We Are Family

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0:00Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Lord's house and welcome to new creation. So glad to see you. Could be worshiped with you today. My name is Joel and I'm happy to be serving Christ and serving you all as pastor. And we're in a sermon series on Psalm 120 through 134.

0:24Songs that the people of God would sing on their road trip. So in this sermon series, I've been thinking a lot about travel. And my family, there's one trip that we got, our four people in our family have taken more than any other trip. And that is the drive from here down to Greenville, South Carolina, which is where I was born. My dad and my stepmom still live there. And that stretch of 85, we know it well. We've driven it a whole lot. In the summer, I think it was, Nikki can tell me later, but I think it was 2021, maybe fall of 2021, something like that.

1:03We were packed up. We were ready to go down and visit them. It's about a six-hour trip. We've made this trip a lot. We know all the places to stop for gas that are cheapest. We know the places where the traffic gets snarled up most easily. We know the places where the good food is, the good rest stops. And it's a long drive for one day. I don't know. I mean, Nikki doesn't think that. She grew up in Texas. You have to drive six hours to get to the grocery store in Texas.

1:44And so for her, this is nothing. But for me, it's like, man, that's a long drive for a day. But we pushed through. And once we get there, it's fine. This trip in 2021 didn't go as planned. On the road, I get a call from my dad. And he says, hey, where are you? And I say, we're just about 55 minutes from your place. And he goes, well, your stepmom just tested positive for COVID.

2:19And it's up to you what you want to do. But I talked over with Nikki, and it was like, if we stay with them, we're going to be exposed. And then, what's that going to mean for, we started looking at our calendar, all the things we had coming up the next couple of weeks. We were like, oh my gosh, this is going to really mess up our life for like two weeks. So, we swallowed hard and pulled off the interstate and swung around and started driving home.

2:54We had already been on the road for five and a half hours or so. Started driving home. A little bit later, we stopped for dinner. Usually, we are just fast food only, eat it in the car, keep going, make sure everyone's in the car. We slow down barely, particularly to throw food into the car. And then, we keep on driving. So, we don't lose anyone along the way. But we made an exception because this was such a terrible experience. We're like, let's stop at a restaurant.

3:24But all we could find was this crummy Applebee's. Remember that? It was, and we were all very unhappy. It was a very miserable dinner. We all just wanted to be done with this thing. But we had to get back in the car and there was another four hours or so to go. Finally, 13 hours after we left home, we pulled into our driveway, right back where we started from, tossed the suitcases in the house and went to bed. That trip was the definition of futility.

3:5913 hours, we didn't see anything fun. We ate at an Applebee's. And we're right back where we tried to do something, we put in the time, and it was all in vain. Now, here's why I'm telling that story. Because God has come to rescue us from futility. Okay, isn't that good news? He's come to rescue us from a life that looks like that road trip of going and going and spending time and money and never getting anywhere. He brings us out of futility and into fruitfulness, okay?

4:44That's what this passage tells us today. In Him, we are blessed. People say that word a lot. Maybe you get an especially nice cashier one day and instead of saying have a nice day, they say have a blessed day. Most of us use that word and we don't really know the gravity of that word. It is a weighty and a good word. And for the Lord of the universe to pronounce that word over you and me is amazing. For Him to say you're blessed, that's amazing. He's bringing us from futility into fruitfulness, into blessing.

5:22And that's what today's passage is about. And I think that's good news that we all need to hear, whether it's for the first time or the thousandth time. Because life can feel pretty futile sometimes. So this is week four of our seven-week series in Psalm 120-134. It's called Pilgrim Playlist. The songs that the people of God would sing as they were going to Jerusalem. The soundtrack for their journey. And this is a soundtrack for our journey too.

5:51We sing these songs together on our journey of faith. So turn with me, please, to Psalm 127 and 128. Let's hear the Lord's call to us out of futility. And into fruitfulness.

6:06Hear now the word of the Lord. Give it your attention. He has good for you in it. Let's receive it from the Lord Himself. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil. For He gives to His beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb of reward.

6:45Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands. You shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house. Your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

7:18Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel. Pray with me.

7:42Lord, we love you and we come to you for a good word today. A word of encouragement, a word of truth. In a life that can be discouraging and in a world that lies to us, Lord, we come to you and you alone for true, encouraging words that build us up and indeed change us, Lord. We ask for you to change us. Make us more like you. Wipe away the cobwebs from our eyes. Unstop our ears so that we can hear from you. So that we can follow you. Not just dutifully, Lord, but joyfully.

8:23Because you love us so. You've shown us that in Christ. In his name we pray. Be blessed. Be blessed, O people of God. You can't find the good life on your own, but only when you walk in his ways.

8:46These two psalms share a theme of blessing, but it starts with a contrast. The contrast is in verse 1 and 2 of Psalm 127. The first thing these psalms tell us is this. Self-reliance is futile. Self-reliance is futile. A lot of childhood is spent learning to do things for ourselves. Tying your shoes. Making your lunch. Washing your clothes. I see a lot of kids in the room. I hope you kids have gotten to that point. Washing your clothes. Cleaning your own bathroom if you have one.

9:28Learning to do math problems. Learning to figure out hard equations. How to read a paragraph and summarize the key points. Some of you are learning how to drive. Some of you are enjoying it and some of you aren't. None of your parents are enjoying it, I think. It's normal and it's good. It's normal and it's good to learn how to do things. God gave us the ability to learn.

10:00And we can't be a healthy adult without learning to do things for ourselves. When I was dating Nikki, if I turned to her and I said, you know, can you tie my shoes for me?

10:15Because I'd never bothered to learn how to tie my shoes. She would have been wise to say, let's just be friends. Maybe you're not the guy for me. Here's the problem though. The more we learn to do, the more we forget our limitations. We start to think, my guidance counselor was right. I can do anything. And I don't need anyone else to do it. This is what we want. Deep down inside, this is what we want. To need no one, including God. Now, Psalm 127 was written by Solomon.

10:58He was very wise. You may have heard this. He knew about people. He knew about people's hearts. How they tend to rely on themselves and overestimate their ability. But he also knows the end result of this is futility. First of all, he says building is futile. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. He's probably talking about the building of the first temple. His father David wanted to build that temple. But God said no, and David wisely didn't do it.

11:32Though he had the resources and the labor to do it, David was like, oh, all right. Kind of surprised by that. But if you don't want me to do it, I won't do it. He knew that God had to be the one behind it and in it. Or else it would not be anything but a building. This applies, though, just as easily to other things. Building a house. Establishing a family. Founding a company or a school or a church.

12:08These are important places of mission and purpose. But only with our wisdom and strength involved. It is just like building sandcastles. And if building independently is futile, then protecting those places is also futile. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. You can hire the best people and install the top-of-the-line security system. You can put every safeguard on your kids' devices.

12:45But without God involved, it's all like a child trying to keep the ocean and the rising tide away from his sandcastle. You can't do it. Castles made of sand slip into the sea eventually.

13:04On our own, we're defenseless. If self-reliant building is futile, the protection is futile, then the third one follows suit. Our work itself is futile by ourselves. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest. Mounting responsibilities. A to-do list that never ends. A non-stop treadmill. The Greeks have the story of Sisyphus. The guy who was cursed to push a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down and then do it again. Like our road trip that one time.

13:40We don't need stories about Sisyphus. We have Michael Jackson singing, you got me working, working day and night. We have Dolly Parton working nine to five. But they just can't get no satisfaction. The life of striving, it's just eating the bread of anxious toil, right? And this phrase here in the psalm really hits home for us.

14:07Anxiety is an epidemic right now. And the thing, one thing that's fueling it is the push. It's the constant allure that the good life is out there. Other people are having it. You're not. You might miss it. Act now. Limited time offer. Go. Work harder. What's wrong with you? Why don't you have it yet?

14:37It's futile to do life independent of the one who made us. It's just putting ourselves at the center of a very lonely universe. Life driven and directed by self, it's vanity. Nothing of lasting value, worth, and significance comes from it. The ultimate form of self-reliance, though, is believing this, that God will accept us as we are. That is the peak. That's peak self-reliance. I just believe God will accept me as I am. Have you ever heard that?

15:16Have you ever maybe thought that? Maybe some of you are still thinking it right now. Well, I've tried to be a good person. I haven't done anything that bad. Self-reliance. Self-reliance. But God said, be holy as I am holy. Can you really meet that standard?

15:41Self-reliance is futile. Now, others of you might have walked away from peak self-reliance. Maybe you're like me, you're still dwelling at a lower level of self-reliance that crops up from time to time. Smaller forms of self-reliance remain. This is the moment, as we read Psalm 127, this is the moment to ask yourself, what am I trying to build or protect on my own?

16:13What am I trying to build or protect on my own? Where am I striving for rest and peace and fulfillment independent from God? Now, let those questions linger with you as we go on, because this is not the end of the story, friends. Wouldn't that be awful?

16:36Just walk out the door right now. It's not the end of the story. Self-reliance is futile, but God intervenes. And we learn that God-reliance is fruitful. Self-reliance is futile. God-reliance is fruitful. God has a different life to offer than striving on our own. And it starts with this. He gives to His beloved sleep.

17:06Now, this is the first aspect of blessing that's given in these psalms. And I think it's very revealing of God's character and of our need for Him to start with this. I bet many of you would love for someone that you love today to say to you, you've had a long week. Why don't you take a nap this afternoon?

17:35Dear ones, God invites you to rest. He invites you to rest. Isn't that wonderful? He knows that this is what we desperately need, but we never find on our own. We are tired, aren't we? From all of our building and defending, from our self-reliance. This rest, this sleep that the Lord gives His beloved, it represents all of the blessedness that He offers us when we come to Him. It's all wrapped up in that one word. Rest. Jesus said, come to Me. Come to Me.

18:21all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We can rest because He is building. And He is protecting. And He is working day and night. He doesn't sleep. He doesn't tire.

18:47There's more blessings to talk about, but first, we need to talk about how we receive this blessing. See, here's what I think that we think. What I think you think, if you're anything like the way that I think. We think this. Okay, I get it. I get it, Pastor. We're not supposed to build a house on our own. We're not supposed to watch the city on our own. We're not supposed to work on our own. So, relying on God is asking for God's help on what we're already doing.

19:19That's what we think. Listen, the blessing doesn't come by just asking Him to bless our work. God is not lady luck who sprinkles a little God pixie dust on our plans and makes them prosperous and fruitful. Or maybe you've seen this image in a movie of somebody at the craps table in a casino. And he brings his date over and he says, blow on the dice first and then I'll roll a minute. It'll be good luck. God is not there to blow on your dice.

19:57Now, you laugh, but you know you do it. I do it. I got my plans, God. Give me a little bit of that God energy. Psalm 128 says, blessed is everyone who fears the Lord. This means respect Him, worship Him, obey Him. And the next phrase clarifies this. The two phrases go together. Fears the Lord who walks in His ways. This is the challenge for us.

20:34One of Frank Sinatra's most famous songs speaks for all of us. We all want to get to the end of our life. I faced it all and I stood tall and I did it my way. That's what we want. We want to do things my way. Or if you're more of the Billy Joel fan, keep it to yourself. This is my life. Go ahead with your own life. Leave me alone. No matter the generation, the message is the same. We might be okay asking God to bless my life my way, but that's not the call of discipleship.

21:10The call of God is to give up on our way and to walk in His ways. That's how we're blessed by repenting and abandoning our independent, self-directed life and adopting His plans for our life. This is how we receive God's blessing. We say, I need a Savior and I can't save myself. I've reached the end. There is no more that I can do. And I've learned that it's all futile. Jesus, I need You to save me. And then right after that comes, lead me in Your ways.

21:53Not, thank You for saving me. Now bless all of the plans I've already written up for my life. Lead me in Your ways. But here's the good news. Blessed is everyone who does this. Everyone. Everyone means everyone. God doesn't discriminate. Anyone from any background, any nationality. Doesn't matter your education, your lineage, your past, your bank account. Anyone and everyone who fears the Lord and walks in His ways is blessed. Praise God indeed.

22:40Now as you're sitting with this and you're thinking, am I asking God to blow on my dice? Bless my plans? Remember, it feels scary. It always feels scary to put Him at the center. To let Him be the driver and the director of our life. But once we do, we're under His care. It shall be well with you, we're told here. It shall be well with you. He builds the house without impediment. He watches over the city without defeat. We are free from the anxious toil of our self-centered life.

23:22His ways are beautiful. Yes, it feels sacrificial. There's a little death involved. Maybe a lot of death involved. Death of self. But there's life. Oh, so much more life.

23:43So let's talk about how we're blessed in Him. God reliance is fruitful and we get there not by asking God to bless our plans, but as we get directed towards His ways. These psalms, they're not exhaustive about blessing. They focus on two specific ways that we're fruitful when we trust God. But I think it's helpful for us to focus in on these two. Here's how we're blessed in Him. First, we're blessed in our work. Look at verse 2 of each one of the two psalms.

24:22You'll notice quite a difference. On our own, verse 2 of 127 says, we are eating the bread of anxious toil. But verse 2 of the next psalm says, as we walk in His ways, we shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands. From futility to fruitfulness.

24:43But remember, we have adopted His ways and not our ways. Don't misread this. This is not a promise that you can start a business and it'll be profitable.

24:56This is a promise that when you step into the role He has for you in His kingdom, when you are a worker in His field, then your labor will bear fruit. That's the promise. Hold on to that promise.

25:12In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes this, Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in your work. No, in the work of the Lord. Knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Paul wasn't trying to see how many tents he could make in his lifetime, how many churches he could plant, how many books of the Bible he could write.

25:39God set the agenda for the work, the place for the work, the pace for the work, the goals for the work. God set all of that. Paul's job was to step into it and to give God glory along the way. And as long as he did that, he was content with whatever fruit he was able to see. You know that verse in Philippians, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That's about contentment. This is not about I can achieve my dreams. It's you can be content.

26:12Go up and read the verses ahead of that. It's about contentment in the Lord. He says, I've learned the secret of contentment in all circumstances. Because he knows he's in the Lord's will. He's following the Lord's ways. Whether he sees a lot of fruit or a little bit of fruit. And Paul saw both. He saw grapefruit and boy, he was chased out of places. Tried to be stoned. People hated him. Smeared his name. I have learned the secret of contentment.

26:44I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Paul had his eyes laser-beamed focus on the Lord's work and what he was calling him to. Do you have that focus? Make that your focus. And he blesses your work. When you follow God into the work he has for you, it will never be futile. You will never toil in vain. No matter what result you see, success or failure, God's purposes will stand. He never fails. The second blessing of these psalms is that we're blessed in our family.

27:25These psalms give us a very idyllic picture of home life. First of all, the companionship, partnership, support of marriage. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house. Children are mentioned even more in these passages. They're a heritage from the Lord. A reward.

27:51They're like olive shoots around your table. This is an apt picture because it takes 40 years for an olive tree to start bearing fruit. But the parents are still rejoicing about those shoots even though they are doing nothing but nourishing them. It's a one-sided relationship.

28:18But listen, all of that time and all of that investment, it's worth it because olive trees live for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years. There's an olive tree in Crete that is still producing olives and it's 3,000 years old. Isn't that amazing? In the ancient Near East, children and family were the equivalent of social security. There was no social security from the government. It was family. They were the means of security into old age. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, children guard against danger.

29:02It talks about the gate not being ashamed when you stand there with your enemies. At the gate is where business dealings would be done and judicial hearings would be done. A person who is elderly didn't have to worry about being taken advantage of because their family was there.

29:20Provision and protection just like God promised. Now, I have to say, remember, this is an idealized description. The Psalms fall under the wisdom genre. The wisdom genre, wisdom literature sometimes gives us generalized principles of life. Like the Proverbs. They don't take into account the consequences of sin, the fallen world, and the particular plans of God for each person. Okay?

29:57The statement, wear your seatbelt and you'll be safe, that's a true statement even though sometimes people who wear their seatbelts do get injured. Right? That's how the Proverbs work. Some people want to be married but are still single. Other people have children even though they've tried. Marriages and other family ties are strained or estranged or broken. And yet, the Word of God is still true.

30:30Psalm 127 and 128 are still true. We can believe Him when He says, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. We just need to reconsider our view of family. Just as God tells us that it's the work that He has for us that will be prosperous and fruitful. We need to think about the family that He has for us. We redefined our work into an understanding of His work. Let's redefine family into an understanding of what He has for us for family. Once Jesus was told that His mother and His brothers wanted to see Him and what did He do?

31:14He stretched out His hand toward all of His disciples and He said, here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother. Isn't that something?

31:32His biological kin were right outside. They want to see you. He says, I'm looking at my family. I'm looking at them right now. Whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven, that's my family. Just as Jesus sees us as His family, we are called to see each other that way. Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father. Younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters in all purity. We're called to serve each other, to love each other, to invest in each other's spiritual life.

32:11You can hear the song coming now. We're family. I got all my siblings with me. This new family is exactly what Jesus promised in the Scripture reading that Nicky read earlier. Let's go back there. Truly I say to you, remember, the disciples are worried. They're like, we gave up everything. Are we getting the raw end of a deal here? And Jesus says, no, no. Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the Gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children.

33:02This is what the church is supposed to be for each other. This is the answer to Jesus' prophecy. His promise. It's the family of God that is the ultimate fulfillment of this blessedness. What Jesus said and all the way back in Psalm 127 and 128.

33:28This is how God gives us provision, protection, and advocacy in this world. Turn to Acts 2, the end of Acts 2 and you'll see the early church just diving into these blessings headlong. They cannot believe the new community that they're in. Right? They're sharing everything.

33:53And all of this happens when you put your trust in Christ and you come under Him and you're part of this new humanity in Him. You're joined to your head, Jesus, and you're joined to one another. This is the blessedness. Do you have hands open to receive it? That's the question. It's not a question of how much blessings there are. It's a question of are those hands open? Lord, give me more. Give me the blessing of fruitful work that you call me to.

34:23Give me the blessing of family in your church and among your people that you've given me. I've got my hand open. You said blessed is the person who trusts in you. That's me. Bless me, Lord. Give me that blessing. Psalm 128 ends with a pronouncement. The Lord bless you from Zion. The blessedness we have now, it's going to be magnified and revealed even more in the future kingdom when we see Him and dwell with Him in Zion. There we will see the prosperity of Jerusalem.

35:04Heavenly Jerusalem as Hebrews 12 calls it. We're going to see our children's children. The people of God. Our spiritual family. Maybe somebody who you discipled and grew in the Lord that then went on to disciple other people. Right? You're going to be looking at those people saying, oh, I see. I see the heritage of faith that got passed down. It doesn't matter that they're not biologically my children. Spiritually, it's an offspring.

35:40I lost count of how many times I was looking in the New Testament and I saw Paul or somebody else call the church my child, my children. It's over and over and over. Paul believed that. He called Timothy my child. He saw himself as a spiritual father as he was pouring into Timothy. Who are your spiritual children? Who are your spiritual mothers and fathers? Who are your spiritual brothers and sisters? Lean into those relationships. God has given those to you to bless you.

36:15In the glorified state in the new heavens and the new earth, we're going to be worshiping the Lamb together. We will see our children's children. And there, my friends, we will be completely, fully, eternally blessed. Thank you.