Welcome to the Resistance | Kyle Idleman

alcoholic and addict and I'm a pastor here at Southeast Christian Church and we're so glad that you joined us today and are a part of what God is doing here with us located right in Louisville Kentucky but also thank you so much for the encouragement about what God is doing right where you are. Every week we say this but I want to highlight a couple of things when we talk about riding into us. This week I've been blessed to receive some letters from some people that we get to see how God is doing things in their life. One guy who came to treatment and was a part of Southeast Recovery work ended up catching some time, wrote in to let us know about how God is continuing to work in his life even though he's right now incarcerated. Nothing stopped from his location of being in a treatment center to be an incarcerated. Another one same part same type of thing somebody was engaged with us working, seeing God move in their life, wrote in this week as they're in jail to let us know about requesting Bibles and how they're sharing different things they're learning in Scripture with people that are around them. Another really really cool moment for us this week was when we got a call from somebody who started doing work with us. God started moving in their life while they were in treatment for sub for addiction, ended up catching some time and started using the pathway, spiritual pathway videos on Pando, watching the services every week just like you're doing. They got to be a part of baptizing 22 fellow inmates this week. So just know that we want you to stay connected with us because when you share with us how God is moving in your life it is a connection to us knowing that we are not here and you are not there that all of us are everywhere in the Kingdom of God is moving and alive and reaching people that are hurting. Also if you want to take away the guess work we'd love for you to subscribe to our channel it lets you know when stuff is up we have things that drop every single week like worship gatherings like this the spiritual pathways curriculum is up there podcasts and things like that so please like and subscribe. I don't know if you're like me but this week has been a week where there's been lots of ups and downs and lots of heavy and lots of rushing and so this message and this this worship gathering couldn't hit it a

better time. We're in the middle of a series called Flip It through the Sermon on the Mount through the Beatitudes and the way that Jesus unpacks how his Kingdom is completely contrary to how the world operates it's been such a great time and I know you're going to be encouraged today so let's take a second and get ready and let's worship together Christ invisible may visible Christ the hope for all the world to know the only way to the Father and only one every deans are shown. Thank you Jesus. Christ the Son of God and Son of man. Christ the reason King the great I am the only way to the Father and only one who can make us whole. We sing and believe there is no other one who is holy so holy. No other one who is worthy so worthy and happy and compares to his glory and power. It's in through for his everything. Yes you are Lord you're all everything. We believe in you. Christ the solid rock and cornerstone. Our Christ forever seated on his throne. He made a leap with his spirit and made a way that we know the curse. We love the common Jesus. There is no other one who is holy so holy and no other one who is worthy so worthy. I think compares to his glory and power. He's everything in through for his everything. ♪ 'Cause he's on everything ♪ ♪ We wanna worship you Lord ♪ ♪ He's the cross and resurrection ♪ ♪ He's the fire and the wind ♪ ♪ He was there in the beginning ♪ ♪ And he'll be there in the end ♪ ♪ He's the first, the last, the only one ♪ ♪ And never know defeat ♪ ♪ He's the reigning king of heaven ♪ ♪ The God of victory ♪ ♪ He's the cross, come on we see ♪ ♪ Fire in the wind ♪ ♪ And he'll be there in the end ♪ ♪ He's the first, the last, the only one ♪

♪ And never know defeat ♪ ♪ He's the reigning king of heaven ♪ ♪ The God of victory ♪ ♪ Exist, so we see ♪ ♪ In hell, through hell, for hell ♪ ♪ He's everything in hell ♪ ♪ To it, for you, everything alone ♪ ♪ For hell, he's everything in hell ♪ ♪ To him, for him there is no other one ♪ ♪ Who's holy, so holy ♪ ♪ And no other one ♪ ♪ Who deserves all our praise ♪ ♪ And as he compares to his story ♪ ♪ In power ♪ ♪ In hell, through hell ♪ ♪ All your everything ♪ ♪ We wanna give your praise ♪ ♪ All the glory ♪ ♪ In hell, through hell ♪ ♪ For hell, you're everything alone ♪ ♪ Through hell, for hell, he's everything ♪ (audience clapping) (upbeat music) ♪ I hear the sound of heavy rain ♪ ♪ Flooding the earth in barren places ♪ ♪ Let it calm down ♪ ♪ Let it calm down ♪ ♪ I see a cloud feel a change ♪ ♪ A sudden wind upon the praises ♪ ♪ Let it calm down ♪

♪ Let it calm down ♪ ♪ For the young of your name ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, warm again ♪ ♪ Let it rain ♪ ♪ Let it calm down ♪ ♪ Just have your hand ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ So let it rain ♪ ♪ Let it calm down ♪ ♪ Just have your way gone ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ We know you ain't sick when we knock ♪ ♪ So here we are, we won't stop ♪ ♪ Just let it come down ♪ ♪ Let it come down ♪ ♪ Oh, let it come down ♪ ♪ Just let it come down ♪ ♪ Let it rain ♪ ♪ Let it fall ♪ ♪ Just hide your way ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ So let it rain ♪ ♪ Let it fall ♪ ♪ Just hide your way ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ The fullness of your glory ♪ ♪ Not just in power ♪ ♪ The Son of God is playing in this place ♪ ♪ The mountain's shaking, trembling ♪ ♪ The oceans roll with rays ♪

♪ To Jesus Christ the name above all name ♪ ♪ We honor you ♪ ♪ We magnify the name of God ♪ (gentle guitar music) ♪ For the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Overgiving for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Open it for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Open it for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Open it for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Open it for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Open it for the honor of your name ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ It's time you're waiting on ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ To let it rain ♪ ♪ Let it fall ♪ ♪ It's time you're waiting ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ The form is of your glory ♪ ♪ Not just seeing power ♪ ♪ The Son of God is reigning in this place ♪ ♪ The mouth is shaking chamber ♪ ♪ The ocean's rolling praise ♪ ♪ To Jesus Christ's name above all day ♪ ♪ Let it fall ♪

♪ Let it fall ♪ ♪ Just hide your way ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ So let it rain ♪ ♪ Let it fall ♪ ♪ Just hide your way ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ We want more and more of you ♪ ♪ Would you come like rain that falls on dry land ♪ ♪ And would you refresh the parts of our heart that become weary ♪ Lord, would you fill us with so much of you that we as your bride and as your church would become people who are marked by your presence alone? Would you move in us and would you move through us for the honor and the glory of your name and your name alone, Jesus? In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. You may take a seat and grab your communion elements. We were just singing this phrase, "The Son of God is reigning in this place." And as we were singing these words, I found myself thinking about the time when I first became a Christian. It was in Russia and I was 13 years old. I didn't know that there were different denominations or different traditions or different theological camps and all the other things that sometimes Christians disagree about.

I just knew Jesus and that he had completely changed my life. There were no additions to the cross. Years later, I came to the U.S. and I learned that there are many denominations and traditions and I remember being surprised at some of the things that divide Christians. And maybe that's why I love how we come around the communion table every week. All of us from different journeys, different circumstances, different backgrounds, different traditions, and we all come to the same table and we take the same bread and we drink the same cup. I think one of the most powerful experiences that I've had in my life was seeing Christians from nations that had been at war for generations, still in active fighting and seeing these Christians who had been lifelong enemies, being united through Christ. And maybe that's because when we come to the table, we're brought back to that simple truth. There are no additions to the cross because the moment that we begin to believe that Jesus plus something is what makes us one is the moment that we begin to diminish what Jesus has already accomplished for us. And maybe that's what we declare when we come around this table this morning. We remember the one who made us one. And Jesus, he is enough. Let's take communion together.

(gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) You We chose to grace the world they used so love The hands that turn the universe surrender to the cross Despite the sin that separated us You took the fall, won't say them for all Salvation's in your blood What a worthy name Jesus, son of God I can lift it up You deserve the praise What a worthy name Jesus, son of God I can lift it up Oh, you deserve the praise Oh, we lift the name of Jesus [Music] When hope and crawl too cold to resurrect You beat the grievous you were raised The firstborn from the dead You did everything you had created my next The first and last, the great I am Beginning in the end What a worthy name Jesus, son of God I can lift it up

Oh, you deserve the praise What a worthy name Jesus, son of God I can lift it up Oh, you deserve the praise Holy Jesus [Music] On your head the victors crown Every trace in heaven shows And the name The name of Jesus risen King of righteousness These will bow in tongues confess And the name The name of Jesus On this rock the church twisted Songs of joy will rise again I believe The name of Jesus Christ will reign forever Oh, all the saints and angels But at the name There is name Jesus What a worthy name Jesus, son of God I can lift it up Oh, you deserve the praise What a worthy name Jesus, son of God

I can lift it up Oh, you deserve On your head the victors crown Every trace in heaven shows And the name The holy name The Jesus God is in King of righteousness These will bow in tongues confess And the name The name of Jesus On this rock the church twisted Songs of joy will rise again I believe The name of Jesus Christ will reign forever Oh, I believe The name of Jesus On the name The name of Jesus # The name of Jesus # # What a worthy name # # Jesus, son of God # # High and lifted up # # You deserve the praise # # What a worthy name # You sing. # # # High... # # #

# You deserve the praise # # # You deserve the praise # APPLAUSE CHEERING MUSIC PLAYS MUSIC PLAYS MUSIC PLAYS MUSIC PLAYS MUSIC PLAYS MUSIC PLAYS MUSIC PLAYS MUSIC PLAYS Have you see a whole bunch of things today? MUSIC PLAYS # How great the castle # # That lay between us # # How high the mountain # # I could not climb # # In desperation # # I turn to heaven # # I spoke your name # # Into the night # # And then through the darkness # # You're loving kindness # # To walk through the shadows # # Of my soul # # The work is finished # # The end is written # # Jesus Christ, my name # # Oh... #

MUSIC PLAYS MUSIC PLAYS # Who could imagine? # # So create a mercy # # What heart can fathom? # # Such boundless grace # # The God of ages # # Stepped down from glory # # To wear my sins # # And bear my # # Coarsing the cross # # The cross is broken # # I am forgiven # # The king of kings # # calls me his own # MUSIC PLAYS # Beautiful savior # # I'm yours forever # # Jesus Christ, my name # # And your eyes # # Sing hallelujah # # Praise the one who sent me free # # Hallelujah # # Death has lost its grip on me # # You have broken every chain # # There's salvation in your name # # Jesus Christ, my name # # Oh... # # We sing in faith # # And came the morning #

# And filled the promise # # Your buried body # # Begin to breathe # # Out of the silence # # A roving lion # # Decade the grave # # Has no claim # # Come on, that's true today # # Can we sing in confidence? # # And came the morning # # That's fear of the promise # # Whoa, your buried body # # Begin to breathe # # Whoa, out of the silence # # A roving lion # # Decade the grave # # Has no claim on me # # Jesus # # Jesus, the ox # # Is the victory # # Oh... # # Oh... # # Yeah... # # Hallelujah # # Praise the one who sent me free # # Sing hallelujah # # Sing death has lost its grip on me # # You are broken every day # # There's no... # # Jesus Christ #

# My living hope # (upbeat music) ♪ Oh yeah, breathe no one ♪ Set the constant grip on me, pure above me Oh, there's no face in your name Jesus Christ, my living Lord Jesus Christ, my living Lord Hallelujah Jesus you are our hope, our living hope Holy Spirit thank you for meeting us in this place today as we open your word as we receive from you God would you meet with each of us bring fresh revelation and perspective today here in your house, in your presence we worship you, we honor you everyone's said, amen, you guys can grab a seat Jesus didn't speak English, he spoke Aramaic but the New Testament was written in Greek to reach everyone, the gospel of Jesus was never meant to stay in one language he was always meant for everyone John 3, 16, forgot There's something about Scripture being in your first language it's familiar, it's the language of your childhood the language you think and dream in it's the one you pray in when you don't know what else to do it's personal, it's present God loves the world, all of it no matter your language but imagine hearing God loves you

he wants you to know him and then having no way to read what he said for 14 language groups in Liberia that's still the reality today Southeast can be part of helping change that through a project with Wycliffe Bible translators local Liberian churches are doing the work more than 900 people are working together and over 70% of the New Testament is already translated through move Southeast is helping finish it and soon someone you read the words of Jesus for the first time in their own language and you get to be part of that moment one day we'll worship Jesus together every tribe, every tongue until then we get to help our neighbors across the world discover Jesus speaks my language too It is amazing to me to get a front row seat to see what God is doing through move through the full force of the church coming together that's just one example of many ways that we get to be a part of the work he's doing translating the Bible into 14 different languages when I watch that video and I think about what we get to be a part of if I'm honest there's part of me that's just very convicted in my own life and my own generosity because one of the things that I'm convicted by is that when it comes to generosity I often think I have an affordability problem

but what I have is a priority problem I think it's an affordability problem but it's usually a priority problem here's what I mean just give you one category of my life if I can afford Netflix and Hulu and Disney and Amazon Prime and YouTube TV and like three other streaming services that I forgot I'm paying for and that tells me something that's not so much an affordability problem it's a priority problem it's what I'm prioritizing and so through this move journey one of the things God is teaching me is that the question is not always what am I willing to give it's more often what am I willing to give up and so that's a challenge for you like don't just give what you won't miss but give in a way that requires you to say no to something so you can say yes to being a part of what God is doing like it will be amazing one day to one day in heaven to meet like burying believers and to hear them talk about listening to the good news of Jesus in their own language for the first time and to know that we got to be a part of that

and so I am grateful for what God is doing in and through our church I just want to continue to encourage you to challenge you to be faithful to pray that prayer God how do you want to move in me? not under compulsion or obligation, but out of joy and gratitude. It's incredible to see what God is doing through our church around the world, but also right here in our own community. One of the things that we're really focusing on is God, what do you want to do through our church in this next generation? We've said this and moved two years of radical generosity to reach the next two generations. And one of our focuses is on young adults. We just see God moving in young adults and we want to be a part of that. So I just would tell you, if you're a young adult at any of our campuses, or maybe you're watching online this morning, this evening, we're having at 5 p.m. here at the Blinken Baker campus right outside of the campus, we'll have a vision time for young adults talking about the future of what we're going to be doing in that area, be a bonfire out there with some s'mores and some crumble cookie and things that if you're not a young adult, you don't get to really enjoy much anymore. But if you're a young adult, I'd love to invite you to that.

And I just want us to start off in prayer, thanking God for what we get to be a part of and then we'll jump into our message. God, thank you. Thank you that people in Liberia are about to hear you speak their language for the first time. Would you give those translators strength? Would you protect them? God, our prayer is that your word would go out and not come back empty. Lord, would you convict us where we need it? Show us where we're holding on to something that you've asked us to let go of? And God, in these next few minutes, as we open your word in our language, may we not take it for granted and may we approach it with humility and courage to do what you call us to. Amen. Have you ever noticed that every great story, like in a movie, every great story has a resistance? Star Wars has the Rebel Alliance. I'm told, not a big Star Wars guy, but apparently the resistance in Star Wars is the Rebel Alliance. The Hunger Games has District 13. The Matrix has Zion. Dune has the framing. And if you've seen enough of these movies, you've noticed something.

The resistance always has, well, it always has the worst real estate. And Star Wars is the evil empire that has the Death Star with the shiny floors and great lighting, and everybody's in matching outfits. And the resistance. Ah, they live in a cave or swamp or a hole that they dug into the siphon ice planet. Like nobody in the resistance has a nice office. There's no conference room for the resistance. There's just a dark tunnel or folding table with a light bulb that flickers off and on. And the resistance is almost always a strange collection of people. If you notice that, like in the original Star Wars, it's a smuggler, a farm kid, and an old man in a bathrobe. You never look at the resistance and think these are people who have it all together. But here's how you know who the resistance is. They're the ones the empire is looking for. Their resistance always upsets the empire. And we've been in a series through the Beatitudes. This is the introduction to the Sherman on the Mount that Jesus preaches. And he's inviting people to join a resistance. But that also means the empire's gonna notice. And so while we focused on what Jesus said in this series, I wanna draw some attention on where he said it because the location of where the sermon is preached

actually tells us a lot. It tells us about the kind of resistance that we're being invited into. So in Matthew chapter five verse one, we read, when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up to a mountainside and he sat down. So here's the point of this. He didn't preach this sermon in a temple in Jerusalem. And he didn't preach it in a town square. He went up into the hills above the sea of Galilee. And that matters because in Jesus' day, those hills is where the revolutionaries and the rebels went. And so if you wanted to overthrow Rome, like you don't give that speech in town, like you go up into the hills and people come to you. The hills above the sea of Galilee had a reputation for this. A few miles from where Jesus likely taught this sermon, there was this cliff full of caves where rebels would camp out and hide. They knew that their message was a threat to the empire, to King Herod, to the ruling class. And so they would give that message up in those hills. And so when Jesus walks up into those same hills and he sits down to teach, everybody thinks they know what's gonna happen. Like this is where the speech is gonna get made and this is where the recruiting is gonna happen. Jesus is gonna lead a resistance against Rome and this speech is gonna like the fuse. join the resistance. But then Jesus opens up his mouth and he says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit."

Well, that's not how you start a revolution. At least not the kind of revolution that people were expecting. And so Jesus is inviting people to join a resistance, but it's a resistance that's a lot bigger than the modern day politics of the first century. And if you join this resistance, Jesus says, "Hey, there is a blessing. You'll be blessed." And yet what we see is this series comes to an end, is that that blessing may not come from the people around you. It won't come from the empire. Your upside-down way of living will make you offensive to the empire. At least it'll make you disruptive, right? Because in a world where everybody's performing and following a script, everybody's saying, "I'm fine. It's great. Put a smile on your face." The person who says, "I need help," is disruptive. And in a world that has to win and be in control, like the person who says, "I'm handing God the reins." They're disruptive. And in a world that wants it all, and wants it now, the person who says, "I'm hungry, most for God," is disruptive because you're not impressed by the new truck or the right title or who has the most followers. And in a world built on image, the pure and hard are disruptive because you're the one person in the room that isn't trying to hide. And that makes everybody else in the empire a little bit nervous. And if you live like this, Jesus is making it clear that you'll stop fitting in and you'll start standing out. When you join the resistance, eventually the empire gets offended. Eventually the empire will notice. And so the Beatitudes, I mean, they're more dangerous than how we tend to think of them. We take the Beatitudes and we put them on a coffee mug and sell them at Hobby Lobby and Jesus to say, "Look, hey, this isn't something you embroidered onto a throw pillow and put in your guest bedroom." Like he preached this on the hillside because it wasn't safe to preach it in town. And eventually this message gets him killed. And the last two Beatitudes tell you that Jesus knew what he was doing because he's clear about what it would cost him and what it would cost people who joined him. So we'll look at Matthew 5, starting verse 9. Here's what Jesus says. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven. In the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Here's the thing about the resistance. The resistance isn't angry, but it'll make people angry. The resistance doesn't have a temper and it doesn't yell and it doesn't post in all caps. Romans 12, 21 tells us how we resist. It says, "Do not be overcome

by evil, but overcome evil with good." And you would think, like everybody in the empire would love that. A group of people who forgive and serve and love and tell the truth, they'd be the most popular people on earth. But Jesus said, "Yeah, that's not how it's going to go for you." The other day I was walking out of a movie theater in the middle of the day. So for some of you like wonder what pastors do the rest of the week, let's go to movies. And so middle of the day, sitting in the dark for a few hours, I get out of this movie, walk down the hallway, and I open that door and the sun, I mean, it hits you like a flashbang. And you look around and people are walking out and they're covering their eyes and they're squinting. Everybody's slightly annoyed with the sun. For about 30 seconds people are mad at the sun like the sun did something to us. This is what happens when the resistance shows up. People get used to the dark and light feels like an attack. Light is annoying when you've gotten comfortable with the dark, which is why some of you like you can't get out of here fast enough. And Jesus says, "When you join the resistance, you're light in the darkness." And when you're light in the darkness, you're going to experience some persecution. It'll be offensive. I want to make sure to point out one word in these verses that it's easy to skip over. It's the word because. Jesus says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, who are insulted because of me." He doesn't say, "Blessed are you when people don't like you." He says, "Blessed are you when they don't like you because of me," which means if you think you're being insulted or persecuted, just make sure to check your because. that's not persecution. That's probably you not doing your job. Like if your family stopped inviting you to family dinners because every dinner turns into a religious debate that you have to win, that's not persecution. That's you being annoying. Like if the people online can't stand you because you're nasty in Jesus' name, that's not persecution. That's just you being a jerk. Like being disliked may not be proof that you're persecuted, sometimes it's just proof that you're unpleasant. So Jesus explains how we should respond to this persecution in verse 12.

He says, "Rejoice and be glad." Because great is a reward in heaven for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Rejoice and be glad when you're insulted and persecuted. He doesn't say tolerate it, sustain it, vent about it. He says, "Rejoice, be glad." The word "glad" is not a mild word here, it means to be overjoyed. It's the kind of gladness that can't stay in its seat because it's so excited. That's how you respond. So when most of us are mistreated, that's probably not our response. We don't rejoice. We have two other responses we go to. One is we retaliate and the other is we resent. It means you fight back, resent means you don't fight back, but you keep a file. You keep a file on how you've been offended, and that is not rejoicing. That's resenting, and resenting is the opposite of rejoicing. And so Jesus says, "Look, rejoice when people say evil things about you because of me." Some time ago, somebody made this post online accusing our church of something that just simply wasn't true. And I made the mistake of not just reading the post, but reading the comments. Nothing good happens in the comments section. People were piling on. My name got mentioned a few times, along with some other things, just weren't true. Like factually not true. And as I'm scrolling, I can tell you what I didn't do, I didn't rejoice. For a minute, I thought about putting the facts out there because I got the facts. I've got some receipts. I can show what was being said. It's not true. Like I knew some things that would have ended the conversation and embarrassed a person who

originally posted it, but then I had another thought. I could make a fake account, a burner account, and I had it planned out in my head. I was going to be a 62-year-old grandmother from Shelbyville named Debbie. And Debbie's profile picture was going to be a sunset over a lake with a Bible verse, and her bio was going to say, "Retired schoolteacher, proud, nana of six, lover of Jesus coffee in the wild caps." And Debbie was going to type in all caps, and Debbie was going to set some people straight. But then it hit me. "I'm in the middle of the sermon on the beatitudes." And it's hard to troll people when you're preaching on meekness, like it's hard to operate Debbie's burner account when you're studying about being pure in heart. And so I paused and I prayed for this person, but my heart wasn't in it. I was not rejoicing. And yet, listen, this is how the early church changed the world. The empire came after them saying things about them that weren't true. They called the early Christians cannibals because the empire didn't understand communion. And they accused the early Christians of incest because they called each other brother and sister. And they called the early Christians atheists because they only worshipped one God. They didn't worship Caesar, the Roman gods. And whenever anything went wrong, you can study this, it was the Christians' fault. They blamed the Christians for it. And so how did the church respond to this? Well, they didn't make a bunch of burner accounts. They overcame evil with good. And so when plagues swept through the empire, everyone fled. And they left the sick behind, but the Christians stayed and they cared for the sick. And when Roman citizens would abandon their unwanted children in the woods to die, Christians would rescue them and care for them. And they took care of widows and they took care of the orphans.

And eventually Rome fell and that empire ended. But the church is here. The church still stands. The resistance lives. How? By shining light, by doing good, by loving, by serving. And so as we wrap up this series, I want us to look at one last beat attitude. It's back up in verse 9. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." And if you were sitting on that hillside, this would have sounded dangerous to you because the most powerful man in the world at the time was Caesar Augustus. And he called himself son of God and the bringer of peace. That was his title. It was by crushing anyone who disturbed it. So when Jesus was young, there was an uprising in Galilee, and Rome crucified 2,000 Jewish rebels along the road. That's how they made peace. And so when Jesus says peacemakers will be called children of God, he's challenging Caesar Augustus. He's flipping how the empire understood peace. And he says, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they'll be called children of God." Because when we make peace, we look like our Father. Like God is the original peacemaker, 2 Corinthians 5. Paul says, "God reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of peace, the ministry of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ ambassadors." So you and I never look more like our Heavenly Father than when we forgive someone who wronged us, and when we reconcile with someone who hurt us and doesn't deserve it. Like we look like our Father when we pick up the phone first, when we pray for the person who lied about us, when we let our children see us apologize or offer forgiveness, when

we return a curse with a blessing, when we speak well of someone who's been speaking badly of us. When we give someone a second chance or a third chance, like we look like our Heavenly Father, that's what He has done for us. Romans 5 says that while we were still sinners, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son Jesus. So God didn't wait for you to deserve it, and He didn't wait for you to make things right. He didn't make you serve your time, He didn't wait for you to come to Him. And every once in a while, the empire gets a glimpse of this kind of love and forgiveness, and it doesn't know what to do with it. Twenty years ago, this month, October 2nd, 2006, a man named Charles Roberts went into a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania, and he took the boys and the adults outside, and then he shot ten girls, ages six to thirteen, five of those girls died, and then he took his own life. What happened not long after that, if you remembered, stunned the country. About thirty Amish men and women came to the shooter's funeral. Some of them had just buried their own daughters, and when the news cameras showed up, they stood shoulder to shoulder, and they formed a wall to protect the shooter's family from the cameras, and then they raised money for the widow and the children of the shooter. What you might not know is it didn't stop there. Like for years afterward, the shooter's mother, Terry Roberts, she went once a week to spend time with Rosanna King. One of the girls, her son had shot, and Rosanna had survived because she was left in a wheelchair eating through a feeding tube, but once a week, the mother of the man who shot her was welcomed into the home, and she would bathe her and sing to her and read her stories. You may remember on the news, like how offended some of the commentators and pundits were about this kind of forgiveness and reconciliation. I said it wasn't healthy, it wasn't natural, because here's the thing, the empire knows what to do with revenge, and it knows what to do with lawsuits and grudges and bitterness, but it doesn't know what to do with grieving parents showing up at the funeral of the man

who killed their daughters to comfort his family. Like the world has no category for parents standing between cameras and the shooter's family to protect them. Like that kind of forgiveness doesn't make sense to the empire. In fact, it offends it. When I saw that in the news, what I thought, these are people who've been forgiven, because only people who have been forgiven like that can forgive like that. Only people who've been reconciled can reconcile like that. So I'll just put it this way, the degree to which you understand how God has forgiven you determines the forgiveness you offer. I'll flip it, the degree to which you forgive others reveals the degree to which you understand how you've been forgiven. Jesus says this later, in the same sermon, Matthew 6 verse 15, this is going to make you uncomfortable, he said it, "If you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins, forgiven people, forgive people, reconciled people, reconcile with people." So Rome's way of making peace, we like it, somebody hurts you, you make them pay. Somebody takes from you, you take more back from them, and you call it finding your voice are standing up for yourself or holding them accountable. but part of what makes that dangerous is that we've started to confuse being offended with being righteous. Some of you think the more offended you are, the more righteous you must be. The opposite's true. The more righteous you become, the harder it is for you to be offended because you're becoming more like Jesus and you just couldn't offend that guy. I don't know if you've noticed this,

but like right now, being offended in our culture kind of feels like a competitive sport. Like everybody's offended and outraged and everybody has something they're upset about. And we don't just get offended anymore. Like we announce it and we post about it and we recruit people to be offended with us. It's not enough for me to be upset. Like I need you to be upset that I'm upset. And if you're not upset about what I'm upset about, now I'm upset with you for not being upset. And so the question, like what if the most counter-cultural thing we could do, it's just be really difficult to upset and get offended. Like in a world where everybody's looking for a reason to be angry, we're looking for ways to show grace. In a empire where everybody assumes the worst, we assume the best. In an empire where everybody keeps receipts, we're tearing them up. Like that's disruptive. You can be right about what somebody did and you can be wrong about how you respond to it. And yet I would say the clearest evidence that Jesus is changing your heart. It's not that you never get hurt. It's how you respond. It's that you're able to forgive and you're able to reconcile as followers of Jesus.

When we do that, we look like our Heavenly Father. We are ambassadors. Like we're representing a different kingdom in this kingdom. So let's just talk about what this looks like, practically speaking, to be a peacemaker. First, making peace means moving towards the conflict, moving toward the conflict. A man named Ken Sand wrote a book called The Peacemaker and he said that when there's conflict, most of us go to one of two paths. Some of us are peacefakers. We deny it, we avoid it, we pretend everything is okay, change the subject, we leave the chat, we ghost the person and we call it peace. And he said some of us are peace breakers. We attack and we gossip and we slander. So your spouse says something at dinner that stings. A peacefaker pretends like everything's fine and clearly it's not. Peace breaker goes on the attack and brings up something their spouse said from 2009. You're at Thanksgiving dinner. A peacefaker has something come up and can't come to dinner because they're just trying to avoid conflict but they think of it as peace. A peacepraker like leans into it. They're like pass the mashed potatoes and I need to get something off my chest. Like they're a breaker.

A breaker wants to win the argument. A peacemaker wants to win the relationship. And sometimes you just gotta choose between being right and being in a relationship. In a conflict, peacemakers own their 2%. A lot of us do the math and conflict and we're like, well, I mean, she's 98% of the problem. I'm maybe 2% of the problem. So I don't need to make peace. She does. She needs to apologize and make things right. But peacemakers own their 2%. They don't say I'm sorry, you're offended. They don't say I'm sorry, but they said I was wrong and I'm sorry, please forgive me. And just a free tip. If you're owning your 2%, don't start that conversation off by saying, I need to own my 2%, but I don't do that. But this is hard. It's hard to see our 2% when we know we've been wronged. A while ago, I was trying to own my part in a disagreement with my wife. And I said, hey, I just want you to know I wasn't right about what I said. And she said, you mean you were wrong? No, no, no, no, I'm not saying I was wrong. I'm just saying, I wasn't right. Well, what's the difference?

Well, just because I wasn't right doesn't necessarily mean I was wrong. So you think you were right? No, I'm telling you, I wasn't right. So you were wrong? I'm not saying I was wrong if you weren't right and you weren't wrong, then what were you? I mean, somewhere in the middle. So you were half wrong? No, I wasn't half wrong. I was mostly right, but there might have been some areas where I was less right. And I was just so committed to not being wrong that I was wrong how I apologize for not being right. And this is the problem with peacekeeping. It's saying, "I was wrong." And so finally, I said to my wife, "Fine, I was wrong." And she's like, "Was that so hard?" And I'm like, "I wouldn't say it was hard." But I wouldn't say it was easy. Started a whole new thing. Like, and it's just hard for us. It's hard for us to own our percent. But just on down, 14 verses later in this same sermon, Jesus gets practical about some of this. And he says, "Look, if you're at church and you're leaving and offering, and you remember somebody has something against you, then leave your gifts there. Go be reconciled to that person."

And then come back. What's incredible about that is Jesus here speaking to Galileans in the altar in Jerusalem. It's like three or four day walk away. And Jesus is saying, "Look, if you're at the altar and you remember somebody has something against you, go home, make it right. I would rather you leave church and make peace than stay here and sing about how much you love me." Like, your reconciliation is an act of worship. And yet Paul says in Romans 12, it's not always possible to do this. He says in Romans 12, "If it's possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone, it's not always possible. Sometimes boundaries are necessary. Like sometimes they're the wisest and most loving thing you can do. But one of the things I've learned is that when I'm the offended person, I am often not the most objective person about what boundaries need to be set. And I think for many of us, we've gotten good at using some therapeutic language to justify kind of these un-Christ-like boundaries and behaviors. We'll say, "Oh, I'm just sitting boundaries. I'm just getting some toxic people out of my life." And there are times where we need to do that. But I'm not sure that we're always the most objective

in recognizing, like if you're the person who's been hurt. So let me just give you three questions to help you kind of identify where you need to set some boundaries if they're necessary. First one, "Am I setting this boundary to protect myself from harm or to punish someone for hurting me?" There's a difference between protecting yourself and making somebody pay. And you might need some help recognizing it. Second, "Am I inviting someone wise and objective to speak into this?" Not just somebody who's gonna agree with me or listen to my side of it. Not just a friend who says, "You don't need that kind of negativity in your life." But like somebody who loves Jesus knows more than my sides, willing to tell me when I'm wrong. And third, is this boundary proportionate to the problem? Because boundaries don't have to be all or nothing. I think some of us kind of approach this with two settings where either close friends or they're blocked. But listen, you can forgive someone and not loan them money again. Like you can love someone and not share every detail of your life. You can be kind to someone without giving them kind of unlimited access to you.

You can have Thanksgiving dinner with someone. You don't have to spend the whole week at their house. So sometimes the most Christ-like thing you can do is forgive someone and have some healthy boundaries but just understand there's a difference between a boundary and a wall. And so Jesus didn't say, "Blessed are the boundary setters." Doesn't say, "Blessed are the conflict avoiders or the score keepers or the grudge holders or the argument winners." He said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." And some of you, you haven't made this connection but there is a connection here, not always, but sometimes. There's a connection between the person you've blocked and God's blessing that you've blocked in your life. These things may be connected. Second, making peace means refusing to pick a side sometimes. It means that you're just gonna refuse sometimes to take a side. Jesus did this a lot. If you look at who he picked to be his disciples, he had Simon that zealot and zealot's hated Rome. Some of them were willing to kill to get Rome out. But in that same group, Jesus had Matthew, a tax collector. It's like putting an IRS agent and a guy who lives off the grid and refuses to pay taxes like in the same Bible study. And here's the thing, Jesus never asked either of them to switch sides. In fact, he almost didn't address politics at all

in the group. What he did was focus them on a different kingdom. And it wasn't just that group, like everywhere he went, people were trying to make Jesus pick a side. And you can almost hear some of the conversations around the campfires in Galilee. Had you hear about that new rabbi? He's soft on Rome. That's what I think. I heard he healed a Roman officer's servant. I'm gonna have to find a new rabbi to listen to. He won't take a stand. I heard him say that if a Roman soldier makes you carry his stuff one mile, you should carry it two. I heard he had a tax collector on his staff. And even Jesus' own disciples had a hard time understanding this. Like after the cross and after the empty tomb, here's what they ask Jesus. This is Acts chapter one. Lord, at this time, are you gonna restore the kingdom of Israel? Like 40 days with the resurrected Son of God and they're still asking him about political advocacy. So let me just ask you this. Do you think Jesus had opinions around the many, many issues around Rome and the politics of his day? 'Cause I'm sure he did. And I'm even more sure that whatever opinion he had

was probably the right one and yet he barely spoke about it. Why? Because he refused to let anyone confuse which kingdom he was representing. And I just don't want you to miss this. It got him killed. Not taking sides got him killed. They hung the Prince of Peace on a rebels cross. Sometimes that's the most courageous thing you can do. It's not pick a side. One more thing here. Making peace means absorbing the cost. When someone wrongs you, there's a debt. And that debt doesn't just disappear 'cause real peace is never free. Somebody always has to absorb the cost. And this is what Jesus did for you and me. There's a word here in English, the peacemaker word. It's used exactly one other time in the New Testament. It's used to describe himself. That he made peace, Colossians says he made peace. How, through the shedding of his blood, through the cross. He is a peacemaker through the shedding of his blood on the cross. So Rome made peace by putting people on crosses. Jesus made peace by putting himself on one. And so he walks into the biggest conflict in the universe, the one between us and God,

and he made peace, but it cost him. So don't be surprised when it costs you as a peacemaker. Like peacemakers have to absorb some cost. Like remember that when you hear yourself saying, why do I have to be the one to go first? Like why do I have to be the one to apologize? And why do I have to own my wrong? Why do I have to absorb the cost? Oh, well, because this is what has been done for you. And this is the kingdom that you belong to. And this is the blessing that gets attached to it. You get to be called the child of God. If you look back at verse 11 in this passage, there's this little change that takes place, grammatical change. Jesus goes from saying, "Blessed are those." To saying, "Blessed are you." And so he switches here, verse 11, to direct address. Why? Because at some point the speech is over. And the question is, what about you? Are you in? And so how do you join this resistance? Well, I mean, it's like so much of this series. It's the opposite of what you might think. You join the resistance by surrendering. Like in every other army, surrender means you lost, but in the kingdom, surrender is actually how you enlist. You surrender your pride and your bitterness and your right to get even.

And so can I just remind you here as we finish this, the beatitudes are not about what you can accomplish through your willpower. They're about what you look like when the Spirit of God transforms you. You cannot manufacture this kind of forgiveness. You cannot reconcile on this level out of your own strength. You can't do it. You can't make this kind of peace by just trying harder. It doesn't come from you. It comes from Jesus. And so I just want you to see this as we close the series. Like Jesus ends these beatitudes by saying, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they'll be called children of God." And then in the next breath he says, "Blessed are the persecuted because of righteousness." So I go straight from peacemaking to persecuting, straight from reconciliation to rejection, straight from blessings to bruising. And that's because there's a cost to the resistance. And Jesus do what we forget that like the blessing and the bruise often goes together. See, we want the blessing and we want the peace and we want the joy and we want the hope and we want the promise, but we don't want the bruises. But what we see again and again in scripture is that the blessing and the bruise like they go together. So being a peacemaker, it doesn't mean

that everybody will be at peace with you. I know that's what we want and we think of peace as the absence of conflict or the absence of conflict. Like, we think of peace as everybody getting along and nobody's upset, nobody's arguing. But that's not really peace biblically speaking. Biblically speaking, peace is not the absence of conflict. It's the presence of something. It's the presence of Jesus. Ephesians two, Jesus identifies himself this way, that Jesus is our peace. And so our lives as followers of Jesus are not necessarily marked by the absence of conflict, but by the presence of Jesus. And so a peacemaker is ultimately someone who is constantly bringing Jesus in. And so that is the invitation. The invitation is to say, okay, Jesus, I want my life to line up with these beatitudes. I can't accomplish that on my own. Like our study of beatitudes is not a self-optimization approach where you go home and you work really hard at these things. It is a spirit of God approach where we recognize, I don't have this within me, this is counter-cultural, but it's also counter-intuitive, like I can't do it. But Jesus, I invite you into this. And would you teach me to be like you in all these ways that feel sometimes so counter to what I want, so counter to the empire around me.

It's the invitation of his presence. And so in a minute, we're going to worship. And typically when we worship, I'll invite you to stand at which I'll do here as well. But can I just encourage you that when you stand to worship in just a moment, that that standing is a way of identifying, that standing is a way of joining the resistance. It's a way of saying, I believe in Jesus, but I'm also following Jesus. I wanna line my life with what he says is a blessed life. You won't do it perfectly, but that's gonna be your commitment that by his strength and power and by his grace, you're gonna be a part of that, be a part of that resistance. So that's the invitation. He's set for us the example. He's modeled the way for us. And he invites you to follow. Let me pray. God, thank you for the picture that you've given us of what it looks like to live our lives this way, to live a blessed life. And for a lot of us, God, this is really reframing how we have been taught about blessing since we were so young before we can even remember, that we tend to think of blessing as being comfortable and convenient and everything going our way, but you come along here and you just redefine it. And so, God, I pray that you would help us

have a heart, a desire for your definition of a blessed life. God, that takes a lot of humility. So would you allow us, God, to just humbly and courageously align our life with you and to let you Jesus be our model and our example? God, I pray that you would use the resistance here in this church to shine a bright light into the darkness of this world. I know at times we'll pay a price for it. I know the world won't always know what to do with it. Would you teach us to rejoice and to be glad when that happens? But, Lord, would you let us stand together as the resistance, pointing people to a different kingdom, pointing people to a different hope? It's in your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. So in these next few minutes, I'll ask you to stand and then we'll worship together. And if you want to talk to someone about baptism, like baptism is a way to enlist, right? If we said surrendering is how you enlist, then baptism is a picture of surrender. You die to yourself and in that water, you bury some bitterness and you bury the grudges in the resentment. And the Bible says that Roman six, you come out of that water, it's a whole new way of living. It's a whole new life. And we want to give you an opportunity just to talk to somebody about that next step.

You can go to our next step room over here or maybe you're ready to join the resistance to be a part of this church where we overcome evil with good, where we shine a light in the darkness, where we love our enemies and we pray for those who curse us. And we do our very best, although imperfectly, to follow the way of Jesus. We'd love to have you as part of our church. Again, you can go to our next step room over here. We'd love to talk to you and pray with you. So would you stand with me? Join the resistance and let's worship. (audience applauding) (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ I could say you're made for all my own love ♪ [Music] Jesus be the name of all my lips It's sweeter every time that I call on him There's just something 'bout your name There's just something 'bout your name There's just something 'bout your name It makes me cry hard There is no other thing There is no other thing There is no other thing Jesus, you're worthy You have been my friend who ever met I won't forget your face for all days Jesus be the name of all my lips

It's sweeter every time that I call on him There's just something 'bout your name There's just something 'bout your name There's just something 'bout your name It makes me cry hard There is no other thing I know There is no other thing There is no other thing Jesus, you're worthy, you're worthy There's just something 'bout your name There's just something 'bout your name There's just something 'bout your name It makes me cry, oh, we cry out There is no other thing But yours, there is no other thing There is no other thing Jesus, you're worthy, you're worthy, you're worthy, you're worthy Oh, we've magnified the name The only name who saves The only name who heals Who is the life of love Who is the life of love in all the earth Jesus, you're worthy, you're worthy, you're worthy, you're worthy, you're worthy The one the darkness can't deny The resurrection and the life, Jesus Jesus, you're worthy, you're worthy, you're worthy, you're worthy You can kill, you're making things as long as you, you never fail, you never will Jesus, Jesus, you're not afraid of life, broken for us The wounds, you're dead and the worthy, the one the person likes

It's true to come, Jesus, Jesus the King Oh, the world, the great, the love, who will forever reign The name of love, all of it is Jesus Jesus, be the name Jesus, be the name Oh, Jesus, be the name I can't solve Jesus, be the name Oh, Jesus, be the name Oh, Jesus, be the name I can't solve the glory Jesus, be the name Oh, Jesus, be the name I'll pop it all Oh, Jesus, be the name I can't solve the glory Jesus, be the name Jesus, be the name Oh, Jesus, be the name I can't solve the glory Oh, you can have your way in my life, God Get my heart ♪ So there's just something 'bout your name ♪ ♪ There's just something 'bout your name ♪ ♪ There's just something 'bout your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name I know ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, you're worthy ♪

♪ There's healing in your name ♪ ♪ There's healing in your name ♪ ♪ There's healing in your name ♪ ♪ It makes us cry holy ♪ ♪ Salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Salvation in your name ♪ ♪ It makes us cry holy ♪ ♪ So holy ♪ ♪ So worthy ♪ ♪ Oh oh ♪ ♪ Oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Just to sit in your presence heart ♪ ♪ Just to sit at your feet ♪ - Man, what a great time to worship God together and to be reminded about Jesus and His ways and the kingdom of God and the way the kingdom of God operates. Man, that message hit for me. It was so timely. Welcome to the resistance, that this is the different way to do things. Man, and I've just been so convicted personally because of how I respond to situations, how I react to situations, and really, really trying to digest and let it really sit in me like that how I react determines or it shows what kingdom I'm aligned with. You know, blessed are the peacemakers that we don't react. We don't respond the way the world does.

And man, that is such a difficult thing to do. So I want you to know and hear from me that if this is something with you, you're in a place probably right now where being viewed as being weak is a very dangerous thing. And so this is a hard thing for you to process. It's just no, you're not struggling in that alone. And I wrestle with that a lot as well. We're really excited about some stuff coming up that I want to point out to you. First starting in November, we have a new series called No Shame November. And I don't know about you, man, but shame is the number one thing the enemy used to keep me isolated, stay in my addiction, trying to fix this on my own longer way longer than I needed to be. And so we're excited for that series that kicks off. So be looking for that No Shame November. Also this Wednesday, our Bible study chasing the vapor will be up. We're walking through Ecclesiastes, great, great timeless wisdom in that. And so like if you're looking for something a little bit deeper or you're wanting to equip yourself on a deeper level or enlarge that spiritual connection that you have, because like me, my connection with God is not like this static decision. I don't decide to get connected to God first thing in the morning and then it just stays there all day long.

My connection with God feels a lot of times like a cell phone signal. Like it can be really strong in moments and they can drop in moments and they can get really strong in moments and they can go down again. And so, man, building things into your rhythm like this series, the study chasing the vapor on Ecclesiastes is something you can give yourself a boost to the next time that you could access to a tablet that you can raise that connection or raise that connection with God. Also Thursday, our Pando exclusive podcast drops where we dig in to the sermon on a deeper level. So if you love some of that thought, or hey, let's be real. If you struggled with some of what was talked about this morning, if being a peacemaker in your environment does not compute. Man, log on Thursday with us or the next time you get access to it and you're allowed to and check this out. Like dig deeper into it. And don't be afraid to ask the questions of like, man, Jesus, I know you said to do that, Man, let's invite him to sit with you in that difficulty and watch what he does. We'll come to a close today, but my favorite part, we do our prayer time together. And like I usually say when I'm on here with you, man, let's don't just say the prayer,

let's don't just recite the prayer, let's pray the prayer, all right? So if you would take a deep breath with me, let's center ourselves. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you for being a great Redeemer. Even when life doesn't look the way I planned it, you are good. I trust your promises, I feel your provision, I love your word. Please protect me from temptation. Please restore what I've lost. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. I am not in control. I am waiting on you. In chaos, I need your peace. In loss, I need your comfort. In confusion, I need your truth. I trust you with everything. I love you. In your name, amen. Can't wait to see you guys again soon. (audience laughing) (audience laughing) You [BLANK_AUDIO]