His Burden Is Light? (Really?)

Jesus says his heart is gentle over his heart.

This is consistent with the testimony of the Old Testament. The Lord, the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Exodus 34 which is picked up time and again throughout the Old Testament we picture God is the photo negative of this because we know way down deep, we are guilty sinners were free to honor Christ by letting his forgiveness loom larger than all of our guilt, shame and regret.

Welcome to family life today. We want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most and I'm Dave Wilson and you can find us@familylifetoday.com or on our family life. This is family life today. Have you heard someone say if I walked to church. The walls would come to my brother said that a lot of people say that I can put over my brother, saying that in his thought was. I have so much sin in my life.

There's no way that a sinner like me can be accepted in church, although he never told us that we think really think that God would never embrace a sinner in the truth is so much different and more beautiful that that's over and talk about today but you know before we get there. We got David Robinson studio with us today.

The present family life and he's here because December is such a crucial moment in the in the life of family life, ministry, and David can talk about that.

So, tell us why December such a pivotal time in our ministry will it's real simple. What happens over the next few weeks will determine the amount of ministry that we will be able to do in the year to come. Like many ministries, and nonprofits.

So much of our giving and people that generously donate to family life comes at the end of the year and when I think about this year 2021 has been a vivid reminder of why we need to stay deeply committed to Jesus in our homes and that's why have family life. We are doubling down on this vision of every home becoming a godly home because that's when people will find satisfaction in their families and in their life. We are committed to it and we are seeing our engagement on radio and podcasting grow it's grown 84% this year of 20, 21, where thankful for that growth, but we want to reach even more homes and your gift this year and can help us engage more homes with the gospel in the ways of Jesus that can be lived out among families. That's what I want to invite you and challenge you to give this year and if you can. Every gift matters whatever you're able to get we are so grateful for it and we invite you to please join the team. Yes and so is David said we need you as we are rolling into December. This is our December match. This is the time to give because it it will be double because we've had some generous donors give up to $1.5 million is amazing which is a miracle from God. So I mean thinking as you give that's can be matched by that.

I hope you join us and make a year and give to family life and you can do that. Just go to family life today.com or call us at one 800 FL today and as I thank you for your giving time to find where to send you a couple gifts as just a special thank you for helping us meet the center snaps where you think you some conversational playing cards and were also can send you devotional yeah which is written by our guest today was in the studio day Norton, thanks for being with us today day and welcome to family life today. Thank you talk to guys that we've Artie spent a day. Boy what a program talking about cried throughout most of it. I look over and she's in tears though time talking about the heart of Jesus being gentle and lowly, which was the title your book gentle and lowly which is a book on that the very heart of Jesus which is so paradigm shifting.

If you haven't picked up the book you need to pick it up, read it, put it beside your bed. Even if you read a few pages every night because it will transform your view of Jesus and God yeah and obviously your pastor in the Chicago area married how many years. 20 come up on 20.

As you know we get into the they idea that Jesus is so much different than a lot of us think and behave. How does that affect how we approach him and I know as a pastor and as I was a pastor. Often people sorta were afraid of me not made in some sense they were but they were psycho like I like is the Detroit Lions chaplain if I walked in the Detroit Lions locker room which I did daily. Every once in a while so I say all sorry pastor when they cursed like I could be around that that they shouldn't ever do that around me and they want to run away from me and my response was always like you don't understand me at all. I don't think less of you. Because of that I actually would love to spend time with you.

So I felt that even another youth expressing things a pastor. I know she is felt that, but that's not his heart, so talk about how we approach him if that's who we experience that not enough for locker room, but people thinking they have to some we really watch what they say when you are around you.

How awful. Sinclair Ferguson is an author makes this point. One of his books people view me or you in our preaching the form a picture of Christ.

Yeah, based on how we are not mainly what we say yes, but how we are looking people in the eyes and the tone and posture with which we are conducting ourselves towards him. I want to give people to come back around your question, no I want to give people the Roma of Jesus Christ so they might say you know I didn't know that word that he use I didn't quite follow. The second point no point of application. But I am drawn in rhyme attracted to this kind of person, and I want to be just a little modest in my own fallen finite way glimmer of what Jesus himself is like because I want to defiantly correct the deep, deep, deep intuition and reflexive people have that they can't approach Christ except at their best and actually the testimony of Scripture and this is what God is in the Old Testament prophets is that he is drawn to us when we are at our lowest, so I just want to keep immersing people and that it reminds me, we recently interviewed your dad and Ray, your dad has this magnetic personality and I say magnetic because he's such a believer in people, and he pulls out and calls out the greatness in everybody that we met and he asked them questions and I felt a sense of warmth. I don't know if that was your express grown up and I don't know him obviously anywhere near like you did that I felt just what you said drawn in to him like he speaks life everywhere he goes.

And I think it's exactly Jesus a man she could see the sin that he still loved and wound and called and pulled people toward him to the point and of course people are following him because who wouldn't want to follow that person they did you mean why why is a sinful woman quote on quote washing his feet with her hair when he's hanging out with all the religious beauty all the impressive people, but these are the people, the destitute, the outcasts, those who are at the end of their rope. In other words, really. We see ourselves all the time in these people, they can't stay away.

They find him irresistible, so praise God while I'm sure you've heard the push back the pushback is all they were so severe that we should be afraid to him we should be afraid to be near his holiness because we are full of sin and were dirty. That's the God that I know and that's who God is what he said well that's a very understandable feeling and actually I believe that bracketing out the gospel that is true. I am a dirty, messy ranch, train wreck, but then if you bring the gospel in and the reason we have to go to church every week three's with rear Bible really is because we keep forgetting this when you bring the gospel in actually you are told what you feel about your state of cleanliness, your state of being, not guilty, but acquitted and free to leave the courtroom. You don't feel that way but actually in the gospel because of what Christ did. That is who you are, therefore it feels scandalous but if you're in Christ, you're free to feel totally forgiven and stop so that's very deeply against our intuitions, but it's gloriously true, why reminds me of.

We recently interviewed us and if you're Sam Albert yeah and so were you having listen to this clip of Sam and we want you to respond to the flesh has its own fleshly way of dealing with the flesh I we think brought a kite on the to man up on the two do the currents of gulping down some spiritual protein shakes and just come to fight harder Titus to says it is the grace of God that teaches us to say notes on bulkiness so the I nearby. We confides these very very deep-seated impulses that we find within us is we need to keep receiving the grace of God. Amen. It takes a Bible to believe that because our our own natural intuitions are yeah I've screwed up.

Okay, let me let me try to chip away.

This I love what Sam says there we use the flesh to battle against our own felt flesh in us and we have a lot of the flesh going on but actually we are softened and melted and lifted it to change. We can white knuckle external behavioral change.

I can cards and get up earlier. I can make myself do it but actually that's not changing me. That's just surface level.

That's not from the inside out and what Sam is saying there is so wonderfully true. Actually, this is a sustainable Christian life. And if that is true according to Scripture, it sustainable because actually the way the way I grow the way I get traction the way I move forward. The way I mortify sin kills and kill the flesh is by receiving more deeply than I ever have the same gospel good news.

Grace that got me in the first place, enjoying that more deeply, not graduating beyond it. So Sam, amen.

But what happens to us as we I think we all experiences instead of running to the grace of God instead of running close to Jesus. We pull away because we feel dirty Emmett read your quote from your book that I just I read it out loud and you wrote in chapter 2 I think it is impossible for the affectionate heart of Christ to be over celebrated made too much of exaggerated, it cannot be plumbed but it is easily neglected and forgotten we draw too little strength from it and then you say this when crises the fallenness of the world and its effect on his people.

He moves toward that sin and suffering. He does not turn away from it and forever. We've had the opposite picture he turns away from me and I sort have to turn away from him. Sometimes I will way.

Are you saying we can't over celebrate this, you are I believe what you just read as you wrote it. Yes, he says his heart is gentle over his heart. We know from the testimony of Old Testament and new. The heart is not anything frothy. It's not merely your emotional or affectional life.

It's what pours out most deeply form your innermost core and when Jesus tells us what his heart is he so gentle and lowly conclusion were never going to overstate the wondrous endless patience and love of his heart.

We will understated it all wherever doing but we can't go beyond that ceiling and again this is consistent with the testimony of the Old Testament. The Lord, the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Exodus 34 which is picked up time and again throughout the Old Testament, not the God I think is actually there the Lord, the Lord tepid and calculating in steadfast love know so this is as you say, Dave, we picture God is the photo negative of this, it feels very morally serious to make much of God's holiness and the sort of say okay on tap the brakes on his grace that feels right. Because we know way down deep, we are guilty sinners but actually were just honoring Christ were free to honor Christ by letting his forgiveness loom larger than all of our guilt, shame and regret, and you know as I'm listening thinking well the the other side of that is if I celebrated too much and even as a parent if I'm only an all loving my kids are gonna run amok there going to take advantage of me. They're gonna break every law because that's can forget Montana forgives the McGill got the same way some time, but we do do that, don't we put on love in the Bible is not leniency. Love is not tolerance.

Love is not looking the other way. It was 12 God disciplines. It's a hard word for us. The Greek word idea means training God trains us and that is at times painful.

He's pruning us if we prune a branch if that branch has any feelings. It's going to say ouch when that branch could sliced off, but it's ultimately for longer-term flourishing and fruitfulness. God loves us too much to let us coast through life while he looks the other way and letting us remain the shallow twaddle and people we would all be if pain doesn't come into our lives. He loves us enough to in his tender fatherly sovereign way send pain to help us to grow and deepen, so we just have to be sure what we mean by love God's love in the Bible and our love for our own kids, and I'm curious. Talk about that Dana is understanding this now like you are really understanding Jesus is love, his grace and gentleness in his loneliness in comparison to what your life looked like before you had a deeper understanding of this and I'm guessing it could have on the out side looked similar but talk about the difference for you what for you. You're so right hand CS Lewis is a little essay at two pages of three kinds of men, as are three kinds of people in the world. Number one people who throttle the rules don't care they're breaking the law. They don't have any conscious whatever person number one person number two. Those who know they should fly right. Those who know they should either try to follow the 10 Commandments, or their own conscience or whatever, but they do it like paying a tax hoping there's enough left over for them to live on. So I got I know the Scripture told me to do this or I don't do it, but I hope there's enough for me to enjoy my life after I do all that is.

Person number three. Those who actually have collapsed into the delicious freefall of knowing that it is as they are yielding themselves to God that actually that is their deepest joy. I lived most of my life as person number two and if I'm totally honest I to I still am. I can experience person number three for like 15 second blips at a time talk about this second set our I'll be right back to you grumbling like the people of Israel. So I got decent grades. I went to youth group I went to Christian college I led Bible studies. The question isn't can you do certain things of the question is can you enjoy God in the way to enjoy him actually to have fellowship, friendship with God is to know his deepest heart.

If we think that he's got a clipboard in his hand and is taking notes on our doing and there's a good side and the bad symbols out all ledgers out of the on forget that's not sustainable.

You can't do that. You can only do that for certain amount of time and then you will crash and burn or give up the faith or something.

But what if, as we go stumbling our way through the Christian life. We are okay because it every point Christ grip of us is stronger than our grip of him and he's going to see us through. And as we fail as we simply bring that failure to him a fresh his own deepest joy is to pull us into his heart all over again. That's a win-win. I just responded. I guess I'm looking over my wife and she's in tears again. Okay I like writing again like all during this interview, and the previous one and let me ask you if this is why, because thinking you've grown up so often in your life believing in a God who was all the things they just said clipboard checking you off yet a measure of good measure up, and your you came from the barons. We are the best so you don't just trying a good failure if you are the best insight you often felt like you were feeling got in early in our marriage we would have. I should not had a conflict with the about about my son who is he doesn't feel that way about you and I'm saying it just like this sounds really loving that I'm shaving her trying to convince her to go to loving God and I was always site you are leaning more toward the love of God you were more toward the law is that what's going on.

You sit here going. This is so beautiful because it is so right. I think growing up because of having to strive to work and I felt like that's what that's like.

He has his clipboard exactly what you explain and remember when we are in seminary are actually working with students and cements gave us this idea to do like official prayer for these high school students you actually let it Dave never done anything like that like this is weird that you sent. Close your eyes I want you to picture Jesus and I want you to stand before him, and in my imagination as I'm picturing this, I was on my face before Jesus and I have given my life to him.

I had surrendered everything to him. I'm a new creature in Christ.

He dwells within me that I could not get off the floor in my mind before him because I felt so unworthy and I think so many of us feel like even though we are new creatures in Christ, we feel a sense of I'm not measuring and I'm continuing to fail and because of my pass I can have abuse in my background, I feel like I'm not good enough. I'm not worthy enough and so I think what's happening is the Jesus and I know this Jesus. Now I feel like I have been set free that I lived under that yoke of trying and yearning and striving. It was so heavy and I love that Jesus offers us freedom that he says come up here. My child you are my daughter. I delight in you and I think it's a good reminder and I think that's why people read your book Dana.

I feel like people will be set free into the true gospel. Maybe I hope so. I think they will then what do you say to and when he said a person like believing that a couple of things come to mind. One is while you two.

That's one of the because my mother would you get what you said about this. What you just described the inner psychology of what you just laid out and I suspect I believe that's not unique entire absolutely to one kind of personality. One angiogram type one side of the Myers-Briggs or one kind of upbringing.

We might have a an upbringing that exacerbates heightens it makes it stronger. That law feeling, but I think that's in all of us. We all are born, what one thing, the fall did Original Sin. Is it entrenched in our minds, dark thoughts of God and of Christ, one Scripture that comes to mind is so being on the road persecuting Christians in acts nine and the risen Lord Jesus does not say to him as he knocks him on the ground lovingly hated why are you persecuting believers and he does so are you persecuting my disciples.

He says why are you persecuting me the reason we can stand and look him in the face and actually be embraced by him is we are his own body parts.

That's how he feels about us. If I stubbed my toe.

I don't give it a pep talk. I wanted to be healed and soothed and helped and tenderly cared for. So even if it's our own sin and falling that we as Christ being the head with the body cry some body parts even of sorrow for sin and folly as well as the affliction and suffering we've experienced at the hands of others. In either case, she wants us to be healed.

We are his own body that's very comforting when we read in the Bible that we are united with Christ, we often think about that in some abstract sense, and certainly it's a metaphor but it's also a reality that we are intimately connected with Christ and what happens in our lives. He feels that he knows that he is with us and that they Nordlund has been joining us today to talk about how Jesus is gentle and lowly his heart for all of us who are sinners and sufferers.

Dana has written a book by that title to book. We got in our family life to the resource center, and you can order your copy from us go to family life today.com to get a copy of gentle and lowly by Dane Ortman or call one 800 FL today to order the book by phone again. The title of the book is gentle and lowly order online@familylifetoa.com or call 1-800-358-6329 that's one 800 F as in family L as in life, and then the word today. Now you have probably heard already today that this is what's known as giving Tuesday.

We've had black Friday on local business Saturday and cyber Monday with that all about today is giving Tuesday. It's a day when ministries like family life to the AR asking friends to consider a special year-end gift to help with the ongoing work of these ministries as we enter into the Christmas season. As we approach the end of the year this year and giving is so significant, so important we really need to hear from you in the next few weeks, and in fact there is some extra incentive for you to give today I'm giving Tuesday. First of all whatever donation you make today is gonna be matched dollar for dollar, thanks to the generosity of some friends of the ministry who have put together up a matching gift fund of a million of the half dollars. So every donation you received were able to deduct an equal amount from that matching gift fund and match your donation dollar for dollar. In addition, we want to say thank you for your support by sending you a copy of Dane Ortman's new devotional from the book of Psalms 150 devotions from the Kim book of the Bible. Dane's book is called in the Lord. I take refuge to great devotional to have as you begin the new year will also send you a deck of playing cards and on each of these cards there's a conversation starter for you as a couple or for you as a family. So the book and the cards are. Thank you gift for you today. When you make a giving Tuesday donation to support family life to get whatever donation you make is good to be matched dollar for dollar. We hope to hear from you. You can give online@familylifeto.com or you can call to make a donation at 1-800-358-6329 that's one 800 F as in family L as in life and in the word today to say thanks in advance for your support, your vote of confidence in the ministry of family life to day and for letting us know how God is using this ministry in your life, your marriage and your family and we hope you can be back with us again tomorrow to talk about how we reconcile the fact that the gentle and lowly.

Jesus will one day come and judge the earth and bring final judgment how to how does that make sense. Dane Ortman will talk more about that tomorrow with David and Wilson. I hope you can be with us for that on behalf of our host statement and will semi-bottle P will see you back tomorrow for another edition of family life today like today is a production of family life accrued ministry helping you pursue the relationships that matter most