WEBVTT 00:00.890 --> 00:04.766 Grace, mercy and peace be yours this day from God our Father, and from 00:04.788 --> 00:06.926 our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. 00:07.108 --> 00:08.029 Amen. 00:09.810 --> 00:11.710 Everyone loves a good journey. 00:12.450 --> 00:13.722 Humor me for a minute. 00:13.786 --> 00:14.800 Close your eyes. 00:15.170 --> 00:16.239 Close them. 00:19.090 --> 00:22.400 Picture your favorite trip you've ever been on. 00:27.590 --> 00:46.434 Remember the sights along the way, the smells, the people who joined 00:46.482 --> 00:47.080 you. 00:56.470 --> 01:09.132 Challenges overcome and the joy found 01:09.186 --> 01:10.350 at journey's end. 01:17.140 --> 01:18.850 Feel free to open your eyes. 01:19.860 --> 01:25.236 Today, I'd invite all of you to think of the Christian life as a 01:25.258 --> 01:26.020 journey. 01:27.640 --> 01:32.400 It's the great adventure of our lives, interacting with God's creation 01:32.560 --> 01:34.070 and everyone in it. 01:34.680 --> 01:35.860 It's glorious. 01:37.000 --> 01:41.880 Yet there are times when the journey becomes too difficult to bear. 01:43.420 --> 01:46.932 Now, let me tell you about a journey that I went on recently. 01:47.076 --> 01:49.384 Now, I know that not many of you know me. 01:49.422 --> 01:50.104 Some do. 01:50.222 --> 01:56.168 But if there's one hobby that I really enjoy, I love downhill skiing. 01:56.344 --> 01:59.852 It is such a joy for me, and it's one of the few things that I can do 01:59.906 --> 02:00.540 really well. 02:00.610 --> 02:06.000 Like, I really enjoy it as a passion that me and my family share. 02:06.150 --> 02:11.216 Over Winterm, we drove out west to Colorado for four days, and we 02:11.238 --> 02:13.952 took turns falling down the mountains out there. 02:14.086 --> 02:16.372 It was absolutely beautiful. 02:16.506 --> 02:17.750 I loved it. 02:18.680 --> 02:22.944 There's no room for distractions when your heart is into what you're 02:22.992 --> 02:23.492 doing. 02:23.626 --> 02:26.084 And let me tell you, my heart is in it 02:26.122 --> 02:29.956 when I'm skiing. I feel locked in in the groove. 02:30.068 --> 02:31.560 I have a passion for it. 02:31.630 --> 02:33.370 I adore it. 02:34.060 --> 02:37.816 There's something about for me racing down a mountainside, feeling the 02:37.838 --> 02:43.684 sharp, cold wind on my face, and taking in the striking, rugged beauty 02:43.732 --> 02:45.160 of God's creation. 02:46.380 --> 02:48.730 Day one out there, amazing. 02:49.260 --> 02:52.480 Day two, even better than I expected. 02:53.060 --> 02:57.328 But on day three, a bit of a problem happened to me. 02:57.494 --> 02:59.790 Now, you see, all the way back in 03:00.090 --> 03:00.702 High school. 03:00.836 --> 03:03.742 You got to imagine younger and dumber high school 03:03.796 --> 03:05.230 James here for a minute. 03:06.370 --> 03:08.746 I ended up injuring my knee pretty badly. 03:08.858 --> 03:10.510 I needed surgery on it. 03:10.580 --> 03:14.446 And because I was young and dumb and in high school, I didn't think to 03:14.468 --> 03:16.750 rehab it as properly as I should have. 03:16.900 --> 03:22.734 And when I tend to overextend myself physically, I ended up getting in 03:22.772 --> 03:24.000 a bit more pain. 03:24.370 --> 03:26.600 So day three of skiing happens. 03:26.970 --> 03:28.310 I wake up. 03:28.460 --> 03:34.006 I get up ready for bed, jump to my feet in excitement, and I all be 03:34.028 --> 03:35.320 buckle out of pain. 03:37.130 --> 03:42.074 I was crushed, and my joy for the day evaporated as quickly as it 03:42.112 --> 03:42.700 started. 03:43.790 --> 03:48.890 It's hard to enjoy the journey when you're distracted by your wounds. 03:52.360 --> 03:56.579 What wounds distract you on your Christian journey? 03:58.120 --> 04:01.076 And this takes us to the audience of our Old Testament reading for 04:01.098 --> 04:05.320 today, the children of Israel on the Plains of Moab. 04:06.220 --> 04:10.804 They've been on an epic journey, a generational journey. 04:10.932 --> 04:13.236 It's a young, vibrant crowd. 04:13.348 --> 04:15.543 There's an excitement in the air. 04:15.742 --> 04:19.563 The Promised Land looms out in the distance, and the people are 04:19.601 --> 04:23.630 chomping at the bit to get to where they've been promised to go to. 04:24.400 --> 04:30.464 But their leader, Moses, makes these young people sit still, take 04:30.502 --> 04:34.850 their time, and listen to a nice long sermon about their history. 04:35.940 --> 04:39.170 The parents of these people had seen miraculous things. 04:39.700 --> 04:42.560 They were brought up out of slavery in Egypt. 04:42.720 --> 04:48.116 They witnessed their salvation on the shores of the Red Sea, and they 04:48.138 --> 04:52.420 saw the glory of God descending from the cloud on Sinai. 04:53.320 --> 04:55.880 These people saw God in their full glory. 04:56.700 --> 04:58.010 And what did they do? 04:59.580 --> 05:01.450 They resented Him at every turn. 05:03.500 --> 05:07.820 They were wounded, deeply wounded. 05:09.120 --> 05:14.364 Now, I'm not talking about a physical wound, not like my knee, but it 05:14.402 --> 05:15.870 sure cut to the heart. 05:16.880 --> 05:20.991 Their wound was that they did not trust in the Lord, their God. 05:21.126 --> 05:24.530 That whole generation doubted Him at every turn. 05:25.460 --> 05:31.600 Their wound paralyzed them so much that it made their journey cease. 05:36.520 --> 05:38.310 How's your Christian journey going? 05:41.430 --> 05:43.374 Like getting knee pain while skiing. 05:43.422 --> 05:47.986 It's remarkable how even a little pain or ache can take your heart out 05:48.008 --> 05:48.659 of it. 05:51.570 --> 05:56.400 Is your heart in the journey, or are you just limping along, 05:56.930 --> 05:58.090 distracted by a wound? 06:01.930 --> 06:04.922 Does that wound seem to fester when you hear the words for Moses 06:04.986 --> 06:05.598 today? 06:05.764 --> 06:11.898 See, I have set before you today life and death, good and evil. 06:12.074 --> 06:16.526 But if your heart turns away and you do not hear but are drawn away to 06:16.548 --> 06:21.150 worship other gods and serve them, you will surely perish. 06:23.890 --> 06:26.310 This fork in the road is is not a minor theme. 06:26.650 --> 06:28.086 Psalm one draws on it 06:28.108 --> 06:31.990 too. Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the wicked, nor 06:32.060 --> 06:36.086 stands in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the 06:36.108 --> 06:38.940 Lord, and he meditates on a day and night. 06:39.550 --> 06:44.518 But, hey, we're seminary students, and we might be quick to dismiss 06:44.534 --> 06:46.682 this as some Old Testament thing. 06:46.816 --> 06:50.220 We really don't need to worry about this, right? 06:52.030 --> 06:57.120 The earliest Christian writing, The Didache, draws on this theme, too. 06:57.650 --> 07:03.090 There are two ways the way of life and the way of death. 07:06.710 --> 07:11.858 Keeping on the way of life matters, but our wounds can cripple us 07:11.944 --> 07:13.490 along our journey. 07:16.490 --> 07:18.520 Let me tell you about another wound I have. 07:19.930 --> 07:21.174 It's a lack of trust 07:21.292 --> 07:26.630 similar to the Israelites. I feel a desperate need to succeed. 07:28.090 --> 07:31.340 I fear failure at every possible turn. 07:33.310 --> 07:37.100 It permeates into every task I do, every relationship I have. 07:38.110 --> 07:40.570 Did I pay attention enough in that lecture? 07:42.030 --> 07:43.790 Did I really try on that paper? 07:43.860 --> 07:47.146 Or as many of my profs probably think, did I turn in four more pages 07:47.178 --> 07:48.030 of fluff? 07:52.120 --> 07:55.780 Are these classes actually benefiting me long term? 07:59.380 --> 08:03.330 Do I let that person down again that genuinely cares for me? 08:05.380 --> 08:10.536 I don't want to fail others, and I feel a deep sense of shame whenever 08:10.587 --> 08:11.350 I do. 08:12.280 --> 08:15.984 It makes me distance myself from others, become a rampant 08:16.032 --> 08:20.630 individualist, and I push away everyone else that's trying to help. 08:22.440 --> 08:27.204 The very thing that I crave as my idol of success is the very thing 08:27.241 --> 08:28.900 that wounds me to the core. 08:31.000 --> 08:32.515 Maybe you're a lot like me. 08:32.617 --> 08:34.630 Maybe you're wounded in the same way. 08:35.000 --> 08:36.350 Or maybe maybe not. 08:37.919 --> 08:41.789 Maybe you're wounded at anger at someone else. 08:42.159 --> 08:46.684 I'm not talking about that guy that cuts you off in traffic, that guy 08:46.722 --> 08:52.156 that just seems to get under your skin and you hate even breathing the 08:52.178 --> 08:53.710 same air as him. 08:56.870 --> 08:59.680 Or maybe you fear for your security. 09:00.810 --> 09:02.794 Observing geopolitical conflicts. 09:02.922 --> 09:07.262 The culture that we live in today, even to the recent string of car 09:07.316 --> 09:11.486 robberies that are rampant in our community, you wonder about security 09:11.588 --> 09:14.240 for you, for your family. 09:17.330 --> 09:20.094 You and I all have wounds that we all share. 09:20.292 --> 09:27.014 We're wounded in very unique ways, and they all stem from a lack of 09:27.052 --> 09:30.120 trust in God to take care of us. 09:31.530 --> 09:35.814 And like the Israelites that came before us, it can be so easy for us 09:35.852 --> 09:40.410 to focus on our wounds and fail to endure the Christian journey. 09:43.790 --> 09:46.140 But our God doesn't leave us without help. 09:47.470 --> 09:52.686 The Lord cares deeply for his people from generation to generation for 09:52.708 --> 09:53.470 ages. 09:53.890 --> 09:57.438 When the Israelites did not follow the covenant, they swore on the 09:57.444 --> 10:02.254 Plains of Moab, he sent judges and prophets to call his people back 10:02.292 --> 10:03.358 to repentance. 10:03.534 --> 10:09.586 He went out of his way for his people time and time and time again. 10:09.768 --> 10:14.590 And he did this because God loves his people, despite their wounds, 10:14.670 --> 10:18.120 despite all of our lack of trust. 10:19.850 --> 10:25.154 And in due time, that love became incarnate in the person of Jesus 10:25.202 --> 10:25.798 Christ. 10:25.964 --> 10:31.446 In his death and his resurrection, Jesus heals all of our wounds. 10:31.558 --> 10:36.506 He heals my wound of the need to succeed, loving me despite all of my 10:36.528 --> 10:38.620 failures, which are many. 10:40.210 --> 10:44.319 Think of the wounds you harbor deep, deep down. 10:45.010 --> 10:47.440 The ones you wish that no one else knew about. 10:49.010 --> 10:50.974 Christ, heals us. 10:51.092 --> 10:55.170 Heals you of all of your wounds. 10:58.150 --> 11:01.780 And now that we're healed, what are we called to do? 11:03.030 --> 11:06.630 Do we stay faced down in the dirt of the Christian journey? 11:08.970 --> 11:12.200 Do you really think back to my skiing story. 11:12.569 --> 11:15.480 I stayed put once my knee started to feel better. 11:16.810 --> 11:22.330 By the power of the Holy Spirit, we get back up and live life 11:22.400 --> 11:24.060 according to his will. 11:26.430 --> 11:30.174 As we commemorate the confessor Philip Melanchthon today, and as I have 11:30.212 --> 11:35.406 a nice large group of nerds I mean, seminarians in front of me, I 11:35.428 --> 11:40.590 thought it appropriate to quote him today. The law always accuses 11:41.730 --> 11:46.346 but not only yes, the law accuses. 11:46.538 --> 11:52.686 Even though I walk on my knee just fine, it still has scar tissue that 11:52.708 --> 11:55.640 I'll deal with until Christ's second coming. 11:56.490 --> 11:59.140 While I might be fine in trusting God right now. 12:00.330 --> 12:04.494 I will always struggle with trusting in my own success rather than God 12:04.532 --> 12:05.230 Himself. 12:07.410 --> 12:09.626 All of us will struggle with our wounds. 12:09.738 --> 12:13.200 And if you don't believe that, well, you really don't need to be here. 12:13.730 --> 12:17.358 After all, this is a hospital for the broken, not a museum for the 12:17.364 --> 12:18.110 righteous. 12:18.850 --> 12:20.830 The law always accuses. 12:22.370 --> 12:24.000 But that's not all it does. 12:25.050 --> 12:29.846 The Law demonstrates God's will for his creation, guiding us along on 12:29.868 --> 12:30.950 our journey. 12:31.450 --> 12:35.480 And we follow the one who is our God, Jesus Christ. 12:35.850 --> 12:40.070 He is the living embodiment of his will for his creation. 12:40.230 --> 12:42.540 He's what it means to be fully human. 12:43.310 --> 12:49.050 And as our wounds heal, as we rise up and we stride after his steps, 12:49.470 --> 12:52.480 we look to his example and follow Him. 12:53.330 --> 12:58.186 Now, we know we will never measure up to His standard, but we're 12:58.218 --> 12:59.440 called to do it anyway. 13:00.210 --> 13:04.866 We follow Paul's words as we press on to the goal, following in 13:04.888 --> 13:06.286 Christ's footsteps. 13:06.398 --> 13:10.770 We follow Christ's command to the woman caught in adultery to go now 13:10.840 --> 13:12.082 and sin no more. 13:12.216 --> 13:16.006 We follow Christ's command to Peter on the shores of the Sea of 13:16.028 --> 13:19.622 Galilee at the end of John's Gospel to follow Him. 13:19.756 --> 13:24.546 We follow the example that's been laid out before us in Christ Jesus. 13:24.738 --> 13:29.858 It guides us along as we strive in this journey of the Christian 13:29.954 --> 13:33.766 life, teaching us what it means to live according to His Father's 13:33.798 --> 13:34.380 will. 13:35.550 --> 13:39.514 And the will of God is so much more than just telling us how to live 13:39.552 --> 13:40.282 our lives. 13:40.415 --> 13:43.440 It tells us how to truly live. 13:44.530 --> 13:48.398 For God willed the planets into motion and set the stars into the 13:48.404 --> 13:48.665 heaven 13:48.698 --> 13:54.062 by His word. The will of God is present in gravity, holding us to this 13:54.116 --> 13:54.990 creation. 13:55.490 --> 13:57.958 It's present in the very air that we breathe 13:57.994 --> 13:59.954 and it's all a gift from Him. 14:00.152 --> 14:05.922 God's will is how He designed us to live in His creation, locking us 14:05.976 --> 14:08.840 into the groove of what God designed us to be. 14:09.450 --> 14:14.754 Like me, racing down a mountainside on a ski hill. Like the Israelites 14:14.802 --> 14:17.960 chomping at the bit to get into the Promised Land. 14:19.310 --> 14:27.994 God wants you and I to take heart in the journey of our lives and all 14:28.032 --> 14:30.060 we encounter along the way. 14:32.610 --> 14:38.750 So enjoy the great adventure of our lives, sojourn with healed wounds 14:39.170 --> 14:41.440 and strive to embody His will. 14:42.930 --> 14:48.670 Enjoy the sights you encounter, the smells, the people you travel 14:48.740 --> 14:55.200 with, the obstacles overcome and the joy found at the journey's end. 14:56.890 --> 14:58.710 Everyone loves a good journey. 14:59.530 --> 15:01.480 Take heart in the Christian one. 15:02.090 --> 15:03.030 Amen. 15:03.850 --> 15:06.738 Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard 15:06.754 --> 15:09.170 your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 15:09.330 --> 15:09.730 amen.