WEBVTT - Wired for Security 0:00:00.070 --> 0:00:03.930 Well, good morning and welcome. We are continuing to talk 0:00:03.970 --> 0:00:06.690 a little bit about how you're wired. And just to 0:00:06.730 --> 0:00:08.950 review for a minute, how did you get to be 0:00:09.210 --> 0:00:11.709 who you are? How did you get to be the 0:00:11.770 --> 0:00:14.390 way that you are, to think the way that you think, 0:00:14.990 --> 0:00:18.720 all of that? If you try to look at classic theories, 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:21.180 you'd have to go all the way back to Aristotle. 0:00:21.690 --> 0:00:24.810 Aristotle had the idea that we were all blank slates 0:00:24.890 --> 0:00:27.820 when we were born and that the environment, our upbringing, 0:00:27.890 --> 0:00:33.519 our circumstances, writes our personalities into existence. John Locke gave 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:36.500 that idea a lot of traction in the 17th century. 0:00:36.540 --> 0:00:39.420 And then more recently, in the 20th century, B.F. Skinner 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.199 brought the conversation to the current time. It's kind of 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:48.430 that classic discussion about nurture and nature. So that's one perspective. 0:00:49.130 --> 0:00:50.910 How did you get to be the way you are? 0:00:51.570 --> 0:00:56.630 You were written on. Your experiences, your upbringing, your parents, 0:00:57.250 --> 0:01:00.470 all of that has defined how you think and who 0:01:00.490 --> 0:01:04.649 you are. On the other hand, there is the popular 0:01:04.790 --> 0:01:07.450 Popeye the Sailor Man. I am what I am, and 0:01:07.490 --> 0:01:10.850 that's all that I am. That doesn't sound scientific, but 0:01:10.950 --> 0:01:14.170 all the way back to Plato, he advanced the idea 0:01:14.310 --> 0:01:19.190 that you're born with a certain kind of hardwiring. Schopenhauer 0:01:19.250 --> 0:01:23.209 in the 19th century created the idea of essentialism, meaning 0:01:23.610 --> 0:01:27.320 everything has an essence. There's a core. It comes with 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:31.840 something and you work with that. And so somewhere between 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.920 those two extremes that you're hardwired, that you have a 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.500 central essence that can't be changed and you're a blank 0:01:38.550 --> 0:01:42.290 slate is probably closer to what we found to be 0:01:42.370 --> 0:01:46.590 true in the overall science of human beings, of why 0:01:46.650 --> 0:01:49.420 we are the way we are. At some level, we 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.870 are born with a certain kind of hardwiring preferences. We've 0:01:52.930 --> 0:01:55.750 measured that in a variety of ways, whether it's Myers-Briggs 0:01:55.830 --> 0:01:58.510 or now StrengthsFinder. There's a lot of ways to try 0:01:58.550 --> 0:02:01.650 to get to the scientific way in which we're wired. 0:02:02.130 --> 0:02:06.130 But also how the people around us treat that wiring, 0:02:06.570 --> 0:02:10.240 how we're taught about the value or the liability of 0:02:10.340 --> 0:02:14.600 our own hardwiring impacts us and changes us and creates 0:02:14.700 --> 0:02:20.330 layers of either encouragement or discouragement. And so how did 0:02:20.350 --> 0:02:22.389 you get to be the way you are? That's what 0:02:22.410 --> 0:02:25.190 we're talking about. You are wired in a certain way. 0:02:25.430 --> 0:02:27.070 Even if you go in and say, I really want 0:02:27.090 --> 0:02:29.080 to change, I'm going to go get help. A great 0:02:29.100 --> 0:02:31.560 therapist is going to look at how you're wired and 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:34.859 try to lead you from kind of your base to 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:37.959 maybe some changes that can be made. It's not a 0:02:38.100 --> 0:02:40.750 one size fits all when it comes to therapy. It's 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.280 It's customized to each individual and their unique needs and 0:02:44.340 --> 0:02:48.800 understandings and ways of interpreting and ways of changing. So 0:02:49.380 --> 0:02:53.120 I'll tell you this, when I read scripture and I 0:02:53.220 --> 0:02:56.440 think about what you and I are called and invited 0:02:56.530 --> 0:02:59.169 to be according to God's word, don't have to believe that, 0:02:59.270 --> 0:03:04.090 but it is in there. I find myself feeling pretty convicted, 0:03:04.150 --> 0:03:07.549 feeling like I'm falling short. So let me read a 0:03:07.590 --> 0:03:10.750 passage to you that kind of gives me that feeling 0:03:10.810 --> 0:03:13.579 that I should be doing a lot better. It's from 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:17.160 Philippians chapter 4. Very familiar for many of you that 0:03:17.180 --> 0:03:20.040 have been around the church and the faith for a while. 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.460 But here it is. Philippians 4, 4 through 8. Rejoice 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.880 in the Lord always. I'll say it again. Rejoice. Let 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.260 your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 0:03:30.900 --> 0:03:34.139 Don't be anxious about anything. But in every situation, by 0:03:34.220 --> 0:03:37.940 prayer and petition with thanksgiving, Proceed your request to God 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:41.920 and the peace of God that transcends all understanding will 0:03:41.980 --> 0:03:44.870 guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, 0:03:45.220 --> 0:03:49.710 brothers and sisters, whatever's true, whatever's noble, whatever's right, whatever's pure, 0:03:50.050 --> 0:03:54.470 whatever's lovely, whatever's admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, 0:03:54.550 --> 0:03:57.970 think about such things. I don't know that I'm measuring 0:03:58.030 --> 0:04:00.330 up to that. That's a lot. And it's a lot 0:04:00.370 --> 0:04:02.990 just to read in one go. So here's what I'd 0:04:03.030 --> 0:04:05.070 like to do. I'm going to go back and I'm 0:04:05.090 --> 0:04:07.650 going to read. some of these phrases to you. And 0:04:07.710 --> 0:04:10.390 I'm going to let you, in the old-fashioned way, give 0:04:10.430 --> 0:04:15.340 yourself a letter grade. So, you know, you can give yourself, hey, 0:04:15.820 --> 0:04:17.860 I'm in A range on that one. I'm a B, 0:04:17.940 --> 0:04:20.780 I'm a C, I'm a D, or thanks for trying. 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:25.730 So let's break it down. As an individual, with your hardwiring, 0:04:26.170 --> 0:04:29.690 with what you're going through right now, grade yourself, give 0:04:29.710 --> 0:04:31.590 yourself a letter grade with each one of these. I 0:04:31.630 --> 0:04:38.670 rejoice in the Lord always. My gentleness is evident to all. 0:04:40.330 --> 0:04:46.670 I am not anxious about anything. In every situation, by 0:04:46.750 --> 0:04:51.349 prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, I present my request to God. 0:04:52.970 --> 0:04:56.590 The peace of God that transcends all understanding guards my 0:04:56.650 --> 0:05:01.950 heart and mind. I think about whatever's true. I think 0:05:02.010 --> 0:05:08.200 about whatever's knowable. I think about whatever is right. I 0:05:08.260 --> 0:05:12.720 think about whatever is pure. I think about whatever is lovely. 0:05:12.740 --> 0:05:19.110 I think about whatever is admirable. I think about anything 0:05:19.150 --> 0:05:25.530 that's excellent. I think about things that are praiseworthy. So 0:05:25.589 --> 0:05:28.310 how did you do? I think for most of us, 0:05:28.350 --> 0:05:32.490 we would be struggling to get a passing grade because 0:05:32.510 --> 0:05:35.409 that's hard stuff. I'd like to be wired like that. 0:05:35.510 --> 0:05:37.970 I'd like to think like that. I'd like to have 0:05:38.010 --> 0:05:41.180 a life where I'm not anxious about anything, where I 0:05:41.220 --> 0:05:44.380 really do live out those disciplines that allows me to 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:48.400 be a person that rejoices even on the hardest of days, 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:53.039 where I'm always gentle. I'm always being my best self, 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:56.520 where day after day I experience some kind of deep 0:05:56.600 --> 0:06:00.799 peace in my heart. And that my thoughts center around 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:05.750 being thankful and goodness and excellence and purity and loveliness. 0:06:06.670 --> 0:06:10.050 Seems like I'm a long way from those things. I 0:06:10.070 --> 0:06:13.350 think Paul in Romans 12 is helping us to understand 0:06:13.430 --> 0:06:15.849 that most of us are not set like that. We're 0:06:15.870 --> 0:06:19.109 not wired like that. This is what he says. I 0:06:19.210 --> 0:06:21.990 urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy. 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.300 to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.870 pleasing to God, that you're true and proper worship. Don't 0:06:28.970 --> 0:06:32.490 conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed 0:06:32.550 --> 0:06:35.270 by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able 0:06:35.290 --> 0:06:37.770 to test and approve what God's will is, his good, 0:06:37.830 --> 0:06:42.190 pleasing and perfect will. So Paul says, if you're going 0:06:42.210 --> 0:06:45.120 to live this life, you're going to have to have 0:06:45.180 --> 0:06:50.920 some kind of transformation, a renewing of our minds, a rewiring. 0:06:51.810 --> 0:06:53.969 And a part of that rewiring comes from a sense 0:06:54.070 --> 0:06:58.029 of being safe in God's love. Do you feel secure 0:06:58.070 --> 0:07:00.330 in God's love? For a lot of us who've grown 0:07:00.410 --> 0:07:02.860 up in the church and for many people who don't 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:05.660 profess any religion at all, that's the last thing they 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:09.800 would think of. That God and religion either seems fake 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:14.000 and hypocrisy and contrived, or for those that have been 0:07:14.020 --> 0:07:16.810 a part of it, it's created a sense of insecurity. 0:07:17.230 --> 0:07:21.060 It's created a sense of guilt and judgment. But we long. 0:07:21.250 --> 0:07:25.050 We as human beings are wired to feel safe. We 0:07:25.110 --> 0:07:28.060 long for it. We search for it. We're constantly after it. 0:07:28.410 --> 0:07:31.090 We want to be secure financially. We want to be 0:07:31.150 --> 0:07:36.200 secure emotionally. We want to be secure relationally. We desire 0:07:36.220 --> 0:07:39.160 a place of security. And that leads all the way 0:07:39.220 --> 0:07:42.960 into our inner world, into our existential questions about life 0:07:43.020 --> 0:07:45.490 and the meaning of life. We want a spiritual kind 0:07:45.550 --> 0:07:49.800 of security. a kind of security that reassures us that 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:54.440 life is meaningful. Our contribution to life is meaningful. We 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:56.960 long for that. We were made for it. When it's 0:07:57.160 --> 0:08:00.700 absent from us, things don't work quite right. And we 0:08:00.730 --> 0:08:03.470 want to embrace that. It seems like if we're going 0:08:03.510 --> 0:08:08.410 to be wired in a way that is transforming, where 0:08:08.450 --> 0:08:11.730 we could possibly pursue something like not being anxious and 0:08:11.770 --> 0:08:14.070 rejoicing in hard times and all the other things we 0:08:14.090 --> 0:08:16.990 just talked about, Then somewhere in there, we've got to 0:08:17.490 --> 0:08:21.010 find a place of security where we feel safe in 0:08:21.060 --> 0:08:24.720 God's hands, where the divine power, the higher power, however 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.240 you want to talk about it this morning, is for 0:08:27.300 --> 0:08:30.520 you and not against you, that you are in good standing, 0:08:31.380 --> 0:08:35.400 that you have an advocate. Sometimes I think when I 0:08:35.870 --> 0:08:39.090 reflect on Scripture and the journey, I find that there's 0:08:39.110 --> 0:08:41.520 a lot of great promises there. There's a lot of 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:46.600 things that I read, but sometimes I feel disqualified for them. 0:08:47.470 --> 0:08:50.790 Let me read you a passage from Psalms 84, and 0:08:50.830 --> 0:09:01.590 I'll show you what I mean. Even the sparrows found 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:03.990 a home and the swallow a nest for herself where 0:09:04.030 --> 0:09:06.750 she may have her young, a place near your altar, 0:09:06.790 --> 0:09:09.830 Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those 0:09:09.870 --> 0:09:13.650 who dwell in your house. They're ever praising you. Blessed 0:09:13.690 --> 0:09:16.130 are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are 0:09:16.170 --> 0:09:18.990 set on pilgrimage as they pass through the Valley of Baca. 0:09:19.270 --> 0:09:21.810 They make it a place of springs. The autumn rains rain. 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.000 Also cover it with pools. They go from strength to 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:29.030 strength till each appears before God in Zion. Hear my prayer, Lord, 0:09:29.090 --> 0:09:32.370 God Almighty. Listen to me, God of Jacob. Look on 0:09:32.429 --> 0:09:35.710 our shield, O God. Look with favor on your anointed one. 0:09:35.750 --> 0:09:38.380 Better is one day in the courts than a thousand elsewhere. 0:09:38.410 --> 0:09:40.260 I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the 0:09:40.300 --> 0:09:42.220 Lord than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:44.959 the Lord is a sun and a shield. The Lord 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:48.780 bestows favor and honor everywhere. And then listen to this. 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:51.870 No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk 0:09:51.950 --> 0:09:55.210 is blameless. Just about the time I think there's all 0:09:55.250 --> 0:09:57.590 these good things for me, and then I find out 0:09:57.650 --> 0:09:59.969 it's only for those who are blameless, and I'm pretty 0:10:00.140 --> 0:10:04.100 sure that's not me, and it creates a sense of insecurity. 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:07.020 We're going to pick up the conversation right after this break. 0:10:08.220 --> 0:10:12.750 Welcome back. You're listening to Healing Conversations on KABC 790. 0:10:12.750 --> 0:10:16.850 I'm Dave Roberts. Sometimes I feel like I can begin 0:10:16.890 --> 0:10:19.689 to feel that the promises of God that that he's 0:10:19.770 --> 0:10:22.270 created a place for me to keep me safe. He 0:10:22.309 --> 0:10:24.170 takes care of the birds of the air. He's going 0:10:24.190 --> 0:10:26.550 to take care of me. And then I read lines 0:10:26.590 --> 0:10:28.510 like that. No good thing does he withhold from those 0:10:28.550 --> 0:10:30.860 whose walk is blameless. And I think a lot of 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:34.819 us feel that way. Our walks are not blameless. So therefore, 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:38.900 we're not very secure in the presence of God. But 0:10:38.940 --> 0:10:41.640 listen to this story. In fact, I don't know that 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.840 there are any moments in the story of Jesus' journey 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:47.900 that are more compelling to me than the story that 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:52.209 John records for us in John chapter 8. I'll just 0:10:52.350 --> 0:10:54.750 read it to you, and I want you to listen 0:10:54.790 --> 0:10:59.219 with confidence. raw emotion to the story, to what is happening. 0:10:59.660 --> 0:11:03.010 And listen to the details, where it's happening, the time 0:11:03.050 --> 0:11:07.130 of day that it's happening, the way that John characterizes 0:11:07.210 --> 0:11:10.000 the things that are going on. Put yourself into this 0:11:10.250 --> 0:11:15.930 setting if you can. John 8, 1. But Jesus... went 0:11:15.980 --> 0:11:19.980 to the Mount of Olives. At dawn, he appeared again 0:11:20.179 --> 0:11:24.160 in the temple courts where all the people gathered around him, 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.040 and he sat down to teach them. The teacher of 0:11:27.059 --> 0:11:30.760 the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:34.500 in adultery, and they made her stand before the group 0:11:34.780 --> 0:11:38.720 and said to Jesus, Teacher, this woman was caught in 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:43.620 the act of adultery. in the law, Moses commanded us 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:48.590 to stone such women. Now, what do you say? They 0:11:48.630 --> 0:11:51.050 were using this question as a trap in order to 0:11:51.270 --> 0:11:53.850 have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down 0:11:54.250 --> 0:11:56.850 and started to write on the ground with his finger. 0:11:57.270 --> 0:11:59.430 And when they kept on questioning him, he straightened up 0:11:59.500 --> 0:12:02.059 and he said to them, let any one of you 0:12:02.420 --> 0:12:05.459 who is without sin be the first to throw a 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.220 stone at her. And again, he stooped down and wrote 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:11.569 on the ground. And at this, Those who heard began 0:12:11.610 --> 0:12:14.430 to go away one at a time, the oldest ones first, 0:12:14.570 --> 0:12:18.510 until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there. 0:12:18.890 --> 0:12:22.130 And Jesus straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are they? 0:12:22.809 --> 0:12:26.560 Has no one condemned you? No one, sir, she said. 0:12:26.580 --> 0:12:29.540 Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:36.179 and leave your life of sin. It is such a cruel, humiliating, 0:12:36.420 --> 0:12:40.880 and compelling scene. And I want to remind you, whether 0:12:40.940 --> 0:12:44.089 you believe the story or not, that the person in 0:12:44.130 --> 0:12:48.710 the center of the story, Jesus, is God incarnate in 0:12:48.770 --> 0:12:52.400 human flesh. This is how God treats us in our 0:12:52.460 --> 0:12:55.839 life and in our journey. It's first thing in the morning. 0:12:56.350 --> 0:13:00.320 In a Jewish community, life began at the temple. The 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:02.620 sun came up. People got up, went to the temple 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:06.160 to do their morning prayers. It was crowded. It was busy. 0:13:06.179 --> 0:13:09.630 Around the temple was also the marketplace. Everyone is up, 0:13:10.150 --> 0:13:14.610 getting ready for the day. No refrigeration. You didn't stockpile food. 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:17.559 You had to get out, get things to eat, get 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:21.640 the day going. John characterizes that all the people were 0:13:21.700 --> 0:13:24.730 there and all of the people were gathered around Jesus. 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.429 Probably not all the people, but a lot of people, 0:13:27.450 --> 0:13:30.569 a massive crowd. And they weren't strangers. This is a 0:13:30.610 --> 0:13:34.530 small community. They didn't know everyone, but most in the 0:13:34.570 --> 0:13:37.010 crowd would have known a significant number of others in 0:13:37.050 --> 0:13:40.100 the crowd. And that would include this woman, a woman 0:13:40.140 --> 0:13:43.080 that we are told is caught in the act of adultery. 0:13:43.910 --> 0:13:46.770 And she's brought into the center of this gathering and 0:13:46.830 --> 0:13:52.070 she is forced to stand there as her accusers. And 0:13:52.130 --> 0:13:55.380 think about this in some formality. The way the law 0:13:55.420 --> 0:13:59.980 worked is you had to have two accusers to testify 0:14:00.059 --> 0:14:03.199 against you in a court of law. There had to 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:08.220 be witnesses. And so her accusers came legally accusing her. 0:14:09.130 --> 0:14:11.430 And they say, the law of Moses says we are 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.339 supposed to stone such women. Now, you should know that 0:14:14.380 --> 0:14:17.800 by this time, first century, no one has been stoned 0:14:17.860 --> 0:14:21.460 for adultery for hundreds of years. It just was not 0:14:21.500 --> 0:14:25.229 a practice. So what they're doing is they're basically putting 0:14:25.310 --> 0:14:28.830 Jesus in a position to either A, say, no, I 0:14:28.870 --> 0:14:30.770 don't think you should stone her. And then they can 0:14:30.810 --> 0:14:34.610 accuse him of not obeying the law. Or B, he 0:14:34.630 --> 0:14:37.760 can say, I think you you know, should stone her, 0:14:37.860 --> 0:14:40.120 and then they can accuse him of being cruel and mean. 0:14:40.660 --> 0:14:43.580 And so there really is no good way out for Jesus. 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:46.020 And for the woman who now has been brought here, 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:50.080 think of what she's going through. The humiliation. The fact 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:53.380 that her failings are thrown open. There's no chance for 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:55.680 her to tell a different story. There's no chance for 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:57.840 her to tell her side of the story. We don't 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:00.100 know what happened. We don't know where she came from. 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.210 We don't know who the guy was. We don't know 0:15:02.490 --> 0:15:05.130 if she was in a broken, terrible marriage or if 0:15:05.170 --> 0:15:07.550 he was in a broken, terrible marriage. And now they've 0:15:07.590 --> 0:15:11.630 somehow connected. We don't know. We're just left with piece 0:15:11.650 --> 0:15:14.670 of information that she's caught in adultery again. And now 0:15:14.750 --> 0:15:17.930 she's standing trial wherever the guy is. That was kind 0:15:17.950 --> 0:15:21.630 of how the old patriarchal law worked. Humiliated in front 0:15:21.650 --> 0:15:24.550 of her neighbors, family. There had to be people there 0:15:24.810 --> 0:15:27.310 that knew her. She would have to shop with them. 0:15:27.410 --> 0:15:30.620 She would have to continue to live among them. Here 0:15:30.650 --> 0:15:33.859 she is brought out into the public. And then of 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.460 all things, the prophet is there. Jesus has become a 0:15:36.500 --> 0:15:39.460 very popular prophet in the day. Prophets aren't known for 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:43.210 their consoling words. Read the Old Testament. They're known for 0:15:43.590 --> 0:15:49.540 fire and brimstone condemnation, you know, accountability, all of that stuff. 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:53.360 But this prophet is a little different. And when presented 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:57.980 with this opportunity, he bends down and inexplicably doesn't respond, 0:15:58.100 --> 0:16:00.450 just begins to ride in the dirt. Must have seen 0:16:00.490 --> 0:16:05.010 a very strange response to everyone. Unprecedented. Not how people act, 0:16:05.070 --> 0:16:08.250 not how people respond at a moment like this. And 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:11.540 after riding in the dirt for a few minutes, he 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:14.340 stands and looks at the crowd, looks them in the eye, 0:16:14.900 --> 0:16:19.600 looks around that area, that gathering at the Pharisees, at 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.109 the crowd who loves to judge and loves to gossip 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:24.270 and loves to point fingers and loves to point out 0:16:24.310 --> 0:16:26.470 the fault in other people. He looks them dead in 0:16:26.510 --> 0:16:28.770 the eye and he says, let anyone here who is 0:16:28.870 --> 0:16:32.330 without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. 0:16:33.170 --> 0:16:36.360 It's a staggering moment. Then, in fact, what Jesus is 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:41.620 saying is, yeah, she's guilty, but so are all of you. 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.470 So I'm not sure why you should stand in judgment 0:16:44.510 --> 0:16:48.370 of one another. And that begins to sink in. This 0:16:48.430 --> 0:16:51.410 moment begins to sink in. He leans down again and 0:16:51.450 --> 0:16:53.350 begins to write. And then we're told that one by 0:16:53.510 --> 0:16:58.250 one they begin to leave. Her accusers, the gossipers, the judges, 0:16:58.270 --> 0:17:02.000 the legal witnesses, one by one, they begin to leave, 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.580 starting with the oldest, which we can only assume means 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:09.460 those who are older recognize more accumulated guilt and failure 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:13.040 more quickly than those who are younger. Until there is 0:17:13.100 --> 0:17:16.200 no one left. And Jesus asks her, where are they? 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.680 Is there no one who condemns you? And she says, 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:23.550 no one. Because legally now there is no witness. There 0:17:23.609 --> 0:17:26.610 is no one now in legal standing to say that 0:17:26.650 --> 0:17:31.390 she's guilty. And now Jesus, again, who we will come 0:17:31.410 --> 0:17:35.050 to understand as the story unfolds, is the incarnate son 0:17:35.090 --> 0:17:38.530 of God. God incarnate in human flesh. This is God's spirit. 0:17:38.869 --> 0:17:42.070 Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. 0:17:42.970 --> 0:17:47.970 It's this powerful, powerful moment that has such significance for 0:17:48.030 --> 0:17:52.710 you and I. She's safe. She's free. She'll still live 0:17:52.780 --> 0:17:55.500 among those people, but together they will have to acknowledge 0:17:55.540 --> 0:17:57.880 that each of them has got liability. Each of them 0:17:57.940 --> 0:18:01.140 has failure. Each of them has sin. What a redemptive 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:03.720 community that would be to live in, where we all 0:18:03.780 --> 0:18:07.740 understand our own failings. Instead of arguing and fighting and 0:18:07.900 --> 0:18:12.000 building ourselves up and putting other people down and pontificating 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:15.820 our point of view and our politics and how silly 0:18:16.060 --> 0:18:19.200 and unwise are the other people who don't see what 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.260 we see, who don't get it. The kingdom of God 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.500 is about restoration. It's about putting people right. It's about 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:30.439 each of us looking at our own brokenness and liabilities 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:33.440 and knowing that in the middle of that, there's a 0:18:33.460 --> 0:18:37.250 God who cares, who creates a place of security for us. 0:18:38.369 --> 0:18:41.870 That's what Paul is writing about in the eighth chapter. 0:18:42.690 --> 0:18:45.879 Do you feel secure in God's love? He's writing to 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.699 these folks in Rome and he's encouraging them to feel 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:51.420 encouraged in God's love. Whatever you've done, wherever you've been. 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:56.130 So listen to what he writes. Romans 8 31. What 0:18:56.230 --> 0:18:58.649 then shall we say in response to these things? If 0:18:58.690 --> 0:19:01.770 God is for us, who can be against us? He 0:19:01.850 --> 0:19:04.060 who did not spare his own son, but gave him 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:07.020 up for us all. How will he not also along 0:19:07.060 --> 0:19:10.880 with him graciously give us all things? Who will bring 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:14.320 any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:17.790 God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? 0:19:18.210 --> 0:19:18.570 No one. 0:19:19.010 --> 0:19:21.709 Christ Jesus, who died, more than that, who was raised 0:19:21.750 --> 0:19:23.850 to life, is at the right hand of God and 0:19:23.930 --> 0:19:27.230 is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from 0:19:27.250 --> 0:19:31.770 the love of Christ? Shall trouble, our hardship, our persecution, 0:19:31.830 --> 0:19:34.949 our famine, our nakedness, our danger, our sword? 0:19:35.050 --> 0:19:35.270 No. 0:19:35.630 --> 0:19:38.530 In all these things, we are more than conquerors through 0:19:38.570 --> 0:19:41.990 him who loved us. I'm convinced that neither life nor death, 0:19:42.109 --> 0:19:46.600 not angels, not demons, not things present, not the future, 0:19:46.619 --> 0:19:50.600 not any powers, not height, not depth, not. anything else 0:19:50.619 --> 0:19:53.280 in all creation will be able to separate us from 0:19:53.300 --> 0:19:57.500 the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. So Paul 0:19:58.060 --> 0:20:00.400 is writing a letter and he's trying to say to them, 0:20:00.460 --> 0:20:03.580 I want you to live in a place of security. 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:05.700 I want your inner world to feel safe and I 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:10.080 want it to feel safe at every level. I and 0:20:10.220 --> 0:20:12.800 for you, in spite of your brokenness, in spite of 0:20:12.820 --> 0:20:16.350 your failure, in spite of your sin, that God advocates 0:20:16.410 --> 0:20:19.330 for you and loves you. When's the last time you 0:20:19.350 --> 0:20:22.450 felt like that was true? We're going to go to break, 0:20:22.470 --> 0:20:23.950 and when we come back, we're going to break this 0:20:24.030 --> 0:20:26.270 down just a little, and then Eric's going to join 0:20:26.350 --> 0:20:30.410 us in studio. We'll be right back. Welcome back. You're 0:20:30.450 --> 0:20:34.629 listening to Healing Conversations. I'm Dave Roberts. This is KABC 790. 0:20:34.619 --> 0:20:39.410 We're working on breaking down this whole thing. If God's 0:20:39.450 --> 0:20:43.119 for us, who can be against us? So that really 0:20:43.190 --> 0:20:47.219 is the first question. Here's some ways in which we 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:50.280 can renew our minds and reset our hardwiring so that 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:54.280 we might feel more secure, which would help us not 0:20:54.420 --> 0:20:57.720 feel anxious about things and could rejoice in hard times 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:00.580 and could just surrender things to God so he could 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.940 take care of us. He asks four questions. If God 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:08.320 is for us, who can be against us? Paul's prejudice 0:21:08.380 --> 0:21:10.899 is this. You and I are highly favored. He's for us. 0:21:11.700 --> 0:21:15.140 He took the initiative to send his son. He came 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:18.260 to the cross so that we could be in relationship. 0:21:18.940 --> 0:21:23.210 He's found ways to reconcile our failures and his holiness. 0:21:23.510 --> 0:21:26.929 He could be perfectly merciful, but in order to be 0:21:26.990 --> 0:21:31.050 perfectly merciful, there has to be also justice. And he's 0:21:31.530 --> 0:21:35.230 created a way. And remember how the story goes. that God, 0:21:35.290 --> 0:21:38.910 we sometimes get confused about this, sent his son and 0:21:39.010 --> 0:21:41.490 people are like, well, he didn't take the punishment, his 0:21:41.530 --> 0:21:45.889 son has. The son is God. He came tabernacled in 0:21:45.930 --> 0:21:49.700 human flesh to be the sacrifice so that reconciliation could occur. 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:53.400 This is a unique story in all systems of religion 0:21:53.460 --> 0:21:59.270 and faith. Other than the Judeo-Christian tradition, other traditions talk 0:21:59.310 --> 0:22:03.189 about how we as humans can reach finally, do enough, 0:22:03.790 --> 0:22:07.410 perform enough to be in relationship with God, to climb 0:22:07.470 --> 0:22:12.180 that mountain to find God. The Judeo-Christian tradition describes a 0:22:12.220 --> 0:22:14.840 God who not only created us, but climbed out of 0:22:14.940 --> 0:22:18.200 heaven to find a way to be in relationship with us. 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:20.619 He's like a good shepherd who has 100 sheep and 0:22:20.619 --> 0:22:23.719 99 are safe. He'll leave the 99 and go in 0:22:24.100 --> 0:22:28.850 search of the one lost sheep. That God took this 0:22:28.910 --> 0:22:33.420 initiative that he decided we were worth saving. We were 0:22:33.619 --> 0:22:37.080 worth being in relationship. The woman caught in adultery is 0:22:37.180 --> 0:22:40.590 not condemned. She's just told to go and sin no more. 0:22:41.150 --> 0:22:44.030 That God's greater intention is to bring us into relationship 0:22:44.090 --> 0:22:46.330 and to say, hey, and by the way, that's not 0:22:46.369 --> 0:22:49.550 good for you. It's painful. So maybe you want to 0:22:49.590 --> 0:22:52.629 turn away from that and you want to do something better. 0:22:53.230 --> 0:22:57.550 If God's for us, who can be against us? Number two, 0:22:57.609 --> 0:23:01.470 who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? 0:23:02.070 --> 0:23:06.820 What voices speak doom into your life and journey? I 0:23:06.859 --> 0:23:09.660 think we hear the language of this verse, and we 0:23:09.680 --> 0:23:13.619 can all think about people that bring charges against us, 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:17.400 talk bad about us, gossip about us, think lowly of us, 0:23:17.700 --> 0:23:22.480 share things about us that are not complimentary. And that 0:23:22.540 --> 0:23:26.020 makes us somewhat self-conscious. It makes us feel less than us. 0:23:26.810 --> 0:23:28.649 We do have people in our lives that judge us 0:23:28.730 --> 0:23:31.830 like that, and we know who they are. But often 0:23:32.369 --> 0:23:35.510 the weight and the attitude of all of that is 0:23:35.609 --> 0:23:42.270 because we condemn ourselves. Our emotions tell us how we're 0:23:42.369 --> 0:23:48.490