Northside Church - Sydney
Christmas According to iTunes Top 20 Week 3: Lonely Boy
I'm listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. It's the gospel according to Lonely Boy Tonight. Verse 1 says, "Well, I'm so above you and it's plain to see. But I came to love you anyway. And so you pulled my heart out and I don't mind bleeding. In the old time, you keep me waiting, waiting, waiting. Oh, oh, oh, oh, I've got a love that keeps me waiting." What's that song about? Well, it's the stuff that movies are made of, right? You know, two people from other ends of the street. Different neighborhoods, one from riches and prowess and the other one from a broken family and guy meets girl and their paths cross and they fall in love and the one with all the riches and all the resources and pause it all into this person and in some cases they even just go off and squander it all and yet they still love them anyway. It's the stuff with movies, right? It's the gospel. It's the gospel that's been the premise of this whole series for three weeks. We've been a bit cheeky for the past three weeks in church. You know, I always take the Bible and apply it to culture. I thought we'd switch it around, take the culture and apply it to the Bible. I don't know if I did that at Bible College, I get myself in a lot of trouble, but bear with me. Look, what, you know, what is the song? What does the plot line get at it? We see it in movies. We see it in things like, you know, Lord of the Rings with Arwen, the beautiful, untouchable, perfect elf and the human Aragon. You see it in Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts when she meets Richard Gere, a downtown LA prostitute falls in love with a businessman and he wants her anyway. You see it in The Little Mermaid, or no, you know, Ariel meets Prince Eric, and if she could only be a part of that world, you see it in Superman with Lois and Clark, you see it, you see it in Greece when Sandy meets Denny, right, what am I getting at? Why is there a tension in these movies? Why do these plot lines work? What is the tension? Deep down, we go, how could it be that people with such differences fall in love? And I put it to you tonight, guys, that there is something built into the very fabric of our humanity that yearns for love that is strong enough and deep enough and powerful enough to overcome even the widest of differences, elf and human. Why? Well, let's, we're going to look at, let's go to look at, look, this song, these verse took me straight to a particular passage of the Bible. It's one of the most famous, it only goes for three or so verses. It's in Philippians chapter two, we'd already been through it. It says your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature, God, did not consider equality with God, something to be grasped or held onto. But made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and he became obedient to death, even death on a cross. It's the lonely boy principle. You see, we've got a pretty remarkable statement here, it says, you know, Jesus, who being the very nature of God, it doesn't say Jesus being similar to God, it doesn't say Jesus is kind of like God, it says Jesus, the very nature of God, it's saying Jesus is God. Look, how do I say it in everyday terms, it's saying Jesus is so out of your leg. That's what it's saying, seriously, he's so out of your leg, look, a few months back, I was in, went out to a bar in double bay called Mr Sippy, and I was a bit disappointed because I thought it was an ice cream, but I thought we're going for ice cream. And it wasn't that at all, it was a funky little place down there, I'd never been there before, don't go there too often. But it was a whole new experience for me because they're at Mr Sippy, they're all sorts of gorgeous people and it's a really interesting phenomenon, I don't know if you guys probably never been in this situation, so bear with me, let me illustrate for you. You go to these places and people have just got a habit of making an entrance through the front door, people strutting their stuff, and there was this bronzed up, a super guy that walked in, v-necked t-shirt, the whole lot, and it's like all the girls in the room just sort of stopped for a second, it's like called conversations ended there and then. And they were just looking, you know how girls are, the eyes sort of go up and down and it's sort of, you know, what are they thinking in their head, which suburbs are you from? What sort of, is it finance or law? The mind starts ticking, what's the deep question they're asking themselves, is he in my league? Right, is he in my league? And then all the frivolity starts because this is where the fun starts now, I'm watching these girls and all these giggles start to happen and there's always two different types of girls right in this situation because one starts giggling heaps and starts to do the hair up and the guy's over there, Prince Charming, and she's doing up all the hair and some of the other girls are almost having to hold her back and she sort of, she's off, she is out of there and she's over to the bar and she's chatting and about five minutes into it, you can see the girls on the other side, they're in their laugh in their heads off at Sharon or whoever it was and you can see him almost rolling his eyes, you know, what are we doing? And yet at exactly the same time there's some other girl over there and she is the one who's slunked down deeper into her diet coke that she's drinking and she looks over every now and then and you see there's always two types of people, two different approaches when you're dealing with people who are entirely out of your league. You see one of them, one person's oblivious, Sharon, she's got no idea, that's why the girls are laughing, absolutely oblivious that this Prince Charming's totally out of a league in that sense and so in that sense that person, their view of themself is inflated and their view of the other person is deflated if you get what I'm saying and then the girl in the diet coke, you know, the view of herself, she's not oblivious to it all, she's hovering over in the corner in cowardice and her view of self is deflated and the other person's view is inflated, she sees this guy as just a god. You know, before you become a Christian, you relate to God in exactly the same way. You see, there are two different types of people in the world, you know, when it comes to God, some people don't get the line that the black keys are saying here, well, I'm so far above you when it's plain to see, you know, some people, if they saw Jesus in a bar, they don't realize that you're not even close to his beauty and his majesty and his wonder and his power and his prowess, you weren't even close. And why because, look, spiritually, you're oblivious, you're like Sharon, you're just not seeing him for who he really is and so your view of self is inflated and your view of God is deflated. And then of course, at the other end of the spectrum, some people are acutely aware of the beauty and the wonder and majesty of God at how far above us he is and they sit in the corner in cowardice and they can't bring themselves to even talk to him, "I can't talk to him." Why would a God like that want to talk to me? You're thinking every flaw, every lack in your physical and your financial imperfections are going through your mind, it could be tonight and as a result, you're carrying in the corner. Let me ask you tonight, which one are you, how do you approach God? You see, this place in some respects is a bit like Mr. Sippy, you know, not in terms of all the craziness that goes on there, you know, look, I'm just trying to introduce you to the most wonderful guy in the whole universe, my good friend, the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, and how you see him is totally going to dictate how you relate to him. You see, look, a Christian is someone who comes to the awareness that God is so out of your league, right? And you're real about that, that's what I love about the Bible, you know, look, there's not many of the Bibles, if you don't want to read the whole Bible, if you want a little bit of a praise, if you want to book somewhere out of the Bible, it's this, there is a God and you're not it, that's the summary of the Bible, no, I need to go and read it anymore, that's it, he's so far above you and it's plain to see, there is nothing that you can give God, he's already got it, it came from his hand anyway, there's nothing that you can impress with God, he's like, been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, there's nothing that you can surprise with God, with God, he's already seen it coming, like, he's got it all, it's the black keys principle, he's so far above you and it's plain to see, that's what it means to be a Christian, it's just to start with that real perspective of who a wonderful and majestic God is that we worship in this place, and so therefore the question is how are you going to approach him, are you going to be oblivious to it tonight, are you going to be the Sharon, or are you going to sit in the corner and count, it's not even willing to want to talk, constantly looking at your own flaws and his perfection in that regard, wow that's encouraging Sam, great start, I'm so far above you and it's plain to see verse one of the gospel according to the black keys, verse two says, but I came to love you anyway, I call this the beauty and the geek principle, we've seen that on Channel 7 Ryan, the great show, everyone's in the beauty and the geek this year, it's a hit on Channel 7, I know the Thomas is watching it religiously, Tivo it, but why, why do we like that stupid show, I mean it's not for the dialogue, that's for sure, it's, and it's not for the trivia, you know, like the little section in the end, it's not for the, if you haven't seen it, the premise is that they take to, you know, about five or six, gorgeous looking girls and then they take five or six absolutely geeky, looking geeks, geeks of the geeks whole lot, I don't want to stare at her type here, but that's Channel 7 that's doing it, now look, they bring it together, they put them into a house and they go look, let's see what happens and why do we love to watch, because deep down we're going, is it possible, is could it happen, could, could it be, that, could it, could it be, that there is a love that is strong enough and deep enough and powerful enough to bring these two people together despite their differences, has Channel 7 discovered this and the answer is particularly this season, that's why my wife Kristin was so excited, yes, apparently Dane and Millie, didn't they, yeah, I can see people going, hey man, Dane and Millie, a beauty and a geek fell for each other, they fell for, it was the most beautiful thing, Dane had never asked a girl out in his life before and so I think he got some teddy bear or something and did some ventriloquist type act to ask, as you do, the beauty of love is, she said yes, she said yes and the beauty and the geek got, they get, look, what am I getting at, when you see yourself like that, when you see a God who's, I'm so far above you and it's planned, when you see God as the beauty and yourself as a geek, you know what, there's no greater affirmation than when someone who was so totally out of your league looks at you and says, in spite of our massive differences, I want you anyway, there can be no greater half, that's why, Dane's jumping around the room, it's why he's hilarious, you know, he's just, he's loving it, even the teddy bear's excited, Philippians chapter 2 verse 7, but he made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness, you know, what's his line in Philippians saying to us, you know, it's, it's what Richard Geess is to Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, it's what R1 says to Aragorn, it's what Danny says to Sandy, you're the one that I want, you are the one I want, it's, it's, it's what the beauty says to the beast in the Disney movie, it's the gospel of coin, the lonely boy, I'm so far above you, but I came to love you anyway. Paul's saying that when Jesus sees you tonight, in spite of your universal differences between the two of you, he says, I still want you, I still want relationship with you and can you see what an affirming power that is in Christianity, can you see why Christianity has the power to affirm people, it's real, I mean, in the first case Christianity is real, you know, Christianity is not, you know, if it's not new ages, not me getting up here saying, you're all beautiful butterflies, you're beautiful, you're, you're just beautiful, it's, it's not that, the Bible can be quite offensive, the Bible's message is compared to God, you G.L.Y, you ain't got no alibi, you ugly, that's, that's, that's the reality of the, the Bible here, and yet it says, but I came to love you anyway, and the likeness of me, he humbles himself, he leaves the place in the beauty mansion and comes to earth, the gospel is God so far above you and it's plain to see, but he's come to love you anyway, now look, application quickly here tonight, can I just talk to my sisters here tonight? Girls, if you can take, if you can take that, that gospel into the very heart of who you are, if you can have that sort of affirmation from the ultimate Prince Charming, then my question for you tonight is how would, how would that affect every earthly Prince Charming that you relate to? I mean, girls, what would it do to your souls, the husband that's sort of imperfect, or, or the partner who's imperfect, or the boyfriend that you're just incessantly chasing after, or the boy who doesn't even know you exist? Girls, if you can have that sort of affirmation, if you can take that into the very heart of who you are, then you know what, if you can receive that level of affirmation, then there's no need to go chasing affirmation in everything else. Even, look, ask my wife, even earthly princes, let you girls down. I heard that Matthew. So I guess it leads me to the next point. I'm so far above you, it's plain to see, but I came to love you anyway, and so you pulled my heart out and I don't mind bleeding. You see, it's not good enough, is it? It all sounds too good to be true. This is fairy tale stuff that the ultimate Prince Charming would come down and want to have some sort of relationship with you, that want to be in a relationship with you. It sounds to be good to be true. I mean, look, let's just say if the guy from Mississippi said Sharon, you are the lady of my dreams. You are the girl that I've been looking for all my life. Here's the question do you think that she would believe it? Because there will always be something within her that says because of these two differences, because anyone in the world can see that there's something so vastly difference between who he is and who I am. He could say it till the cows come home, but I can't believe it. I won't believe it. It's never going to be good enough. Look, how do you make a person believe that they love you or you love them? How do you make a person believe that you love them? How does God make you believe that he loves you? Because here's the thing, he gets vulnerable. You get vulnerable. You see, it's impossible to move into any sort of relationship without getting vulnerable. I mean, it would be craziness in the context of marriage to say, well, I want to be with someone. I want to get involved with someone, but I want to be absolutely sure that this person is never going to hurt me. It just doesn't work that way. You have to check your heart in at the door sort of like walking through the metal detectors of life. You've got to unpack everything. You've got to leave that. You've got to pull everything out of your pockets when you move into that level of intimacy. I call it the crisis of the Red Kryptonite principle, Superman comic number 44, of course. You see, Lois Lane and Clark Kent have fallen in love, and Clark proposes, but here's the thing, Clark hasn't told Lois his secret identity yet. He hasn't checked the identity in at the gates, at the metal detector. There's still something deep within, and the relationship goes on and on for a little bit, and then Clark has to finally break it to Lois that he's Superman, and she is shocked. She doesn't know what to do. She runs away, and she just needs her space to process it all. And Clark is left at that terrible, cut-wrenching place where he hands over the very, very deepest, most secret part of who he was and leaves it up to her to respond accordingly. You see, here's the thing. No human relationship is ever effective until the person with all the power and the person with all the resources checks that all in on the table. You can't have an effective relationship, friendship, marriage, whatever you want to call it, until someone checks in the one with the power, the one with the ability to manipulate, the one with the ability to walk out the door and be okay. It never will happen and be healthy until they chuck that in on the coffee table at the center of the lounge room. And so what are these lyrics say to us tonight, it says, "And so you pulled my heart out and I don't mind bleeding." Look, aren't the black keys just rehashing the next verse, verse 8, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. You know, what's the cross? What's God doing? He's saying, "I don't mind bleeding." It's God saying, "You want to really believe that I love you? I'm getting vulnerable." And you know what, Christianity is the only world religion that says that God does this, that the God of the universe gets vulnerable, that he goes to the, you know what the cross was? The cross was his kryptonite. The cross was the place in which the ultimate superman lost all of his power, all of it. So he could check in at the table and say, "See, this is what I'm willing to give up because of you." He gets vulnerable. And so finally, you know what happens when that happens? When he exposes, I guess that that weakness in some sense, we could go into a whole line of theological debate here as to whether God has a weakness. But bear with me, there's a weakness here. There's a weakness in the heart of God for over two, two thousand years since. He's been singing the song, "Oh, oh, oh, I've got a love that keeps me waiting." You see, most of us have been there, haven't we? It's the most nervous part of any relationship. The moment when it gets real deep, that moment for commitment, it's that moment where you share everything and you say, "I love you." And you know what's so scary? It's scary because you put it out there and that's the one point, depending on how the other person answers, as to whether or not you're going to be a lonely boy or a lonely girl. And can't you see that that was what God did at the cross long before he ever knew you in the physical, earthly flesh and blood since long before you would ever hear this message today? You know what happens to God and the Bible? You know what his weakness is? You know, there's sections of the Bible that talk constantly about the way that God so entangles his sense of joy. God's joy in that sense with your joy. The God will never be fully complete in and of himself until you're with him. And so the great truth that we see in that is that that's God's weakness, the love of God is not some Jedi mind trick, or he can sort of zap you and say, "You will love me." Instead, he resigns himself to the chorus of the black keys and he says, "I've got a love that keeps me waiting, waiting, waiting." Jesus is the Prince Eric to the ariles of this world. He's a Richard Geeder, the pretty women of this world. He's a Denny to the Sandys of this world. He's the Arwen to the Aragons of this world. He's the beauty to the beasts of this world. You see, the story of Jesus is the story that the stuff of movies is made of. The two people with totally different backgrounds and paths would somehow cross either through a friend's discussion or someone bringing you to church or listening to a preacher and your paths cross and you can see that you're so totally different. And he takes all of his financial and all of his power, resources and all of his love and he pours a whole lot out on the table at the risk that you might squander that tonight. It means God's done all he can do on this side of the relationship and he's left singing, "I've got a love that keeps me waiting, waiting." And so therefore my question to you tonight simply is, "Will you? Will you keep him waiting?" You know, some of you might be asking, "Well, how do I become a Christian? Why should I become a Christian?" Look, you know, quickly here, let me say, "Why should I become a Christian?" Look, become a Christian. Love God or you'll always love other things that are always out of your league. You know, the gospel is that the one who's the ultimate out of your league comes and says, "I want you anyway." If you either love God or you'll keep loving jobs that are out of your league and you'll love people that are out of your league and you'll love places of power that are totally out of your league in that sense. When you receive the great affirmation that the one who is truly out of your league loves you and wants to be with you, then you can leave that to rest. Here's how you become a Christian. You know, look, if God swallowed his crypt the night at the cross, if God was vulnerable in order to move into relationship with you, then there's no way to relate to God tonight unless you're vulnerable with him, unless you're willing to give up some stuff, unless you're willing to risk a bit of stuff, unless you're willing to risk a bit of criticism because now you call yourself a Christian. Unless you're willing to risk the fact that there might be some parts of your life that you're just going to have to let go of. You can't relate to a God that's been totally vulnerable with you unless you're totally vulnerable with him. Look, if it doesn't work in a marriage who says that we could somehow walk into this place and not empty our pockets before we walk into the gate, put it all on the table first. You've got to get vulnerable with him. Love God, you love something else, it'll be you've got to get vulnerable with him. And then maybe the question is you're saying, well, what if I already followed Jesus tonight? I guess I can say, don't be a Julia Roberts. Don't squander what the one with the ultimate resources has given up in order to tell you that he loves you, Christian. Take the very things that he's given up, his power and his glory and his riches, all the things that he gave up so that you might have it. May that be the fuel rod for your desire to just want to be closer to him and to live like him and to be like him in that sense. Don't squander it. I guess what I'm saying tonight, it's the gospel according to black keys, isn't it? Jesus is the true lonely boy. He's so far above you and it's plain to see, but he came to love you anyway and he didn't mind bleeding and he has a love that keeps him waiting. Are you? Will you keep him waiting? Come to him now. That's prior. [BLANK_AUDIO]