CHS Downtown sermon | Tim Henderson+

Hey, guys. So chords. There's a lot of people to get off that stage. How are you guys doing?

Let's see. Where should I be that you can actually see me? Maybe here ish.

Hey. Welcome to Church of the Holy Spirit downtown, also known as The Table. We're so excited to be with you. Thanks for coming to sing some songs and enjoy some music, to share a meal and a conversation, to worship Jesus, to listen to his word.

My name is Tim Henderson, and we get together every Sunday night to do exactly this—to worship together, to do church, not just in rows shoulder to shoulder, but in tables face to face where we can enjoy a meal.

We're gonna do a couple of things a little bit different tonight and then maybe even over the weeks as we experiment. And one thing that we're gonna begin here as we jump into it is we're gonna stand up for just a second as you read God's word together. Because one of the long traditions in the Anglican church is that we love God's word. We love to get around it, not just to read it, not just to study it, but that we'd adapt our lives to it. So one of the things we want to begin to do is have a scripture reading before we come each week.

But I just saw Kat, which reminded me—Kat runs point on this—if you're new here, if you've never been before, we'd love to have a chance to get to know you. We have these little cards we'd love you to fill out. Just give us your name and information, and we can tell you more about Church of the Holy Spirit downtown. And then when you turn it in, Kat here in the back will give you a wine glass that you can keep for the rest of your life. And every time you have a sip of wine, you'll think of us.

If you're new, you can grab one of those cards and fill it out. We'd love to be able to do that with you and to tell you more about what we're doing and get to know you a little bit ourselves.

Scripture Reading

Could I invite you to stand with me for just a moment? I'm gonna read to you a passage from the gospels. This is Matthew chapter six.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." — Matthew 6:19-21

You're welcome to have a seat.

Last Week's Series

Does anybody remember what series we started last week? Were you here last week? What are we doing right now for the next couple of weeks together?

Jonathan Edwards—is this what you said? Okay. And what did Jonathan Edwards talk about in particular?

Joy. Very good. Yes. What's his thesis? Do you guys remember those of you who were here last week?

Christians should be the happiest people in the world. And he offers basically three reasons. You're gonna watch me break my neck up here, I think. Three reasons that Christians should be the happiest people on earth. Anybody remember this? It's a quick little memorizable thing.

Our bad things turn out for good. Very good. Our good things can never be taken away. And the best is yet to come. Our bad things turn out for good, our good things can never be taken away, and the best is yet to come.

I just would suggest to you that that's worth remembering. That is worth locking into your heart and to ponder and to consider and to prove from scripture.

Last week, we spent some time trying to prove the first point from scripture. We talked about a couple of different passages. You guys remember? Where would you go to prove the case that our bad things turn out for good biblically? We want to be a church that builds your life on God's word, not on Jonathan Edwards. He just happened to get a lot of stuff right. So is it true? Our bad things turn out for good? Could you prove it from the Bible?

Joseph's story. Very good. What else? Romans 8:28. We love Romans 8:28. Anything else? What's that?

Esther is another one. There's lots of these pictures and stories of people whose life nearly comes to an end, and through that thing, actually, the great thing comes. They're trying to lay out a pattern.

We see this thing in Joseph's life, see it in Esther's life, you see it in lots of people's lives. Joseph goes down into death and is thought dead before he ascends as king. Jesus actually did die before he became king. Esther said, "If I perish, I perish." But she didn't perish. Jesus says, "When I perish, I perish." And he's going to come in, and he himself is going to go to the lowest place, suffer the greatest evil, and thereby accomplish the greatest good. It really is true that our bad things turn out for good. But that's old news. That's last week.

Here's what we're going to talk about tonight. I want to explore this idea with you—the second claim that Edwards makes: that our good things can never be taken away.

You guys, I think that we need this whole system. We need to know that our bad things turn out for good. We need to know that we have good things that can never be taken away. Because in a world like this, there is so much cause for sorrow. So much. And I need a source of durable joy. I think it's really crucial that we know what this is.

It's true that our afflictions achieve glory. It's true that all things work together for the good of those who love God or are called to know his purposes. And it is also true that our good things can never be taken away.

Now, when we talk about that, you might think that one might be the one of all three of these claims that is the most quickly dismissive to you. Because undoubtedly, you have had good things that were taken away. Is that a safe guess? Probably all of us have had things—good things—that were taken away. And you might think, well, how is that the case?

When Edwards talks about this, he's not saying that nothing good is ever taken away. And he's not saying that that particular thing that you might have chosen to be the primary source of your happiness will always be permanent. It doesn't mean, for instance, that my Miata will be permanent. Right? I wish that it did because I love that car. My car—my Miata—might have a little beautiful blue fast convertible that is without... I don't even know what a second place is. It is my favorite thing that I have ever owned in my life. And that car genuinely brings me legitimate ongoing happiness every single day.

And I think that if Jonathan Edwards knew about small fast convertibles, he may have had four points in his sermon. But that's not what he's talking about. That car is going to be crushed and melted someday. I might drive it off a cliff. Who knows what's going to happen? He's not talking about that. He's talking about something else.

He's talking about the reality that you're going to get one. Have you talked your wife into it yet? This man's wife is pregnant, and he's committed to getting a Miata. Is it already off the table? I'm sorry. You can borrow mine sometime though, so it'll be okay.

True Goods Are Unlosable

Here's what Edwards means. What he actually means is that our truly good things, the best things, the most delicious things that we could have are of such a nature that they're unlosable. They are, as Jesus talked about, things that moth and rust destroy, that thieves break in and steal. My car is altogether impermanent. But there are other things that cannot be lost. There are things that once obtained can't rust, that can't be stolen, they're not transitory in any way.

And after he makes his claim, he goes into this list. I don't know if you guys have ever read Jonathan Edwards. Have you read any of his books? I don't recommend it, honestly. The books are tough. Have you read his sermons? Edwards has this approach in the way that he writes his sermons. His sermons—by the way—they're about this heady. They're up here. But his books are like ludicrous. His sermons are like for the dumbest ones among us. They're the only thing that I can read. His other stuff is just too much.

But what he loves to do—he wants to appeal to your heart through the vehicle of your mind. And so he will very often pick something that you're like, "Yeah, yeah, I know about that." And then he'll talk about it from this angle, and from this angle, and from this angle, and from this angle. He'll just kind of dogpile you with it until there's something overwhelming, something beautiful, something glorious that maybe you've never really thought about—you just take it for granted. He's like, "What about this? Have you seen it from this angle, from this angle, from this angle? What about this?" Until you're like, "Oh my gosh, he's amazing." That's what he loves to do.

So I'm going to read you something, and this absolutely violates every rule of teaching. You can't read things very long. People just can't stand it. I'm going to do it anyway because it's so good. So just stay with me. You don't need to write it down. You don't need to memorize everything that he says.

Just let it wash over you. There might be one or two clauses in this list of things that you're like, "Ah, I've never heard it quite like that." Here's what he says, all under the heading, "These are the good things that can never be taken away."

Listen to this. He says, "How great a happiness must needs it be to a man to have all his sins pardoned and to stand guilty of nothing in God's presence, to be washed clean from all his pollutions."

Have you ever—and by ever, I mean, like, today, this weekend—have you been mindful of some shortcoming that just drives you out of your mind, and you're just so embarrassed to apologize again, so ashamed that one more time I cannot believe we're still here? What happiness it must be to have all your sins pardoned, to be washed clean from all things.

To have the great and eternal and almighty God, Jehovah, who rules and governs the whole universe and does whatsoever he pleases in the armies of heaven and amongst the inhabitants of the earth, reconciled to him and perfectly at peace with him. How great a pleasure and satisfaction must it be to think of it, and not only that God is reconciled to her or has nothing against her inasmuch as all is pardoned, but also that this same almighty being who created her, who keeps her in being, and disposes of her and all other things every moment, loves her, and that with a great and transcendent love, and that he has adopted her and taken her to be his child, and given himself to her to be her father and her portion, and that he takes very great care of her as one that is very dear to him and continually guides and directs her and will lead her to the fountain of living waters. These things are all true.

He continues, "How joyful and how gladsome must be the thoughts of Jesus Christ to him, to think of how great a love Christ has loved him, even to lay down his life and to suffer the most bitter torments for his sake, who now also continually intercedes for him at the throne of grace. Now, to consider that so great a person as the eternal Son of God, who also made the worlds, is his Lord and Master and yet is not ashamed to call him brother, that he will come in and dine with him, and he with him, and to see his arms expanded to embrace him and offering himself to be embraced by him."

And beside, what satisfaction and pleasure must it give to his mind to think that he is now sanctified and made holy, adorned and beautiful with those lovely graces that make him lovely in the sight of God and excellent in the sight of saints and angels.

He's going to continue. I want to point something out here. When he says this idea that he sees his arms expanded to embrace him, and he offers himself to be embraced by him—I have a 19-year-old son who leaves for the University of Hawaii tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning. He gets on a plane and off he goes. And he just started dating this super cute little girl, this blonde girl, and he took her out. They had their first date last night, but sometimes first dates are build up. And the other night, she came over, and he's got a motorcycle. Max is an exceptionally cool kid. And he takes her out on the back of his motorcycle, and he gets to a stoplight. And he flips up his visor, and he turns around, and he says, "Would you like to go on a date with me on Saturday?" And he just asked her out. He's not one of these guys that just texts and hangs up. He's like, "Will you go on a date with me?" And she, of course, said yes because she's been crushed on Max for like two years, and he wouldn't give her the time of day because that's just kind of the kind of kid that he is.

But when he came back that night and we were alone, I'm like, "So what was it like having Ashley on the back of your bike with her arms wrapped around you?" And you know what that was like? "It was really fun." Right? He's like, "It was... I'm not gonna lie. That was really nice." And, of course, it is. Right? Okay? Now, that's obvious and accessible to you, is it not? How fun is it to be a 19-year-old boy with a cute 18-year-old blonde on the back of your bike with her arms around you?

When he says, "You know what? You will be embraced by one who offers his very self to you." That's actually even better than having Ashley on the back of your bike. Right? It actually is. But one of them is a little more immediate to us. But we long to be loved. We long to love and to be loved. And what we have in Christ is an infinite relationship of mutual, self-giving love. Okay?

Edwards continues. He shifts perspective and ceases speaking about Jesus and begins to speak about us. This is a little bit surprising. He says, "Again, what happened is it must be to reflect on himself and to consider that he acts rationally, and he does that which the best of beings has commanded."

That he, in some measure, acts worthy of the nature of a man, and that in some measure, he answers the end of his coming into the world in glorifying God and doing good to his fellow creatures, and that he has not lived altogether in vain. Part of our pleasure in Christ is that he transforms us so that we will become the sorts of persons that we were always meant to be. I don't need to remain what I always was, but I can actually grow into something and have the pleasure of being exactly what he wants me to be.

Now, I would suggest to you, this is a pretty good list, and I'm truncating it significantly. He goes on and on and on, as he always does. Lots and lots of things to say. But there's a long list of things that you will never lose. Once obtained, they're permanent. They're yours in Christ. I think that is a good list of things that can never be taken away.

But I wonder, today, have you been mindful of them? Are they before you? Do they shape your day? Do they impact your actual genuine emotional life? Jesus Christ will be delighting in you. He will be adoring you. He will be seeking your good. He will actually be approving of you for all eternity. He will endlessly make himself available to you so that you can delight in him. You are invited to the front row, you have a backstage pass. You will get to see his supremacy not from a distance like unwanted paparazzi, but up close, like an intimate friend. You are like a child to a father or like a wife to a husband invited to draw near, and that forever.

The Reality of Suffering in Our World

And tonight, what I'm hoping you might do around the tables with these friends, some new and some old, is do the work to enliven your imagination. What are those things? Because this is a world filled with pain. I woke up this morning and I read the news, as I do almost every day, and two stories gripped me. And in fact, I don't know if you looked at the news this afternoon, but when you go home tonight, look at any news webpage, any of them. The New York Times—you're going to find a very rare thing right now, which is a full column headline. Have you seen it? Usually, there's a story, a two column story, a three column story, a one column story. There's one headline across every newspaper in the world right now. What does it say? Afghanistan has fallen.

And I showed my kids, said, kids, look at this. You don't see this very often. It is not common to see a full banner, the whole top half of the newspaper, one story. This is what is happening in the world because there is unimaginable suffering happening in the world right now. It is a big, big, big deal, and it's been building for the last couple days with the expectation it's going to happen over the next several months, and it happened like today. That twenty years of labor in one nation has been undone in a matter of a week. And enormous misery has come and more misery is coming.

There's another story in the world today. What's the second most miserable thing happening in the world right now? Do you know? Haiti. Dear me. Earthquake. When was the last earthquake? 2010, so eleven years ago. There's been hurricanes. We've got a president assassinated. There's another thousand people buried beneath rubble right now in Haiti. We live in a world that is marked with real and abiding pain.

We need something to anchor our hearts. Is there such a thing as a durable source of joy? Is it really true that our bad things will turn out for good? Is it really true? Do we have something that can never be taken away?

And so what I hope that you might do tonight at your table is just kind of run an audit. What are those things? Does God say? Hope you brought a Bible. We'd love you to just take some time, look into the Bible and see what are those things.

Some of you might know Jim Elliot, who's a famous missionary. He died seeking to reach the Auca Indians in South America. He's very famous for a particular quote he said. You may have heard it before: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he can never lose."

And I wonder, have you ever made a list in your mind? What are the things that you have obtained in Christ that you could never lose? I would just submit to you that it'll be helpful for you to have that list because something difficult is going to happen. And it may be in Afghanistan, or Afghanistan may be kind of like a little bit, so what about that? I don't live in Afghanistan. But every one of us knows that there are difficult things in our lives.

And when they come, and when we are frustrated, or when we are frightened, when we are just sad, is there something that can overcome those things and give real joy in the midst of real pain? Normally, we do share a meal in a few minutes.

When we do, and by the way, you guys are welcome to have that cheese and pepperoni if you don't want to wait. Just go after it. That's a gift from Bianca and Zach. So feel free to eat while I'm talking—the bread is coming.

But when you guys are around your tables, what I want you to do tonight is a little bit different from what we've done. Usually I'll give you a list of five or six questions to process. I got a little bit of feedback: too many questions, not enough time. So you have one question, and there's not even going to be many pieces of paper.

But I would love you guys to think: What are those things? Is there something for you that is particularly sweet? Maybe it's something that Edward shared, or maybe it's something you just noticed this week in a quiet time, or maybe it's going to be something somebody else at your table has pointed out—that for you, this is an anchoring reality that brings real joy in the midst of real pain, real suffering. Allow your mind to wander and share with folks around the table: What are those things? What are those anchor points of joy?

And as we do with that meal, as we do every week, that meal is going to celebrate and commemorate the death of Jesus. We do something—a ritual, a celebration, a ceremony—that we practice. We've been doing it for two thousand years, and we're gonna keep doing it until Jesus comes again. Because this puts us—we live between the death, the purchase for us, all happiness, and the return at which all of the happiness comes due.

And as we celebrate that meal with that extraordinary stretch from his death to his coming, with his resurrection in the middle that anticipates ours, we need to be a people that are linked into these sources of joy because life is genuinely hard.