The sermon begins with the pastor emphasizing the importance of unity, humility, integrity, and service in the lives of believers. The pastor encourages the congregation to be humble and kind, even when it's easier to be defensive and self-righteous. The pastor prays for the congregation to be people who sing the song of Jesus in a broken and divided world. The pastor also shares a story about a well-known individual who, after experiencing fame and attention, humbly takes the time to clean up the trash left behind by the crowds. This story serves as a reminder that humility does not come naturally and sometimes requires intentional effort.

The pastor then addresses the congregation's response to the evil and affliction present in the world. The pastor acknowledges the feelings of helplessness, disbelief, and despair that arise in the face of such circumstances. However, the pastor emphasizes the importance of not looking away or succumbing to despair, but instead declaring trust in God as the Sovereign over the entire universe. The congregation is invited to pray for specific requests from 18 Baptist congregations in Israel, including a quick end to the conflict, comfort for those grieving, healing for the wounded, safety for hostages, wisdom for leaders, and the demonstration of Christ's love through prayer for peace.

The pastor reflects on the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, emphasizing the importance of love in the Christian faith. The pastor suggests that Paul may have been reminded of his own past as a Pharisee, where he focused on external displays of religious devotion but lacked true love. However, when Paul encountered Jesus and experienced his love and grace, his heart and life were transformed. The pastor emphasizes that true humility comes from a heart that is changed by God's love and grace, and it involves letting go of pride and living a life of humble service and love towards others.

The pastor addresses the issue of leaders and preachers who fail to practice what they teach or interpret the law without considering God's vision of justice, mercy, and love. The pastor reflects on encountering individuals who champion correct doctrine but do so in a hateful and demeaning manner, emphasizing that true teaching from God does not abuse people. The pastor then shares their recent trip to Oklahoma, where they met with indigenous pastors and learned about the persistence of poverty among indigenous communities in the United States. The pastor acknowledges their own ignorance about the history and culture of these tribes and emphasizes the importance of approaching partnerships with humility, recognizing that the local pastors are the best ones to minister to their own communities.

The sermon concludes with the pastor expressing gratitude for the fellowship and sense of family within the church. They thank First Baptist Church for being a loving and welcoming community, and specifically mention their appreciation for the Wednesday dinners and prayers. The pastor encourages others to come to the church, attend a sermon, and experience the love and care of the diverse congregation. They also express gratitude for a member named Terrence, who has shared their story and serves as an inspiration to the community.

Key Takeaways:

- Humility, integrity, service, and unity are essential in the lives of believers. These virtues are not always easy to practice, but they are necessary for living a life that reflects the love and grace of Jesus. ([12:45])

- In the face of evil and affliction, believers are called to declare their trust in God as the Sovereign over the entire universe. This trust is expressed through prayer for peace, comfort for those grieving, healing for the wounded, and wisdom for leaders. ([24:30])

- True humility comes from a heart that is changed by God's love and grace. It involves letting go of pride and living a life of humble service and love towards others. This transformation is exemplified in the life of the Apostle Paul. ([36:15])

- Leaders and preachers who fail to practice what they teach or interpret the law without considering God's vision of justice, mercy, and love are not truly teaching from God. True teaching from God does not abuse people but leads with compassion and grace. ([48:50])

- The church is a place of fellowship and family. It is a loving and welcoming community where believers can come to experience the love and care of a diverse congregation. This sense of community is exemplified in the gratitude expressed by the pastor for the Wednesday dinners and prayers, and for the inspiring stories shared by members like Terrence. ([59:30])

**Blessing Leading Wednesday Dinners in Prayer**

It's something I've never experienced before, and it's something that keeps me here because I do feel like I'm a part of a family, and I do feel a part of the church.

Heavenly Father, we come to you in Jesus' name to say thank you. Thank you for fellowship. Thank you. All I can say is thank you to First Baptist. Thank you for being the loving, welcoming church that you are. Thank you for seeing your members. Thank you for seeing the community. Thank you for the Wednesday dinners. Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for the love. Thank you. Just thank you. Thank you. Thank you, First Baptist Church.

So, it's just a wonderful feeling to me to be a part of this church. Thank you all. Come to our church. Come to a sermon. Come to Wednesday dinner. Start there. Start with a community dinner and see the love, see the care, see the people of all different ethnicities and backgrounds, and just come and just share a meal. And just, most of all, come to hear the word of God.

[Applause]

Terrence, my brother, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. It is such a joy for you to be a part of this faith family and the ways that you serve and make us better. It’s an honor to be your friend and your shepherd. We continue to want to share that story with others in our community about the good things God is doing through you, through your church, this church, through your love and your care for others.

Before we begin our sermon, I wanted to just have a time of prayer as our hearts are directed towards those in the Middle East who are suffering greatly. Before we do that, as I begin, I'll pray for a little bit, and then there's a time in the prayer where I'm going to instruct you. When I say, "sentence prayer," I want you to respond together in unison, "Lord, hear our prayers." That’ll be really clear in the prayer, but I want you to be ready for that. In a moment, we will collectively join in together, "Lord, hear our prayers."

As we pray together, let's do so.

Compassionate God, Psalm 34 reminds us that you are near to the brokenhearted and you save the crushed in spirit. So we know and proclaim this morning that you are near to thousands in the Middle East who are weeping— weeping from years of unspeakable evils, weeping from the unspeakable evils of the past week. And you are near to us and the millions around the world who are brokenhearted and crushed in spirit, for the innocents in Israel and Palestine, and for the hurting Jewish community at large who are afflicted by the evil in the hearts of mankind and seats of power.

Most days we have no words, Lord. We have tears and anger, disbelief and anguish. We are tempted to look away, but we must not. We are drawn to despair, but we must not. Instead, we declare our trust in you, Sovereign God. And we pray, and today we pray for these specific requests from 18 Baptist congregations in Israel who comprise the Association of Baptist churches in that country.

After each prayer, I invite the congregation to respond aloud in unison, "Lord, hear our prayer."

We pray and affirm that God is sovereign over the entire universe and has the power to change the situation.

**Lord, hear our prayer.**

We pray for a quick end and that it does not escalate into a larger war in the region.

**Lord, hear our prayer.**

We pray for those who are grieving the loss of their loved ones.

**Lord, hear our prayer.**

We pray for those who have been wounded during the conflict and for those providing medical assistance to them.

**Lord, hear our prayer.**

We pray for the safety and liberation of hostages and pray for mediators to facilitate the release.

**Lord, hear our prayer.**

We pray for wisdom and discernment for leaders that they may make decisions that lead to lasting peace and alleviate suffering.

**Lord, hear our prayer.**

We pray that Christians from around the world join in prayer for peace, demonstrating the love of Christ to all peoples.

**Lord, hear our prayer.**

We pray for the safety of local followers of Jesus and that they will be shielded from extremism and hatred, especially young people.

**Lord, hear our prayer.**

We pray that God would utilize our churches as effective witnesses during this challenging time through the power of the Holy Spirit.

**Lord, hear our prayer.**

We pray for peace and security for the entire region and that the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.

**Lord, hear our prayer.**

And now, O God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts together be acceptable and pleasing to you, O God, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

There is a really funny Saturday Night Live sketch from 2015 called "A Thanksgiving Meal." In the sketch, extended family is gathered around the table for Thanksgiving. They're enjoying the meal, passing the potatoes, sharing something that they're thankful for when someone brings up politics. Then words start flying, tempers flare, and the vegetables aren't the only thing steamed at the table until a little girl goes over to the radio and pushes play, and the song "Hello" from Adele begins to play.

At the first sound of those melodic lyrics, everyone is transformed into people of peace and love. The song ends, and this light-hearted conversation continues until someone says who they're voting for, and then insults start hurling, fingers are pointing, and chairs are pushed back from the table until the little girl goes over and pushes the song again, and "Hello" by Adele starts playing, and then everyone is all fine around the table.

This happens one more time in the sketch, and finally, at the end, the little girl looks at the camera and says with a big smile, "Thanks, Adele. Adele has saved the family Thanksgiving."

Well, maybe you can relate to tense dinner conversations with family and friends. Perhaps it comes out of the blue, or maybe it's an off-handed comment from an uncle that sets off the cousin, or perhaps it's something that's been brewing for a while, and the meal table seems like the place to serve it up.

For some of you, you may want to have "Hello" by Adele queued and ready for your family Thanksgiving. Some meals can just be uncomfortable, and the conversation difficult to swallow. And that's the case for today's meal with Jesus and a Pharisee. Tensions had been building for quite some time as Jesus made his way to Jerusalem, and he was proclaiming the kingdom of God here on Earth.

There we learn from Luke's gospel in chapter 5 that Jesus and his disciples did not fast or pray according to the laws observed by the Pharisees. In chapter 6, we learn that Jesus and the disciples were not very observant about working on the Sabbath. Jesus heals quite a few people on the Sabbath day, violating the law. In chapter 7, Jesus touches the coffin of a dead boy, which clearly violates the laws of pure and unpure, clean and unclean.

In today's story, Jesus disregards, perhaps intentionally, one of the rituals of washing his hands before the meal. Now, before you say, "Ooh, gross, Jesus," we're not talking about washing your hands with soap and water like your mama taught you to do before a meal. This was a ritual washing of hands, and the Pharisees noticed this and commented.

In verse 38, the Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner, and not amazed in a good way. See, the Pharisees were concerned about faithfully setting apart the people of God. They truly had a good heart of wanting to make sure the people of God were clean before God so God would bless and restore them. That love of God and his faithfulness to them came through strict observance of laws and rituals.

But in this case, and in many cases before, Jesus did not observe the customary Jewish rituals. In this moment, Jesus is using this occasion to confront some things in the Pharisees: to confront arrogance, hypocrisy, judgmental spirits, legalism.

Now, the scripture doesn't tell us when the meal took a turn, but somewhere between the appetizer and the dessert, Jesus serves up all these woes to the religious leaders. These warnings warn them against hypocrisy and their obsession with external appearances. Jesus spoke of their unhealthy desire for recognition and praise and honor. He stressed that genuine humility involves sincere acts of love, compassion, and service to others without seeking praise or special treatment.

Jesus criticized the oppression of people through religious rules and regulations rather than guiding them in the ways of God, rather than keeping focused on God's mercy, love, and justice. Jesus urged the Pharisees to practice humility, to learn from their mistakes, and to lead with compassion and grace.

You see, Luke knows that power, pride, prestige, arrogance—they always tempt us, always. And they destroy what God wishes to create. They destroy community as people are used and abused for some to feel better about themselves or to protect themselves. They cheapen worship and devotion because people put on a show, and they separate belief from action.

These attitudes segregate people into groups with false assignments of worth and value. But Luke knows too that humility, integrity, sincerity, service, and unity are all markers of the kingdom of God. These are the ways of Jesus and should be the standard ways of God's people.

Humility, integrity, service, and unity help make God's ways visible to our world. You see, the Pharisees' content of the law was not the problem. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." The problem is not really the content; the problem is their conduct.

They've either failed to practice what they teach, they add to the law, and they burden the people with unnecessary requirements, or they have forgotten to interpret the law with an eye to God's larger vision of justice, mercy, and love.

I wonder how often do we encounter leaders and preachers and Christians today who champion correct doctrine in hateful and demeaning ways? Because you see, true teaching from God does not abuse people.

I was in Oklahoma this week with three mission leadership team members, Ron and Marleene Medine and Mike Shr, and we met some folks there from Together for Hope and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and two local indigenous pastors located just west of Oklahoma City. Our church has been involved in partnerships with the Lakota and Dakota in South Dakota for over 14 years, and those partnerships have ended, but we as a church are committed to staying engaged with indigenous communities in the United States.

While in South Dakota, we learned a great deal about the persistent poverty on reservations and among indigenous communities across the U.S. So this trip was one to explore some new partnership opportunities, and it was fruitful and very hopeful for us.

Now, before this trip, the four of us knew very little about the history of tribes located and most relocated to Oklahoma. In every conversation we had with people, we admitted our ignorance from the beginning before we proved it. Before the day was done, we reminded ourselves each step of the way that we came with humility because it's easy to forget that we don't have the answers and the solutions.

These pastors, they know their communities far better than we know them. They know their community's history, their culture, their values, their attitudes. We don't. They are the best ones to minister to their people and to determine ministry goals. We are not. We are coming in humility to partner together in communities of extreme poverty, side by side, equal to equal, for the glory of God and not our own.

Humility is a core value of our missions at First Baptist Church, and I believe this congregation as well. But we and the larger church have not always gotten this right, sometimes painfully so.

On the last day of the trip, we toured the First American Museum in Oklahoma City, where visitors experience the collective history of the 39 distinctive tribes located in Oklahoma. As you walk the gallery, the beauty and the pain of these tribes are on full display in powerful interactive exhibits. I was moved to tears in the section that focused on the long history of intentional policies of assimilation, removal, and the elimination or the killing of native peoples.

This happened through massacres, disease, forced relocation, boarding schools, cultural assimilation, punitive laws, broken treaties, and so much more. Many white Americans at the time believed that native peoples were not only capable of radically changing their culture but that they would even prefer the white Christian culture over their own. Christians were at the heart of many of these assimilation policies, taking children away from families, cutting their hair, altering their dress, changing their names, and forbidding their language, customs, and religion.

With incredible arrogance, Americans worked to export our culture and ways among the few remaining natives. In 1888, John Oberly, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, wrote this: "The Indian must be imbued with the exalting egotism of American civilization so that he will say 'I' instead of 'we' and 'this is mine' instead of 'this is ours.'"

What a thing to export! Brigadier General Richard Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian Boarding School, believed that to claim their rightful place as American citizens, Native Americans needed to renounce their tribal way of life, convert to Christianity, abandon their reservations, and seek education and employment among the best classes of Americans.

In his writings, he's known for saying the statement, "Kill the Indian, save the man." I pray today that we can recognize the arrogance, power, pride, and prestige that led these Christians to separate God's justice, love, and mercy from the oppressive burdens they placed upon the first Americans.

I wonder if Jesus shared a meal with Brigadier Pratt and others if he wouldn't have some woes for them. And I wonder if Jesus shared a meal with us today if he wouldn't have some woes for us too.

On that visit this last week, one of the pastors of the Native Church told us about a church in town that was offering ministries for children. So the native pastor went to this pastor to inquire about the children from his church, and the pastor said their children were not welcomed and said to him, "Why would we want your kind here?" Friends, that was a year and a half ago. Woe to us!

The Apostle Paul, a former Pharisee of all Pharisees who once belonged and ascribed to the strictest school of teaching in the time of Jesus, having encountered Jesus and being transformed by his love and his grace, wrote the following:

"If I speak in the tongues of humans and angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Perhaps Jesus's dinner with the Pharisee was on Paul's mind as he penned those words. Maybe he remembered how he had spoken authoritative words, preached the law, understood mysteries, had faith that could move mountains, gave away his possessions, and was willing to die and to kill for his faith, but he did not have love. All he had was noise—just loud, nauseating, offensive noise to God.

Paul met Jesus, repented of it. Paul meticulously kept the outside of the cup clean, but inside it was filthy until he met Jesus, and he transformed his life and heart, and then the cup was clean from the inside out.

True humility begins with a heart that's transformed by the love and grace of God through Christ Jesus. It's not merely about outward displays or devotions, traditions, or religious rules, but allowing God to change us. Humility requires us to let go of pride and the desire for recognition and praise. It involves living authentically and living lives of humble service and love towards others.

Nick Wenda is an American follower of Christ who has become the world's most-watched high-wire artist and daredevil. A billion people across the world saw his two most recent feats: in 2012, Wenda walked a tightrope across Niagara Falls, and in 2013, Wenda became the first to high-wire walk across the Grand Canyon.

Nick knows that he will be tempted by pride, so after the huge crowds and the media fade away, he engages in a simple spiritual discipline. He walks where the crowds have stood and quietly picks up trash. Wenda wrote this: "My purpose is simply to help clean up after myself. The huge crowd left a great deal of trash behind, and I felt compelled to pitch in. Besides, after the inordinate amount of attention I sought and received, I need help to keep myself grounded. Three hours of cleaning up debris is good for my soul. Humility does not come naturally to me, so if I have to force myself into situations that are humbling, so be it. I know that I need to get down on my hands and knees like everyone else. I do it because it's a way to keep from tripping. I know that I—oh, sorry. As a follower of Jesus, I see him washing the feet of others. I do it because if I don't serve others, I'll be serving nothing but my ego."

Nick picking up trash may seem really small compared to the hurt that is being experienced by our first nation friends or in our world today, and it may seem like small things don't really matter, but each is an act of defiance against arrogance, power, and prestige showing up and taking root in our lives and hearts.

Humility doesn't come natural to us; we must intentionally seek and practice it so that we do not serve our egos. Author C.S. Lewis wrote this: "Good and evil both increased at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which a few months later we may be able to go on to victories we never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or a railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible."

So we pick up the trash, we return the cart, we admit we're wrong, we seek to learn. Humility, integrity, service, and unity are the features of the kingdom of God. These are the ways of Jesus and should be the standard ways of God's people.

At the final meal with his disciples, Jesus doesn't share about washing his hands; he washed the feet of the disciples. And then he said to them and to us today, "I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you."

Friends, we don't need "Hello" by Adele to save Thanksgiving or to remind us how to act around the tables in life. We need each other. We need Jesus. We need to remember who we belong to and who we give our allegiance to. We need to pick up the trash, whether we dropped it. We need to tear down the walls, whether we built them. Each time we do these things, we are playing the song that we and the world so desperately need to hear, and that is a song of humility, integrity, service, and unity. It is the song of Jesus.

Let's pray together.

Gracious God, being right is so much more fun than being humbled. Remaining defensive is so much easier than offering kindness. Getting even is more instinctive than getting low, and we acknowledge this not as an excuse but as a reminder of our need for fresh grace every day as we struggle with our own egos.

God, forgive us for trying to justify our arrogance and pride. Nobody's failure to love well can excuse our own. Forgive us for investing more energy in propping up our reputations and chasing recognition than in working towards peace and justice.

Forgive us for savoring the thought of being right when our attitudes and conduct have been so wrong. Have mercy on us, gracious God. Grant us humility, integrity, service, and unity so we might be people who sing the song of Jesus in a broken and divided world. We ask this in Jesus's name. Amen.

We invite you to respond now to the Spirit. Perhaps it's a moment of confession as we acknowledge ourselves, our own struggles with humility, the ways that we've hurt others, the ways that we've had to be right and have the last word, and we've left mercy and justice and love out of the equation.

Perhaps this is a time where you're hearing about this Jesus who stands for these things. This is the song that Jesus sings to all of us, and you want to know more about this Jesus. We would love to tell you about him. As we sing, I and some deacons will be out in the lobby. We welcome you to come pray with us or visit with us. We're also around after the service as well.

Let's respond now to the Spirit.