Pentecost 8 (A): Resting on the Rock When Life is Hard

[Music] Welcome to "Same Old Song" the weekly "Lectionary Podcast of Mockingbird Ministries". I'm Aaron Zimmerman, your co-host. I'll be joined by Jacob Smith as we break down the Bible passages for the upcoming Sunday. Whether you're in the pulpit or in the pews, we always bring in back to the good news of God's grace. For real people, like you. [Music] Jake, here we are recording a little bit before the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. But this is not for that. This is for Sunday, July 19th, the 8th Sunday after Pentecost. But before we get into these texts, how are you? This is what our listeners really/viewers really want to know. Well, I'm doing great. And I just got back from 19 days of "Frolican Across Anatolia" and "Asia Minor" and "Down in Degrees". So following St. Paul's Second Missionary Journey, I do not think we missed a single step. And of course, St. Paul traveled by luxury buses we did. So it was great. But the highlight, man, if you ever get a chance, go to Capodosha and take a balloon ride. It's something else. Yeah, what. Did that always happen to you just happen to be there? I saw the pictures on the social meds. Was that just a coincidence that you were there? No, the Capodosha's where you have the church bothers. No, no, no, no. Was the coincidence that you happened to be there during the Balloon Festival? Oh, no. They do Balloon rides every day. That's like a major. It's just because of the. Because the stone weather pass. Amazing. The stones, it's really beautiful. So lots of people do their wedding pictures there. They get married out there. It's a stone and talking about it. There's a giant lava lava. You know, there was a five billion years ago. There was a volcanic eruption. And so the rock formations, they're incredibly beautiful. And then the second largest mountain in Turkey is just off on the horizon. It's just a little. It's quite a. It's picturesque, as they say. But also the history is very rich. And so, you know, that's where St. Basil, the Great, and Gregory of Nissen, Gregory of Nissen, the Annemberer there. And the Annemberer formulated the. Really articulated the theology of the Trinity and that the Holy Spirit is God. And so. But overall, just following those footsteps is just a powerful reminder that our faith is actually rooted in facts. And not in Galaxy Far, Far Away, or in the land of the Nephi and the Lamanites, but actually in a real place called Ephesus, called Troy. You know, and so it was cool. And so. Great pilgrimage, just a few hiccups, but nothing that won't. Those will definitely make the television show, but I will go into that at another time. So, how are you? I mean, St. Paul had some hiccups too on his journey. Yeah, I'm getting arrested or whatnot. So, and how are you? I'm doing all right. If anybody is viewing this on the YouTube, you'll see that I am not in my normal location. I'm not in the office. I am at my farm in North Carolina. I'm in the upstairs bedroom that was used by my great-and-cate. One of the original rooms in the house. There was like little fireplace over there in the corner. Wow. And the more right great-grandfather would, you know, start the fires every night to keep the house warm. So, that's where I am. And I've been cleaning out all kinds of spaces that previous generations did not. But that have been like. Great-great-grandpa Zimmerman. That would have been great-grandpa Zimmerman. And, yeah, he built the house. And like. He got the land at 1892. He built the house in 1893, four, something like that. And then it got added on to him and significantly. Success of generations. So, the floor plan is crazy. The wiring is like a mix of, you know, knob and tube. And some more modern. And it's just. Yeah, it's a big old Frankenstein house. So, just trying to keep it all fixed. So, but that's. I think I will say, kind of, same old song related. My home church where I was confirmed, where I grew up in the faith, was St. Paul's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. So, shout out to Dixon Kinzer, the director there. We were in Youth Group together a long time ago. Also an alumnus of our seminary, Jacob. But Dixon has invited me to preach at their Wednesday, Eucharist. Last summer when I was here, and then this summer. And it's just been a real sweet thing to kind of be in that space. And the place where I felt a cold ministry, and the place where I was confirmed. And that Youth Group was really important in my life. But last summer, I preached there. And the lady in the congregation felt like the sermon was helpful and good. And so, she did some internet searching. And now, as far as I can tell, she was there this past Wednesday when I was there. And she said, "Now you're an app on my phone," which I think means she found the podcast and is a listener to that. So, you know, just outspread in the same old song, "Connections." And the shout out also to Megan and Geneva, who is another same old song listener, who said that she benefits from the work that we're doing. So, from North Carolina to Turkey to Geneva, we're reaching all kinds of places, Jake. So, let's get into it. All right. So, we've got, this is the 8th Sunday after Pentecost. We're deep into the summer months here. And we're looking for this Sunday at several great readings. We're doing track two. And since we have a strict no-apocalyptic policy on same old song, we'll be not talking about the wisdom of Solomon. Now, following the 39 articles, view of the apocryphal text. So, we'll be talking about Isaiah 44, 6 through 8. And then we'll look at Romans 8, 12 through 25. And we get a reference to Abba there, which is Dave Zoll's favorite. Dan. We have Matthew 13, 24 through 30, comma space, 36 through 43. So, we're still-- All right. We're still-- We're still-- We're still some verses there. We get the weeds and the wheat or the wheat and the tears depending on you look at it. All right. And then with Isaiah, chapter 44, verses 6 through 8, "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I'm the first in the last, besides me, there is no God who is like me. And then do not fear or be afraid. Have I not told you from a old and declared it, you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? There is no other rock, not even Dwayne the rock, Johnson. I know not one. Jake. What's the setting here? You taught on this? What's the setting? Yeah. So, this is 6th century BC. This is the people of Israel have been exiled into Babylon. This is also kind of around the rise of the Persian Empire is gaining strength. And basically, the Israelites have lost. They are like last night I watched Croatia lose to Portugal in the World Cup. And it was like heart breaking because they thought they scored a goal to tie it and go into extra time. But then it turns out it was offside, which I don't even know what it means. But they could measure with some sort of microchip in the ball. Some dude touched it and so the goal did not count. And you saw people go from like, I mean, I've never seen people go from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat so fast. People were like weeping tears of joy. They were just going absolutely bananas. Like God had shown their his favor to them by giving them this miracle goal in the last minutes of the game. You know, over Ronaldo who's like, you know, he's upset now because then it was tied to two who's going to extra time. But then they did the analysis and saw that no it was offside and so the goal was nothing. So then it went back to 2 to 1 and Croatia lost. And then people were weeping like tears of like just total abject agony and like, you know, they totally, I mean, victory was snatched from them at the last minute. Or at least, yeah, so this is how I mean, just if you want to get emotionally what's happening here, Israel was exiled, which basically means Yahweh lost like their God, I think it was the greatest God of all the gods. It was awesome. Like, through some fell. They were exiled. The whole Israel project was just complete failure. And now they're an exile in Babylon. But God is still speaking to them through Isaiah and he says, look, I am the first and the last. There is no God because they're thinking that the Babylonians, God's maybe they're the winners. You know, maybe they should switch to their side or something. God is saying, look, I am still here. Don't be afraid. And there's the existential connection. When you feel like God has let you down or things haven't worked out. I think the first thing, and you know, Jesus says this over and over in the New Testament, but this is something that, you know, throughout the scriptures and you see it here, don't be afraid. Like, it can be really tempting to look at the current situation and think that God has abandoned you. But God says, no, I am the rock. I do not move. I'm still here. I will be. And he's about to compare. There's a section after this, which is kind of looks at the, the futility of idols that they're just, you know, basically their paper mache. They're, they're like a high school science project. They're wood and metal and there's nothing really there. verses the rock, the God of Israel, solid, real, authentic, true, eternal. And so that's what the rock imagery is kind of setting up to do to compare these, the puppets which are basically idols to the real God of Israel. So I think, yeah, that's where I would go with that kind of the, when you feel like you've lost and where is God? God reminds you that he is there and he's with you and this kind of reminder to not be afraid. And I think obviously if as a Christian preacher, you want to take this to Jesus and show how ultimately God does redeem because this is just kind of the middle of the story. This is, you know, there's still a lot more to come here. Yeah, no, I think those are all like very great points. And I love this that God declares to them fear not. Like are you kidding? Like Babylon is, yeah, it's a serious, no, Babylon is right on their heels. And they're an exile and all of these things are failure all across the board. And God speaks to them in this, in their lack and he says fear not. And I love that because the declaration to fear not is not rooted in our ability to conquer fear, but in the promises that God has made. And so this is this is the very powerful thing is that they have every reason to be afraid, but yet God addresses them with the promise rooted in his own faithfulness. And this and this faithfulness is demonstrated in that there's no one else like him. I'm the first, I'm the last besides me, there is no God. You know, this is the declaration that that he doesn't display necessarily his power in our victory and in our eye points, but he's uniquely found in our weakness and with his people in their suffering. He's not only with them, but he's for them in that. And that I think ultimately begins to point this if we're preaching on this text to the cross. This is where it is. I'm the first, I'm the last beside me, there is no God. God declares his absolute sovereignty, his greatest revelation of himself in the humiliation that is the cross. The one who says, I'm the first and the last is the same Lord who allows himself to be mocked, condemned and crucified. Luther, when commenting and thinking about preaching about this, tying it into the theology of the cross, observed that God oftentimes hides himself under what appears to be weakness. Human wisdom expects God to be triumphant and to human weakness, wisdom expects kind of glory, but God's glory looks like the crucified Lord with you in your lowest point and for you in your lowest point. And this ultimately is Isaiah season verse 8. He says, and then you are my witnesses. This good news creates within us the ability to witness to something profound, witness to something that the world needs. And that is not our achievement, but rather God's forgiveness and God's grace and mercy given to people who do not deserve it. And so I think ultimately that this passage points us to Jesus who's found in humility and weakness, meeting us right where we are at in our own humility and weakness. Meeting us right when we thought that the victory was in hand like Croatia and but in reality, it was all loss. That is where God is found saying fear not for I am with you. Yeah, totally. And there's a great connection here. This isn't the New Testament reading for this Sunday, but that kind of the first and the last very much alpha omega kind of thing, kind of image, which obviously Jesus uses to describe himself in the book of Revelation. So there's a clear tie to say, you know, Jesus is here in this Isaiah passage in that kind of language. And this is the redeeming God who's there forever. So yeah, a lot of great stuff in this Isaiah 44 passage. Yeah, but you got out of the context, like people are suffering, people are lost, people feel like they have lost everything. And it's in that space that God speaks. This isn't just like because that is when I think often the temptation to idolatry is so strong when you feel like your God has failed you or when you feel like life hasn't turned up the way you want you are you are ripe for the temptation to like some quick fix some new system, some shiny new thing, some motivational speaker, some new fitness plans, some new whatever. I am, you know, one of the things that I'm going through all these old boxes at this farm, like there's a certain family member of mine that was basically always this person was open to any motivational speaker plan for health, multi-level marketing, whatever system I found an unopened box that this person paid almost $200 for in the mid 1990s, which was even more money than that it is now for like basically how to how to make your life great. This it was like it was basically like doctor Nick from the symptoms like doctor Nick system for healthy living and and prosperity and success. And so this $200 kit was a binder of like advice and pseudo medical science and a cassette tape that didn't even have a case it was just a loose cassette tape that you could listen to this guy's talks. And it's like and I found so many things like that in this in going through these boxes weight loss plans or this will be the ticket to financial success if you sell these products to these people again some of it's just like unopened and unused. And to me it's just an indication of the human system. I even found like records from the 1920s like when records were like thick I don't know what like a record you listen to and it's like motivational speeches to lose weight from the 1920s. Like it's like the temptation to find some system this is as old as time and and it's especially when people are feeling weak or lost or abandoned or things haven't worked out and it's just fascinating to me. And again this is why God has to speak to them in their exile in their loss and to say don't fear I'm with you and also I am the real thing baby. I have one of those motivational records from the 1960s someone gave it to me as a gift and it's called selling the sizzle and I think that that's the wonderful thing. That's the new tagline for Calvary St. George's selling the sizzle. Give it a stir. We're not selling anything what the gospel creates are witnesses and what this rock creates is a witness by which with a message that we can hang our whole lives on. We're not selling a sizzle. We are proclaiming a message and we're witnessing to a message and so and this I think leads us right into kind of the fruits of that message in Romans that we see today with St. Paul. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to reveal to us. There's a few things said before that but I just I mean I love that. Yeah yeah this passage you know Paul has been going through this whole thing and Romans 6, 7. Oh I did the thing I'm supposed to here there we go. So but about how do we understand the Christian life in light of the gospel the total forgiveness we have in Christ. This imputed righteousness is alien righteousness given to us as a gift not from our own thing that we're saved by grace and not through works and then that whole thing of life that's true like do we just keep sinning so that there'll be more grace do we not have to try hard to do anything and so Paul just is kind of explaining what does the Christian life look like what does sanctification do use a Bible word or and a big word look like and he says here that it's he wants to get into what the work of the Holy Spirit is and he says you know you can live according to the flesh which doesn't necessarily mean you know we tend to think of that in terms of like gluttony or sexual sin like bodily sins or whatever when you live according to the flesh it's really living according to the law because your flesh wants things to do to perform to make God happy and for Paul like flesh is also an indication of like circumcision which was a fleshly thing that you did to kind of follow God's rules and so all these things it's kind of a a a shorthand for kind of works based self-centered ego-based kind of righteousness and he says the alternative is living according to the spirit which is you know you're forgiven you know you're loved you know you have been given this gift of righteousness and the spirit dwells in you and and he says you know you you have this and so this makes this children of God and this is not a spirit of slavery but a spirit of adoption so we're not like Cinderella working for the evil stepmother you know our work has never done and we have to live in the basement and that's how many people feel like their spiritual life is like oh it's so hard it's so terrible like God's never happy with me I'm always working to make God happy and I know plenty of people that say almost wake up they came from churches that were kind of like that God has never really fully satisfied that's that's the spirit of slavery that's kind of Cinderella pre-prince charming versus spirit of adoption. Like we are totally accepted and like we are now children and like we don't live in the basement we have our own room in the main house and we're loved and so we can cry of a father and and and Paul says that this is the spirit of God the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believers to remind you again and again that you are not a slave you're not doby the house elf working for God you are his child his beloved daughter or son and air so you're you're in the will you'll get all the good stuff so it's it's a great reminder of like again this question of like what if we sin and shoot like grace is real do we have to do it it's like no no you're for you're missing the whole thing the whole thing is that you are a child of God fully adopted fully loved you can cry of a father you have a spirit of adoption you don't have to be afraid anymore you don't have to live based on the trauma or whatever and now you are you can rest in that which totally changes the equation so anyways what do you think Jacob about this where do you go now I think and that flows perfectly into the next section which begins of our sites for a consider that the suffering of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is about to be revealed to us you know for me to say that you know especially if you're going through a tough time you're like oh that's great Jake you love on Grammarcy Park you know but um uh you know Paul and I was reminded of this as we went through Ephesus and saw where he was mulled and we went to Lidia, Philippi where he was like from in jail and uh Corinth where he got beat up again and you're just like good lord you know um Paul did not live his best life now I love that you think your best reading for bad this is like yeah I remember there was this funny article in the Babylon B that said Joel was being shocked by reading the Bible for the first time yeah wow it's a lot suffering it here yeah but I mean you know the fact of the matter is is never diminish what you're going through you know what I mean there's oh I've always heard people there like well at least you know I don't live in Gaza you know at least you know what I mean and the truth is is that like your life can be a trial as well suffering is real um and the nice thing and the powerful thing about Paul saying is that he really was speaking from a place of experience and uh and he reminds us that this just isn't about like the human all of creation is going through this and that ultimately all creation will be made right and he compares all of this pain and struggle uh not to just you know something abstract but he uh he um he compares it to the groaning that comes from childbirth and there's a very important there's an important reason for that illustration and that is because um as any lady knows not not the you know you and I excluded childbirth is a pain and it is incredibly incredibly difficult but it is a pain that leads to new life the extremes are present here and the incredible pain and joy that comes upon you when that child is born is unspeakable and this is the good news that awaits us as well with the redemption of our bodies you know um uh the pain that we are going through the groaning that is happening it's not going to have the final say rather redemption and the glory that will be revealed is going to have the final say and uh that promise given to us by the god who as Isaiah saw you know is the beginning and the end the alphan the omega that promise that comes with his faithfulness creates hope within us uh hope you know that has been rooted in a promise not a personal decision but a promise that comes with baptism it comes with holy communion and it comes through this preaching of the word it enables us to sit and wait uh because hope is never realized um you know what I mean in the moment but it enables us to sit and wait because we have a god who is faithful to all of his promises yeah this is the passage that I was the kind of center of my talk uh a muck and were conference a few years ago where the theme was hope and uh Paul here gets he's so clear about it uh in this Romans 8 passage uh that that to hope for something is it it assumes that there's the like you're in a hard space like hope is seen as a good thing but you he says you don't hope for something you already have you only hope for what you don't have over in in verse 24 hope that is seen as not hope for who hopes for what one already sees like you've already have won the publisher's clearing house million dollars heep steaks you don't hope you because you already have it so um if you're in a so he's just talking about this situation is this already not yet this uh being in the waiting room to to quote Fugazi you know um the whole creation is groaning together um and uh and you know talking about the fact that creation is subjected to futility in verse 20 like Paul is just naming the challenge the difficulty the pain the struggle the suffering of being alive being a human being in this time between Christ's first coming and his second coming and he just says there's suffering now so you know something good is coming uh but it's not here yet and so there's a challenge of that but um I think again that's why he wants you to remember your identity the Holy Spirit is in your heart is in your mind body soul reminding you that you are a child of God you can cry up a father um so it's kind of a great normalization like you're not weird if you think that this life is hard that's right that is normal um but also Christ who lived in this time and knows what it is to be a human um uh we have him giving us the Holy Spirit and so we don't fall back into a spirit of uh uh uh fall back into fear um but instead remember who who loves us I have this uh there's a remember my church she's really involved a leader and every time she leaves my office she says remember who loves you she was a lifelong educator and teacher and that's why you know she I think she would always use that as a thing to kind of encourage her students but she says it to everybody and I sort of feel like Paul is saying remember who loves you uh Jesus Christ uh who has redeemed you the father who um who sees and knows and the spirit who uh lives in you right now so remember who loves you and live from that place and I think the spiritual life is one of coming back again and again which is what our literature is for take as you will know is to remind you again who loves you um even right now in the midst this everything I do in the morning when I wake up it's like I say my little prayers and uh all that and and it's it's really to come back to this reality of God's love for us so all right so we get to Matthew 13 24 through 30 and 30 60 43 uh where we get this parable the parable of the weeds or the the wheat and the tears or the wheat and the weeds and it's a story about somebody he says the kingdom of heaven is like a person who soes good seed in his field but why he's sleeping somebody comes along and soes uh weeds and then goes away and that this is a very specific thing this is not just like sowing I don't know dandelions or something in the middle of your your nice green lawn this is a plant that looks exactly like wheat as it grows until the very end and so you can't tell what's the wheat and what's the the weed or the tears TARES is the old timey word for whatever this weed it was so until the actual grain forms in the head it's only at that point can you look and see that this is actually a bad crop one that is not edible one you don't want and so in the parable the slaves once they realize what's happened they come to the master and say oh well do you want us to to kind of gather up the the bad stuff the weeds and the masters is no and gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them so let both grow together until the harvest and then you just harvest it all and then after that after you've cut the you know you've harvested you've cut the wheat the wheat you know you've sized the whole field or whatever then you kind of separate the good bundles the bad bundles but let them all grow together don't try to pull them out first and so Jesus very healthily does give an explanation of this parable why don't Jake you tell us what does this parable mean who are the weeds who are the wheat what's going on here for our non-agriculturally inclined listeners well this is a you remember you have to remember what parables are and so parables are earthly illustrations of heavenly truths and so right from the get go Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who's so good seed in the field and so here it is so God has like so the seed out into the field this is what what are the fields various fields these are hearts you know and and and so but in the middle of the night someone comes along and plants some weeds and this is a big thing and this is terrible now if you know anything about these particular types of weeds that Jesus would be talking about these are called darnels and they grow up and they look exactly like they look like wheat until until the end until harvest time and what happens what the darnel does how it survives is it wraps its shallow roots around the sturdy stock of the wheat and so if you pull them both if you pull them pull them both out first well you can't tell the difference between the two until the very end but if you pull that weed out too soon what happens is you wind up pulling the stock of a weed out as well and so one of the things that Jesus is talking about is that when it comes to the world we can't we don't know the difference between like you know the righteous and the unrighteous and many anyways until the very end. And so this changes the way as Christians we treat people. We treat people with kindness. We treat people with love. We treat people with respect. I love how St. Paul opens all of his letters. You know, my beloved and Christ, there's a, you know, you know, but this is it kind of gives us an open view of the world and an open view with how we deal with people. Now at the end of the age, what happens and at the end of every harvest these darnels, the stocks begin to rot and they just fall over and they're really easy to pull out and by that time the wheat is like really, really solid and it doesn't pull out with it. And so this is kind of the idea at the end of the age, you know, the great saying from the Marines, it was like kill absolutely positively everyone and let God sort them out. Well, this is the exact opposite. This is a, you know, just live and let live in many ways. Treat people with love and with an open hand and God's going to sort them out. He doesn't need you to sort them out. And so, and so I think on a very powerful way, this gives us an illustration, an articulation of how we treat people. And so knowing that God ultimately is going to sort them out. But, you know, that's what I would say about this passage. And so, and God is faithful and everyone in your congregation who you're preaching to, they're suffering, they're going through, they're kind of maybe in an Isaiah moment feeling abandoned by God. It is through your preaching where you are articulating the blood of Jesus shed for them that you let them know that they're wheat. They may feel like weeds in this world, but the fact of the matter is is that their wheat rooted in a rock that can't be moved as Isaiah saw. Yeah, I think it's so this passage is so interesting because people always want to police what they think are weeds growing up in the church. We're living for good. Someone get away with something. I know. And so, you want to, yeah, you want to shun the people or exclude them or communicate them or, you know, create policies that say you can't do this. You can't do that because you might be a weed. And, you know, here Jesus's perspective is like, look, you're always going to have a mixture of wheat and weeds in the church and just let it be church is messy and let God deal with it. And I think it is what's interesting is like you might be a weed. You don't know because the weeds looking, the darn hell looks exactly like the wheat. So this is, you know, Jesus' instruction to kind of what you're doing. Now, if you've been baptized, you're not a weed. Well, yeah, okay. I hear you, Jack. I received that. But I think again, the concern of who's in and who's out within the church, this passage makes clear that that is God's business and not your business. And it encourages a certain amount of humility and grace and to just let God deal with it. So, now there will be a few people that will be hearing this podcast and they'll be like, "Well, what about notorious son, you know what I mean?" And I think, you know, it's what I, you know, the job of the pastor, you have to protect the flock and whatnot, you know what I mean. There was early on in my ministry and I got in trouble for this. But there was a guy who early, this was Eons ago. But he was, well, he was having an indiscretion and he brought that particular person with him to church. And while his family was at church as well and the mom was devastated and the kids were awkward and it was this crazy awkward moment. And, you know, this was clearly a weedy action. It didn't mean he was a weed, but it was a weedy action. And he came up for communion. I was like 30. This is like man, I was young and like filled with all sorts of righteous indignation. But anyway, I totally skipped in the communion line. And you pulled a John Wesley, he did that. I definitely did. And I was like, watch this kid, love this kid, you know what I mean? I get that. I totally get that. And just, but I wouldn't say that he was a weedy action. And I was trying to remind him by skipping him over that man, he is behaving in a way contrary to being who he actually is. A stock of wheat. And so, you know, was that right? Yeah, I would, if I was old, Jake, I'd still come in young Jake, even though I got in trouble for it. But I just think that that, you know, by baptism, we've been made wheat and we treat everybody and we'll let God sort that out. Yeah, that's right. I think one of the other things that I love about this passage for 37, the one who soes the good seed is the Son of Man, is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one that is is planting these seeds. And I think there's, and just I think to know, like be aware, he knows that you are growing among wheat. I mean, weeds and it's hard to tell the difference. It's hard. But, but again, there is a time when everything will be sorted out and everything we've made right. And and I think there's some, there's some comfort and hope. And that is, you know, both these passages from Romans and Matthew are kind of about what it is like to live in the difficulty of this current situation. That that, that where the creation is groaning, it feels futile. Life is like, well, why are we doing what we're doing? Why is everything so hard? Why are all these darnels grown up around me and all this sort of stuff? And, but God is present with us and ultimately we'll set all things right. And until then we have the spirit which cries out of Father and we know where children beloved heirs of kingdom. And this is why at the end of every Episcopal service of oligrist, if it's right to you know that post-chumium prayer, you have fed us of spiritual food in the saccharinus body and blood and assured us that we are heirs of of his kingdom. So, which is a good word. So on that note, I think we'll end it. Go forth to love and serve the Lord. And that's that's all that's all we got for the eight-sunday after Pentecost of the year of our Lord 2026. Go. Thanks for listening to same old song. Hope you found some gospel nuggets for the pulpit or for your life. If you like what you heard, leave a review or rating in Apple podcasts. Dave is all will be sad if you don't. Thanks to TJ Hester for audio production and remember to keep that Bible by your bedside ready to rock and roll.