Psalm 8. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants, you have ordained praise. Because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place. What is man that you are mindful of him? The son of man that you care for him. You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour. You made him ruler over the works of your hands. You put everything under his feet, all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. We've read a psalm this morning. I don't know if you often read psalms, but what you'll find if you read the psalms is that they cover many, many different topics, and not only that, but they pick up lots of different emotions. Sometimes the psalmist is extremely joyous and shouting for all he's worth and asking the drums to bang away as well to add to the sound, and other times he's weeping and lamenting and sometimes complaining, all kinds of things that come out in the psalms. And so some people read some psalms every day or a psalm every day because they cover so many different things. But the thing about the psalms is that they all speak from within confidence in God. It's very interesting. And so we all have to live in the world. Sometimes we're sick, sometimes we're well, sometimes we're happy, sometimes we're sad. Sometimes there's responsibilities, almost all we can manage, or more than we can manage. Sometimes people are telling lies about us behind our back. All kinds of things happen. And what's important is not just that those things happen, but you're able to see those things from God's point of view. And the psalms don't always start off that way, but they always end up that way. It's interesting. If you're angry, for example, today, whatever you do, don't not go to God. Go to God angry. If you're upset and anxious, don't wait until you're feeling okay to go to God. Go right now. and think your problem out in God's presence, and you'll be amazed at how understanding He is. And that's what the Psalms are. They're basically people in all situations of life coming to God. And here's a person who's dealing with the world. The Psalms have got a lot to do with the world, and so I've actually called this God and Us and the World. It's very helpful to think about God and us in the world, because this is talking about how majestic is your name in all the earth. That means it wouldn't matter if you're in Scotland, it wouldn't matter if you're in Afghanistan, it wouldn't matter if you're in America, it wouldn't matter where you were. It says all the earth, so it's actually talking about how majestic is your name in all the earth. It's talking about later on, it talks about the moon and the stars, and then it talks about all the sheep and the oxen. So it's a creation psalm in a way, talking about the creation. But not just about the creation, but about our place in the creation. But it not only talks about that, but it also talks about enemies. He says, out of the mouth of babes and infants you have established strength because of your foes. to still, that is to make quiet the enemy and the avenger. So here we're talking about a world, not just the one that God made, but the one we're trying to make. And you always know when we're trying to make something because we're angry when we can't get it. You look at an angry person, and you're looking at a person who can't get what they want. True? And so everybody wants something, and so they can't get it. Unless they know their son, they'll get angry. But here it's talking about the people God's stilling, that is, making them quiet, saying, there, there, lie down. Not quiet, but he's actually saying, I will bring all the hostility in the world to an end. So when talking about the world, we're talking just about nature, we're talking about the heavens, we're talking about the animals that we're responsible for, but we're also talking about the enemies that fight against us. We're really talking about the world, aren't we? The world we have to go to school in. where we have to work in, where we have to get our income from, from the government. We're talking about the world as it actually is and our place in it. So it's fairly significant. And God says his name is majestic in all the earth. Now that's not exactly what the world thinks because the world thinks that God in fact is absent. In fact he doesn't even exist, the world just happened. either by a big bang or according to some scientists, it always has existed eternally, it never was not. So the world doesn't see it that way, but this psalm is actually saying that God's glory, now if you look at the word glory, it actually means something that's shining bright, but it actually means a revelation of God, not just God, who's glorious, but the shining out of God so he can be seen. So God says, you can see me. It's interesting, isn't it? He's made his glory, he's established his glory above the heavens. In other words, it's higher than anything. He's not referring to in heaven where he lives. He's talking about the heavens where the sun and moon are. And he says, I've established my glory above the heavens. In other words, if you think the heavens are high, you haven't seen anything yet. You know, we talk about how many light years away some stars are. Well, God's greater than that. You know, His glory is greater than that, and it's not only greater than that, but it's evident. It's quite interesting. Now the world says, as I said, that God can't be seen or proved. Rather, it actually says He's irrelevant, in fact, or worse than that again, He's an opiate. You know what an opiate is, it's what you take drugs, it's what you take to blot the world out so you can just have a good time on a weekend. Well I hope you don't, but nonetheless it's what some people do. They take opiates or drugs of some kind to actually blot themselves out and so forth. So they're saying, some people say that God is an opiate. He puts people to sleep so they don't deal with real problems. That's what communism used to say, that religion is the opiate of the people. Have you heard that statement? That's what the communists were saying years ago, and that they were all about pie in the sky when you die by and by, and they weren't interested in changing the world now. So that's what the world thinks, it really does, and they are the people who are the enemies, and that not only the enemies, did you notice here, they are the avengers. It's interesting, isn't it? If people don't believe in God, they can't just go on not believing in God, they have to take on the people who do. Are you noticing that happening now? It's not just that people say, oh, you go to church. They say, you go to church? Do you follow what I mean? There's an implication of guilt that somehow or another, do you see that the world that doesn't believe in God actually becomes the enemy of God? They become avengers of the people. That is, they want to take some action against the people who I think are doing wrong. They're putting people to sleep when they should be busy trying to change the world. Do you follow? That's really what the psalm's talking about. So it really is talking about the world we're living in, isn't it? This psalm. And God says, in the midst of all of that, so I'm just giving you a summary of what the whole psalm's about, and then we can go back and look at it and see how it works out. The enemy in the Avengers, God says, in the midst of them, he's established his strength. So if the world is standing up and saying, you Christians have got it all wrong, and the God-believers are just a bunch of no-hopers who sit in churches and hold their hands and hope everything will work out alright, but don't actually do anything to change the world. And God says, no, I've established strength in the midst of my enemies. Now I like that, don't you? How has he done it? In the mouths of babes and infants. Now that's quite interesting. That's something that I don't know about you, but that's what I really want to happen. I want to see God's strong hand, don't you? Because I don't like the fact that my face, your face, is being attacked And I'd like God to do something about it. And God says, yes, Grant, yes. Out of your mouth. Babes and infants, that's a synonym for Christians, not just little children. We'll see how that works out as we go along. So that's what it's about. You can go home if you really like, because that's edition one. Now we're going to look at, see what it actually says as we go through. How is this so? I like that old Julius Sumner Miller program way back in my youth, the science program. And so he'd talk about something that happened in welding. Why is it so? I like that question. How is it so? Well, let's have a look and see if we can work out how this works out, because as I say, it's very important, isn't it? Well, how is God's name majestic in all the earth? It doesn't seem to be. Many people say, not only is it not so, God's name looks actually not only weak but irrelevant and not even true. So how is God's name majestic in all the earth? The world won't acknowledge it. They won't acknowledge God because he can't be subjected to our scrutiny and our proof. I have a friend in our family who is not a Christian, and he's very quite knowledgeable, and he says, I'm just interested in facts. Facts. Science is his whole world, and he's a very good scientist, in fact. And so if it can't be subjected, and that was Bertrand Russell, who's very strong about that thing, but if it can't be proved to be factual, then it doesn't exist, it's not there. So miracles don't happen. There's no such thing according to Bertrand Russell and many people that live today. And the reason is because God cannot be subjected to our scrutiny and proof. We'd like to be in the upper hand, looking down our microscopes. not up at Him. Do you follow? The direction of looking is very important there. We want everything to be under us, subject to our scrutiny. But God's not like that. He's not subject to our scrutiny. He's not subject to our proof. He just is, and He doesn't feel He has to be subject to our scrutiny or to our proof. In fact, God is clearly evident in the things that have been made. That's what Paul says in Romans, isn't it? The things that have been, that exist, are clear evidence of God's eternal power and deity. That's the facts that he is. If any of you are interested, type into your web search at home, Sinclair Ferguson and Proofs of God, probably, and you might get a talk. And if you can't find it, then I'll send you the link. There's a very, very helpful talk by a guy called Sinclair Ferguson, no double letters, F-E-R-G-U-S-O-N. Sinclair Ferguson, and he just simply talks about the fact that the world can't see that there is a God and where the atheists really are placed and what God says about them. It's a very helpful article and helpful for young people in particular. So if you can't find that link, tell me afterwards and I'll send it to you. But the fact is we can look at the world and God says, you know, And we say, no we don't. And God says, yes you know. And the point here is that the last day, when we actually die, and we're actually in God's presence, nobody will say, oh but it wasn't clear enough. And my schoolteacher at Scotland Valley, the old teacher, said so-and-so and so-and-so because I didn't have a chance. And God said, nobody will say that because when we see God we'll know we knew. We're kidding ourselves if we say we didn't know. God says we do, and on the last day we'll know that we did. We can look at the skies and the immensity of them, and we can look at the natural world, because it says here, when I look at the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place, And then he talks about that. And then he says, you have given us dominion over the works of your hands, things you've put under his feet, sheep, ox, and beasts of the field. It's interesting, if we don't have this truth, we can't tell the difference between animals and ourselves. That's happening. And the reason is because we need a God to tell us we're greater than animals. Logic won't do it. It should be obvious enough, but God tells us that we've got responsibility for the animals. We're not just one with them, we are over them. We can look at the skies, we can look at the natural world, and we see that they're behind all this as a creator. So I like to say that when David Attenborough comes on, and if I've got nothing else to watch, I might watch David Attenborough, and he conducts family worship for me. And he's saying, evolution, evolution, and I'm saying, God, God, God, and I'm saying, you beaut, come on Attenborough, tell me another one, tell me another one, it's great. Don't you think? He's a marvellous photographer, he had working for him, didn't he? to find out all these little intricacies of the creation, and so behind all things is a creator. What can be known about God is plain to them, but the world's got a vested interest in there being no God, because frankly, if God can make everything... I mean, just think about that. If it's true, everything. Anything you make, you start with something. But if you start with nothing, what can you make? God made everything. And you think of all the detail. You think of the immensity. And you think of the microscopity. Is that a word? No, I don't know. You think of the smallness of things, that's better. So small, and so big. And if there's a God that made all of that, then miracles aren't the slightest problem at all, because you've got a miracle every day you draw breath. for someone to make it, it's a miracle. So other miracles aren't a problem. And the reason we don't, we've got a vested interest in there not being a God, because we don't want to have to acknowledge that somebody else is greater than ourselves. And we don't want to acknowledge that we're responsible to somebody else, and that we'll have to give an answer for how we live. So if you don't want to face your judge, you have to deny your creator. That's where atheism comes from. Not from the evidence, but from the necessity to not have a God. So, there's the situation that we're actually in. And now it says that God silences these enemies through babies. As I've said, this is a metaphor for believers who are otherwise helpless. Now, as somebody pointed out, and very helpfully, it's Palm Sunday today. It's the day when we celebrate the fact that Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. And you remember that some people on the day He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, complained and said, keep quiet, they're actually attributing something to you that they shouldn't attribute to him. And Jesus quoted this psalm. And because it was in the temple, and there were some children who got caught up in the euphoria of their parents, and they were shouting out as well, and the high priests and the scribes and all the others, they wanted it all to stop because they didn't like this family fund in the temple all around Jesus. And they said, keep them quiet, tell them, they're your followers, tell them to be quiet. He said, He says, haven't you read what it said in this psalm 8? Out of the mouths of babes and infants you've ordained praise. Interesting isn't it? People who actually believed in him on that day he quoted this psalm about them. So it's a psalm about believers in Jesus Christ. Now it's interesting, a child is so simple. I hope that you, however old you are, you never lose your interest in children because children do so much for us, don't they? They haven't lost their curiosity about life. They're still in a position where they have to look up and they're excited about finding out new things. And I think if you've got so used to life being just Same old, same old. Go and look at a child and just realize that life's meant to be constantly interesting. Because God's constantly interesting. And you can look up and you can find so many different things. And Jesus was like that. You know, he said, come to me all you that are weary and heavy laden. I talk to guys that go to work. And they talk about the issues that they have to face at work and the infighting that goes on there. And a lot of it has to do with self-justification. Everybody wants to be right. True. And when you get a bunch of people that all want to be right, then you, by nature of the case, got the fertile field for arguments. And in the midst of that, come to me, you, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, Jews at the time would have been heavy laden because of the Pharisees giving them so many rules. And he said, come to me, for I am meek and lowly of heart. Jesus is like a child. That's what he's saying. Isn't that interesting? He's still interested in his father. He's still interested in life. He's still got hope and joy. And so he, because he's able to look up and forward and have hope. So he's meek and lowly at heart and he says, come to me and you will find rest for your souls. Now that's lovely, isn't it? Here is an invitation to be like a child from Jesus, who himself is like a child. Now compare the world. The world is constantly trying to take credit for things. You know the art of politics, don't you? If you ever want to get into politics, I can tell you the art of politics. The art of politics is to be able to guess what the trend is, and then put a program in place that it looks like you caused it. That's very naughty and a bit... But anyway, and I'm sure there's many good politicians who'd squirm a bit and say, no Grant, you've got that wrong. And there may be many politicians who don't live that way. But nonetheless, it's a cynical view of what politics is about, seeing what the trends are going to happen and then put a plan in place that makes it look like you caused it. Well, we all work, but it's not just the politicians. We all would like to think that we are the people. who caused something good to happen. True? I had a very lovely conversation with our son recently. We just had a wonderful conversation one evening. He'd come over to give a hand, a move, and we were just having a chat around the table in the evening. It had been just a lovely warm-hearted conversation. And I looked at my son and I said, called him by a name, I said, if you think that the reason we've had this good conversation is that I think it's because I've been such a good dad, I said, you'd have it 100% wrong. We didn't have a wonderful relationship because I've been a good dad. We have a wonderful relationship because God has been gracious to us, to give it to us. And I could have imagined my son saying to me, ah, good on you dad, at last you're fessed up about the fact you weren't all that good. But what he said next was very interesting. He said, that's a relief. He's in the same boat with teenagers. And he knows that he doesn't have to be a perfect dad to get a wonderful outcome. Who's responsible for your life? You or your creator? It makes a lot of difference where you're looking. One's a life, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, trying to be good. You heard about the little boy found praying alongside his bed, and he prayed a very interesting and very honest prayer. He said, Lord, please make all the bad people good, and please make all the good people nice. There's something awful about a person being good, or a person trying to tell you that they are. Don't ever be a preacher and tell people you're a preacher, because you get a whole lot of stories about how good people are. They tell you, because they think you're all about being good, and they want to show that they are. It's a restless existence, and it's all because we don't have a God on the earth. So the world says, and there's a very interesting quote in Isaiah 48, God says, I've arranged things in such a way that you couldn't have guessed it, lest you say that my idol did it. The reason why things have worked out well is because we did this, we did this, we did this, and so now see? Do you follow? That's the world. They say the world did it. We all need to look up and see our life and our world as the work of another and entrust ourselves to him. That's how Jesus lived. And he had more on his plate than anybody ever had on their plate. And he never did anything but what he saw the Father doing. Never took any credit for anything. It was God that was in Christ reconciling the world. It wasn't just Jesus being a good man. The Father wanted to do this for the world. He was representing the Father's goodness, not his own. Isn't that wonderful? What a relaxed way to live, to know that God is good and we don't have to bother trying to be good. Well, we just do good things, but you know what I mean? We don't have to be the good people. So God uses the foolish things to confound the wise. Isn't that interesting? That's quoting 1 Corinthians 1. He uses the foolish things of the world. So here we are, we've got a world, and there's antagonism out there in the world, and God's going to establish strength in the midst of his enemies and the avenger? And who's he going to use? He's going to use us. And are we going to muscle up to be ready for it? No, we're going to live very simply as Christians and let our lives be the vehicle for God at work. Isn't that lovely? And God will still, that means it will work, He will still the enemy and the avenger. by the word of a little child. In fact, there's a very practical example. Before we get on to the next stage of this, there's a very practical example in Philippians 1, and my wife told me the other day she really liked this particular verse. Philippians 1, verse 28, Paul says, don't be in anything terrified by your adversaries. Here's the big wide world out there with all the people that hate the Christians, you see. Don't be in anything terrified by your adversaries. which is to them an evident token of their damnation and of your salvation. Here we are, you're in school, they say, what did you do yesterday? Go to church. Oh, good heavens! Get a life, woman! What? Do you know what I mean? That's what they'll say, isn't that true? And what do we say? Well, we don't mean anything terrified by our adversaries. which is to them an evident token meanings. There's clear evidence in you that they're going to hell. That's what it's saying. Now you don't have to say to them, you're going to hell. Do you know what I mean? That's a catch phrase they'll try and get you to say. Do you believe I'm going to hell? Don't ever answer that question, it's a catch question. They're only trying to get you over a barrel. You don't need to say it. It's already been said by you just being confident. Isn't that lovely? It's an evident token of their damnation and of your salvation. It's very powerful when a little kid looks up and praises God. is to say that the students at university years ago, I remember saying this at Adelaide University years ago when I was working with students, don't ever think that you sitting here having a meeting with a Bible study in the midst of this great big university at the time with 12,000 students, it's got a lot more now, but 12,000 students at the time. Don't ever think that this group of 60 or 120 people, whatever it was, sitting having a Bible study, is a small thing. This is the most significant thing happening on this university. People sitting meekly, hearing the word of God. Do you see that? We all need to look up because this is very significant. We need to go into it in just a little bit more detail. How does a Christian come to see the world in this particular way? Very important. It's not just talking about principles here, we're talking about a power that can actually work in your life. to bring you to this place of contentment and joy and effectiveness before God. How does a Christian come to see the world and God in it in this way? He sees, first of all, how small he or she is. When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you've set in place, We're not talking about the world looking at this now, we're talking about you and me, looking at nature, looking at the world. When I consider how great it is, what is man, what is mankind that you're mindful of him, or that you set your love upon him? In other words, he's not seeing himself as a nobody, he's saying, God, I know you're interested in me. Why? Do you see that? It's not a, I'm a nobody, I'm a worm because the world's so big. It's actually, the world is so big, so God, why are you interested in me? That's what the question is, isn't it? I live with that all the time, don't you? That on the one hand, I know God is so great, and I say my prayers, and I think, what an incredible thing. The creator of the universe is listening to me. Do you ever get, Awed with that? Because that's what's happening here, isn't it? Well, just live as a creature. That's the beginning part here. Just be who you are. You're a creature. You may be made by somebody. And that somebody who made you is vitally interested, not only in looking after you, but in having you as something as so significant that the Avengers are going to have to take notice. Nobody's unimportant. The least believer can be highly effective in God's sight. That's what it's saying. out of the mouth of babes and infants, you've ordained praise in the presence of your enemies, in the presence of your avengers." So we see how small we are and we wonder at that. Secondly, we hear our calling. What is man that you're mindful of him? And he says, you've made him, he answers his own question in verse 5, you've made him little lower than the angels. Now that's what my Bible says, but it's actually the word the plural for gods. And so it could just as easily be translated, you have made us little lower than God, which happens to be true. It's interesting, isn't it? This is quoted in Hebrews, and in Hebrews it quotes the Greek version, if you're interested in this, and so it mentions angels, not God. But the most likely translation of this verse in Hebrew is, you have made us little less than God. What do we mean by that? Because obviously we're not creators. Not at all. We're so insignificant in regard to the sum total of what's been made. But what are we? It actually says we're made little less than God and we've been crowned with glory and honour. So what he means by little less than God is God says, well, I've made this world, right? Now I've made you. Now, here it is. You look after it. That's what he means by being a little less than God. He's crowned us with glory and honor and said, look after all that. We're not just blobs. We are agents. One of the meanings of image of God is actually, if the old stories have got an idolatry background, that is being spoken to people who before were idolaters, he says when God makes an image, you know you had a territory and here was your territory. And then you put, and there's all the other countries around about you, and you would put an image of yourself as a king there, and you put an image of yourself there, and you put an image of yourself there, and you'd say, this is my territory. That's one possible meaning of image. That's, I don't know if it's the only one, but it's an interesting one, isn't it? God says, you're my image. You are the mark that I own this place, because I've put you in charge of it. Not interesting. Whether that's actually true or not, I can't vouch for it, but nonetheless, it is very helpful as a way of thinking about it. But certainly we are the image of God. Everything that God is, we are like that. But everything that God is, we are not that. We are not God. But everything that God is, we are like that. Why? Not so we can just watch television. And not so we can be the best game player in the schoolyard. but so that we can actually take this creation and use it for holy purposes. It's interesting, isn't it? We're meant to actually do the best we can at our courses. We're actually meant to be the best that we can be at our work. We're best to be able to make the best apricot tarts in the whole church. We're meant to be really good at something or other. Now, don't ask me to dance. I just can't do it. I like watch people dance, but don't ask me to dance. That's just not my trade. I can't do it. But I can do some other things. And we're all good at something. And whatever we're good at, God wants to be the best we possibly can, and God wants us to be able to use that for the welfare of other people. And God wants us to be interested in what other people can do, because what's to be done has to be done by lots of people, not just us. I wouldn't like to be a surgeon, but I'm sure glad there are surgeons, otherwise my right arm wouldn't be in the air, it'd be down here, because a surgeon connected this bit, you see? So we'd like surgeons to be good, wouldn't we? What about you? What are you going to be good at? Do you follow? This is a practical consequence, isn't it? He's actually put us in charge of something or other, to be something meaningful in the creation that can be useful. Sometimes people wanted to go overseas and be useful overseas by, you know, taking the riches of the West over to another country. And I say to them, well go and get a trade first, and go and get a profession first, so when you go you've got something to give. Don't just go. You've got to have something to give, and so God wants us to be useful in the creation. And there's so much to do. We'll always be able to spend our life doing that. And if we can't, when you get to the stage and you can't do anything else, you can always pray for other people. You see? You're never unoccupied. So we see that we have a calling. We've been crowned with glory and honour. And we're meant to subdue this creation and take it with us into the holiness. God says, fill all the earth. so that there'll be lots of people to manage the world. Well, the third thing, first of all, we see our smallness, we see the importance of our calling. Thirdly, we feel the shame of not achieving this. I hope you feel shame sometimes. Like I did when I said to my son, if you think that this is because I think I've been a good dad, you've got it all wrong. I was confessing my shame. Right? Have you been the person you should be? No? Everybody's stony faced, now I've got to give away a thing, have you? Never done less than your best? Well, the world is feeling shame. Think about it from the world's point of view. They're feeling shame, aren't they? We, you know, we're not being kind to refugees. We're not solving the problems for the old people in the nursing homes. And we get a constant dose of guilt from the media all the time, isn't that right? In fact, some people feel that the politics, and this was a book written about 60 or 70 years ago, it talked about the politics of guilt and pity and said that's basically where Western economies are going. We work our politics on keeping people feeling guilty, and then they'll get involved with the programs. You see, guilt's a weapon that is actually used. And the world feels it because we haven't done everything we should have done in the creation. Is that right? We're watching it all the time actually happening. We haven't cared for the disabled. We haven't welcomed the refugee. We haven't removed poverty and so forth. And what about ourselves? Well, I suppose we'd have to say there are some times we've done less than our best. We've ignored a need that we could have actually met. To him who knows that he can do good and ignores it, that's a sin. So says John. But do you ever notice that shame does not lead to solutions? Neither will the shame that the politicians try to put on us so that we vote for them. It won't work. It won't matter whether it's from the left or the right. We're not into politics here. It's just that it won't work, because shame is not a work. Can you see that God has come into this world? Now this Psalm 8 is directly applied to Jesus in Hebrews 2, and you probably know it, don't you? And it says, we do not yet see Jesus lifted high and lifted up. He says, we don't yet see Jesus having solved all the world's problems. But we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, that's a little lower than God or a little lower than angels, made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honour because or for the suffering of deaths, that he may taste deaths for everyone. And he is seated at the right hand of God. Now that's a real summary, a quick summary of Hebrews 2. Can you see that Jesus has stepped in this world? He's pulled on a pair of pants or a skirt or whatever you like, doesn't matter if it's female or female here, male or female here. God has come into this world as a human being and he says, I'm a human being. What's the need of the world? The need of the world is that the world is guilty. The need of the world is that the world feels ashamed because they're not standing up and being men and women like they should be. And they can't live with it. So I'll live with it for them. That's being a man. Seeing your neighbor's need. Not being big and solving the world's problems, but seeing your neighbor's need and meeting it. And he saw that the great need of the world was our own guilty consciences that keeps us looking down on ourselves all the time and never allows us to rise to our true nobility. He saw that that's where we were cowering and he said, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden with your guilt, and I'll give you rest for your souls. Meek and lowly in heart, looking up at God, the great creator. If you like, he rolled up his sleeves and said, let's get this done. And he hung on a cross. And there's the big job of the world being done for you. That's work. It's addressing the problem. It's speaking to the problem. And he took it like a child. And that's what you believe. You have a truth that the world needs. The world is torturing itself, trying to be good, trying to fix the problems, trying to subdue the problems. And God has not designed the world to be solved by us, but by us being children in his presence. Come to me, says Jesus. He's the true human being. And he's the one who stands in the middle of the world right now, and he stills the enemy and the avenger. And you, as his simple servant, believing that, can go out and it may even be that you will still the enemy and the avenger by bearing witness to Christ. Powerful stuff. And it's dealing with the world and our part in the world and God being actually in his own world. Dear Father, thank you that you have created us to be wonderful creatures. We have confessed, Father, the shame we feel, and yet this morning, Father, it's like we're not even troubled about it because Christ has been troubled in our place and brought us back from shame to glory. And here we are, Father, in your presence, called special by no less than you, and granted to live still in this world to be your servants, and grant that we shall be for your name's sake. Amen.