The Failure of the Fairytale // Ty Gibson

hey everybody welcome to storyline i want to explore with you what i'm going to refer to as the failure of the fairy tale and i think you know what fairy tale i'm referring to in the light of last week's events but before we get there i want to call your attention to an emphatic statement made by jesus during his earthly ministry that really nobody not even his own followers have ever really believed and practiced in full jesus in matthew chapter 20 and verse 26 said it shall not be so among you now i'm going to leave that hanging for a moment or two here and we're going to loop back to discover what it is precisely that jesus is referring to when he says it shall not be so among you and it is without question one of if not the most groundbreaking revelation of the teaching ministry of jesus but let's take a detour into march 7th sunday of last week when 17 million viewers tuned in for the interview between oprah winfrey and harry and megan there were groundbreaking revelations in this interview itself because over and over again the questions were responded to by opening up deeper and deeper layers of what goes on behind the scenes within the royal family one of the revelations was that megan had come under such stress having entered in to royal life that she actually contemplated taking her own life and this was the point at which harry was triggered to do something in order to protect megan and to eventually perhaps make an exit from the royal family now among these revelations and the most stressful thing of all was when megan herself biracial realized that there were questions being asked within the family to harry not to her but to harry regarding what the skin color of their baby baby archie who was soon to be born what his skin color might be and what the implications of that would be for the royal family this was devastating to say the least but as these points were brought to the surface through the interview there was a point at which harry responded to the trajectory of the interview by saying these words i am also acutely aware he says of where my family stand regarding these issues and how scared they are of the tabloids turning on them now this is fascinating because harry here is revealing that the royal family lives under some kind of fear some kind of fear of the public press or the tabloids more specifically well oprah winfrey is just incredulous about this and she says turning on them for what they're the royal family i mean here's an american who can barely comprehend what it means to be quote unquote the royal family and she's just naturally assuming that if you're the royal family you occupy some kind of untouchable stratosphere among the commoners this is what's in the background of oprah's thinking well harry answers the question by revealing something very fascinating yes i mean yeah we are the royal family but there is this well and he's a little hesitant in the interview to actually describe it to articulate it to unveil it he says yes but there is this well what's referred to as the invisible contract the invisible contract behind closed doors between the institution with a capital i by which he means of course the royal family a a contract an invisible contract behind closed doors between the institution and the uk tabloids a secret contract of some kind and well oprah wants to know what this is of course you want to know what it is i want to know what it is so she poses the question very simply how so how or in what sense is there some kind of invisible contract behind the scenes well then harry articulates the nature of this invisible contract well to simplify it he says it's a case of if you as a member of the royal family are if you're willing to whine dine and give full access if you're willing to wind down and give full access to these reporters then you will get better press so this is a transaction that's going on kind of behind the scenes but i mean if you think about it it's pretty obvious well oprah again completely baffled by this revelation says what do you care about better press if you're royal again oprah's operating on the assumption that if you are royal if you are kings and queens and princes and princesses that you are impervious that you're untouchable and that you are somehow above all of the assaults that might be brought against you by the common public i think that everybody then harry explains needs to have compassion for them by which he means his family in that situation in the situation in which this invisible contract is continually playing out in the relational dynamic between the royal family and the public through the press because he says we should have compassion for them for his family because there is a level of control there is a level of control by fear that has existed for generations now this is fascinating you guys because harry is describing here that there is some kind of connection between the public and the royal family that involves control by means of fear and then oprah asks the very perceptive question who is controlling whom it's the institution that is it's the royal family that has control from our point of view the public's point of view oprah saying when we look on we see the royal family as in the position of control over the british public we don't see the british public through the press controlling the royal family well this is fascinating and it is something that needs to be deeply deeply embedded in our awareness because of the principles of the gospel that we're about to explore then harry says but the institution survives by that perception that's the punch line the institution that is the monarchy that is the royal family survives by the perception that it has control and the implication is of course that no the royal family really doesn't have the upper hand of control they're simply a transaction that is underway so oprah again with perception says you're saying there's a relationship it's symbiotic one lives and survives because the other exists that's what you're saying and then harry simply says yes that's the idea and this invisible contract that he is describing is one therefore in which the two exist together the royal family in its perceived position of power and the public through the press that really has the power in a kind of you scratch my back i'll scratch yours kind of arrangement so it's something like this we will continue pretending that you are royal as long as we derive financial benefit from the pretense this is astounding what's happening here is that monarchy as a system of governance has actually in principle passed off the scene of human history at this juncture of time so that the british monarchy is in actual fact a family business based on an illusion of superiority monarchy as a governing system doesn't exist in great britain monarchy as a governing system mono that is one over or in control of the many monarchy is in fact a failed system that scripture itself offers the most scathing critique of imaginable go back in history in the history of ancient israel god had called israel out from among the gentile nations in order to start something new to do something unique to do something completely other than the normal forms of governance god desired to rule his people himself through educators called prophets those educators were to teach the people the principles of life so that the people through education would be elevated to the status of self governance that in fact the covenant system of god is a system of governance that is based on love and logically produces liberty wherever love is worked out to its logical conclusion monarchy is diametrically opposed to god's way of doing reality in the final analysis in fact israel having been called out from among the gentile nations to operate by a covenantal system of love and liberty eventually began to look at the nations around them and they said to god give us a king give us a monarch give us one to rule over the many this is in first samuel chapter 8 and verse 6. now if you read the whole chapter at this particular part of the history of israel god responds to the demand of israel for a king by saying no god pushes back he says no i don't want you to have a king israel insists we want a king give us a king well pause right there if israel didn't have a king at that point of its history what did israel have well israel had as we just mentioned israel had prophets what are prophets prophets by definition are not rulers prophets are not kings prophets are not monarchs prophets are teachers they're educators who reveal the knowledge of god's principles in order to elevate the people so that every person in israel would have been elevated to a status of equality one with another operating on the premise of love giving birth to liberty giving birth to responsible self-governance the people were governed by teachers by educators astounding but israel said we want a king we want to operate by a system of governance that is defined by control of one over the many and god said no they said yes and god said well if you have a king i'm telling you what will happen through his prophet god told israel if you have a king the king will tax your lands take your sons off to war and make your daughters his concubines in his harem and israel astoundingly still said in the light of all of that rather dire forecast of what would happen they still said give us a king and so god acquiesced to the freedom of the people and sure enough all the mayhem and insanity that god foretold did in fact come upon israel with one king after another walter bruggeman an old testament scholar comments on the biblical narrative by saying that empire building is regarded here that is in the biblical narrative as rebellion against yahweh's intent empire building was never a part of god's plan he never intended for israel to operate by the principles of monarchy to mimic the ways of the nations around them with one ruling the many and amassing an army to wage war against the surrounding nations walter bruggeman speaks of yahweh's intent if yahweh's intent was not for empire building what was yahweh's intent well we don't have to guess because going back in the story god told the children of israel through moses precisely how he wanted israel to be organized and the mission that he was giving to his people in exodus chapter 19 verse 5 notice now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant pause right there again the word covenant refers to responsible self-governance through love and liberty this is the idea that god's love for us is a love that grants freedom but that freedom when properly exercised returns to god and to one another in the form of relational integrity or responsible self-governance without being told what to do from some single king speaking down to the people with commands god's ideal for his people is that they would keep the covenant of love and liberty and self-governance then if you will operate by the principles of my covenant then you shall be a special treasure to me god says above all people for all the earth is mine god is not favoring israel above all the other nations for their intrinsic ontological value as human beings god has no partiality and loves all human beings equally but god went on to describe through moses what israel's calling was and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation in other words you are going to be a governing system that operates on the premise of priesthood not monarchy you will be a kingdom composed of priests what are priests well priests are mediators of the knowledge of god to those who do not know him priests are conduits of truth priests are those who make known the character of god in order to attract people to god israel was called to that to be a holy nation a set apart nation with a mission to communicate the beauty of god's principles the wonder of god's character to the surrounding gentile nations in order that the principles by which the surrounding nations operate might be overcome by the covenantal principles of love and liberty and responsible self-governance over and over again through the prophets the intent of yahweh was made known as a plan as a mission in which justice would be established righteousness that is relational integrity would be established and that justice got explained through his prophets would produce peace that is relational harmony among fellow human beings and among nations this was yahweh's intent as opposed to empire building or monarchy responsible self-governance is in fact the highest form of human existence i mean think about it you guys can you imagine anything better than being free to do whatever you want and yet you choose to do what is best for all others can you imagine any better frame of mind any better way of life than to be completely at liberty to violate others and yet you choose not to and rather you choose to live for the blessing and the uplifting of all others responsible self-governance now coming back to our passage in matthew we want to discover what it is that jesus says will not be so among his followers well there's a context here james and john along with her mother were trying to somehow finagle themselves into the highest ranking positions in the coming kingdom that jesus had announced he was launching and setting up and as they imagined these elevated positions that they were coveting they were under the delusion of a military messiah who will establish israel at the pinnacle of political power and rule the nations the way the nations rule in war against one another and jesus broke into their complete illusion of power by saying you know that the rulers of the gentiles that is the kings of the gentiles lord it over them and those who are great those in the highest positions exercise authority over them jesus is almost certainly referring back to israel's demand for a king so that they could be like the gentile nations and jesus is coming back to that part of israel's history and he's revisiting that history and saying you know how the world operates how does the world operate well the world operates by domination by authority the world operates by those in the highest positions exercising authority over those in the lowest positions and it is here that jesus says yet it shall not be so among you what shall not be so among you the hierarchical form of monarchical government that is common among the nations jesus says my people will not operate by the principle of some or one being in the position of elevation and control over the many it shall not be so among you monarchy by definition according to jesus is anti-gospel it's contrary to the kingdom that he's setting up that he referred to repeatedly as the gospel or the good news of the kingdom jesus was launching a different kind of governing system to be established among his followers as a witness to the nations well jesus goes on and he says it shall not be so among you and then he describes what shall be so among his followers but whoever desires to become great among you let him be your servant those who occupy the elevated position are to occupy the position of servants and whoever desires to be first among you let him be your slave again let him be the one that serves just as and this is groundbreaking just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many jesus is what it looks like when you enthrone love jesus is what it looks like when human beings put him on the throne put love on the throne he comes down off the throne to serve jesus could not be more explicit he could not be more plain in describing how he wants his people and ultimately the world to operate hierarchy is the logical outworking of pride jesus is teaching us but equality is the logical outworking of love equality is the logical outworking of love why well because again if any two or three or ten or a hundred or a million people are all simultaneously operating by the principle of covenantal love leading to liberty leading to responsible self-governance i mean think about it if everybody's doing what they ought to do well nobody needs to tell them what to do a mature self-governing human being in relationship with other mature self-governing human beings have no need for a hierarchical form of government or you could say it this way liberty is the logical outworking of love to the degree that the principle of love is applied in any given relationship to the degree that love is applied liberty will blossom and flourish and grow in that relational dynamic this is true of all relationships to the degree that love is applied liberty grows and thrives in relationships so come back to harry now in the interview and you'll notice here that at one point when megan was to meet the queen the first time she met the queen harry had a question as they're approaching in the car do you know how to curtsy now this is an extremely revealing moment in their relationship and in this interview do you know how to curtsy that's a fancy word for do you know how to bow do you know how to bow well megan's an american and she's no doubt as an american never bowed to anybody so she finds it to be rather strange and her natural response is i genuinely thought that was what happens outside for the cameras in the world i thought that was part of the fanfare i didn't think that's what happens inside behind closed doors in the family and i said to harry but it's your grandmother and he said it's the queen and that was the moment at which megan realized that her world view as an american was fundamentally different than the way the royal family perceives the world and themselves in relation to the world it's the queen it doesn't matter if you're going to meet her in private you're going to bow before the queen now this is so amazing because in the biblical narrative adam and eve are at the beginning of the story operating by what we might call an egalitarian stewardship as the story unfolds the tower of babel is introduced in which the birth of monarchy is introduced into human history israel is then established by god in contrast to all the other nations to be governed by prophet leadership by educators israel then demands a monarchy demands a king and then when jesus comes jesus completely reframed monarchy he reframed what it looks like to be a king we might say that jesus is the king to end all kings jesus is a different kind of ruler well as the story unfolded between megan and harry seeing her understanding of the world versus his understanding of the world it began to dawn on harry that he was trapped he told oprah i was trapped but i didn't know i was trapped she says it's as if you were living in a royal bubble and he said that's it i felt like i was in a closed system it's the only world he had ever known until he met megan and began to see the world through her eyes and to see her through the eyes of the royal family and the institution that is the business the family business of the royal family do you think there's some sense oprah asked in which megan saved you was the final question oprah asked do you think there's some sense in which she saved you and harry says yes without question i was trapped i didn't know i was trapped but there is a sense in which she saved me without question and then he goes in a very interesting direction there was a bigger purpose there were other forces at play i think throughout this whole process by which he means some kind of supernatural forces and he says i'm the last person to think by which he's referring to the possibility of god intervening in human affairs but it's undeniable when these things have happened where they over where the overlap is yes she saved me by which he means in the context of the interview that there was some bigger purpose that was unfolding and that bigger purpose that is unfolding down through history from the time of christ onward is that all systems based on a sense of superiority must ultimately fall in the light of the gospel now harry's not confessing nor is he probably even noticing that he is the beneficiary of gospel principles coming down the corridors of time through history through the american experiment of liberty and justice for all now rooted in the thinking of a girl named megan who he begins dating and they get married and he finds himself harry does exiting a way of thinking that can trace its roots all the way back to jesus it seems then she says oprah says it seems that your story has a happy ending she says to megan now with all the stress with all they've been through this idea of a happy ending seemed like the last thing that was going to happen but oprah's discerning that there's something more here something actually better than being a princess and here megan says it does it does look like there's a happy ending she says greater than any fairy tale you'll ever read and how did this particular fairy tale girl well astoundingly instead of the prince making the common girl a princess the common girl made the prince a common man who now lives in california and has been cut off from all his titles his security guards and all the trappings of the royal family the failure of the fairy tale is the failure of all systems of superiority jesus specifically is the author of a new way of being human and doing relationships when we enthrone christ we enthrone self-giving love and then jesus once we enthrone him comes down off the throne to wash dirty feet to serve to love and to give his life a ransom for many the true king of the universe the only king of the universe jesus christ demonstrates what it looks like to have power by channeling that power to the service of others i for one am absolutely astounded by the revelations of this interview but at the deepest possible level i think as harry said there are greater forces at work in fact it's god the god of the universe the creator of all things that is behind the scenes working out and working through all the systems of the world to bring about love and liberty and responsible self-governance as the only system that is sustainable for all eternity future father in heaven may we all be among those who having power are willing to use whatever power we have to serve others may we your followers be defined by your covenant of love and liberty and responsible self-governance as a witness to the wide world that all might see that you are truly great with a kind of greatness that is unmatched by any monarchy the world has ever known in jesus name amen

Channel: Storyline Church

Views: 10,196

Rating: 4.7739129 out of 5

Keywords: storyline church, ty gibson

Id: DhGOlTu7cxU

Length: 34min 50sec (2090 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 13 2021