Louie Giglio - Above and Beyond
The main thing I wanna do today in setting up our journey to above and beyond, is to not ask for anything. Except that God would give each one of us revelation sight, to see what God has already done above and beyond for us. Because our giving is gotta be a response. If it's not, it's obligation and it doesn't matter to God. And it really, ultimately isn't gonna benefit you. In other words, if we're just putting in because we have to, that's not gonna bless God. And ultimately, it's not gonna bless you either. The kind of giving that God loves and really the only kind of giving that God requires, is giving as a response to what He's already given to us.
So, we are not the first movers in the above and beyond season. We are coming to a God who is already gone above and beyond for each one of us. I'm reading today out of the book of Hebrews and the last chapter. And there's one of the most powerful passages on worship in this chapter. Maybe my favorite two verses on worship in all the scripture. He says in verse 15, in Hebrews 13, "Through Jesus therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise". And that's why we're here to worship today, because we wanna do that. We wanna continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise and He describes what that is.
There's three components to it. He said, "It is the fruit of lips that confess His name," and we've done that already today, corporately. "And do not forget to do good". So, that's one of the ways that we praise Him. "And to share with others for with such sacrifices God is pleased". But all this is set up by some of the most powerful thoughts. Notice verse 11, the writer of Hebrews is comparing the old temple in Jerusalem and the old way of sacrifice to what Jesus has done. And notice what he says in verse 11, He says, "The high priest carries the blood of animals into the most holy place as a sin offering. But the bodies are burned outside the camp". And it being a tradition, you can read all the way back into the Old Testament that all of the impurity happens outside the camp.
So, where the people of God are camping through the wilderness and in early times headed to the promised land, there is a boundary around the camp and outside is where the impure things happen. And that mindset had remained all the way now up until temple times in Jerusalem, so that if an animal was brought as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people, its blood would be taken by the high priest, into the most holy, sprinkled on the ark of the covenant. But the body of that animal taken outside the city, burned outside the city. Why? Because that body represented the disgrace of the sins of the people. And so, now that body is outside in the trash heap on fire and, probably the valley right outside the city walls of Jerusalem.
And so, this is the mindset and then every person reading Hebrews would understand. And so, now he's making comparison to Jesus in verse 12, "And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood. Let us then, go to Him, go to Jesus outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come". What did the writer say here to you and me? He's saying, Jesus went beyond the city walls to give His life for you and me.
We've seen earlier that He had gone above if you just back tracked a little bit to the gospel of John and chapter 12, we see the above and beyond. It says in verse 20 talking about Jesus' death. It says, "Now there were some Greeks among those who sent up to worship at the feast". What feast? The Passover Feast. What was happening in Jerusalem when Jesus came to give His life. "They came to Phillip who was from Bethsaida and Galilee with a request. 'Sir,' they said, 'We would like to see Jesus.' So, Phillip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Phillip in turn told Jesus".
Now, this all seems pretty simple, right? Guys were in town for the Passover Feast, they've heard a lot about Jesus. The Lazarus thing has just happened. The triumphal entry has just happened. They know He's in town. They wanna meet with Jesus. They wanna see Jesus. So, they get word to the right person, the right person gets word to Jesus, "There are some guys here that wanna see you," and this is Jesus' response, not "Hey, okay, maybe this afternoon, maybe after lunch. Meet me at such and such spot," No. Here is Jesus now unfolding something far larger than what they had in mind.
"He said, 'The hour is come for the son of man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour? No. It was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father glorify your name.'"
That's quite an answer to the guys would like to see you. Jesus says, "Oh, you're gonna see alright, because this is my moment. So, the guys that came from Greece that are here in town for the Passover Festival, they would like to see me. They came on the right feast because they're about to see me, 'cause this is my moment". "Then a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it and we'll glorify it again.'" This is to Jesus' request. "Father glorify your name". He says, "I have glorified it and I will glorify it again". "The crowd that was there heard it and said it had thunder, others said, 'an angel had spoken to Him.' But this is Jesus' reply. 'This voice was for your benefit not mine. Now is the time for judgement on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out, but I,'"
Jesus said, "'When I am lifted,' where? 'Up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.'" What does that mean? John tells us. "He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die". So, we've got two texts and two viewpoints. In one text, Jesus went beyond. Beyond, what? Beyond the city walls. We'll see that in just a moment. In another text, Jesus went above, above, where? Lifted up above all men. And in this moment to being lifted wasn't some kind of recognition, He was hoisted up. Most likely when Jesus was nailed to that cross beam that he carried to Calvary, that cross beam was put in a pulley system and hoisted up and affixed to a greater beam. It wasn't just a, "Here's a cross and we're standing it up in the ground".
It was Jesus on this beam being hoisted up into the sky high, where He could be visible to everybody passing by on this roadway outside the city of Jerusalem. He wasn't raised in celebration, He was raised in disgrace. He wasn't lifted up so He could have a better view. He was lifted up so that people could have a better view of Him. He wasn't lifted up 'cause He was in the upper class. He was lifted up because He was in the criminal class, the convicted class. He had a crown on His head, but that was a cruel joke. And the sign above His head that said, "King of the Jews," was just a jab. And there He was hoisted up, and this was His promise.
"If I will. If I be lifted up. If I say yes to this moment. If I do not say no father save me from this hour, but I recognize it was for this very moment that I came and I laid my life down. I stretch my arms out wide. I surrender to the plan of God to save the world, and I'm hoisted up. If I am lifted up, I will draw all men to me. I'm not just gonna be lifted up for the people coming by the road today outside Jerusalem. I'm gonna be lifted up for the whole world to see the grace of God on display, and the extravagant gift of His one and only son. And I'm gonna draw all men to me. I'm going above where the whole world can see the grace of God, and I'm going beyond. I'm gonna take the disgrace, and I'm gonna take the impurity, and I'm gonna take the shame, and the guilt of the sin of the world, and I'm gonna take it outside the wall of the city and I'm gonna give my life on a garbage dump. And I'm doing it so that you can understand, just as the body of the animals were burned outside the city, this final sacrifice of almighty God is taking all your reproach out of the city of God and paying for it in full, beyond the gates".
You know, there are some things you guys take outside. I know don't, there're parents in here but you would probably get that. Maybe this summer, you've said to your kids, "You're gonna need to take that outside". Usually has to do with painting in the house. And you're like, "No, we're not doing any painting in the house. You're gonna need to take that outside". Or maybe it's some kind of sporting event is happening in the house. Badminton is going on in the den or there's some kind of bowling game happening down the hallway and you're like, "Hey, hey, hey, time out. You're gonna need to take that outside".
I think we get that mentality. And what God is saying it's that when Jesus died for you and me, that's something He gotta take outside. This holy city of God, Zion represents the place of God and when our sin became His sin, He had to go outside the holy city of God and die outside the gate for you and me. And what He wants to invite us into today, way before He wants us to get to above and beyond Sunday. He wants us to come outside the city wall with Him and in the writer of Hebrews' words, to share in His disgrace. You've ever heard that phrase before? God wants you to come outside the gate and to share in the disgrace that couldn't be tolerated in the city of God. Come outside and share in the disgrace. This is the way he wrote it.
"Let us then go to Him," to Jesus, "outside the camp bearing the disgrace He bore". What does that mean? It means that we would take the journey to the place where He was lifted up to bleed and die for the sins of the world, and that we would relish the disgrace of the innocent son of God suffering in our place. If we do that today, it's gonna give us power. Power to break some things and power to embrace some things. And this is what God wants for us in this gathering today. A few things that He wants us to break and embrace.
Number one, when you go outside the city, and you understand that He took your sin and shame outside the city. It allows you to break with the system of religion and to embrace the garbage heap of glorious grace. In the city was a system, and every year there was an offering. And every offering, there was a sacrifice. And every sacrifice blood was sprinkled, and that happened this year. It happened again next year. It happened again the next year, and the next year, and the next year. It was one man making a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of all of the people. But it was a system not a solution. And that system doesn't exist in that form exactly anymore, but systems do still exist.
They go like this, "If I do my part, God will do His part. If I do my best, that would be good enough for God. As long as I'm not as bad as everybody else then I've got a shot with God. If I can do a little bit more, maybe God will love me a little bit more. If I go to church or if I show up, or if I do the thing, or if I give in above and beyond giving, or whatever the whatever is God will do X,Y or Z for me". It is a system. It's called religion. It is what man tries to do to please God. And what He's saying is, "I Need you to come with me outside the gate. 'Cause when you come with me outside the gate, you're gonna realize you can break ties with the system. And you can embrace that on this garbage dump is glorious grace. And you can celebrate that God did one time and never again what only could do".
God gave the final and the perfect sacrifice for you. It's not just a story about how God love planet earth, He's inviting you. He's saying to you today, "Let's go outside the gate. And let's bare together the disgrace". Because when we do that, you can break, I'm doing my best to try hard enough to be good enough for God. You can just go, "That's done". And you can stand under the waterfall of forgiveness and mercy and grace that is already been purchased for you, because He went above and He went beyond. You can also break ties with the lie of guilt and shame.
It is amazing to think how many people are in this gathering right now. You made it to church today, but I'm telling you, you brought the shame with you, it's in the bag. The guilt is here with you. It just lingers, it's something you can't shake. And yes, what happened is real, I'm not saying it wasn't where you were and what was going on that was all real. But here's the thing, when you go outside the gate with Him, and you bear the disgrace that He bore, you realize He was the one who took all the guilt, and He was the one who bore all the shame. When they lifted Him up, it was a shameful, guilty verdict. Because God had made Him, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "Who knew no sin, to become sin so that those of us who were sinful could become the righteousness of God in Him".
Jesus wasn't innocent on the cross, He was guilty on the cross. Guilty not of His sin, but of your sin and my sin. He died a guilty man. Went to the cross innocent, died on it guilty. Not of anything He had done, but of everything we had done. And all the guilt, all the shame, the disgrace, we're burying the disgrace. We're at the cross. We're outside the gate on a garbage dump and we're realizing that all the disgrace was nailed to the cross and it gives us power and we say, "Yes" to the cross. Break ties with guilt and shame. Some of you, God has already done His part and you're like, "I just need the Lord to help me with my guilt". No. He has already helped you with your guilt, by putting it on Jesus.
It's up to you now to see outside the gate the disgrace of Jesus and go, "I believe it. No more guilt here. I will not carry guilt that He bore. I will not carry shame that He bore. I will praise Him. I will worship Him. I will exalt Him. I will come and give my life to Him. And I will honor Him by embracing my new identity as a holy one in Christ". And some of you need to break guilt and shame today and embrace the fact that God has forgiven you. But even more than that, He's given you a new identity and He's calling you a holy one in Christ. That is who you are. Thirdly, we need to break ties with the low view of ourselves. And we need to embrace the fact that we are seated above with Christ. I love this in Ephesians, talking about how we were saved.
And it comes down in verse 4, chapter 2 it says, "But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. Even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus". Hello? So, we got a new identity, but we also in Christ have a new position. So, I'm a new person in Christ and I'm at a new place in Christ. Where am I in Christ? I am with Him seated in the heavenlies right now. And you're like, "No. You're in Atlanta, Georgia. You're at Passion City Church and you're preaching a sermon on planet earth".
No. I am physically on planet earth in Atlanta, Georgia, but I'm spiritually seated with Christ in the heavenly realms right now. In other words, I'm in the highest place I'm ever gonna be in right now. So, somebody needs to get a revelation today. And I don't know who you are, but I have been praying for you because you don't like yourself and are not convinced that God likes you. You're not even sure why you're on earth and what you are worth. And I'm telling you, God is tryna break through to you today. You need to come with me outside the gate and bare the disgrace and see how much you are worth to the kingdom of God, and how valuable you are to heaven.
To see what God did for you, so that He could be re-connected with you, and not only that, give you a new identity. You're not the same person that you were. And give you a new position. And you need to stop low balling life. "Oh, I'm just down here on the bottom. I'm just down here. I don't have anything. I'm just down here and can't get anywhere". You are not on the low rung of the ladder. You're on the highest rung of the ladder. You're like, "Ah I'm not sure what you're tryna say..." I'm trying to say that you need to change the view of you. And somebody today needs to break the woe is me and low is me, and you need to embrace that you are seated with Christ.
And somehow, you have just leaned into this low view of you and God is saying, "Look, I don't want you to become proud, because not about you, it's about bearing the disgrace of Christ that got you elevate out of death into resurrection life. And got you seated with Christ at the right hand of God". But you need to change the view of you. You are seated in a luxury box. No, it's not about things of this earth and getting stuff. That's not the point. It's about a mentality of spiritual position as a somebody in the kingdom of God. And there's nothing that dishonors the disgrace that Jesus bores more than somebody walking through life claiming to be a Christian and living in a low view of who they are and where they are.
You're like, "Oh I'm just tryna be humble and you know..." That is not humble. That is not bearing the disgrace that He bore. That's somebody who's still in the city, probably stuck in the system. Not somebody who has been to the glorious, graceful, awful garbage dump and said, "Wow". I am valued this much. Oh yeah, God gets all the glory, Jesus said that in John 12. He gets all the glory but, whew, we had our lives rearranged. New identity and a new position. Somebody, who are you today? You need to break the low view and you need to start looking at life from the high view. You are not looking up at the world. You are looking down on the world, as a daughter of the King, a son of the King.
And lastly, somebody needs to break with the city of here now and embrace the city that is to come. That's what He says. "For we do not have an enduring city".
In other words, "This place where the temple and the thing, and the system and all that, that's not lasting. We don't have an enduring city right now, but we are looking for the city that is to come. I'm telling you, that's the spirit of above and beyond. Above and beyond is not about adding things up in the here and now. Above and beyond is about investing things in the city that is to come. It's above investing in a kingdom that is coming. And what someone's gotta do today within some way all of us have got to do today, honestly, is break our ties with the here and now. The city that we're in, so that we can set our hearts truly on the city that is to come. And some of us are just stuck and if I see it, it's real. And if I don't, it's not. I kinda believe there's a heaven and I kinda believe there is a forever. But I'm telling you all my eggs are in this basket. And God is saying, 'Hey, it's okay to put some eggs in this basket.' It's okay to go to dinner with friends. It's okay to go to a brave's game and go snow ski, and see the mountains, and breathe fresh air. It is okay to live on planet earth. But you gotta understand this world is fading fast, but there is a city coming that lasts forever and ever, and ever, and ever and that's our city".
Man, I hope Atlanta has better days ahead. We all wanna believe in the future of our city. I love this city. I was born in this city, and I love it, and I'm committed to it, and I believe in it. And I pray that it has great days ahead. But I'm telling you, ultimately, this city is gonna fade away. But that city is never gonna fade away. And so, we're praying for more of what's in that city and this city. We're believing for more of what's in that city and this city.
We're investing more for what's in that city and this city. Because we want this city to reflect that city as much as it can until this city goes away, and it is just that city. That's my city. That's my town. That's where I'm from and that's where I'm going. I'm going to a city that will never fade away. And I'm telling you, this is not about Passion City church. It's really not about above and beyond. It's not about Sunday coming in a few weeks. This is about your eternity. You need to break ties with your infatuation. We're getting more stuff in this city, and you need to see and bear the disgrace that's outside the city wall, so that you can share in that in your brief time on planet earth.