Authentic Faith

The following video transcript has been lightly edited

As we think about drawing near to God, a lot of times that creates, perhaps, a list of all the things that we need to do. And what I want to talk about today is that what God desires most from us is not about doing all the right things, but being authentic in our relationship with God. And that that's us offering our genuine selves in the midst of life, in the midst of our relationships.

And if we want to draw near to God's kingdom, the transcendent reality of peace and love, then we want to watch out for three things. We want to guard against arrogance, we want to be sincere, and we want to go all in. These three ideas of authenticity come from a story in Mark 12, in which Jesus first takes the scribes to task for some of their behavior, and then lifts up this poor widow. Who demonstrates sincere faith and goes all in.

So why do we need to guard against arrogance? Well, as Jesus talks about with the scribes, they are all about having the right reputation. They wear the right clothes. They want people to offer them a certain kind of greeting. They sit in the seats of honor in the midst of temple, wherever they go.

And it's all about them. And that's a problem because the scribes role in Israel was to be all about for the people, they were to write and interpret the word of God. And instead of doing that in a way that's uplifting and helpful, they've used it. They've taken a hold of it for their own gain. And Jesus is like, that's what my kingdom is not about whatsoever.

I think it's a healthy reminder to us. I don't think that necessarily we live in the same way in which we've, we're so far down the path that we have the same level of arrogance and corruption that maybe the scribes did in that season. But I think for each of us, it's a reminder that we don't get there overnight.

We start little by little. We get to this place in which we have a sense of arrogance, a sense of Entitlement. And of course what those do is they ruin our relationship with God, with others, with ourselves. If you recall in the movie Braveheart, Robert DeBruce had to wrestle through this reality. His father was telling him to make a deal and get more land and increase the entitlement and power of his family. Meanwhile, the Scots were trying to Unite the clans, and he double crosses Mel Gibson in the movie, the Braveheart character. And you can see on his face the hurt and the pain. And you see Robert DeBruce realize what he's done, and you see the shame and hurt and the pain. And so that's what happens when entitlement and arrogance creeps in.

We destroy ourselves, we destroy our relationships, and we destroy our relationship with God. So we want to guard against that. So that we can continue to live in an authentic relationship and draw near the kingdom of God.

Secondly, and Jesus offers this story and Mark tells this story as a, as a counter to the scribes, in which this poor widow, whom the scribes have been known to take advantage of, comes into the temple and offers the last two coins she has.

The modern translation says it's worth a penny. While others offered abundance, she offered this one little penny. Not a big deal. But all that she had and Jesus says calls his disciples all over to stop check this out Truly I tell you what this woman has done is greater than anyone else here whose donated a bunch of money because what she offered was done with a sincere heart and it's all that she has And it's this reminder to us that what we want to offer up into the world and in our relationship with God should be done with a sense of sincerity.

We're not trying to position, we're not trying to convince, but we're trying to offer ourselves up with a sense of sincere faith. This is what I have, and this is what I'll give. Now, perhaps you have this experience in which your child has been in art class and created this pottery creation for you.

You're not sure if it's a mug, a bowl, maybe it's a mask, whatever it might be, but they give it to you on Father's Day or Mother's Day, and you're like, I love this. Why do you love it? Well, you love it because it's a sincere offering. It's not because it's a piece of craftsmanship. And here's the reality, and this is good news for us, is that what God asks of us is the same.

With that same sincerity, with that same intent, to take our life and our activities, whatever we have, whatever form they come out, offer them up with a sincere heart to say, God, this is my offering to worship you.

And so we always want to ask ourselves. How is it that we are being sincere in our relationship with God and our relationship with others?

Is that what we're offering up? Or are we positioning ourselves? Because if we move in that way, if we move towards inauthenticity, then we are not drawing near the kingdom of God. In fact, we're moving away from it. So, to live this authentic life and draw near to God, we want to guard against arrogance, we want to be sincere, and then, lastly, we want to go all in.

So this woman gives all that she has, and Jesus praises her. You know, in life, a lot of times we hedge on things. Investments, for example, it's wise, to hedge your different investments. So you have maybe some in the global market, some in the local markets, small cap, large cap, maybe you got some bonds, all these things so that depending upon how the market moves, you'll get gains, but you won't put yourself at full risk and there's wisdom in that, but there are some things in life in which hedging actually prevents you from experiencing the thing itself in its fullness. My daughter, Ella, as she moved up through swim lessons, refused to let go of her nose. She had to hold her nose cause she just didn't feel safe.

And of course, swimming with one arm is always going to leave you with an incomplete experience. But then one day she finally get it when she couldn't graduate to shark. She's like, I got to figure this out. And then she went on and she was on the swim team in high school and she still swims today because she let go of her nose, went all in and swam and got the full experience of it.

You know, that's true in relationships. as well. If we want the fullness of joy in our relationship with others and our relationship with God, we have to go all in. What does going all in look like? Well, sometimes it's risking being hurt. Sometimes it's stretching and drawing past something that we're comfortable with in order to meet the needs of another.

Whatever it is, what God asks of us is to be living sacrifices, as Paul puts it. That that's our spiritual act of worship. To take our time and our talent and our treasure and our money and our work and our home and our play and our neighborhood and our school, and take all of that and offer it up to God with an authentic, sincere heart as we go all in.

Because we want to draw near the kingdom of God. We want to experience the transcendent reality of peace and love in its fullest form. And in order to do that, we need to be the all in kind of people and not the hedging kind of people. So I hope this whole series was great for you. I hope this week was also helpful.

And so as you go out, go out seeking an authentic faith, one in which you guard against arrogance, you offer up your life in sincerity, and you go all in to experience the goodness of the kingdom of God. Take care.