Citizens of Earth

hi guys pastor matt chandler here pray that this sermon this resource uh be used by god in conjunction with you belonging to a local church to grow you and sanctify you in your faith if these resources bless you would you consider giving back to us here at tbc you can do that either through the app or you can go online to tbc resources and give there again pray that this blesses you and grows you in your love for jesus christ uh if you have your bibles i really would love for you to turn to this passage if you're tuning in uh at home this morning or maybe our church and homes uh at a home somewhere in our area i would love for you you have a papal paper bible grab that if you've got a digital bible okay but but let's just uh open up there but before we get into our text this morning i just wanted to uh say this um over the last probably six weeks we have had some uh unique um and and strange tragedies uh that have befallen some of our members and and i just wanted to take a moment here i think i've said some of this before but i'm just gonna say it again to talk about uh how proud i am to pastor uh the village church in each instance uh men these men and women have been loved they have been cared for in fact if i think across the last six months uh this has been an incredibly difficult season for people uh emotionally and mentally and financially and physically and in all sorts of other ways and time and time again i want you to look right at me hear me say this you have been the church of jesus christ you have right now now we're a church we're a 501 c 3 non-profit organization but you you have owned being the church of gee you have been the presence of jesus to people you have been the provision of jesus to people you have as often as you could been present where you could be present where people felt alone or afraid or and i like i couldn't have after 18 years watching you the last six months i've just thought thank you jesus thank you for this group of people in this part of human history and let me be a part of the family so i just wanted to say you know no just right out of the gate man i'm proud of you gosh you make it easy uh for the most part to pastor and shepherd and so uh love watching you be the church of jesus christ i'm fighting hard to get in your head that you are the church like i'm not i mean i'm a part of the church but you're the church and i mean you've just crushed it and i've been really proud let me let me give you my premise because i think there's some expectations here today uh so i'm just gonna let the air out of the room quickly my intent today so whatever happens this is my intent all right my intent today is to instill in you a joyful confidence in jesus christ period right so when you leave here today more than i'm interested in the well what abouts and how abouts and what do you do with what i am hoping the spirit of god will do to the proclamation of his word is instill in you in the deeper places a joyful confidence in jesus christ because if i think i really believe that if you and i are walking in a joyful confidence in jesus christ the rest of this stuff starts lining up where it should it's not that it won't be messy it's that in its mess if you have a friend that's messy i don't know if you know this but messy people there's actually a system in their mess which is why they can freak out if you clean up after them like how am i ever gonna find that well because it's where it goes but some people's brain don't that there is something going on and i think if you've got a joyful confidence in jesus you'll see the mess for what it is so that's my end goal if you were hoping for a piperian or molar-esque kind of thing today you're just going to leave frustrated at me so start frustration start now with that said before we can kind of dive in i'm going to look at three passages three little vignettes if you will about how i think we should think and behave in this day with joyful confidence in jesus being the fuel that's running our engine to do that though we need to start at where we currently are right you gotta if you're on a map you gotta go where are we so here's where we are i don't normally do this but it's just too fun right now there we go 17 these are hot off the press by the way i've spent all week in washington dc actually just flew back in last night i'm not kidding i literally was there all week but this is brand new data uh 17 of americans say they're proud of the state of america that that's pretty low right but watch this 71 percent of americans say they're angry about the state of america and 80 percent say that the united states is out of control now let's do that let's play real quick just for my shepherding heart i will not weaponize this later on in the sermon but how did you how many of you were like yeah i'm a little angry and i think things are out of control you can raise your hand like again i will not at the end of the sermon go you're so angry shame on you i'm not i'm not trying to weaponize this debt i'm trying to get a sense of what's going on right now watch this in 1970 or 64 77 of americans said they trusted the federal government right uh to do the right thing most or all of the time so 1964. in 1994 that that had a precipitous fault did it not between 64 and 94 there's reasons for that if you know americanism there's reason there's some things that happened in that little gap that occurred down 20. now this one's fascinating to me and explain some things in 1997 64 of americans said they had a great or good deal of trust in the political competence of their fellow citizens in 2020 that's 33 percent which means the majority of us think our neighbors are incompetent to think about political things in a way that lines up with reality now you can start to feel the division in our nature in our nation simply with that stat like if close to 70 percent uh are incompetent they're morons they they can't process information factually well you can feel the division can't you and it's coming at both sides like those who who align with the democratic party they literally cannot comprehend how many of us you know many people can land over here and people are land over here they just can't god like they're like how can they i mean haven't you said this how many i don't understand how you could this is what's going on and all of it's rooted in the disintegration of trust among the citizens of the united states so let's look at this the percentage of americans who agree that most people can be trusted is 30 70 think americans can't be trusted right now look at the gen zers they don't trust nobody 90 percent of gen zers have zero trust that politicians will do the right thing and before you start kind of scratching the back of your middle schooler that's not gen z gen z are in their 20s now look right at me look right look what an opportunity this might we were made for this like the people this is our moment let's go right i mean we were born for this discipled for this made for this created for this and here's what's wild about the moment that we're in like if you think about the people of god throughout space and time listen we have almost always been under empires that were either indifferent towards us or hostile towards us oh i mean you've got this one little sliver of david and then maybe solomon maybe and then the rest of the time we are under terrible leadership where they're either indifferent to us or hostile or maybe even full-on violent towards us in fact even our passage today was written by a man who was robbed by rome was beaten and tortured by rome was imprisoned by and was murdered by rome right like he he's writing and before they get him though this is great before they get him he gives us the blueprint on how to overthrow it all i get excited about that so with that said since this is our moment let's look at romans 12 17 through 21 vignette little one repay no one evil for evil but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all if possible so far as it depends on you live peaceably with all beloved never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of god for it is written vengeance is mine i will repay says the lord to the contrary if your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him something to drink for by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head do not overcome do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good so two points and this vignette here's number one do to others what god has done for you so so let's look at this is pretending this is gonna be so counterintuitive but i've got some factual data that i hope will make your heart joyful in jesus look at verse 17 repay no one evil for evil but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all if possible so far as it depends on you live peaceable for all so all that's being required of us by the way this is a apostolic commands these are not suggestions he's saying this is what the people of god are to do what are we to do in in light of kind of the the day in which we we're in we repay to everyone the mercy and grace that god has lavished upon us you look okay you everyone in this room fallen short of the glory of god everyone in this room rebelled against the beauty of god has made accusations against the king of kings and lord of lords every time you've coveted every time you've lusted every time you've been enraged those are accusations against your creator and what was god's response to that rebellion that aggression that violent what's god's response did he not move towards you in love and mercy did he not come and save you like think about your life i was praying with our volunteers i'm looking around that room and i'm seeing relationships that have been healed spiritual bondage that's been breaking off salvation that's come to household wayward children that have been brought home people that are wrestling with the lord right now i see all that that's in this room like god has moved towards you he has been kind to you despite your rebellion and so since i have done that to you you will do that to others and so the call in the midst of all this catty nonsense is to show honor to not repay evil for evil to be kind as things get more aggressive towards us we show greater kindness towards and and then he look at verse 20 because that that's hard enough and then verse 20 he was like come on man verse 20 to the contrary if your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him something to drink for by so doing you will keep burning coals on their heads so this is what's hard so many of us right now we're just like okay okay don't repay evil for evil got it but no no that's not what just happened in the text the text said not only are you to just passively then go well things are good no i just won't i mean i won't repay evil for evil he's going no no you don't get to sit back because i moved towards you move towards did you see that to the contrary if they are hungry you feed them if they are thirsty you get them a drink of water if they have a need you meet it now i'm telling you where i say i'm like why would i equip my enemy to greater attack me like right not just why would i encourage them but why would i provide for them well his answer is well because christ has done that to you and here's the other thing to think about one of my favorite stories in the bible because it's just one of those honest stories is saul of tarsus is killing and imprisoning and murdering christians and on the road to damascus he is met by jesus knocked off his horse god opens up his heart to the gospel and sends him into town completely blind and then he comes to a man named ananias do you remember this story and he says hey ananias saul of tarsus is in town he's blind as a bat i want you to go heal him and ananias he had some questions he's like saul of tarsus tarsus saul okay um but you know he's like killing us and stuff right like he's come here with legal documents so that he might imprison us and shame us and belittle us and attack us you sure you want me to heal him and what does god say yes heal him because he will be my voice to the gentiles and i will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name yeah no no we we move towards our enemies with compassion we move towards our enemies with grace we move towards our enemies with kindness and then look at verse 21 do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good the more we see and feel evil around us the more we should look for greater opportunity to show kindness to show uh love to be merciful to be generous and to be the kinds of people in the world that live contrary to the values of the world now why well look at verse 19 beloved never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of god for it is written vengeance is mine i will pay says the lord now here's what's my personality i am a when things get stressful i power up that's i handle almost every stimulant by powering up muscling up to get it through puffing up using my personality using the like it's it's my compulsion it's how i've been wired and so all of this is god like shaking me right because if i want to get something done i'm not like work to what appears to be the opposite i'm like oh you want to fight i love to fight oh you want to argue i like some of that that that's my compulsion and here he's saying don't ever avenge yourself don't ever avenge yourself vengeance is mine see the the point to here in this vignette is god's got it god's got this because here's what i have to come face to face with and i'm going to help you for all of our that doesn't work look right at me it's the only thing that ever has like a couple of questions how's the old oppressive nation of egypt doing what about assyria babylon the greeks what about the romans oh yeah none of them really exist anymore who does who does we do we exist now how did we take up arms did we no we suffered we served we loved we prayed we served as a counter picture to their picture of violence and power and it ultimately overthrew all of them like it's not like this is some sort of maybe this time at a work it's this is all that ever has this is all that ever has god has this so i want to just remind you of this if you get upset i'm not trying to upset you but i don't know how you could argue that what i'm about to say is true you and i are a part of something that predates the united states by thousands of years and we will be here long after the united states is a footnote in the books of history you and i are a part of something in the church of jesus christ that predates the united states of america by thousands of years god's got this i've been here 18 years so i've seen we've seen quite a few presidential elections and and every time they roll around there's a bit of hand reading a bit of concern a bit of oh no's and what's been crazy about all of them at this point is jesus has just never scooted over on the throne and made room for anybody he's like oh you're my guy you only scoot over here have a seat like this just never happened like he's just completely and with all authority sat on his throne and and he is right now and he will be here in a few days god's got this so joyful i think joyful confidence jesus is born in this space to believe to believe that god has this that jesus is on his throne that he's not forgotten anything but that he's actually working for his glory and our good now let's close the vignette one just if you've got your bibles just look there in 13 romans 13. so you might have to turn the page it might be actually on that page since i was in the end of romans 12. so let's look at this romans 13 starting in verse 1. let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from god and those that exist have been instituted by god therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what god has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment for rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad would you have no fear of the one who is in authority then do what is good and you will receive his approval for he is god's servant for your good but if you do wrong be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain for he is the servant of god an avenger who carries out god's wrath on the wrongdoer therefore one must be in subjection not only to avoid god's wrath but also for the sake of conscience for because of this you also pay taxes for the authorities are ministers of god attending to this very thing pay to all what is owed to them taxes to whom taxes are owed revenue to whom revenue is owed respect to whom respect is owed honor to whom honor is owed now if i could take all of that there's a lot there and boil it to a bullet point for vignette two here it is be good citizens be good citizens god has established government for his purposes period now you can yeah but that to death but period now i i think this will help us i don't think we'll like it but i think it will help us remember my end goal we have got to learn to see the united states of america look right at me as a bit player in god's story rather than god's story do you hear me we must begin to see you want joyful confidence in jesus in this environment the united states of america for all the beauty that she has and has accomplished is a big player in god's story she is not god's story she is a bit player in it he was active and moving and saving and driving out darkness long before her and he'll be doing that long after her this is indisputable and yet i think so many of us see like we bought into reagan we're the city on a hill no we're not the church of jesus christ is the city on the hill we're the light of the world we are not the light of the world do i think we're the best that human beings can do yes if there's a god we mutually submit to yes are we the hope and light of the world good lord please please don't think that please don't think that are we the best man has come up with to date i think so but we certainly aren't the light of the world that's just ridiculous so what does it mean to be good citizens three things according to the text here's like i love how low the bar is on this one ready here's how you be a good citizen do what is good like can we talk about how low that bar is that's not sell all you have and and give it to the poor that's not sell all you have and reach unreached people groups that's hey do good just do good just don't be a jerk hey could you be friendly and warm and kind to people that you're around i mean come on are you serious be a good citizen what does that look like just do good just do good right don't be a jerk to your waiter the guy that messed up your your pumpkin cream thing just sorry he's like he's actually got a soul you ought to maybe treat him like that you ever think you ever wonder like what's going on in his world what what his life might look like well i mean can't we're just just so individualistic just do good you have a thousand opportunities a day just to be good just do good just don't race the person to the merging in your car right just give a tip even for that kid you don't even know what he did just rung you up well i'm tipping just do good just if you see your neighbors trash cans out on the street like oh such a bug just move the cans up just do good do you know what kind of apologetic that is in 2020 just to do good just have a smile on your face just to not give in to the anxiety and anger of our day like just smile well i don't have a lot to smile about you got everything to smile about you're a child of god you are loved forgiven born again like you have everything to smile about well i'm sick i'm hurting i'm poor great he sees you he knows you he loves you and you're a part of his family you got everything to smile about not saying days can't be difficult i'm saying that you have access to the creator god of the universe just do what's good okay now come on second thing pay your taxes use every law in the books to pay your taxes pay them you don't have to like it you don't have to pay we're like well they're going to use i don't know how to use my money of course they don't but pay your taxes last thing do what is good pay your taxes show honor and respect this to me show honor and respect and i've said that this is not something new i've been saying this for probably over a year now nothing will have you like the darker things get the more brightly we're going to shine by just doing normal stuff like show honor and respect you you know odd that's going to seem to people like show honor and respect just show honor and respect just refuse to participate we talked about this last week in the gross slander and ridiculous aggression that's occurring in our day just refuse to participate say something positive well i know that's scary because if you say something positive that people are going to be very quick to put you in a category that you probably don't land at all but i'd rather you be confusing and kind than clear and a jerk i'd rather you be confusing and kind than clear and a jerk show honor now paul isn't just pulling this out of thin air right it's not just like paul's the first one to ever think like this this has been the blueprint for the people of god throughout their existence in fact paul is pulling from these couple of paths the idea that was given to the exiles when they were in babylon and if you know a lot about babylon babylon still works even in our you know moving towards full-on secularization like people will still use babylon as an example of something you don't want right like babel we want to be bad nobody wants to be babylon use battle on us and we don't end up like that and yet when the people of god are in exile they're not home which by the way is the tension you and i should be feeling remember the illustration last week about my little sister who she's uh with her husband planting a church over in asia she's been there long she's like never feels quite at home there and now when she comes home she doesn't feel home here either it's like she she's a bit of a of a stranger an alien no matter where she is like you and i should feel that way we belong to the kingdom of heaven i mean that's our higher allegiance that's the higher law that we live under that's the the hope that we have like we're not home this isn't home and so the prophet jeremiah writing back to israel who was exiled in babylon says this thus says the lord of hosts the god of israel to all the exiles whom i have sent into exile from jerusalem to babylon verse 5. build houses and live in them plant gardens and eat their produce take wives and have sons and daughters take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters multiply there and do not decrease but seek the welfare of the city where i have sent you into exile and pray to the lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your welfare so let's i want to get practical now on this idea and i want to kind of tie it to the the season that we're in here's the first phrase here build houses and live in them so this is a theology of place this is a theology of place you have been we've talked about this for 18 years you have been uniquely wired and uniquely placed by god this is just absolutely true like you being here right now is not a mistake god has uniquely wired you he has uniquely placed you like we need a theology of place there's a reason that i'm here there is a reason that you are here right like we have aptitudes that drew us to careers like somebody who didn't have a natural math aptitude probably isn't in finance right the guy that in college still using his fingers like he's probably not investing for you he's got a she's got a natural aptitude that kind of led to a career path right that's god's in that stuff god's using that stuff for his glory a theology of place and here they are in babylon babylon and he says build a house live in a neighborhood get involved yeah this means the people of god as salt and white in their neighborhoods in their towns in their cities in their area should care about and should be actively involved wherever they could do wherever they can doing good serving the community being known in the community as those who love the community so so here's organizationally organizationally here are the ways that we try to do that we are actively involved with louisville independent school district we work with them to come alongside the poorest of poor across the district provide lunches provide school supplies give any kind of help to teachers that we can very involved with cca again among the poorest of the poor serving trying to do whatever we can with your gifts and abilities as well as the finances and resources we have to be a part of this community go we love this place we are the chaplains for the police department in highland village if there's a crisis if um there is an issue there they call us and we go serve we want to be known as a like part of roll off was even we want to be place like i'll be honest i i don't want a pastor a a congregation in fort worth now god bless them go get it but i live here i see you my kids go to school with your kids i see you at the fields i'm running into you i want to be here i i'm here it's a theology a play i want to be for this area i want this area to know we're for them you have done an exceptional dab of that you have run for school board you have been involved in ptas you have helped build playgrounds you've been all over the place doing what is good for our area that's this it's at the uh build houses live there don't withdraw be right in the mix don't withdraw be in the mix may we be known that this is a church that cares about our area they care about our city they care about right like man if you've got space and time i'd love for us to fill every little board team like school board yes zoning and planning especially yes in amen mayors town councils yes let if we've got the space we got the call let's step into that be involved in the process i there there are voices right now that are like sit this one out there's no good candidate look at that there's never any good candidates ever don't sit this one out vote listen if you knew what a privilege it is to be in a democratic republic you vote if you've got to hold your nose and wretch while you fill out that scantron you vote if you have to go and take a shower after you're done you vote we don't sit this out what a privilege that's been given to the people of god i want our voice heard so vote if you haven't already get out there and do that it's an unbelievable privilege that most of the world can't even imagine so i've got dear friends where i can't do it can't support either one i'm like yeah both of them make me nauseous and then i plan on building houses and living the second second phrase here is plant gardens and eat their produce so this is a theology of economy participate in the life of the nation so again i i want to say it again we are to be involved in the organizational aspects of our country we are to care about politics although politics has its place and it's not at the center for christians this might be a good way to think about it think about three concentric circles the very first part of the circle is salvific issues we care deeply about that we care primarily about that the the second circle would be uh church matters and this would be kind of second hand theology where we say as a church this is what we believe we care a lot about that the last circle is what would be called disputable matters and this is where we don't want to spend a ton of time on disputable matters like we want to spend our energy salvific matters church matters and it's not that these don't matter at all it's that they never become the focus the focus is always salvific the focus is always who is jesus what has jesus done what does jesus call us to that's the focus which which is why those of you want me to make some kind of crazy you're just not going to hear me ever do it it's not going to hear me ever do it it's not because i'm a coward and i'm not i just think what god has given me to do is to lift your eyes up to the king of kings and lord of lords not get sucked in to petty filthy local politics i love that the 17 of you are with me on that now here's here's the not the last one but the second last one multiply and don't decrease um this is a theology of growth now i've heard people and and please don't there's no judgment i can feel it oh man i just can't i just can't imagine bringing kids into this world yeah it's a mess or i'm just so anxious for my grandbabies what kind of world are they going to inherit what are they going to have to live through it ain't about me it's about my kids it's about my grandkids okay look at me legitimate fear and concern fight against it like his response to babylonian captivity is have some kids oh great now have some more kids great have some more kids now get your kids married so they can have some kids and then get those kids married so there can be more kids like it seems that the biblical response to growing darkness isn't retreat but aggressive expansion oh it's getting really dark have some babies arrows in the quiver right i mean that's the biblical response it's not like well let's just not flood the earth with those who could actually make a difference as well they're not gonna have a comfortable easy life please have a greater vision for your kids than a comfortable easy life like listen i've got kids i feel it in me i i want them i don't want them to suffer i don't want them to endure difficulty but there are things that are far worse gosh comfort might even be far worse certainly i don't think it certainly hasn't comfort has not produced the kind of disciple that'll be necessary to fight this war last one pray um god has given you a place to take your anxiety and your anger look at me god has given you a place to take your anxiety and your anger what are you supposed to do for the city that you're in pray for her seek her welfare why because in her flourishing you'll find you're flourishing so i've said this i i don't i was like uh when i say but i just think i just i'm trying to get my head around how it's not true if we were as patriotic as we say we are there would be far less memeing and far more praying like here's if i transparency there are things that i have seen across the political landscape that have provoked my inner fighter you know that fight-or-flight mechanism my flight mechanisms like nah punch him in the face so it's just a fighter mechanism so i felt provoked in spirit there is policy that provokes my spirit to want to fight to be angry to be right and then there are other other things that make me anxious anxious about how this might turn out and how so so what am i to do with my anger and anxiety because it's real i feel it it doesn't look i can feel it so what do i do with that let me tell you what we can't do with it what we can't do with it is go let me find this really clever slanderous mean meme and post it on my facebook page like who do you think you're winning with that do you think somebody reads i was like well they got a point i mean is that is that the level at which we want to no you you can have your anger and anxiety we've just been given a place to take it so when i'm feeling it and i'm wired to feel it i've just got to constantly go okay jesus i'm man i'm i'm nervous here i can't see you see i don't know you know take the vengeance is yours lord i'm giving this to you oh that you would just see that you've got this place i'm not telling you you can't look at the world and be angry not telling you can't look at the world and feel anxious how could you not but you know serve and are loved by the one who never feels like things are out of control that never looks at things and rings his hands that's never concerned about your grandchildren in a way that oh no i won't be there for them like take it to that place move that way take your anxiety there take your anger there the lord doesn't wish you to carry things that you can't carry you've got to vote you've got to say more locally than nationally and i would just bid you to use that by the power of the spirit for the glory of god in every opportunity you have to do good to do what's right to bless to show mercy to be generous towards and that you would please not hop online with your anxiety and anger not in your conversations with others spew out your anxiety and your anger god help the return of civility in our nation now so here's my conclusion if you haven't voted already vote hold your nose and fill out your scantron but don't sit this out then do what is good pay your taxes seek the welfare of our area and of our nation and do to others what god has done to you two questions and this is how i'll end question number one is your life your heart your spirit currently marked by joyful confidence in jesus or more in anxiety and anger question number two what opportunities do you have day in and day out to do what is good so those are my two questions these are great conversations on the car ride home these are great conversations between roommates uh friends these are great conversations in your home group as you meet across the city these are great uh conversations as soon as the stream starts in just a couple of moments here is your life your heart are you marked by joyful confidence in jesus or are you full of anxiety and anger and thrashing about this is not what god has for us as his people and it's certainly not how we overthrow the empire now we overthrow the empire by service by love by doing what's good by suffering when necessary by prayerfully engaging constantly with fasting and pleading with god to do what god alone can do i love you let me pray for us father i just bless these men and women right now in the name of jesus i specifically want to pray for the man or woman in this room right now or sitting at home right now or maybe even watching this weeks from now who they just they're full of anxiety and anger and they're they've got so much fear about what's to come and what's around the corner and and what this means and what will happen if i just pray peace over them right now jesus spirit of the living god i just ask that like a balloon filled with air um has the air removed i just pray that men and women would feel anger lift off of them and be replaced with a joyful confidence in you you're the king of kings and lord of lords you do not waver you do not slip up you do not misstep you don't make mistakes and we are yours and you love us and you are for us and you have saved us and you have picked us up out of the muck in the mind you have placed our feet on a rock you have saved our children you have healed our marriages you have been at work in our lives since day one we praise you forgive us where we forget that forgive us where we get lost in the moment forgive us for how we fuel our anxiety and anger by watching things that do nothing but provoke what is wicked in us i thank you that for our eyes this week things might look crazy and out of control and there is no panic in you there's no fear in you you're the king of kings and lord of lords and all nations everywhere will bow before you you are the alpha and the omega you have always been and you will always be it is your kingdom and your kingdom alone that transcends every continent every people group every nation state that ever has been is now and will be and so we put our joyful confidence in you help us it's for your beautiful name i pray amen

Channel: The Village Church Resources

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Keywords: Matt Chandler, The Village Church

Id: FFdsvbLbZDo

Length: 40min 47sec (2447 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 02 2020