Embodiment and Technology // April 7, 2024

Read: 2 John

Despite what we may have thought or been taught, the Bible does not put our bodies in the background of our worship. This series reminds us that the body is wonderfully made by God and highly valued by Him. Jesus’ ultimate goal is to restore and resurrect us, body and soul, to an everlasting embodied life. To live as “whole” people, we need a clear and practical theology of the body. One tension we might encounter is how technology fits into this vision. 2 John provides a helpful reminder, warning, and application for how we might guard the importance of embodiment and the command to love one another.

1. A Reminder

If you read John’s writing for any length of time, you will come away with the importance of love. In 2 John, he begins his letter by expressing joy to hear that his children were walking in the truth and challenging them to “walk in love” as they have heard “from the beginning” (v6). Love is the most important command in the Bible because love is what we are designed for. We are called into the love of God as his children by grace, but also to walk in love toward one another as the guiding principle of our being. When we come to technology, we must evaluate it and our relationship to it in light of this command of love. (See the 2nd Table of the Law and Tech graphics below).

The love we are called into is not an abstract concept or theory but an experiential movement of our whole person. Andy Crouch reminds us, “Every person is a heart-soul-mind-strength complex designed for love.” We are not a mind without a heart or a soul without a body. In how we engage technology, we must also consider how it influences our embodiment and the embodiment of others we are called to love. 

2. A Warning

John pairs a beautiful reminder with a stark warning that applies to us today. In v7-8, he warns about the antichrist who doesn’t recognize that Jesus has come “in the flesh” and commands them: “Watch yourselves so that you don’t lose what we have worked for.” The embodiment of Jesus is so crucial that to deny it is to be an antichrist. After all, God’s love was revealed to us, not by anything other than sending His Son in the flesh to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. God’s primary medium for demonstrating His love is embodied.

This has everything to do with technology. In John’s day, some were distorting the message of Christianity as something that transcends or escapes our humanity. But Jesus came to restore our humanity and make us whole in soul, mind, and body. Anything that denies the necessity of Jesus’ embodiment or, by extension, our embodiment will be an obstacle to walking in the way of love. The way we use technology should never take away from this “love language” of God for us and others. 

3. An Application

Here is the difficult balance: technology is not all bad, but neither is it all good. In fact, John uses technology to write this letter – paper and ink. In v12, he reveals that he wants to use this technology to say more, but he also desires to see them “face to face.” He longs to visit them in person and likely in their homes. In John’s time and place, the home was a place of hospitality, connection, and mutual sharing. To enter someone’s home meant opening your lives, ideas, and commitments to one another. The main application in this section (v10-11) concerns bringing the correct teaching of Jesus of embodied love into the home. The problem with letting these false teachers and their teaching into your home was that it would distort your source of community, support, and sense of belonging.

Isn’t it interesting that technology today, especially social media, uses many discipleship themes? Are you a follower, subscriber, or even a “friend”? We are being discipled by our screens, which may tragically distort our discipleship in Christ without careful discernment. Three ways to push back against this impulse may be participating in seasons of fasting from technology, establishing spaces of freedom or technology-free zones, and exercising small acts of resistance to the “everywhere” nature of the internet. Yes, technology can be used for great good, but don’t let it impede upon God's embodied love for you in Christ, or the Spirit-filled nature of community in which we walk in love “face-to-face.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. How do you engage with digital technology? Are you more of an early adopter or a late majority user? Are you more pessimistic or optimistic about its use in culture? Has your position changed over time? 

3. Consider the “Second Table of the Law”(Commandments 5-10), which directs us how to love our neighbors. How might digital technology help you live out these commandments and deepen your love for God and others? Is there one that resonates more with you than the others? How might digital technology hinder you from loving others?

4. What does 2 John tell us about the teaching ascribed to the antichrist? What does this tell you about the importance of the body, both for Jesus and us? How have you given into this teaching before, even in subtle ways? 

5. Henry David Thorough once wrote: “ Men have become tools of their tools.” How have we become tools of technology? Think of broader examples from culture and more narrow examples from your own life and family. What are some good ways you have seen technology used as a means to a greater end?

6. How do you protect yourself and your home from the false promises of technology? Do you resonate with any of the three applications of fasting, setting up spaces of freedom, or exercising small acts of resistance?

7. What are some ways you can seek to know Jesus and love others from the standpoint of “face-to-face”? What rhythms or practices come to mind? Which do you find the most difficult?

Journey From the Empty Tomb // March 31, 2024

Read: Matthew 28:1-20

This Lent, we have followed Jesus on his journey to the Cross, culminating with His death and resurrection. We live in a time when many of us search for purpose, the “reason for which we were made,” though we are often very distracted. One place we might be reminded of this is in visiting a tomb. There, we question our “dash,” or what happens between our birth and death here on earth. What makes for a great dash, one filled with purpose? This passage reminds us that the resurrection of Jesus points to two things Christianity says we have to have to find our purpose, two things we often resist: truth and authority. We see both in the journey to and from the empty tomb.

1. Truth - Journey To the Tomb

Matthew wrote this chapter so that we could go along with the women to the tomb, see that it is empty, and come to the conclusion that it is true. He is risen indeed! Jesus was not merely resuscitated or clinically dead, only to wake up. He was fully dead and then raised fully alive. He was scarred but fully healed, the same Jesus but altogether different: glorious, victorious, and transformed. Regardless of all that makes our lives busy, we must revisit the reason for the empty tomb. This truth is essential for all of us, whether we are newer to Christianity or have followed Jesus for a long time. 

Eyewitness testimony is the best evidence of an extraordinary event, and we have it. Shockingly, the first eyewitnesses were women, which bolsters its validity according to the historical criterion of embarrassment. According to this criterion, a falsely crafted testimony would likely include embellishment rather than embarrassing features, as is often the case with true accounts. The empty tomb is powerful, but so is the primary testimony belonging to women. Jesus loves to honor and lift up those who are marginalized.

It’s surprising and comforting to see in v. 17, “When they saw him they worshiped, but some doubted.” Faith and doubt go together, but only one wins when confronted with truth. Seeing is not quite believing anymore, so we are often skeptical for good reason. We must wonder how we can receive anything as really true in an age of post-truth, AI, and deepfakes. But we are not meant to live in skepticism and doubt forever. Doubt may be understandable, but it can also be cowardly when we possess it as a false sense of security. We need truth to live a life of purpose and make our “dash” count. We must journey to the tomb.

2. Authority - Journey From the Empty Tomb

The fact that Jesus is risen, even if we assent to it wholeheartedly, is not enough. Bare facts don’t make someone a Christian or give people purpose. The tomb was empty, and Jesus rose from the dead, but what does it mean? Jesus tells us in v. 18: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” Jesus lived a perfect human life from womb to tomb. He charged into the darkness of death and faced the worst of evil. He has taken on the curse and consequences of all sin… And He won. Jesus is the authority on living in the “dash,” and he wants all who trust in him to possess a resurrection like His own. A life built on the solid truth of the empty tomb and lived under the loving authority of the One who rose from the tomb is a life of great purpose.

In v. 9 and 17, we read that the women fell down to worship him in response to this truth. The response that changed their lives and the disciples' shortly after was not agreement or assent but worship. Worship is a proper response to Jesus' supreme authority. If we struggle with truth, we probably also struggle with authority. We may have countless reasons to distrust all kinds of authority today, but the reality is that we can’t live without it. Jesus’ authority is different. He doesn’t condemn, berate, or seek control at the expense of others. Instead, his authority says, “Go and tell my brothers” (v. 10). Jesus uses his authority to lift up the very ones who deserted him and left him for dead. 

If Jesus is the risen Lord, his truth and authority give our “dash” a great and overarching purpose. That purpose is that we are disciples who make disciples (v. 19-20). The main verb here is to make disciples. The subsequent commands to go, baptize, and teach are all important, but they flow from the primacy of “make disciples.” Our ultimate purpose is to commit to the journey of being transformed into the image of Jesus in lifelong discipleship. We call, model, and help others to do the same. For our church, Trinity, our purpose is not merely to run programs, hire everyone to fill needs, or to make more followers of us. It is to be disciples of Jesus Christ who make disciples of Jesus Christ. Whatever the date is on the right side of your “dash,” it is not the end but the beginning of a great and particular purpose. What will you do with yours?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. When was the last time you questioned your life's purpose? What prompted it, and how did you get through it? How does the joy of Easter locate your purpose, even when you struggle to feel it?

3. What are some things in our culture that you are skeptical about? Is your doubt reasonable? How can doubt be positive? How can it be harmful? Describe an example of both.

4. Have you ever wrestled with doubts about the resurrection narrative? Why or Why not? What evidence resonates the most with you? How can the truth of the resurrection influence other questions or doubts you might have about Christianity?

5. How does authority give people purpose? Why do so many people distrust authority beyond their own? How is Jesus’ authority different from other kinds?

6. Can you honestly say that you approach Jesus' authority with a sense of worship? Why or why not? What might cause you to agree or assent to his authority without desiring to worship Him?

7. What would it look like for you to be a “disciple who makes disciples?” How does this impact your time, family, work, community service, and church attendance? How can you pray for more opportunities to carry out this great commission in loving expectation?

Following the Way of Jesus and Not the Values of the World // March 24, 2024

Phil 2:5-11, 3:4-9

REFLECTION QUOTES

In the ancient Roman world, honor was the stuff of dreams. It ran cities, ruined fortunes, and instigated wars. It was the common currency in which the culture traded, from the heights of the Roman emperor to the depths of the household slave. 

– Dr. Isaac Blois - Mutual Boasting in Philippians

“The Person I Want to Become: 

• A man who is dedicated to helping improve the lives of other people

• A kind, honest, forgiving, and selfless husband, father, and friend

• A man who doesn’t just believe in God, but who believes God.”

– Clayton Christensen - How Will You Measure Your Life?

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 

– 1 Tim 6:17–19

For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 

– Luke 22:27

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Why is Palm Sunday an appropriate example of the idea that the way of Jesus runs counter to the values and priorities of the world? How was the road to Calvary different from many of the expectations for the kind of kingdom Jesus would bring? 

3. Read Philippians 2:5-8. Why do you think serving one another is so important to the character and well-being of a church family? How does this challenge you to be a better steward of your time, money, and actions toward the mission of the church? Toward your fellow members in the church?

4. Read 1 Timothy 6:17-19. What does this verse teach about wealth? How can we practically apply this in our lives both inside and outside of church? What would it change about your life?

5. As you reflect upon your professional life and calling, how could you better pursue stewardship and excellence in your work for the glory of God?

6. Following the way of Jesus recalibrates our priorities and values from those of the world. What are some ways that you often get caught up in the race for honor, achievement, and advancement over others? How does the way of Jesus confront you to become more like a servant? How would this change some of the priorities and values in your life right now?

7. Our message presents us with a principle of two mindsets to hold in balance: 

   • Church Family - We consciously refuse to adopt the way of the world or compete as it does. Instead, we choose to serve one another with humility in the servant way of Jesus.

   • Outside the Church Family - We are encouraged to work hard, with all our hearts, to the glory of God. We are unafraid to hold ourselves to high standards of excellence and competition with Christian character.

8. How do these two mindsets encourage you as Christians to engage in the world as students, athletes, parents, or professionals? How do you find them challenging or in tension with one another? 

Jesus on Trial // March 17, 2024

Read: Matthew 26:56-68; 27:1-2, 11-31

On his way to the cross, Jesus was put on trial. His trial was no small matter but would alter the course of the world. Though in a different time and setting, it has many familiar elements: charges, witnesses, a defense, and even a verdict. If you thought any recent trials were shocking, consider the depth of irony presented in Jesus’s trial. Everything that happens to Jesus is the opposite of what ought to be the case in a fair trial. From this vantage point, we are left astonished that Jesus bore the reverse of what he deserved so that we might receive the reverse of what we deserve.

1. The Charges: Jesus’s Trial is Our Trial

It might look like Jesus’s trial on the outside, but the first great irony in this passage is that it is ours. In fact, this is the whole world’s trial, and we are not the judge. Jesus reverses the trial by claiming his status as the rightful judge “from now on” (26:64), which is like saying, “You think this is my trial, but it's yours.” He quotes Psalm 110 and Daniel 7 to reveal his ultimate authority over this situation and what will follow. The very charges brought against Jesus are the crimes they are guilty of, which also apply to us. All sin is blasphemy - dishonoring the reputation of God, and it is treason - trying to take the throne from the true king. Pilate tries to exempt himself by declaring innocence, but his effort (like ours) to minimize the weight of our sins is pitiful. We need to be confronted by the seriousness of our sins, or “crimes,” because we need to see that we cannot make up for them on our own.

2. The Defense: Jesus’s Silence is His Answer

It is shocking how many rules were broken in the trial to convict and sentence Jesus. False evidence abounded, the setting was shifty, and it was notoriously rushed. It is an understatement to call it unfair because it was a sham, a complete mockery of justice. Yet, this trial was not just about what the Jewish leaders and Pilate did with Jesus but what we all do with Jesus. We think we are in the position of judge over God, leaving him to prove himself to us in trials of our own making so that we can decide whether to trust him. Jesus does not answer them in this way, nor does he answer us. We say, “God, show us who you are. Explain yourself, and prove it!” In Jesus Christ, God responds, “Ok, I will.” The problem is not the lack of evidence; after all, Jesus healed many people, fed them, drove away evil, pursued the outcasts, and taught a message of love and forgiveness. The real problem is the hearts of the accusers. His words aren’t the answer because He is the answer. 

3. The Verdict: Jesus’s Verdict is Our Verdict

Pilate tries to find a way to release Jesus by offering the crowd a choice between Jesus and another, Barabbas, a convicted insurrectionist and revolutionary. Ironically, Barabbas in Hebrew means “son of the father.” The final verdict was two-fold. Jesus, the innocent Son of the Father, is condemned, while Barabbas, the guilty “son of the father,” goes free in place of Jesus (27:26). This is how we know that we understand the Gospel: when we can look at Barabbas and say, “that’s me!” Not only was the verdict reversed for Jesus and Barabbas, but Jesus also took the verdict we deserved, and we now receive the verdict he deserved. 

When we understand the practical value for us today is immense. Every day, we live under a verdict. We work for those things that make us feel worthy, acceptable, and approved. We might feel good for a while, but it won’t last. We come to the end of ourselves and fail often. But in Christ, we receive a new verdict: “You are my beloved child with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus took the verdict of condemnation we deserved so that we could be free. Free for what? As Calvin comments, “The Son of God stood, as a criminal, before mortal man, and there permitted himself to be accused and condemned, that we may stand boldly before God.” We have peace with God forever, and nothing will ever reverse that verdict.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Which details about Jesus’s trial resonate with you most as unfair or unjust? What motivated the religious leaders to propose this kind of trial? What motivated the crowd to support it? 

3. What are some ways you have put God in the dock (on trial) in your life? What topics or doubts led you to do this? How have you learned to trust God more as the only true judge rather than elevating yourself to the place of judge over Him? 

4. What do you make of Pilate’s attempt to exempt himself by declaring himself “innocent?” Have you ever done something like this? What does this say about allowing ourselves to be confronted by the seriousness of sin? 

5. Why did Jesus remain silent even though he was innocent? Is His answer of silence any less powerful? What does this say about us when we feel like God is silent in our prayers? What “answer” has God provided? 

6. How are you like Barabbas? How does the reversal of his verdict apply to you? Do you wrestle with accepting and believing the verdict that you are not guilty, accepted and free in Christ? 

7. What are some ways in which you try to live for your own verdict? Think about what motivates you each day to work toward feeling approved and validated. What does it look like to live “from” the verdict rather than “for” one? 

Jesus’s Prayer in the Garden // March 10, 2024

Read: Matthew 26:36-46

This is undoubtedly one of the most important prayers in the Bible. Many scholars encourage us to read it with reverence and care because having access to such an intimate and intense conversation between Jesus and his Father is like treading on holy ground. It is no overstatement, for without this prayer, there would be no Christianity. We often lose sight of the importance of prayer in our faith, but Jesus demonstrates its true power in his darkest moment at Gethsemane.

1. The Necessity of Prayer

It might be difficult to believe, but Jesus would not have been prepared to endure the cross without this moment of deep prayer in the garden. Until this moment in the text, Jesus appeared strong, firm, and in control as he quoted Scripture and encouraged his disciples, who would fail him. In the garden, we see that he becomes “sorrowful and troubled,” and he reveals that he is “grieved to the point of death” (v37, 38). This was no show or demonstration; Jesus needed to pray as he experienced weakness. At this moment, we see a different Jesus. He was overwhelmed by his impending death by crucifixion, but even more than that, he was in anguish about the cup, which signified God’s wrath against sin and evil. To drink this cup would be unfathomable. 

Why did Jesus never waver? He poured himself out to God and even asked for another way (v39). But in the same verse, we see the answer as he prayed, “Not as I will, but as you will.” This prayer made the difference for Jesus as it can for us. Even at this moment, he is still teaching. How can we possibly ever think or live like we don’t need prayer, as if we can skip over it and still face temptation and trial? No, Jesus reminds his disciples (and us) to “stay awake and pray” for “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (v41). 

2. The Nature of Prayer

Jesus' prayer is a great place for us to correct our misunderstandings. His prayer combines two things that are so often hard to do in prayer: 

Raw Honesty - Points to the reality that Jesus revealed that he was emotionally overwhelmed. He didn’t hide this from God but laid it out before Him and his disciples (close friends). He lays facedown and tells his Father what he wants, even to the very limits of divine possibility.

Radical Surrender - Points to the reality that Jesus remained in submission to God’s will, trusting that it was best for him and others. He prays exactly as he taught his disciples to pray in the Lord’s Prayer. He wrestled with his Father and was told “no” three times. Yet, even in this prayer, he was fortified to embrace God’s will.

3. The Outcome of Prayer

Prayer doesn’t always end with favorable circumstances but always changes the person. At the end of our passage, we see Jesus meet his betrayal with resolve and determination (v.45-46). We see a different Jesus, one who is ready, compared with his disciples still waking from their slumber. Though his disciples couldn’t pass the trial and temptation, Jesus took the cup for them. This is evident in the difference between Jesus’s first and second prayer. In the second, he doesn’t merely ask for the cup to pass, but “if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (v.42). What looks like a subtle difference is a significant shift. Through prayer, he became willing to take the cup on behalf of others.

The most destructive prayer we can ever pray is “Not your will, but mine be done,” first whispered in the Garden of Eden. The outcome of Jesus’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is the great undoing of this destructive prayer. We might think that it has been too long since we have prayed - how could God hear us? But Jesus drank that cup for us. We might think that it costs too much to be honest and surrender. But Jesus drank that cup for us. Jesus’s prayer in the garden shows us that we have a God who is safe, and with whom we can be honest. He is wise and loving – far more than we are. He made a way to save us by taking the cup from us so we could remain with Him forever. He took the cup of judgment; we get the cup of blessing (1 Cor 10:16).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Do you treat prayer more as a necessity or an option? Why or Why not? What do you learn from the examples of Jesus and his disciples in this passage?

3. What is the correlation between prayer and resisting temptation? Given the temptations or struggles you are currently facing, what would it look like for you to “stay awake” and pray?

4. What do you struggle more with in prayer: raw honesty (sharing openly with God, even when it’s difficult) or radical surrender (receiving openly from God, even when it’s not immediate)? Why one over the other? If both, what is holding you back?

5. Jesus simply asked his disciples to “remain here and stay awake with me.” How would it change your prayer life to see it more “with” Jesus than “to” Jesus? 

6. In what ways have you treated prayer as an expression of “not your will, but mine be done?” If this prayer is so destructive, then why is it so enticing? How does Jesus confront, undo, and “take the cup” of this prayer?

7. What does Jesus’s prayer in this passage tell us about the attributes of God? What is He like when we pray? How can this draw you more into prayer with Him? 

8. What prayer requests can you share with others right now that would encourage more raw honesty and radical surrender to God in your life?