1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,833 Dear friends in Christ, in the name of Jesus, amen. Those were the good days. 2 00:00:11,733 --> 00:00:18,866 Those days when we were kids during the summertime, there was no parsing during 3 00:00:18,866 --> 00:00:29,666 those days. There was no syllabi writing, there was no orientation scheduling. We were just looking for sticks. 4 00:00:29,666 --> 00:00:37,700 Those were good days. Oh college days, college days, those were good days. No real 5 00:00:37,700 --> 00:00:45,000 responsibility. You go to class most of the time, take a nap, you hang out with 6 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:53,033 friends. College days, those were the good days. Those days when all the kids were 7 00:00:53,033 --> 00:01:01,433 still at home, all under one roof. Happy times, laughter, those were the good days. 8 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:10,433 Good days when life, when work, when the home, everything was clicking, 9 00:01:10,866 --> 00:01:21,333 everything was just as it should be. Ah, the good days. Of course, they were never 10 00:01:21,333 --> 00:01:27,800 quite as good as we remember them. In fact, there have only been a couple of 11 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:34,800 really, truly, fully good days ever. There was that day when he separated the light 12 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:43,800 from the darkness. Oh, that was a good day. And there's that day when the 13 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:49,333 waters were all gathered together and the expanse and then the land was 14 00:01:49,333 --> 00:01:59,600 all put together. That was a good day. The day he made the sun and the moon. The day 15 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:04,366 when those, the plants just sprung up, each bearing seed according to its kind. 16 00:02:04,566 --> 00:02:08,900 The swarming things in the water and the creeping things on the ground, these were 17 00:02:09,066 --> 00:02:21,366 good days. And then there was that day he made people. Oh, that was a very good day. 18 00:02:25,033 --> 00:02:41,500 But those days are history. Look carefully than how you walk. Not as unwise, but as wise, 19 00:02:41,500 --> 00:02:49,233 making the best use of the time, Paul says, because the days are evil. 20 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:57,633 He wasn't talking specifically and explicitly about these post-modern, 21 00:02:57,900 --> 00:03:04,233 post-Christian, post-church, post-normal days when the wheels have come off in so many 22 00:03:04,233 --> 00:03:12,466 different directions. He was talking about his days, those first century Mediterranean days. 23 00:03:13,566 --> 00:03:24,800 And I suppose in a way he's been, he was talking about all days ever since that one very bad day. 24 00:03:27,533 --> 00:03:36,133 I was driving home yesterday from Nebraska, dropped off my college daughter and as it happens when you 25 00:03:36,133 --> 00:03:42,066 drive around the highway in Nebraska you see lots of deer on the side of the road. I don't know if 26 00:03:42,066 --> 00:03:47,400 there are any deer left in Nebraska after the shoulders I saw yesterday. But there's one point 27 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:52,666 where I'm driving along and I see there's another animal laying on the side of the road and as I'm 28 00:03:52,866 --> 00:04:05,633 driving up closer to it I see that it's not a deer, it's a dog. Some little boy's best friend 29 00:04:06,766 --> 00:04:17,100 wandered too close to the road. The evil days are sometimes they're more egregious, more horrendous, 30 00:04:17,100 --> 00:04:24,133 more personally, existentially acute and intense. Some days the evil isn't quite at that level but 31 00:04:24,133 --> 00:04:38,966 it is evil nonetheless. Life after that very bad day is filled with evil days. Which is probably 32 00:04:38,966 --> 00:04:42,766 why Paul has to spend half his letter to the Ephesians. We've been reading Ephesians here in 33 00:04:43,033 --> 00:04:49,066 the chapel for a little while. Starting at chapter 4 he spends three chapters warning the Ephesians, 34 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:55,500 warning them walk in a manner worthy that you've been that's worthy to which you have been called. 35 00:04:56,533 --> 00:05:04,866 Watch out, be on guard, don't live like the Gentiles, don't live in futility. There are evil 36 00:05:04,866 --> 00:05:19,100 days Paul is saying, don't respond with evil ways. Do not be foolish but understand what the will of 37 00:05:19,100 --> 00:05:28,666 the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine for that's debauchery but be filled with the Spirit. Be 38 00:05:28,666 --> 00:05:39,133 filled with the Spirit. You see Spirit filled people respond to evil days differently and how 39 00:05:39,133 --> 00:05:43,966 do we respond? Well Paul doesn't in Ephesians, he doesn't go to the fruits of the Spirit like he 40 00:05:43,966 --> 00:05:50,800 does to the Galatians. Instead he goes from the evil days to being filled with the Spirit to 41 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:59,333 living a life that is filled with songs of praise. Be filled with the Spirit he says, 42 00:05:59,366 --> 00:06:05,266 addressing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to 43 00:06:05,266 --> 00:06:10,700 the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of 44 00:06:10,700 --> 00:06:27,033 our Lord Jesus Christ. Sing, praise, make melody, give thanks even when the days are evil. Walter 45 00:06:27,033 --> 00:06:33,000 Brueggemann is an Old Testament scholar and he writes a lot about the people of God in exile, 46 00:06:33,700 --> 00:06:42,800 especially the exile in Babylon and he's pointed out that life today in these days has a lot in 47 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:50,466 common with life of the people of God who are in exile. We're in a foreign land and so he spends a 48 00:06:50,466 --> 00:06:55,833 lot of time looking at exilic texts and prophecies and Psalms of lament that kind of thing and what 49 00:06:55,833 --> 00:07:02,166 he's noticed is that even in times that are evil, even in exile, even in Babylon the people of God 50 00:07:02,166 --> 00:07:13,166 found ways to sing praises to God in very evil days. He calls these praises doxologies of 51 00:07:13,166 --> 00:07:25,666 defiance, doxologies of defiance. When evil is staring you in the face and yet and yet God is 52 00:07:25,666 --> 00:07:32,000 still good, even when you're in exile because of your own sin and God has sent you there to punish 53 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:46,733 you. These doxologies of defiance are cries of not despair but of hope. Defiant doxologies. 54 00:07:48,366 --> 00:08:02,966 Though he slay me says Job, yet will I trust Him. Last month I was down in New Orleans speaking to 55 00:08:02,966 --> 00:08:16,700 a group of about 500 youth workers from our synod. Youth workers are perhaps the most 56 00:08:16,700 --> 00:08:24,300 powerful youth at one point. The theme of the Bible studies that I was leading was exiles serving 57 00:08:24,300 --> 00:08:31,333 younger exiles. Trying to help the youth workers recognize that increasingly we live in kind of 58 00:08:31,333 --> 00:08:36,200 times that are kind of like the exile in a place that's foreign, that's alien, that's not at home 59 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,600 and yet we're called to people serve people who are younger exiles who maybe don't realize how 60 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:47,900 bad it's gotten. And so we were thinking about what it means to be an exile. We were studying 61 00:08:47,900 --> 00:08:53,000 1st Peter and we were reading through some Psalms of lament and we were thinking about Daniel and 62 00:08:53,000 --> 00:09:01,233 Joseph and Esther and these exiles who remained faithful to God and we listened in on the cries 63 00:09:01,233 --> 00:09:08,066 of the people of God as they're recorded in the scriptures and we heard their defiant doxologies. 64 00:09:10,500 --> 00:09:17,300 In the last session, it was a four-part study, the last session I invited the participants to 65 00:09:17,300 --> 00:09:29,600 craft their own defiant doxology. It's very simple actually, the formula is only got two parts. Even 66 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:45,800 though dot dot dot yet I will praise you for dot dot dot. Even though name an evil yet I will praise 67 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:52,833 you for the promises and the work of Jesus. Now it was kind of cool because of this conference 68 00:09:52,833 --> 00:09:58,066 there were people who know things about technology that are too wonderful for me and they had this 69 00:09:58,066 --> 00:10:03,700 program that you could scan a QR code and you could be taken to this form and you could craft 70 00:10:03,700 --> 00:10:08,700 your own defiant doxology. And then when you click send it would show up on the screens behind me up 71 00:10:08,700 --> 00:10:13,100 on the stage. Okay and so the the person who has helped me figure this stuff out said this thought 72 00:10:13,100 --> 00:10:16,833 this would be a good idea and so I thought well let's try it and so I encourage these participants 73 00:10:16,833 --> 00:10:24,966 to craft their own defiant doxology. And then send it in anonymously and then watch them appear on 74 00:10:24,966 --> 00:10:43,366 the screen and so that's what we did. Even though yet I will praise you for it started slowly it 75 00:10:43,366 --> 00:10:54,633 took a minute blank screens and then the first one appeared and then a second one each one that 76 00:10:54,633 --> 00:11:04,366 appeared bumped the next one down. Even though our youth group is small yet I will praise you 77 00:11:04,366 --> 00:11:11,133 for every youth member that is active in our church and is praising your name. Even though 78 00:11:11,133 --> 00:11:21,100 I will not be a biological father I will praise you for being my Heavenly Father. Even though my 79 00:11:21,300 --> 00:11:29,666 spouse and I are at odds and growing apart I will praise you for keeping our faith strong and 80 00:11:29,666 --> 00:11:40,666 wrapping us and our children in your hands. Even though I feel betrayed yet I will praise you 81 00:11:40,666 --> 00:11:54,133 because you are faithful. One by one it started slow and it became Niagara Falls doxology defiant 82 00:11:54,133 --> 00:11:58,766 doxology one after the other they were going so fast you couldn't you couldn't read them anymore. 83 00:11:58,966 --> 00:12:04,600 Even though our family struggles you are still present even though chaos surrounds me yet I will 84 00:12:04,866 --> 00:12:10,300 praise you for being the everlasting God who controls all even though I struggle with self 85 00:12:10,300 --> 00:12:30,833 hatred I will praise you because you love me when I don't. What would you have written if we magically 86 00:12:30,833 --> 00:13:00,800 had the technology? Even though would you name an evil that you have committed? Even though I have sinned. Even though I have failed. 87 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:10,766 Even though I spoke harshly even though in hindsight it was a foolish decision. Even though I harbor malicious 88 00:13:10,766 --> 00:13:26,900 thoughts yet I will praise you for your forgiveness. Even though I wish I had done so many things 89 00:13:26,900 --> 00:13:37,300 differently yet I will trust you to make all things good. Even though I'm divorced and my 90 00:13:37,300 --> 00:13:43,333 life didn't turn out how I planned yet I will praise you for this new life you have blessed 91 00:13:43,333 --> 00:13:51,500 me with. Maybe your defiant doxology would be about your own mistakes your own sin your own 92 00:13:51,500 --> 00:13:57,300 feelings but maybe it would be about something that you've suffered that was no direct fault of 93 00:13:57,300 --> 00:14:07,266 your own. Even though my brother has severe special needs I will praise you for choosing me to be his 94 00:14:07,266 --> 00:14:14,800 sister and love him unconditionally. Even though I have a terminal illness I will praise and live 95 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:21,200 for Jesus every day I'm given. Even though I have no biological family yet I will praise you for the 96 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:32,266 church community that has claimed me. Even though I am exhausted and the semester hasn't even begun 97 00:14:32,266 --> 00:14:40,900 yet. This one didn't write that. Even though I'm exhausted yet I will praise you for the way you 98 00:14:40,900 --> 00:14:49,066 sustain me and the people you place around me to lift me up. In just a few minutes these youth 99 00:14:49,066 --> 00:14:58,466 workers from around the country filled the screen with a cascade of defiant doxologies. This was no 100 00:14:58,466 --> 00:15:06,066 Pollyannish fabrication this was no blind optimism this was confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ who 101 00:15:06,066 --> 00:15:12,700 has filled us with his spirit and has given us hearts of faith that pour out into thumbs that 102 00:15:12,700 --> 00:15:18,933 type into phones that go through wherever they go through and land on screens and go to the 103 00:15:18,933 --> 00:15:28,333 world and rise to God a fragrant offering of praise even in the midst of evil days. 104 00:15:31,566 --> 00:15:42,766 Hundreds of heartbreaking even those and hundreds of confessions of the good news and the promises 105 00:15:42,766 --> 00:15:50,733 of Jesus Christ. Thanks to those people who know how to do technology I got a printout of all of 106 00:15:50,733 --> 00:16:00,133 them at the end of the conference and I was reading through them again last night and as I 107 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:17,566 did so I thought of you. I thought of you people who are preparing to go serve the people of God 108 00:16:17,566 --> 00:16:29,200 in exile. I thought of you people who are preparing to proclaim the promises of Jesus to which the 109 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:36,166 people of God will cling even in evil days that will lead them to sing praises of defiance of 110 00:16:37,366 --> 00:16:49,733 glorious and wonderful and gospel defiant doxology. I thought of you and I gave thanks especially for 111 00:16:49,733 --> 00:16:58,900 one of the defiant doxologies that in a way kind of stands at the foundation of all of them and 112 00:16:58,900 --> 00:17:04,900 whatever defiant doxology you've maybe begun to formulate in your head this one is really the 113 00:17:04,900 --> 00:17:09,833 foundation of whatever it is you're thinking about and here's the last one I'm going to share with 114 00:17:09,833 --> 00:17:23,066 you. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death yet I will praise you for your 115 00:17:23,099 --> 00:17:37,500 resurrection and for my resurrection. Brothers and sisters in Christ the days in which we live 116 00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:59,000 ever since that really bad day are evil days even on a seminary campus. But Jesus is risen from the 117 00:17:59,366 --> 00:18:08,500 dead and Jesus lives and reigns and rules to all eternity and Jesus is coming back and when he 118 00:18:08,500 --> 00:18:16,700 comes back he will do away with every single evil day and every single evil way and he will make it 119 00:18:16,700 --> 00:18:28,366 all good very good all the time and so with the Apostle Paul I encourage you in these evil days 120 00:18:28,366 --> 00:18:39,666 be filled with the spirit of Jesus who has filled you and let that spirit come out in songs of praise 121 00:18:39,666 --> 00:18:48,700 and songs of defiant doxology not by your own strength but by the spirit of our Lord Jesus 122 00:18:48,700 --> 00:18:55,100 Christ who has raised you from the dead in Jesus name amen.