Latest / REZ CHURCH Podcast / When Life Becomes a Courtroom - John 8:1-11

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When Life Becomes a Courtroom - John 8:1-11 · REZ CHURCH Podcast

0:23
Good morning, everyone. Hey, you're loud.
0:27
I like it. Well, my name is Nate.
0:30
I am one of the teaching pastors here at RES, and I also serve as
0:34
the creative director. And happy Father's Day to the
0:37
dads out there. I'm a, yeah, been a dad for
0:42
almost five years. And this morning I was given a
0:46
beautiful Father's Day gift. My son got into our bed last
0:50
night and he, you know, to, to snuggle, you know, But it was
0:54
11:00 PM. So I was gifted with a barrage
1:00
of tiny kicks to my lower back for the duration of the evening.
1:06
And so the first, first service I started, I forgot to say my
1:09
name. I was just so tired.
1:10
I'm like, what's up? I'm Nate or something.
1:12
And so happy Father's Day. I'm full of energy now and I'm
1:16
ready to go. And we just finished up a series
1:19
called Sound Mind, and I really enjoyed that.
1:21
Did you guys like that? Mental health?
1:24
It was really cool, really good. I'm hoping to do it again, but
1:26
we're starting a new series today.
1:28
We're jumping back in the book of John, and our sermon series
1:31
is called. But now I see.
1:33
And I want to kick this off with a fun story about Nate when he
1:37
was about 1819 years old and I had gotten involved in a youth
1:42
group, specifically young adults.
1:44
You know, when you graduate from youth group, they're like, well,
1:46
I guess you're a leader now because, you know, you're too
1:49
old, but they want you to stay. I don't know.
1:50
So I became a leader and we did this thing called a drama tour
1:56
and it was basically a bunch of us youngsters.
1:59
We would get in a caravan and go up and down the West Coast and
2:02
we would go to churches and high schools.
2:05
And sometimes we just like set up out in public.
2:08
And we would do these presentations, which were a
2:11
combination of we did worship music and there was some some
2:14
preaching and we did something called human videos.
2:17
Do you guys know what human videos are?
2:20
Literally no one has heard us. You know what?
2:22
I figured it out. I come from Assemblies of God
2:25
background, which is more like charismatic, and I think that's
2:27
why you guys don't know what this is.
2:29
Let me explain it to you. It's really cool, trust me.
2:32
It's basically you pick a song, like a Christian song and all of
2:37
us act out. All of us humans act out the
2:40
song and create a human video. It's really cool.
2:45
So we did a bunch of human videos, and one of those human
2:49
videos was a court. It was based on a song called
2:52
The Courtroom. This is going to be a big fat no
2:54
as well by an artist known as Carmen.
2:57
Do you guys know who? Oh, this is a Carmen audience.
3:04
That handsome devil right there, that's Carmen.
3:08
So if you don't know who Carmen is, it's this person.
3:10
And he did like kind of, it was like kids music, right?
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It was like kids music, but it was like cool.
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At least our parents thought so. And he would do these really
3:20
elaborate, actually really well done music videos.
3:24
You're nodding your head. You've been changed by Carmen.
3:28
And so his song was called the courtroom.
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Now, the courtroom was, you know, it's a courtroom and you
3:34
need to cast the part of God, the judge or the person who has
3:37
brought forth in the courtroom, the Sinner and the part of the
3:42
prosecution lawyer, which was Satan.
3:47
So when it was time to cast that, no joke, you guys already
3:51
know where this is going. The pastor, youth pastor was
3:54
like, all right, who should be Satan?
3:57
And no joke, all of them turned around to me sitting back in the
4:02
22nd row wearing all black, you know, like, and they're like,
4:11
Nate should be Satan. Nate would be the perfect Satan
4:18
to their defense. I did have I used to wear
4:20
eyeliner. I had black fingernail Polish,
4:23
all the things I had blue hair at that time.
4:26
And so it's very, you know, Satan like I guess so it's Satan
4:31
wears evidently. So I I got the part and I
4:33
graciously accepted, yes, I'll be Satan.
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And I wore a red blazer and I took it.
4:39
I'm a method actor. So I took it very seriously.
4:41
And one of the performances was in the Bay Area.
4:45
It was at a high school and it was in the gym full of high
4:49
schoolers and gym floors. If you've ever been on one,
4:52
sometimes they can be a little slick.
4:55
And there's a part in my amazing performance where I would jump
4:58
up onto a folding table with all like the papers, you know, like
5:02
the evidence and then throw them and then like jump off the table
5:05
and be like whatever. And so I'm, I'm getting ready to
5:09
do this signature move and I jump up on the table and as I go
5:13
to jump, the table slips and it flips up on its side.
5:19
And at the same time I go and I go up on my bat like a Creed
5:25
music video. I'm like, it's taking me higher
5:29
and I'm like parallel to the ground.
5:32
And I just literally fall right on the edge of the table on my
5:36
back, dude. And that's the sound they made.
5:42
And that's this other sound they made.
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So I fall down and and I get and I'm the song's just going, you
5:50
know, people are still. So I get up and I'm like, you're
5:55
going to hell. Still kind of walk it off.
5:59
Make sure you know, I'm not paralyzed, OK?
6:02
Feels good. And no joke, I still have a like
6:05
a knot in my lower back to this day from that.
6:09
It's pretty crazy. And ironically, during that
6:11
human video about the courtroom, that gym had become a courtroom
6:17
because I was being judged so hard in that moment, I was so
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embarrassed just being out on display.
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Has anyone felt like that before?
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Like everyone knows your business and you're just out
6:28
there and you're like, OK, it's me.
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Well, that's exactly where the woman in today's story finds
6:35
herself. She is dragged into the centre
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of a crowd, She's exposed and she's being judged.
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But the difference is, although she didn't know it at the time,
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she had a defender. And so do you.
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And in our text today, the religious leaders, they dragged
6:51
this woman caught in the act of adultery into a very public
6:54
courtroom, throw her before Jesus.
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And what happens next is an absolute scandal.
7:00
So if you have your Bible or you got a phone, we're going to be
7:03
in John chapter 8, verses one through 11, John eight, one
7:07
through 11. Let's read that together.
7:11
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives early in the morning.
7:14
He came again to the temple. All the people came to him and
7:17
he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees
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brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing
7:22
her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher, this woman has
7:26
been caught in the act of adultery.
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Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
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So what do you say? This they said to test him, that
7:35
they might have some charge to bring against Him.
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But Jesus bent down, and he wrote with his finger on the
7:41
ground. And as they continued to ask
7:44
him, he stood up and said to them, Let him who is without sin
7:47
among you be the first to throw a stone at her.
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And once again he bent down, and he wrote on the ground.
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But when they heard it, they went away 1 by 1, beginning with
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the older ones. And Jesus was left alone with
8:00
the woman staying before him. And Jesus stood up and said to
8:03
our woman, Where are they? Has no one condemned you?
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She said no one, Lord, and Jesus said neither do I condemn you.
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Go. And from now on, sin no more.
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So what do we do when our life becomes a courtroom?
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Well, sometimes in that courtroom, you're the woman
8:22
caught in adultery. You're the person caught in sin.
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You're exposed. What do you do?
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You trust your defender. You have a defender and he is a
8:33
defender you can trust. But other times you're one of
8:36
the Pharisees and you have the rock and you're ready to go and
8:39
you you're ready to judge this person.
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What can you do in this opportunity?
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What can you do in this situation?
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Well, in these situations, you have the opportunity to become a
8:47
defence attorney for someone else.
8:50
And in both of these instances, both, both of these people need
8:54
to go before the judge. Now, the story starts off in
8:59
verse one with Jesus teaching. And if you combine the Greek
9:02
word for teacher and the Aramaic rabbi, Jesus is referred to as a
9:06
teacher approximately 59 times in the New Testament.
9:10
And although we talk a lot about his miracles, Jesus is primarily
9:14
known as a teacher. I mean, do you ever wonder why
9:17
we get up here and do this? Like when you get up early and
9:20
you get the free coffee and you sit there and then some guy
9:23
talks about Carmen and he's like, yeah.
9:25
And he's. Do you ever wonder why we
9:27
actually do that? I mean, simple explanation is
9:31
because that's what Jesus did, he taught.
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I mean, all these things we do are the props, the sometimes we
9:37
bring a backpack or a quilt. One time I brought a a pot with
9:40
macaroni, if you remember that. But why do we do all that?
9:43
It's just all an attempt to get you to walk away with more
9:48
knowledge, more experience, and more spiritual maturity in the
9:51
teachings of Jesus. And the older I get, the more I
9:55
realize that spiritual maturity happens mostly in the mundane,
10:00
not the miracles maturity. It happens every day.
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It's in the consistent things, the consistent time in prayer,
10:08
the consistent time in the teachings of Jesus.
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And that's where the Pharisees and scribes found him this day.
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And he was doing what he did the most, He was teaching.
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Verse 3 picks it up and it says the scribes and Pharisees
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brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, placing her
10:24
in the midst. They said to him, Teacher, this
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woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
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Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
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So what do you say? And this they said to test him,
10:34
that they might have some charge to bring against him.
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So First off, if you're newer to church and you don't know what a
10:41
scribe or a Pharisee is really quick.
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The scribes, we're the legal experts.
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They were scholars in the law of Moses.
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So they were most likely lawyers.
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The Pharisees, they were the religious, they were the cold,
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they were the rigid, but they were deeply committed to
10:57
upholding God's commands. And now they've drugged this
11:01
woman out in front of the crowd, the crowd that Jesus was
11:04
teaching. She was probably not completely
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dressed because it says that they caught her in the act.
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So she's ashamed and they throw her down before Jesus and court
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was now in session. Before we go any further, I do
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have a few questions about this scenario.
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Like, if you actually think about this, one of my questions
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is how did you guys catch her? How did you know where she would
11:31
be? Typically, these things are done
11:36
in secrecy, so how did you know where she would be?
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I mean, were you guys all there? That's weird.
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That's fishy. I have another question.
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It's a big question. Where's the dude?
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Yeah, right. Who cares?
12:00
Where's the dude? The law says.
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Well, the Pharisees say, hey, it's it's we need to stone such
12:07
women. But what the law actually says
12:09
is you're supposed to stone the man and the woman.
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Two people. So where's the man?
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These things usually take two people.
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OK, biology or whatever. So what is the simplest
12:26
explanation here? You ever heard the term Occam's
12:30
Razor before? Yeah, it's cool.
12:34
I like to use Occam's Razor a lot in situations.
12:36
But basically, if you don't know, Occam's Razor is a
12:38
principle often attributed to 14th century Friar William of
12:41
Occam that says if you have two competing ideas to explain the
12:46
same phenomenon, you should prefer the simpler 1.
12:50
The simplest explanation is often the correct 1.
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So what is Nate's razor? Well, I think, and don't add
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this to your Bible, which is just what I think.
13:01
I think they set her up with one of the Pharisees.
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That's what I think. That's why they didn't bring the
13:12
man because he was one of them. And that's how they knew where
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to find her because he was one of them.
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And I would not be surprised if they compromised their moral
13:22
code just to trap Jesus. And Jesus threatened, if you
13:26
think about it, he threatened their religious system, which
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ultimately means he threatened their power.
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People don't like that. Perhaps in this situation, in
13:36
their minds, the means would justify the end.
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And it really reveals their ulterior motive because if they
13:42
actually wanted justice, like they said, they would have
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brought both of them. But they did it.
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It just brought the woman. They did this simply to use her
13:56
as bait in a trap set for Jesus. So what's the trap?
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Jesus is sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place here.
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Did you? Yeah.
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Sorry. It's a dad joke.
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It's Father's Day, I'm going to do all the dad jokes.
14:21
Jesus was in a tough position here.
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If he said, all right, guys, let's rock, let's stone her, it
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would do three things. Number 1, he would contradict
14:28
his own teachings about mercy, forgiveness, and compassion.
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OK #2 he would appear harsh and unloving to the people who saw
14:37
him as merciful. If he was like, let's stone
14:39
this, this lady and #3 he would also run afoul of Roman law
14:43
because Roman, the Romans had restricted Jewish authority from
14:47
carrying out capital punishment. OK, now if he says, well, hold
14:50
up, let's just show some grace here.
14:53
Let's how about we don't stone her?
14:56
That would have done a few things.
14:57
Number 1, he would now appear to contradict or dismiss the law of
15:01
Moses, which clearly commanded death for adultery #2 the
15:05
Pharisees could accuse him of being a false teacher who
15:08
undermines God's law. They love that.
15:10
And #3 they could claim he was leading people away from
15:14
obedience to scripture. So what the heck does Jesus do?
15:20
What he doesn't do is he doesn't engage in their catch 22
15:23
situation and he doesn't get caught up in their religious
15:26
rhetoric. He simply takes action.
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See, the Pharisees made a huge mistake here.
15:32
They expected Jesus to be her prosecutor, but he was actually
15:37
her defender. And if you find yourself maybe
15:43
today, maybe in your life currently, you are the person
15:47
caught in sin, I want to tell you that you can trust your
15:52
defender. You have a defender.
15:54
He's a defender you can trust. Let me show you why.
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He goes on to say that Jesus bent down and wrote with his
15:59
finger on the ground and as they continued to ask him, he stood
16:02
up and said to them, let him who is without sin among you be the
16:05
first to throw a stone at her and then once more he bent down
16:08
and he wrote on the ground. You can trust Jesus as your
16:12
defender because he gets his hands dirty.
16:16
When my car, the beautiful silver Corolla is there's
16:21
something wrong with it never happens, by the way.
16:23
But if something were to happen wrong with it and I went to a
16:26
mechanic or I asked the guy, Hey, do you know anything about
16:29
cars? Can you help me?
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He's like, sure, I could help you.
16:30
I'm great with cars and he's got beautiful, clean, dainty hands.
16:36
No, that's like me, like I don't know.
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But if I go to the guy and say, Hey, my car needs fixed, do you
16:42
know anything about cars? He's like, of course I do.
16:44
And his hands are disgusting. And he's got the kind of, you
16:47
know, like the dirt that just it doesn't you can't get it out.
16:50
It's just there forever and you're and his hands are all
16:52
rough. That's the guy I want working on
16:55
my car because I know that guy gets his hands dirty.
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He means what he says. That's why you can trust Jesus.
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He doesn't condemn her. He goes right into action and
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comes to her defense. Have you, have you ever
17:09
experienced that in your life where I mean, you messed up
17:12
really bad, you got yourself into some trouble and you went
17:15
to a person and they could probably say, hey, you're an
17:20
idiot man, and they could condemn you and they can do all
17:23
that stuff. But they didn't, and they lead
17:26
with love. Have you ever experienced that
17:27
in your life? I have.
17:30
When I was in my early 20s, I had a decently paying job and I
17:35
was single, which means I was really dumb with my money and I
17:41
had no savings. And I I had, I had a lot of
17:43
money, but not in the bank. I just had a lot of cool stuff
17:47
in my apartment and my roommate one time wrote me a bad check.
17:53
So when I, I went and, you know, cashed the check and went on
17:55
with my life and I got like these notifications that I was
17:58
severely overdrawn. And because of that, there was a
18:02
overdraft fee. And because of the overdraft
18:05
fee, there was a another fee, you know, and then because of
18:11
that, there's a three fee effect that comes in when you have
18:14
three fees. They had another fee.
18:16
And so I had all these fees, said the word fee a lot there.
18:19
But the point is I had like negative like $1000 or
18:22
something. It was crazy.
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And So what do I do? So I called my dad and it's
18:30
like, dad, I got myself some trouble, wasn't super smart with
18:32
my money. And now I'm like in the hole,
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what do I do? And he could have been like,
18:37
Nate, you're an idiot. I taught you better than that.
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But he didn't. He's like, well, we both were at
18:44
the same bank. He's like, you know what?
18:47
I know a guy. Oh, OK.
18:50
Do you ever you know a guy who like knows a guy?
18:56
I love those guys. They know guys.
18:59
Like my dad was AI know a guy guy.
19:02
Everywhere we went, we could be in a different city hours away
19:06
from we lived, and there'd be a guy at the bus station like, is
19:08
that Bill Parrish? What's up?
19:10
And we're at Disneyland one time and some random person is like
19:15
Bill Parish, what's up? And he's like, and I was like,
19:19
how do you know that guy's like, oh, he's a guy.
19:21
We I know a guy I don't know. And so he knew a guy at the bank
19:28
and he went to the bank and then he called me the next day and
19:30
said, all right, Nate took care of it.
19:32
You're good. What does that mean?
19:35
And he's like, I went and talked to my friend at the bank, told
19:38
him your situation and said, Hey, can you help my son out?
19:41
You know, he's kind of dumb and you help them out.
19:44
And they said, yeah, sure, we'll reverse all the fees and put
19:47
them back at 0. Awesome.
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This is why you can trust Jesus as your defender, because he
19:55
doesn't defend you from a distance.
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My dad went to the bank. You know, he didn't just call
20:01
them. He got in the car.
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He drove down there. He walked in, He sat across from
20:05
his friend. He put his reputation on the
20:08
line for me. And that's exactly, exactly what
20:10
Jesus does for you. He doesn't defend from heaven's
20:14
throne. He came down, he put on human
20:17
flesh and he got his hands dirty with our mess.
20:22
So in this story, he, you know, they're, they're bringing all
20:24
these accusations. You know, it's funny because he
20:26
doesn't even address their accusations.
20:28
I just imagined them talking, you know, they're just yapping
20:30
at Jesus and he doesn't even address our accusation.
20:33
He just gets to doodling, OK, and just starts, just starts
20:42
writing. Now, we don't know what he
20:45
wrote. No one knows what he wrote.
20:47
Doesn't say. Of course I got to have a theory
20:49
here. I have a theory.
20:50
OK, Nate's racer, I think, I think it was something like
20:54
this. He starts writing and then you
20:56
have the two Pharisees. You have Pharisee Carl and
20:58
Pharisee Steve or whatever. Sorry, Pastor Steve is not
21:01
personal, but so Carl's like, what are you going to do?
21:06
Jesus, You're going to stone her.
21:07
We're not going to stone her. What are you going to do with is
21:09
he writing in the what is he doing?
21:14
What's he writing there? Steve, can you see it?
21:17
It says Cynthia. What the heck is Cynthia?
21:24
And, and Steve's like starting to sweat.
21:31
Don't you know a girl named Cynthia?
21:35
I mean, she's not your wife, but she like, and then Carl's like,
21:42
you know what, turns out I'm late for like a Pharisee thing.
21:45
So you guys decide you're going to Stoner or whatever and just,
21:52
I think Jesus started writing the commandments that they had
21:55
broken in the dirt. Now we don't know.
22:01
It's actually not important what he wrote.
22:04
What's important is who wrote it?
22:08
The text says that he wrote with his finger.
22:11
Now Jesus was God in human flesh.
22:15
That makes this finger the finger of God.
22:18
Why is this significant? Well, in Exodus 31 there's a
22:22
story about Moses getting the 10 commandments right.
22:25
The 10 commandments are the stone tablets.
22:27
The the laws were written on the stone tablets with the finger of
22:33
God. So the same hands that wrote the
22:37
law on the stone tablets are now riding in the dirt, showing
22:42
mercy to lawbreakers just like us.
22:47
And Jesus did this a lot in his earthly ministry.
22:49
He, he got his hands dirty a lot.
22:52
We read about him washing the disciples feet.
22:55
That's not just like, oh, take your shoes and socks off and
22:57
I'll wash your feet. This is like gross.
23:00
They all wore, you know, flip flops or whatever.
23:03
They're walking everywhere, dirt, you know, think of all the
23:07
other gross stuff that they're walking in and Jesus washes
23:12
their feet. Should be the other way around
23:15
because the servant is the one that washes the feet.
23:18
But Jesus is a king who comes and serves us and he gets his
23:22
hands dirty. He washes their feet.
23:25
He also worked as a Carpenter. So you know the guy I was
23:27
talking about with like the rough hands that knows what he's
23:29
doing, That was also Jesus. So Jesus is not unfamiliar with
23:33
hard work in the plight of the blue collar worker.
23:37
He also healed through touch. He healed the leper with his
23:42
hands. Now, I don't know if you know
23:44
about leprosy, but it's not something that you want to put
23:46
your hands on, OK? It was actually considered
23:51
unclean and if you touched them, you were defiled.
23:56
But Jesus touched him anyways. There's also a story where
24:02
there's a blind man and he's asking for healing, so Jesus
24:05
heals him. And he could have just been
24:06
like, you're not blind and he's healed what he does and says.
24:11
He gets dirt, spits in it, makes mud and puts it on the dude's
24:17
eyes. And it's like, go wash that off
24:18
and you'll be able to see kind of weird, kind of weird.
24:23
But it's just another example of Jesus getting his hands dirty.
24:28
He doesn't defend us from a distance.
24:31
He gets in our mess. Now, whatever Jesus actually
24:35
wrote, whether it was Cynthia or whatever, one by one they they
24:39
all start. I'm sorry if there's anyone
24:41
named Cynthia in here. I, it was like the only name
24:44
that popped into my brain right now.
24:46
I didn't use a name for services.
24:48
Like I don't want to be offensive, but I'm sorry.
24:51
One by one they start leaving, starting with the oldest.
24:54
I think the oldest left first because they've just lived
24:57
longer and they've done more bad stuff.
25:00
So they end up all walking away. It says in verse 9.
25:04
But when they heard it, they went away 1 by 1 beginning with
25:07
the older ones. And Jesus was left alone with
25:09
the woman standing before him. And Jesus stood up and said to
25:12
her woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?
25:15
She said no one Lord. And Jesus said neither do I
25:19
neither do I condemn you. Go.
25:20
And from now on sin no more. Some of you currently right now
25:27
sitting in this room, you're the woman caught.
25:30
You're the man caught. Just being direct.
25:34
Stop hiding. Stop hiding.
25:40
Practically speaking, I'm talking.
25:43
You need to tell someone. You need to talk to someone.
25:46
Ask God to show you a person in your mind you need to talk to.
25:49
Maybe you already know that person.
25:50
I'm giving you permission right now to text in church.
25:52
I'm not even going to get you in trouble and text that person,
25:56
say, hey, I really messed up, can we talk?
25:59
Can you get coffee? If you want to talk to me, I'll
26:01
be at Smitten tomorrow at 7:00 AM.
26:03
OK? If you know me, you know where
26:06
to find me. OK?
26:08
Talk to someone. You don't need to hide.
26:13
You can enter that courtroom of confession because your defender
26:16
is already there. Go before the judge.
26:22
Talk to someone and go before the judge.
26:25
God pray, ask for forgiveness. You can do that because Jesus
26:30
made a way. You don't need to hide.
26:33
He already paid the price for your forgiveness.
26:39
Sin has a way of compounding interest when you leave it
26:43
unchecked, when you don't show up for your court date, as it
26:48
were, you start getting those fees right.
26:51
There's a time when me and Rachel, we were had just been
26:55
married not very long and we were super poor and we would
26:58
take these trips to the Bay Area and the carpool lane in the Bay
27:02
Area is 3 or more people here. It's two right the heck.
27:07
So I got in there to to to do it and there's like, oh, it says 3
27:11
and I got out and it would took like the cop was like waiting
27:14
and he like pulled me over. You know, you were in the car
27:17
and I know, dude, I'm not from here.
27:18
And so he gave me the ticket, but it wasn't like the real
27:21
ticket. He was they were going to mail
27:23
me the real ticket. So months went by and I sort of
27:26
forgot and I was like, I guess he just let me go.
27:29
I guess I just charmed him. So am I say he let me go?
27:33
How nice of him. Instead though, I got another
27:36
letter in the mail and I was like, this is official looking
27:41
and it said that I owed like, I want to say I don't remember.
27:45
I want to say it was like between 700 and $1000 or
27:48
something crazy like that because evidently I had missed a
27:52
court date. What?
27:56
And so I thought, legitimately thought it was a scam, like this
28:00
is a scam. It's not real because that cop
28:03
wouldn't do that to me. So I called the number and said,
28:05
hey, hey, I'm just calling about the scam.
28:07
Yeah, you guys got me. Ha ha, ha, ha.
28:11
It's not real, right? She's like, oh, it's real.
28:14
It's very real, Mr. Parrish, Like, well, what happened?
28:17
Like, well, we sent you a ticket.
28:18
We sent it to your address. I was like, that's not my
28:20
address and I live there. She's like, oh, yeah, sorry.
28:25
Any who you missed the court date.
28:26
So now you owe this much money or you're going to be in
28:30
trouble. And so I we had like, we didn't
28:33
have this much money, you know, we had like this much money.
28:37
So I had to do something really difficult.
28:39
My dad had passed away maybe a year before that and he left me
28:41
a bunch of jewellery and this didn't occur to me until last
28:46
night but so I was going to wear his ring today.
28:48
This is all I have left but I'm not a ring guy.
28:53
I'm not sure how I feel about it.
28:54
What do you guys think? Going to punch someone in the
28:58
face with it? It's stuck so it doesn't matter,
29:01
but I wanted to wear this ring. And then it occurred to me as
29:04
like my dad, even even from beyond is still saving my butt
29:11
because I took his jewelry and I and I, I had to sell his jewelry
29:14
in the pawn guy. The pawn store guy was like, why
29:16
is this dude crying? What the heck?
29:18
And so but I kept this and a few other little things.
29:23
But the point is, and I missed my court date.
29:26
But the longer you stay in sin, it just compounds interest.
29:31
So if you have a court date and let's just say today's your
29:34
court date, we're going to call it today your court date, go
29:38
before the judge. Don't let that sin.
29:41
Emulate because it has ripple. Effects It affects more than
29:44
just you. The longer you stay and sin the.
29:48
Bigger the consequence now. Some of you might be thinking.
29:52
In this story. Well, that's awesome.
29:54
This whole story is very convenient, right?
29:57
The woman caught in adultery and she she broke the law, Nate.
30:01
Yeah, she did. She she was doing it.
30:03
She was sinning. She she did break the law.
30:05
OK, But she just gets to walk away.
30:11
Where's the justice? And that's.
30:13
Honestly, a fair. Question.
30:15
That's a fair question. But here's what I learned.
30:20
Is that Jesus didn't eliminate consequences.
30:25
He eliminated condemnation. There's a difference.
30:29
Sin has real effects. Your choices, positive or
30:35
negative, are going to have effects.
30:38
But she didn't have. To face the ultimate
30:40
consequence, which was separation from God.
30:45
That's what Jesus took on himself.
30:48
And I really appreciate that. I really appreciate that The
30:50
grace Jesus gives to us is not cheap.
30:54
It's not a throwaway thing. He paid a big price for that.
30:58
He paid his life for that. And now as a Christian.
31:03
Myself, I've been a Christian for a while.
31:05
Maybe you're in here. You've been a Christian for a
31:06
while. It's, it's, it's a little easier
31:08
for us seasoned Saints to become Pharisees, you know, because the
31:13
longer you're like, well, I start to, you know, I don't sin
31:15
that much anymore. And I do this.
31:16
And, and then you see someone else who's like really messed
31:19
up, like, oh, stone them, you know, let's stone them.
31:26
Believe it or not, that's that's pretty easy to do.
31:30
But if you if you, it happens when you forget the grace you
31:33
were given. Because that grace you were
31:36
given? Gives you the opportunity to
31:40
become a defence attorney for someone else now if you're
31:43
finding. Yourself.
31:44
And in the position of the Pharisee, maybe you're not the
31:46
woman caught, but you're the Pharisee.
31:48
You have an opportunity because of this grace to become a
31:50
defence attorney for someone else.
31:53
So what? Does that look like well?
31:55
Simply put, if you look at the order of Jesus's confrontation
32:00
in this story, it's significant. Jesus leads with compassion, and
32:07
then he. Leaves.
32:08
Us with with truth he leads with compassion and leaves us with
32:12
truth in that order and that's important and that's intentional
32:18
when I. Was getting into.
32:20
Church again in in my early 20s and there was a friend of mine
32:24
who is a youth pastor and, you know, I'm like this tattooed guy
32:27
where I play guitar and it's kind of a mess and he's like,
32:29
well, how about you join the worship team and you know, we
32:32
can, we can help you, OK And join the worship.
32:35
I had no business being in this worship team, you know, And I
32:39
remember there was a night where I had this, I was in this really
32:42
unhealthy relationship and I knew it was wrong, but I just
32:46
couldn't like get out of. It or didn't want to get.
32:49
I wasn't. I wasn't brave.
32:52
Enough. To get out of it, right.
32:54
And so after practice one night, I felt like I just got to talk
32:58
to Kenny about this. His name's Kenny.
33:00
What's up, Kenny? Thanks, buddy.
33:03
So yeah, he's like, how's it going, Nate?
33:04
I'm like, it's good, except for super bad.
33:08
This is going on. And he's like, oh, and I
33:10
remember this visually because it, it stuck out to me, but
33:13
it's, it makes sense now as I'm sitting in my car and Kenny,
33:16
like, kneels down like, so we're like level.
33:20
I was like, whoa. I was like Jesus, I was like,
33:24
what happened, you know, And I just started talking to him and
33:29
he was very loving and very compassionate.
33:31
He didn't judge me. He wasn't like you did that
33:35
under my. Leadership.
33:38
Stone. Him.
33:42
Let's Stone, Nate. He didn't do that.
33:45
He's like, tell me. About it.
33:47
And as I'm talking, you know, I'm, I'm more comfortable
33:49
because I'm like this guy. I could trust him, right?
33:51
He's getting his hands dirty with me.
33:53
I can trust this guy and I spill my guts.
33:55
And then after that, you know, he just, he looks for, he waits
33:59
for the opportunity and he's like, well, sounds like you need
34:02
to end this relationship, mate. I'm like, yeah, totally.
34:05
He's like, well, how are we going to do it?
34:07
And so he's like helping me through it.
34:09
Perfect example of a person who leads with compassion and leaves
34:15
us with truth. And that's what Jesus did.
34:17
And that's what you could do instead of being a Pharisee,
34:20
That's what I could do. I tend to be more of probably
34:22
more of a Pharisee in this situation.
34:24
That's what we can do. We can become a defence attorney
34:27
for someone else. So when someone confides in you
34:30
with their sin, you ask, how can I help?
34:33
How can I get my hands dirty in this situation?
34:35
And then where can I speak truth?
34:38
Because at some point we will all be one of these two people
34:43
sometimes. We're both and.
34:44
That's really complicated, but you will find yourself in one of
34:47
these two places at some point in your life.
34:50
And here's the thing, both the adulterer and the Pharisee find
34:54
forgiveness in the same place. Because don't you know, don't
34:59
let this slip here. The Pharisee's in the wrong too.
35:03
Those guys were in the wrong just like she was.
35:06
They both find forgiveness in the same place.
35:09
Before the judge, you got to go. Before the judge now.
35:13
I've started this message off with a really cool story about
35:17
me being in a human video. Now you guys all know what human
35:20
videos are. You're welcome.
35:22
And years later, I actually got to meet Carmen.
35:26
I think you have a fabulous picture I can show you.
35:28
Boom. Now look at the joy on my.
35:32
Face, it's just I. Mean that is a.
35:36
Sincere smile. Beautiful.
35:39
So that was 20/17/2018 ish. And the radio station, my buddy
35:45
Matt Pelischek, he gave me tickets.
35:49
He's like, hey, do you and your wife you want 2 tickets to see
35:51
Carmen? I was like, yes.
35:55
And we saw Carmen. I was just.
35:57
Like sitting there like yeah, do do the one about the courtroom
36:01
or whatever. And afterwards we got to meet
36:03
Carmen. And it's funny because you know
36:07
Danny that plays bass up here. You know Danny, he all know.
36:10
Give it up for Danny. So I didn't know Danny at the.
36:15
Time but he was doing security right and he was the one that
36:19
was like guarding Carmen and so when I got into the front of the
36:23
line he goes hey Carmen, that guy plays in Cutlass and I'm not
36:26
joking. Carmen goes what?
36:28
I love Cutlass. And so.
36:37
We we talked for like right, a long time, actually got in
36:40
trouble because they're like, what are you guys doing?
36:43
We were just like talking about music and like comparing tattoos
36:46
and he he had just gotten tattoos, you know, so he's like,
36:48
I don't show people, but check it out, you know, and it was so
36:52
dude, it was so cool. And so just kind of casually, I
36:56
bring up like, man, thank you for doing what you did.
37:00
Like he, you know, he was doing his thing in the in the 80s and
37:03
he was filling stadiums and doing all that.
37:05
And I was like, thank you for doing that.
37:06
Because, you know, without guys like you, you know, Cutlass
37:09
wouldn't, we wouldn't be where we're at.
37:11
And he like starts crying. I know he starts crying.
37:15
I was like. And.
37:19
It was the most beautiful thing. And he's like, no one's ever
37:21
said that to me. I was like, well, people are
37:23
stupid, Carmen. And we should stone them.
37:31
I was like, well, let me. Be the first.
37:33
As a dude that plays in Cutlass, thank you for paving the way,
37:38
dude. And it was like this beautiful
37:39
thing. And then the someone came over
37:42
and they're like, what are you guys doing?
37:43
The line is like 1000 years long and you're talking and, and
37:46
Carmen's like chill. This is my friend Nate.
37:48
And it was great. And he and sadly he passed away
37:52
a few years after that. And so I was super stoked.
37:58
Yeah. Just going to look at this for a
38:01
while. It was really cool.
38:05
And when I was putting this message together, that courtroom
38:09
song that he did popped into my head.
38:11
I don't know why. I mean, it makes sense now, but
38:14
that's what popped into my head as I was preparing the sermon.
38:16
So I went back. I was like, I should probably
38:18
listen to the song. And I haven't listened to it in
38:20
like 20 years. And it is a, it's a pretty
38:23
cheesy song, I'm not going to lie, you know, but I, I read the
38:29
lyrics to this song and wow, they're like, it's like a very
38:33
powerful presentation of the gospel in like a creative way,
38:38
you know, this courtroom scenario.
38:39
So I'm going to actually read you some of these lyrics.
38:42
I'm not going to like sing it or do it like Carmen.
38:44
I mean, I'll do it a little bit, but not really.
38:47
But basically this summarize the first part of the song is you're
38:49
in the courtroom of heaven, OK? And you walk in and God the
38:53
judges before you, and Satan gets up, jumps up on a table,
38:58
doesn't fall, and he does his whole thing.
39:01
He lays out his whole case. He talks about all the sins
39:03
you've done, all the things you've done.
39:05
And God's like, Yep, Yep, Yep, OK, Yep.
39:07
And this is where the song picks up.
39:10
It says now if it's true. You are standing there in the
39:13
courtroom of eternity with God to your front and Satan Nate,
39:17
the prosecutor to your left. There's one remaining remaining
39:21
eternal truth, one that's crucial to remember, one you
39:25
should never, ever, ever forget. Then on the other side of the
39:29
courtroom, Dun, Dun, I said, on the other side of the courtroom,
39:36
Dun Dun, you ain't hearing me tonight.
39:38
I said on the other side of the courtroom, yes, is the one and
39:43
only Son of God revealed in time and space, and he's your defense
39:47
attorney who has never lost a case.
39:52
It's not Buddha, Muhammad or Krishna.
39:54
Or any others who succumbed to death.
39:55
Ladies and gentlemen, on the other side of the courtroom is
39:58
Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Then Jesus jumps up and says
40:04
Now. Wait a minute, Judge, I got
40:05
something to say. May I remind you that on a cross
40:08
2000 years ago, I washed his sins away.
40:11
I was crucified. I died.
40:12
They put me in a tomb. About the midnight hour, the
40:14
power of God hit me and I walked out of that grave alive and well
40:18
with resurrection power. Then the devil says it's in the
40:21
book, it's written in the book, check the book.
40:24
God said, OK, He takes the book out, lays it open.
40:28
He says, now we'll see what this book has to say.
40:31
Turns to the first page, the second, the third.
40:36
By the 4th, the devil seems shook.
40:39
God closes it and says the blood of Jesus must have worked
40:42
because there's nothing in this book.
40:49
And the devil says, wait a minute.
40:50
Check that book again. All his sins are written.
40:52
They're all right there. God says, devil, Maybe you're
40:55
mistaken altogether. Maybe it's this other book down
40:57
here and the devil cries. No, not that book, not that one.
41:01
I actually remember doing that. So God said, devil, why are you
41:06
so uptight? God sets the book down.
41:08
The dust flies the cover. It says the Lamb's book of life
41:12
that goes on and says your name in that book.
41:14
If you've been forgiven and your name is written, then raise your
41:17
hands, praise the Lord and the song ends with this court is
41:21
adjourned. It's pretty cool, man.
41:24
I expect to get like emotional reading that, but it's pretty
41:26
cool. Good old Carmen.
41:32
But maybe you're here today and you know, you actually don't
41:35
know where you're standing is in the courtroom of heaven before
41:39
God. I want to.
41:41
Tell you that no matter what, you've.
41:42
Done. No matter what you're doing, you
41:45
can be forgiven because you have a defender.
41:49
Your defender is Jesus, and although he lived a sinless
41:52
life, he took your sins away, was crucified on the cross,
41:57
paying the debt we owed for God, paying the debt we owed to God
42:00
for breaking his laws. He rose again.
42:03
Three days. Later, for all justification,
42:06
you have a defender he gets his hands dirty in.
42:10
Fact. He gets his hands bloody.
42:14
For us, if you're here today and you don't know Jesus as your
42:19
Lord and Savior, you need forgiveness of your sins and you
42:23
want to follow Jesus today I'm going to lead us in a prayer.
42:26
So if you do me a favour, would everyone bow your heads, close
42:28
your eyes? I'm.
42:32
Going to say this prayer. And you can repeat after me out
42:35
loud if you want. You can repeat quietly to
42:37
yourself. But if this is you, I want you
42:39
to repeat this prayer after me, Jesus.
42:42
I know I am a Sinner who? Cannot save myself.
42:45
I want you to save me and adopt me into your family.
42:48
Forgive me of my sins. I surrender everything to you.
42:53
I receive your promise of forgiveness, adoption, and
42:57
eternal life. Jesus will you today.
43:01
Be my Lord. If you said that prayer.
43:05
With no one else looking around just for me, would you do me a
43:08
favor and raise your hands just so I could see it?
43:11
Thank you. Amen.
43:16
OK, guys can look up if you. Just committed your life to
43:20
Jesus. For the very first time, welcome
43:22
to the family of God. Just a moment, we're going to
43:29
continue on. We're.
43:29
Actually going to take communion, we're going to sing
43:31
another song together, and we're going to have prayer up front.
43:34
As always, there will be people up here that want to pray with
43:36
you. So if you need prayer, please,
43:37
please, please come up. And if you did raise your hand
43:40
or said that prayer, please go to the back.
43:43
We have these tables that say I raised my hand.
43:45
We want to meet you, pray with you, give you a gift, whatever,
43:48
whatever you need. We want to be there for you and
43:51
help you on your next steps in your journey.
43:54
But hey man, I want to say man, happy Father's Day to all the
43:57
dads out there. And if your dad is here, send
44:01
him a text, call him, give him a hug and give him a steak because
44:05
we like. That.
44:07
Hey man, love you guys.