The Best Rosh Hashanah Offering

[00:00:17] Question today. [00:00:19] Do you deserve to live? [00:00:24] Do you merit, having been created by God, was created on the 6th day. [00:00:42] Rosh Hashanah is considered the birthday of the world. [00:00:47] But creation began on the 25th of allul. That was a few days ago. Like six days ago. Man was created on the 6th day of creation, which is today. Rosh Hashanah, the first of Tishre. That's why this is called the birthday of the world. But notice we don't celebrate the birthday of the world. From the time that God started the process, the world began with what? [00:01:19] You the creation of man and woman that celebrates creation in God's mind. The world was created for us. I have a series coming up on this sometime in the future. That very selfish statement I just made. [00:01:39] This isn't a birthday for nature. [00:01:42] It's a birthday for the world. But the world hinges on whether or not you're in it. But that doesn't answer the question, do you deserve to have been born? Do you merit having been created? [00:01:57] It would seem that out of gratitude, considering that we are the apple of God's eye. In a certain sense, Israel is. But I'm talking about Adam. And wouldn't it have been cool if like on 6th Day, God said, adam, meet your Maker? That would have been cool. I just had that random thought. But because God centered the world around us and creation begins, in essence, you would think that what that would mean for us is that we would honor that gift with incredible gratitude, that we would strive always to do the right thing. We would answer that gift with obedience to the Creator, the giver of life, to merit the creation that we've been given. That's what you would do. [00:02:47] You would honor the gift. Your life would be a perfect testimony. And yet we arrive at these days every single year having not done that. [00:02:58] Maybe a little bit, maybe a lot, maybe a whole lot. We haven't done it. [00:03:08] Do we merit the gift? What have I done with the gift? That's another good question. What have I done with it? Likely the answer for all of us in our minds is of course I merit to be alive. I mean, who when I asked the question first line out of my mouth said, not me. I don't I have no business being here. I have no idea what God was thinking when he made me. [00:03:36] But when I asked the question, we immediately drawn to the good in us. And we have a nice list of good, I'm sure. And you know, the theme of Rosh Hashanah is you have these scales, the scales of merit, of justice. Good, bad. You weigh them, you need to have a little bit more good than bad and you get to live another year. That's very rough. That's not really what Rosh Hashanah is about. But that theme is in there. But we have to be honest about the other column. We have to be honest about the fact that there are many ways that we do not honor the gift that we don't merit the gift that's been given us to us in life. [00:04:19] We have these weaknesses and failures and all this stuff, and we come out on the good side. [00:04:31] But would the world be better, worse, or indifferent if you had never been born? [00:04:43] Ponder that question, and it can't be, well, because I had these fantastic kids. That's what my parents are saying right now. [00:04:56] I'm kidding. [00:04:58] I'm lucky I survived my teenage years after what I put my parents through. [00:05:07] Would the world be better, worse, or indifferent if you were never born? It's a terrible question to ponder, actually. But you know what? Here's the good news. The question is, do you merit creation? It's a rhetorical question. Of course you merit creation. God made you. Does God make mistakes? Did God finish that? You came out of your mother's womb and he went, Rats. [00:05:33] Darn it. How did that one slip through or slip out? I guess whatever god made you, he gave you life. He brought you to this Earth. Of course you merit life. [00:05:52] There is an important answer, though, like when you say, of course I should be here. Of course I should be here. [00:06:01] This is actually one of the sort of the problems that many people have with the High Holidays is this fear, this dreaded fear of approaching God and being wiped out of existence this next year because we didn't do good enough. [00:06:15] And people often say, well, why would I do that? And that is certainly a part of the experience of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as we go through the days, the fear of God reviewing our lives, asking forgiveness, cleaning up our act, that's definitely a part of it. But the approach should not be one of a cowering despicable creature crawling on your hands and knees, begging for mercy. Okay? [00:06:45] I know that in some ways of Jewish thinking, that is kind of what the High Holidays are. [00:06:55] But we know that you merit to live. We know that God wants you to live. We know that God wants you to choose life and to choose blessing. [00:07:04] And so that's not the question that we need to be asking. Well, I don't even know if I deserve to live. There's a different question. [00:07:15] God, am I living? [00:07:22] Yes, you're breathing, you're working, you're eating, you're living life. Am I living? [00:07:30] Am I accomplishing the purpose of a life that has been given by you to walk, talk, breathe, dwell and impact this world? [00:07:43] Am I living? [00:07:48] What is the purpose? And yes, while the days of awe are all about awe and reverence and fear of God in the sense of respect and adoration and repentance, listen, we should be ecstatic that the judge wants to judge you. [00:08:17] Don't. Who is afraid when they go before the Judge, the guilty, the people with a horrendously guilty conscience who know that a verdict of horrendous judgment awaits them. [00:08:38] We should be thankful though. Well, by the way, good news on that. If you have a horrendously despicable life outlook, actions of the last year or whole life, I've got great news for you. For the next ten days especially, the gates of repentance remain open. They're always open. They're always open. But for the next ten days, if that's you and you have a horrendous fear of standing before God, the gates are open, okay? But for most of us, honestly, for most of us, that's not us. And so we should be happy that the Judge cares enough to bring you before him, have a conversation with you and say you could do better. [00:09:30] The Judge of the Universe we need not fear if we have nothing to fear. I told you last night, this year, some will die, some will live. Everyone will change. That's the fact of the matter. [00:09:45] I pray to God it's no one in here for the former and everyone in here for the latter in a positive way. [00:09:56] But listen, if you're giving it your best shot, we see judgment as it's a wake up call to turn from certain things and return to your purpose in life. I don't know what my purpose is. Find it, look for it, ask questions, seek out things, struggle through your life until you find something that draws you to a purpose where you wake up and say, thank God, I'm going to wake up today. I have something to do. [00:10:30] I have a purpose. And I will honor the call. I will honor the fact that I merit creation to walk, talk, breathe and impact this world. But listen, what makes the days of all is to recognize two things. [00:10:49] First off is how far we have to go. [00:10:53] I am not giving you last night I didn't give you the hall pass to skate through repentance and teshuva. Today I'm not giving you the hall pass. You have a ways to go, I promise you as a human being. And when we look back, we deal with one particular emotion. Often that is called regret. [00:11:12] Regret looking back. [00:11:16] And the preparation to this point over the last month has been to deal with these things, to look back and regret bad choices, bad decisions, bad behaviors, bad actions. To regret them and make a commitment to change those things. That is one component of the holidays. But actually the second is the very same thing that that regret looks to. [00:11:46] Making the changes in the regrets those days, those decisions determine the next. 365 you'll have the changes that you might make because of what you regret determine what you can look forward to. And so another emotion emerges through the high holidays. Regret. Yes. But you know what the big one is? You know what I think God really wants you to have hope. [00:12:17] Hope that there's a fantastically, amazing future for you if you'll grab hold of it. [00:12:27] Not what am I? [00:12:31] But what could I be? [00:12:33] What could I be? And that's the opportunity. Listen, we are colaborers with God. We are collaborators in creation. Do you realize that? That really and I can't wait to do this series whenever I do it, but that really, really puts a nail in the coffin of I'm a despicable, disgusting sinner. No, you're not. [00:12:57] You might be a sinner, but you're a co laborer with God, a co creator. He tasked Adam and you with taking care of this world and those in it. [00:13:11] That, in and of itself, is a purpose. You need to find your distinct purpose within that purpose. But you know why I love these days? Because it is in the process of those regrets of the past that we embrace the hope for the future. These are days you do something. [00:13:28] You do something. [00:13:31] And I know it's not easy when you didn't grow up with any of this stuff. And like, it's all sort of a big blur and people are singing songs in Hebrew you've never heard and all this themes and kings and rams horns and all this. But these are days of action. They're days you do things. They're supernatural days. They're ordained days, special days to do something. [00:14:01] And so tomorrow, when we hear the sound of the chauffeur, it's a unique thing. You know what it is? It's a reminder of the past and a look forward to the future. Why is it the past? You know, there was this Ram killed in place of who? [00:14:20] Isaac. It's called the Akeda. That's tomorrow's Torah portion. Today we read the Torah portion about the birth of Isaac. Tomorrow, almost the death of Isaac. And the rabbi I can't remember which rabbi right now. [00:14:36] It was a rabbi from a long time ago. He talked about this particular Ram. [00:14:42] And I know many of you have know this midrash, this story. [00:14:47] The Ram had how many horns? [00:14:50] Two horns. Simple question. Good job. [00:14:55] One horn was used at a very special time that took place in Exodus 19. When was that? What happened? [00:15:06] The sound of the chauffeur grew louder and louder from Mount Sinai as the Torah was given the Ram that was given in place of Isaac. One horn was used for that chauffeur sound. [00:15:22] When, might you guess, would the other horn be utilized? According to Jewish tradition, the takiya gedola of the return of Messiah. You know that whole thing. A great chauffeur will sound Jewish tradition, non messianic Jewish tradition ascribes that other horn to the horn of Messiah that will announce his coming. [00:15:51] Okay. [00:15:53] Past to Mount Sinai. Regret sometimes, because these are the commandments that we're supposed to be living. If we're living a good life and showing God how much we love Him and honoring Him regret, right? [00:16:09] Future, hope, messianic, redemption. An amazing world, and everything in between depends on what you want to do with it, your life. [00:16:26] And that's actually kind of the way that a couple of different opinions go with the chauffeur. One says that the chauffeur, the sound of the chauffeur, is supernaturally. Our voice calling out to God, saying, hear our teshuva God, hear our repentance, hear our regrets. [00:16:49] The sound of man calling to God, that's what the Shofar says. Rambam takes a different opinion. Rambam says that it is God calling to you, saying, as I said to the kids, wake up and become the person you need to be. [00:17:11] Abandon all your failures, become the person you need to be. So again, even in the opinion you have, oh, I'm dealing with my regrets, and the chauffeur is calling up to God, or I'm dealing with hope, the chauffeur is calling down to me from God. Either way, it's a supernatural sound. It's supposed to do something inside your guts, whether you feel it or not. [00:17:39] So listen, here's the deal. Let's commit to bring an offering to God, okay? [00:17:48] What do you want to bring him? You want to bring him a ram goat cow? [00:17:58] Here's what it says. You shall bring an offering made by fire unto the Lord. Leviticus 23 24. What do you want to bring him? [00:18:07] You can't bring him any of those things. Why? [00:18:10] Because there's no temple. [00:18:13] We don't have a Mizbeach. We don't have an altar to burn sacrifices. So how in the world are we going to what is made by fire that we could bring tomorrow for the next ten days, actually for the rest of our lives? What is made by fire that we could bring tomorrow, today, tomorrow, eight days later, all of it? I have a suggestion for you. [00:18:37] Zechariah says this third I will put into the fire. I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, they are my people. And they will say, the Lord is our God. In one Peter one seven, it says, so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of yeshua, HaMashiach, psalm 66 for you have tried us, O God. You have refined us as silver is refined malachi Three but who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire. [00:19:19] He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi. What do you want to bring? [00:19:30] I'll tell you what to bring you. [00:19:35] You are the one in need of the refiner's fire. That's the gift we're bringing. That's the gift to which we bring to God and say, I know that I merit creation. You made me. You love me, you bless me, you forgive me. Now what do you want me to do with it? Refine me, purify me, empower me, and point me on the path I need to go. Listen, it's virtually impossible. I know from plenty of experience as far back as I can remember, I remember the synagogue at, I don't even know, three or four years old, and I've sat in Rosh Hashanah services from that time all the way until this one I'm sitting in. [00:20:36] And I know it's virtually impossible that anything I'm talking about is going to happen in these seats. [00:20:43] I know that this experience in the synagogue is not the thing that makes the change. [00:20:51] My only job here is to inspire you to do your own work. [00:20:57] It will happen outside of here. It will happen in your private space and your time, and the time you dedicate to the time that you have with God or with family or with forgiveness or whatever. The thing is, I'm not expecting you to get up and just run out of here and say, god, I'm ready. [00:21:20] But I hope your heart is beginning to say that right now, and I hope that you will legitimately experience something in the next ten days. Do we merit creation? Of course we do. [00:21:38] Of course we do. And in yeshua, we have merit for eternal life, which means not only do you merit to live on this one, you get to live forever in the world to come. [00:21:54] So, yeah, you merit all kinds of life. That life was given and purchased for a price, and the days ahead are about honoring that price. So be filled hopefully with purpose for the life you've been given. Be real with yourself, be real with others and say, here I am, God. [00:22:16] I look back with regret. I understand that's part of it. [00:22:21] I look forward with incredibly intense hope that this year, which is what we really pray for in the holidays, god bless us this year, inscribe us this year for a good life, for a sweet year, a life of blessings, a life of health and prosperity. That this year and then some, we meet regret and hope right in the middle at the sound of the ramshorn tomorrow. You shabbat shalom lashana tova.