and generosity and goodness that Yahweh has shown has shown to us okay there you go there you go there's a lots of ponder here and as we go into worship there may be some of us we're just really wrestling with is who God is for you and your experience right now and maybe there's some redefining that needs to take place you think God also just do a magic thing and solve all the problems in your life and that's what it means for God to be with you could it be that God has been is and will be with you and he's not going to solve your problems at all because he asked something higher on his agenda for you that is your growth and development as a human human being that is taking place precisely through the difficulties that you're in right now that's a new view of God that's revealed to us for some of us we may just be trying to figure out what we think about Jesus or if we're going to give our full allegiance to him work if you're going to turn to Him in faith to which I would just say dudes it what-who Yahweh Elohim is for you in Jesus and what Jesus did for you it's the best thing you have going for you as a human being respond to his grace and see and discover who Jesus is to you and so the time is yours you guys whatever you need to do to to be real with who this God is to you let's do that in the time that remains we're going to take the bread and the cup now and just to remind you there's a table at the top and then two back here and one up here and we're retelling as we take the bread in the cup the story of this God's love for us shown in the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus and so just take advantage of the time you guys are so glad you're here it's a time to just be quiet and connect with this God who's revealed himself to us as Yahweh and as his father son and spirit let me close us into word of Prayer you

Channel: Tim Mackie Archives

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Length: 53min 58sec (3238 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 21 2017