The Faith of God | He Believes In You

[00:00:05] Speaker A: I got a new Chumash. Who knows what a Chumash is? If you don't know what a Chumash is? It's. It's the first five books of the Torah. It is. I have always been an art scroll publisher's Chumash guy. If you don't own a Chumash, you should get one. Everyone should have one because of the incredible commentary that's provided for you there through, through the ageless wisdom of Judaism. It's a treasure to learn from. But I got a new one. There's a new one that's out and you'll never guess the Koran. Shalem Chumash. Translation and commentary by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory. It is an unbelievable treasure. It's a newer resource, you know, and it's new. But here's what I can tell you already. It, me and my Chumash will grow old together. It's wonderful. It inspired me to pull out. You know, anytime I study Torah, it's just something I do. I always go and see what Rabbi Sacks may have had to say about it because he's such an inspiration to me. But I had a book on my shelf from Rabbi Sacks, Judaism's Life Changing Ideas. Has anyone ever read that? Can I just say, it's wonderful. It's an incredible, incredible story or a commentary that's tied to the Torah portions, pulling out all the ideas of how Judaism has impacted and continues to impact the world. But there's a line in that, in his commentary for Bereshit, which I know was last week's parsha, but I can't miss kicking off the Torah with you. Like, I wasn't here, but I have to touch on that. But Rabbi Sack said something in that that I love so much. He says the real religious mystery according to Judaism isn't our faith in God, it's his faith in us. If you just let that sit and think about that, how different is that perspective? You know, we're so used to asking questions like, do you believe in God? [00:02:33] Speaker B: Do you have faith in God? How strong is your faith? When's the last conversation you had about how much faith God has in you? [00:02:44] Speaker A: Have you ever had a conversation with anyone about how much faith God has in you? [00:02:51] Speaker B: For many people except Steve, it smacks. [00:02:56] Speaker A: Of human conceit to think that way. You know, can you believe that God believes in you, that God has faith in us? But just hold that thought. It's central to the message and I'm going to prove it to you from the Torah today. But. [00:03:21] Speaker B: I jump back to the end. [00:03:23] Speaker A: Of last week's Torah portion in Genesis 6:6 and it reads, the Lord saw how great man's wickedness was upon the earth and that his thoughts constantly inclined toward evil. Then the Lord regretted that he had made man on earth. And, and the next part. Listen to this. This is from the New Chumash. And his heart was touched with sorrow. I love that translation. Other common translations. He was grieved in his heart. Same point, just not so eloquent. But think about that statement. His heart was touched with sorrow. What does that mean? It means that man broke God's heart. Rabbi Shmuley Sachs actually said that this week at Socks on the Table he was explaining to the kids that it. And he used that word, it broke God's heart. A broken hearted God, the God of all creation. [00:04:33] Speaker B: It does not say that he was angry. It doesn't say he was furious or wrathful. [00:04:40] Speaker A: It says that he grieved. There is a difference between. [00:04:46] Speaker B: Grief is different than anger. Religion so often presents us with the God who gets angry and he does righteously so at injustice, oppression, cruelty. [00:04:59] Speaker A: But this is different. This is sorrow. [00:05:02] Speaker B: This is that feeling you have when someone you love and believe in breaks. [00:05:07] Speaker A: Your heart. [00:05:10] Speaker B: Not rage. It's heartbreak. Now why? [00:05:13] Speaker A: How? [00:05:14] Speaker B: First of all, why? Why would the all knowing, all powerful, wrathful God of judgment who surely saw this coming, why would his heart break? Why would he be grieved? Why would he be touched with sorrow? Surely he saw it. He knew it. [00:05:32] Speaker A: And here's where Rabbi Sacks brings it home with another statement in the same commentary when he says, the real subject. [00:05:39] Speaker B: Of the Torah is not our faith in God, which is often faltering, but his unfailing faith in us. Unfailing faith in us. Why is God distressed? Why is he grieved? Because he loves us and he believes in us. He never stops hoping for the best in us. And yes, he saw it coming because he's all the Omnis. He's all three omnis. He's omnipresent. He's omniscient. He's omniscient. Omnipotent. He's omnipotent. He's all powerful. But why would he have created us if he knew we were going to break his heart? Why? [00:06:40] Speaker A: Rashi, the great sage answers this exact question. [00:06:45] Speaker B: And he says, God mourned the failure of his handiwork. [00:06:52] Speaker A: And then he brings out a beautiful midrash. And to all my gentile shalomis and friends, don't take offense at the Word. It's just how the midrash goes. You ready? Rashi brings this midrash. And he says, I'm writing this in. [00:07:06] Speaker B: Order that you may know how to. [00:07:07] Speaker A: Refute the arguments of certain heretics. [00:07:10] Speaker B: A Gentile once asked Rabbi Joshua, son. [00:07:13] Speaker A: Of Korcha, saying to him, do you. [00:07:15] Speaker B: Not admit that the Holy One, blessed be he, knows what is to happen in the future. [00:07:21] Speaker A: And he replied, yes. [00:07:23] Speaker B: And the Gentile retorted, but is it not written? And he was grieved in his heart. [00:07:30] Speaker A: Now watch as Rabbi Joshua doesn't answer with theology, he answers with life. He asks, have you ever had a son born to you? He responds. The Gentile responds, yes. [00:07:48] Speaker B: He asked, and what did you do? He said, I rejoiced, and I made others rejoice. And the Rabbi asked him, but did you not know that he must die at some point? [00:08:01] Speaker A: And he said, of course. [00:08:05] Speaker B: You celebrated your son's birth even though you knew one day you'd bury him. The Gentile replied, at the time of joy, let there be joy. At the time of mourning, let there be mourning. [00:08:18] Speaker A: And the Rabbi said, such too is the way of the Holy One, blessed be he. Although it was clear to him that. [00:08:24] Speaker B: In the end men would sin and. [00:08:26] Speaker A: Be destroyed, he did not refrain from creating them for the sake of the righteous who were to come from them. That's the heart of God. He knew what would happen. He knew the pain would come. And yet he still could created us. There are many stories of the angels and God in discussion at creation. I shared one of those somewhere along the line in the holidays. But you know the primary opinion of. [00:08:57] Speaker B: The angels about God asking, let us create. [00:09:01] Speaker A: Should we create? [00:09:03] Speaker B: The response in the midrash is, no, God. The angels say, don't do that. Don't create them. It's only going to result in grief. And it turns out that they were proved right. Sanhedrin 38. It says, after the flood, after the tower of Babel, both within the second Torah portion, the angels came to God. And they said, see, I told you they're despicable. Look at your creation. [00:09:35] Speaker A: And God responds to the angels. He quotes from what would later be revealed through Isaiah, which is actually part of our liturgy today. [00:09:43] Speaker B: Speaking to them as if speaking to. [00:09:47] Speaker A: Humanity, he says, till you grow old, I will still be the same. When you turn gray, it is you I will carry. [00:09:56] Speaker B: I was the maker, I will be the bearer, and I will carry and rescue you. [00:10:02] Speaker A: That's what he says to the angels, insult to humanity. He says, I will be with you. Because I love them and I believe in them, even in heartbreak. And, you know. [00:10:19] Speaker B: Has anyone ever risked. [00:10:22] Speaker A: Something in love and it resulted in some kind of pain in your heart? Love is a risk. Love is a risk. [00:10:31] Speaker B: You love a relative who dies, and that is incredible pain. [00:10:40] Speaker A: Any kind of love has the potential for heartbreak. But he believed that the beauty of a righteous life was worth the risk of human failure. And if you have ever loved someone, a child, a spouse, a friend, you know what it means. [00:10:58] Speaker B: You love them even when they disappoint you. You love them, you hope for them, even when they push you away, you still see the good, even when there's really actually a mess in front of you. And I think that's one of the main reasons that the Torah says we were made in his image. To bear the image of God doesn't just mean that we can think or that we have reason. Darren talked about the power of words, and that distinguishes us from all the animals. That's something in the image of God, but it's even more than this. We have the capacity. We carry his capacity to love even through heartbreak. And when you love, you know that it is a risk. You know that when you love, you open yourself up to pain. [00:11:45] Speaker A: And we still do it, and we. [00:11:47] Speaker B: Still hope and we still believe in. [00:11:48] Speaker A: The people we love, even when they fail us. [00:11:51] Speaker B: And that's Salem. OLO Elohim. That's like the divine image. That's what Rabbi Sacks is saying. But this image hit me so hard this year. I was really struck by this idea of breaking God's heart. Certainly the more common image of God is judge. [00:12:10] Speaker A: Right? [00:12:12] Speaker B: Judge, the one who judges sin, the one who is angry when we fail or fall. The God who must be pacified. And there are parts of that that are true. He is the God of justice. There is right and wrong. There is a penalty to be paid for wrong. But as I read this year, I had this visualization feeling. I don't know, emotion. [00:12:38] Speaker A: It was a picture. [00:12:39] Speaker B: Even though God doesn't have, like, a form and a head to shake. [00:12:48] Speaker A: You. [00:12:48] Speaker B: Know, I saw and felt that feeling that we've all felt when someone disappoints us or when we had amazing plans and we tried to help someone and we really thought they were gonna make it. And you get bad news about them. They're off the wagon. They did something bad, you know, you see, and you know, they're not willing to live up to their potential or whatever it is. And you just kinda. You just kinda. And it's sometimes Such a raw emotion in that you can feel. You can feel it. You can feel the heart, the break. [00:13:23] Speaker A: And this year, because the Torah is. [00:13:25] Speaker B: Alive and every year it speaks in such different ways. That's the image that came to me. The all powerful creator, God, sensitive with a heart touched by sorrow because of us. Because his greatest masterpiece broke his heart. And I just see. [00:13:53] Speaker A: And he says, I regret having made them. That's actually the toughest line of the whole thing. [00:13:58] Speaker B: I mean, who invites, who wants to invite sorrow into their life? Who wouldn't have that feeling? If someone hurts you so badly that you say, oh, gosh, I reject. I wish I had never. [00:14:12] Speaker A: That indicates God's pain. He felt that disappointment. [00:14:16] Speaker B: And the point where maybe God was on the verge of saying, well, I guess the angels were right. But that's not what happened. [00:14:24] Speaker A: Because, see, you always have to keep reading. [00:14:27] Speaker B: You gotta keep reading. [00:14:31] Speaker A: But Noah, it says, but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. And then right there in the middle of the chaos and the heartbreak, on the verge of destruction of what he. [00:14:46] Speaker B: Made, the Torah says this line, noah. [00:14:49] Speaker A: Found favor in the eyes of God. Everything has fallen apart. The world is in violence. Humanity has gone astray. [00:14:56] Speaker B: In the middle of all that ruin, Noah. [00:15:01] Speaker A: Noach, the Hebrew name, what does noach mean? Anyone know? [00:15:07] Speaker B: It's drawn from. [00:15:08] Speaker A: It means comfort. It means rest. It means comfort. Now listen, think about this. [00:15:15] Speaker B: Think about what just happened here. I regret it. My heart has been touched with sorrow. I'm broken. But Noah. But comfort in the eyes of God. [00:15:29] Speaker A: Think about this. [00:15:30] Speaker B: When God's heart was broken, Noah brought him comfort. Have you ever thought of that? A human being bringing comfort to the great creator God. He is aptly named Noah. He found favor when he looked. When he looked. And again, we're anthropomorphizing or whatever the word is. You give God a form so that humans can understand it. But he looked, and in his eyes. [00:16:08] Speaker A: Noah was there and brought him comfort. How incredible that in this world of. [00:16:18] Speaker B: Rebellion and arrogance and cruelty, one man's righteousness energized. [00:16:26] Speaker A: It moved the heart of heaven. That's powerful. God looked down and said, everything's broken, but it's not ruined. I've got my man. I got my man. That was a demonstration of God's belief in us. Noah was not perfect. There's a whole catalog of Jewish commentary that says, Noah was righteous, but he wasn't that righteous. Compared to, you know, so and so, that's fine. [00:16:56] Speaker B: But Noah and God, they walked together. [00:17:00] Speaker A: For the sake of one who believed God saved the world through Noah the comforter. The comforter. I never really thought about that. But it also made me think of us in a different way. Because here's my question. What if that were our goal? [00:17:20] Speaker B: What if that were our goal? [00:17:22] Speaker A: To live our lives as a comfort to God. [00:17:26] Speaker B: To be the kind of person who can look and say, but I got. [00:17:30] Speaker A: My man, but I got my woman. I got Jeremy, I got Holly, I got Danielle, I got Nadine, I got Steve, I got Miriam. In a world that breaks his heart, violence, cruelty, indifference. [00:17:53] Speaker B: Imagine looking down God looking down at. [00:17:57] Speaker A: You and saying, that one brings me comfort. Man, he does believe in you. He always has. And that's miraculous. We can't fix everything. We can't heal the world. But we can strive. We can try to live as people who ease the sorrow, who bring light and mercy and goodness. [00:18:29] Speaker B: And I know, listen, many of the. [00:18:31] Speaker A: Theologies that you grew up with, I understand. This is. This sounds absolutely outrageous. [00:18:37] Speaker B: Comforting God? Give me a break. [00:18:39] Speaker A: That's presumptuous. We can't do that. [00:18:42] Speaker B: Okay, how about this? Confirming God, that's even worse. What do you mean, confirming God? Confirming his faith in us, that he was. Because we are here, right? To believe in us, that we cherish the gift of this life. That's what it means to live in his image. That's what we're created for, to represent him, to restore what's broken, to reflect a heart back to him. People say, no, we're not. We were made to worship him. That's my sole existent purpose. I was created to worship. What would God have made if he made a world full of worship robots? I know it sounds controversial, but listen, it's like when I asked ChatGPT a question, and ChatGPT always starts by saying, wow, Damien, you are so smart. What a great way to address this certain issue. I'm really proud of you. I don't want that from you, chatgpt. I want you to do something. I want you to help me do something. And that's sort of like saying, I was made to worship God. I sing the song. Sing the song. Sing. Yes, sing this song. But he also wants you to. To do. That's a beautiful praise. That's a beautiful way to worship God. So if I offended anyone with that, I'm sorry. [00:20:36] Speaker A: But it's true. [00:20:42] Speaker B: And that changes everything, actually, about how we live. Because once you realize that the creator of heaven and earth believes in you, made you, knowing that you could disappoint him, knowing that you could break his heart. Once you understand that, things change. And for many, many people, they see themselves as broken. [00:21:07] Speaker A: They have for a long, long time. [00:21:09] Speaker B: Desperately in need of repair, constantly trying to earn, you know, what you think you lack. But what if that's not the story at all, that God really did make you on purpose? To quote Mendel Kalmanson, he believes in you on purpose. He's not waiting for you to finally get it together so he can approve of you. [00:21:36] Speaker A: He already believes in you. [00:21:37] Speaker B: So now the question is never, how do I earn God's love? The question is, how do I honor it? How do I honor that. [00:21:55] Speaker A: You stop living to earn his approval? [00:21:57] Speaker B: You just say, God, I want to be your guy. I want to be your girl. [00:22:04] Speaker A: Not in a weird way, not to get something from him, but to make him proud, to bring him comfort. To be, in some crazy way like Noach, to be a comfort. One who, when he looks at you, you are a source of comfort in his faith and humanity. You can live in such a way that when God looks at this broken world, he'll say, I got my people. That's who I want to be. That's who I want us all to be. That's why we do this. You know the pattern of Torah? God never quits. He keeps starting over. Adam failed. He started with Noah. Noah's children failed. God started with Abraham. Israel went to Egypt in bondage. God started again with Moses. [00:22:54] Speaker B: And on and on it goes. And every generation, he finds someone who says, hineni, here I am. Use me. God always be careful when you say that, because usually you don't know what's coming next, but it's going to be a big thing if you say hineni, make sure you're really there. And that pattern, you see, that's what makes it so profoundly hopeful. God never quits on humanity. There's always one. There's always a remnant, there's always a spark. And that pattern, of course, reached its climax where we're a messianic synagogue. [00:23:30] Speaker A: Where do you think I might be heading? [00:23:32] Speaker B: The climax in Messiah himself. Before the world was even created, the sages say repentance existed. That the name of Messiah, the spirit of Messiah dwelling under the throne of creation. Like, there's so much in rabbinic literature about this. Before the first sin, there was already a plan for redemption. And so you look at that and you think about what it means. God, omniscient, looked ahead, saw every failure, every rebellion, every heartbreak. And he still said, it's worth it. [00:24:09] Speaker A: And he Prepared, you know, the cure before the wound. That's the most beautiful Jewish expression of redemption and repentance and salvation. That before anything was created, he created the cure before the wound. But Yeshua is the man who brought comfort to the Father's heart. He lived that fully righteous life that Adam failed to live, that Noah tried, that Abraham reached for. He's God's ultimate. [00:24:44] Speaker B: I've got my man. [00:24:47] Speaker A: Okay, but here's the stunning part. Yeshua didn't come just to be the like, you gotta stay with me through this. The exception. [00:25:02] Speaker B: He came to make us like him. He does stand alone, but that wasn't. [00:25:11] Speaker A: Really the whole mission, right? Yeshua shows us what this looks like. [00:25:19] Speaker B: To be a comfort to God. You watch him with the broken, he restores people. You watch him with the proud, he humbles people. You watch him with the disciples who don't get it. He patiently teaches them. He calls people back. He demonstrates the image of God. He confronts hypocrisy. He restores failures like Peter and sends them out to feed the sheep. And, and he does it in love. He breathes. Well, not literally, but through him, the spirit of God fills us up and turns us into these power packed people. And so the objection that says I can't be God's person, I just, you know, I don't have what it takes. He didn't die and rise to create. [00:26:11] Speaker A: Spectators in this thing. And so many people, that's how they live their life. He died and rose to create partners. And he did not pour out his spirit to decorate your life or to give you a get out of jail free card. That's also not really what it was about. He transforms people who in our own little way can become like God's people. You are not disqualified. Right. I'm broken. I'm too flawed. Stop. Stop saying that. Just stop saying that. Listen to me carefully. God's heart was broken by humanity's sin. And he still believed there was someone worth saving. And he look. And this violence and wickedness and he found Noah. And Noah wasn't perfect, but Noah was willing. [00:27:16] Speaker B: And you may fall 100 times, but you're still here. You're still here. You're still breathing. You're still trying. You're still reaching for God. And that means you're not finished. And that means he still believes in you. And so here's what this means right now. Because of Yeshua, because of God's perfect man, righteousness, resurrection, spirit, living in us. That means you are called and came capable to be an Encouragement to God. Is that heretical? Does that sound unbelievable? It shouldn't. Not by being perfect. [00:28:03] Speaker A: Just by demonstrating faith and love. And, you know, God's heart is clearly. [00:28:09] Speaker B: I'm certain I don't know the mind of God or. [00:28:13] Speaker A: But I'm sure he's still grieved by what's going on around right now. I mean, we're grieved in many ways. You can only imagine the world he. [00:28:24] Speaker B: Called good, the world he loved. [00:28:26] Speaker A: It's full of brokenhearted things, but he still believes. And that's our mission. We want to be his people to people. You just let it sink in. The real subject of the Torah is not our faith in God, which is often faltering, but his unfailing faith in us. That's what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is. God believes in you. I need you to hear that. I don't need you to just hear it. I need you to hear it. I need you to hear it. I need you to internalize it. [00:28:57] Speaker B: Break through whatever walls you build around. [00:29:00] Speaker A: Yourself and failure and anything else. [00:29:03] Speaker B: And if you're still standing, you can doubt yourself. [00:29:06] Speaker A: You may feel like you failed too many times, but I'm promising you, God still believes in you. You. So I ask, what if this becomes our goal? To live, as crazy as it sounds, as a comfort to God? Can we do it? [00:29:25] Speaker B: We'll just all start going by the name Noah. [00:29:28] Speaker A: Male or female? [00:29:30] Speaker B: Hi, Noah. Shabbat shalom Noach. [00:29:32] Speaker A: Everybody who comes here is going to be like, what? [00:29:38] Speaker B: Nachamu ami. [00:29:40] Speaker A: That word also meant comfort. My people, we are a place of comfort. It's what we're called to be. But thinking about being a comfort to God now, that takes it to a whole other level. So give a lot of messages on God's love. I've heard a lot of them through the years. I don't give a lot of them. Maybe I take it for granted that you just know that. Maybe I just don't pay enough attention to it. But today you're getting a God loves you message, but not the one you're used to. You've heard plenty of sermons, I'm sure. [00:30:19] Speaker B: That say God loves you so much that he sent his one and only. [00:30:25] Speaker A: Son to save you from burning in. [00:30:27] Speaker B: The fiery excrement of hell forever. [00:30:33] Speaker A: That's not the message. God did send his son because he loves you. That is a part of the message. But I want to give you a message that's a little bit more Jewish, a little more shalom, Macon. And here it is. God loves you so much that he created you. And he believes in you to be something excellent for his name. That's how much he loves you. [00:30:58] Speaker B: He didn't just love you enough to rescue you. [00:31:04] Speaker A: He loved you enough to make you, knowing full well what it would cost. And he still believes in you. And yes, he sent his man so. [00:31:15] Speaker B: That you could be with him forever. [00:31:18] Speaker A: That's what Yeshua is. He is an eternal. He is our entrance into eternal reward. And God did that. [00:31:28] Speaker B: But until then, your feet are on. [00:31:33] Speaker A: The ground here, Adama, on the land. [00:31:39] Speaker B: And until then, that's where you represent God. And that's the love message. [00:31:45] Speaker A: You ready? This simple. [00:31:46] Speaker B: You are not just saved from something. You are created for something. [00:32:00] Speaker A: God believes in you. Rabbi Sacks, I'll finish with this because I love it so much. We may lose heart. God never will. We may despair. God will give us hope. God believes in us even when we don't believe in ourselves. We may sin and disappoint and come short again and again. But God never ceases to forgive us when we fall and lift us when we fail. I want us to all be seen through the eyes of God. Like Noah having found favor in his eyes. [00:32:34] Speaker B: And without a doubt, in the end, thanks to the work of Yeshua, we'll be with him. But in the here and now, go out of here. [00:32:42] Speaker A: Grabbing hold of that idea that God believes in you. Of course he loves you, but he believes in you. And without any other expectation or demand from him, be part of bringing him joy. Honor his faith in you. That's your calling. Strive to be God's girl or God's guy out there. And may we all experience the joy that Noach had to walk with God and to be an inspiration to him. Can you imagine any better way to be? Can you imagine any higher calling? Shabbat Shalom. [00:33:28] Speaker C: I'm Darren with Shalom Macon. If you enjoyed this teaching, I want to ask you to take the next step. Start by making sure you subscribe to our channel. [00:33:36] Speaker A: Next. [00:33:36] Speaker C: Make sure you hit the like button on this video so that others know it's worth their time to watch. Last, head over to our website to learn more about Shalom Macon, explore other teachings and events, and if you're so inclined, contribute to the work that we're doing to further the kingdom. Thanks for watching and connecting with Shalom Macon. [00:34:02] Speaker A: Sa.