The Lightbulb Conspiracy

Well, thank you, Aidan, for the special music. It's so nice to see our younger people kind of moving into learning these different instruments and things, having an opportunity to be able to serve in a variety of capacities as time goes on. Piano was one of those that always wished I had the patience to learn. I didn't have the patience to learn it. Nor the coordination, really. The left and right hands trying to do two independent things was always difficult. Of course, I tried to learn to do it much older in life, but we certainly do appreciate it. How many of you have been to Livermore, California? Anybody? Okay, a couple. For those of you that have been to San Francisco, you've been close. Livermore is just east of San Francisco, and it's the home to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is also home to the longest-lived light bulb in the world. The Centennial Bulb is a pretty big deal.

It's located at station six of the Pleasanton Livermore Fire Department, and barring a few short outages over the years as a result of power fluctuations, you know, power goes off or something like that. Or they had to remodel the station at one point and disconnect it for a little while and then reconnect it when they had the first opportunity.

They've had to relocate things, too, as well. But that particular light bulb has more or less run continuously for 117 years. It was installed in 1901, and it has run like the Energizer Bunny. It just keeps going and going and going. For those that, you know, I'd say it's very the math, it's over one million hours of operation on that light bulb.

117 years. The bulb itself is a Shelby electric company improved incandescent lamp, and it's different than the modern incandescent lamps that some of us remember. The modern incandescent, I guess, is dead, but prior to the killing of the modern incandescent bulb, it was a little bit different. The filaments inside are carbon rather than tungsten, which, you know, reduces the amount of resistance. Tungsten is a very high resistance material. The glass was hand-blown for each of these styles of kind of incandescent lamp, and as well, the filaments are looped very gently. They're not a very tight filament like many of our modern incandescent bulbs are.

Over the many years that the bulb has been in operation, it has gotten dimmer with time. So it has. It started out as a 60-watt bulb, and 117 years later it's a 4-watt bulb. But it's still glowing, and you can prove it to yourself by going to its bulb cam. It is located at centennialbulb.com forward slash cam dot htm. And there is a bulb cam that has been positioned on this bulb for many, many years. It's a big deal. People literally go to Livermore, California to go and see this light bulb. And if you go to the Livermore police, or the police station, where this is at, knock kindly on the door.

If they are not in the middle of an emergency, they will escort you to see said bulb. People do it all the time. In fact, they have a thing on their website that talks about tips so that you aren't, you know, get turned away at the door as a result of that.

But the fact that that single bulb has had more than a million hours of service is incredible. It really is. Think about how frequently bulbs go out today. Though it's interesting in doing some digging, it appears that long-lived light bulbs were not such a common occurrence before the mid-1920s.

Now, this was kind of fascinating. I became aware of this recently. I hadn't heard of this before, but in 1925, a group of manufacturers got together in Geneva, Switzerland, and formed what was known as the Sebus Cartel. They formed what was known as the Sebus Cartel. Basically, it was a group of light bulb manufacturers, OSRAM, General Electric, AEI, and Philips, among a number of other manufacturing companies, who all came together and agreed as one to lower the life expectancy of their bulbs to 1,000 hours. And, in addition to that, they also agreed to fix their prices. Because what was happening was light bulb manufacturers were building longer-lasting bulbs for cheaper.

And as the bulb manufacturers looked around, they came to realize it doesn't make very good business sense to produce an inexpensive light bulb that lasts for 100 years. Because then, why would anyone have to purchase another light bulb in their lifetime? The consumer would now be forced to purchase a new bulb right around 1,000 hours when the other one died. And because every manufacturer's prices increased, they were all roughly the same price. The company made more money, and they sold more light bulbs as a result of the agreement.

This same sort of strategy actually was floated later on as a way to end the Great Depression by putting a life expectancy on certain items so that they would wear out or be taken out of circulation and people would be forced to purchase new, thereby jumpstarting the economy. This strategy at that time was coined as planned obsolescence. It's called planned obsolescence, and it's when a manufacturer purposefully makes a product that becomes obsolete or irreparable as time goes on in order to encourage consumers to purchase a new product at an increased cost.

It is alive and well today. You guys think of any industries that utilize planned obsolescence? Yes. No, I see cell phones being waved at me. Yes.

Bingo! Consumer electronics utilize planned obsolescence. Small appliances use planned obsolescence. In fact, Apple is in the process right now of a series of class-action lawsuits over planned obsolescence because they admitted that their software updates slow older iPhones purposefully. Slow them down. So that way, people have to then turn around and go, well, I think it's running really slow. I'd better buy a new phone. And, of course, the price of the new phone is significant. Now, that's not the same as general, basic, technical obsolescence. As time goes on, things change, technologies get better, things simply slow down because you're running higher graphics and higher memory requirements on an older machine. This is purposeful, slowing down of older phones. And they essentially admitted to it, and now they're being sued by a whole bunch of people as a result of it. It's not just Apple. Other phone companies do the same. Suited manufacturers of appliances. If you've ever tried to repair small appliances, you'll often find sometimes those parts are extremely hard to find.

Or, they're extremely expensive, such that it almost makes more sense to just buy a new device, as opposed to repair it. Or, sometimes, in my experience, I've actually found some appliances that simply cannot be repaired. I mean, you could you could clutch them together if you wanted to. You know, enough duct tape and electronic wires will fix just about anything. But some of them are specifically designed to be replaced.

Now, those of you that have been around for a while, you recognize it didn't used to be this way. I mean, it didn't. It used to be this way. I remember the Maytag commercials as a kid. Many of you probably do as well. Poor Maytag repairmen sitting there with absolutely nothing to do. You know, today we'd look at that commercial and we'd go, wow, what a lazy employee!

But the reality is, the whole point of the commercial was Maytag never needs to be repaired. Therefore, this guy's bored. Right? That was the whole point of the commercial.

Was it uncommon for washing machines and dryers to run 15-20 years? Like my family had the set of washer and dryer that was almost that old.

People kept their vehicles running for years and years and years. Some people still do. Some people still do. Some of you might remember Helmut Jinkowski from down in the Roseburg area. Helmut might also remember his car. Helmut drove this old Mercedes sedan that he just loved to death and worked on that thing like you wouldn't believe. But that thing had over one million miles on it, and he had the certificate to prove it. He had the certificate to prove it.

Quality engineering, ongoing preventive maintenance, and the occasional necessary repair kept that thing running forever. Kept it running forever. Could he have replaced it over the years? Sure. I don't think he struggled with minions. He could have replaced it over the years if he wanted to. He could have bought a newer car. But he bought a quality automobile that he wanted, was content with that purchase over time, and he invested the time and the money to keep it going for as long as he did. He invested the time and the energy necessary to make it work.

Today, the vast majority of our consumer purchases are made inexpensively in China. I actually had a work for Toys R Us, and I got a phone call one time from a person that got transferred to me, and they said, I'm looking for a doll that is made in America. I said, well, have fun with that. There really aren't any that we carry that are made in America. The today vast majority of our consumer electronics and purchases and other things are made in China, because it keeps the cost down, and those costs can be passed on to the consumer, ultimately, as well as become profit for the manufacturer itself. But they simply don't make things like they used to.

But even more than that, because we know this to be true, our mindset towards these sorts of things has changed. As a whole, we've become what some will term a throwaway society. As a whole, we've become what some would call a throwaway society, a society that's rooted in consumerism. And if it breaks, well, we just simply throw it away, and we buy a new one. Forget trying to fix it. Fixing it's hard. It's easier to just replace it. You know, the Phoebus Cartel started this trend of consumerism in the 20th century by purposefully limiting the lifespans of their products. It's widely recognized as the first known instance of planned obsolescence in modern history.

They started the trend, but as time has gone on, the repercussions of that conspiracy have pervaded all facets of society, because it's become ingrained in us as a mindset that it's simply easier to throw something away than it is to fix it. I'd like to spend some time today talking about some of these facets and their implications on us today. The title of the message is the light bulb conspiracy. The light bulb conspiracy. You know, people didn't know about this light bulb conspiracy for quite a while after it had been agreed on. In fact, I'd never heard of it until this past week. I don't know how many of you have heard of the Phoebus Cartel and the light bulb conspiracy. Anybody? Okay, a couple, right? A couple. This is something that was kept under wraps. It was done in secret. It was done quietly. It was done under the radar. And just suddenly, people started noticing, wait a minute, my light bulbs simply are not lasting as long as they used to. And maybe they kind of cursed the light bulb, you know, manufacturers a little bit, but what did they do? They took what anybody else would do. They went out and they bought a new light bulb, because that was your option, right? That was what you had to do. So they had them. They had them.

They were able to say, look, this is how it's going to be. And people simply went out and bought new light bulbs, because that was the option that they had.

Brethren, is it possible that there is a light bulb conspiracy, quote unquote, of sorts, going on in our lives as well? A sort of planned obsolescent, so to speak, maybe a quiet agreement that was set up to discourage us to cause issues in our interpersonal relationships, in our friendships, in our marriages? Is it possible that under the radar, there are forces at work to encourage us to abandon the things in our life that take work and to just give up, rather than to focus on how we can repair them? I would argue that it's not only possible, but I would argue that it's been going on for millennia. You might say it's currently status quo in society around us today. Let's start by turning over to Genesis 4. Genesis 4, we'll see an example of an interpersonal relationship that soured. In Genesis 4, we'll see the account of Cain and Abel here in Genesis 4 and verse 1.

We'll see an example of an interpersonal relationship that soured as a result of this conspiracy. Genesis 4 and verse 1 read as follows. As soon as I can get to that page. Apologies. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived, and she bore Cain, and she said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So we have shepherd and a farmer, essentially, here. In the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat, and the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering.

Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. Verse 6, the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? Why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. Now Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and he killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I don't know. I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?

You know, one of the things that's hard about a lot of passages that we read in Scripture is we're reading a moment in time. Right? We're reading a moment in time here. We're seeing the time when Cain rose up against Abel in this particular session. What we don't always see are the things that led up to this point. Right? We don't always see the stuff that was going on beforehand. We don't always see the conversation. I mean, in fact, we're not privy to the conversation in this particular set between Cain and Abel. But what we can see from this passage is we can see that Cain was upset because his offering was not regarded as Abel's was. Now, with that, as a result of ongoing animosity between Cain and Abel, kind of a one-upsmanship that we don't know for sure. Right? We realize that people are human, just like us. They have human emotions, human things, just like us. Now, the question was, or the question is, I should say, Cain being upset because his offering was not regarded as Abel's was, is that Abel's fault? It's of course not.

This is a Cain problem. This is not an Abel's problem. But, and this is the point, it is so much easier to point at Abel and say it's his fault rather than acknowledge his own part in the problem and work to fix it. Again, we're not privy to the conversations that Abel and Cain have here when Cain goes to talk to him, but we do know that at some point after that Cain kills Abel.

Cain chose to follow the conspiracy. His relationship with Abel in his mind had an expiration date as a result of his own personal issues. Now, those personal issues he projected onto Abel. He projected those issues onto Abel and made him out to be the scapegoat.

He wasn't willing to invest the work that was necessary to fix the situation.

And so rather than work it out, rather than put in the effort and the energy to restore his brother to him, to fix his own issues and to reconcile himself to God in the process of reconciling Abel to himself, it was simply easier in Cain's mind, and sadly, based on his choice, preferred to rise up and strike him down. In Cain's mind, that was the solution.

Brethren humans are a lot like electricity. They're a lot like electricity. They often follow the path of least resistance. They take the easy way more often than not. In fact, most organisms do. They're some fascinating biological experiments done with a variety of different organisms that have shown there's a certain threshold by which organisms won't expend energy to obtain food.

It's fascinating stuff. They'll actually have an organism and they'll start moving the food closer to the organism, and then they'll measure where's the point where it takes it? Where's the point where it jumps out and grabs, like, for example, with lizards and bugs or whatever? How close can we get the bug before the lizard decides, well, that's dinner? And then they measure that, and then they do it again later, and then they do it again later, and they do it again later. And after a while they have enough stuff to be able to say, look, they have enough data to be able to go look.

At this point to this point, the bug is too far away and the lizard won't move.

The conclusion that the researchers make is, well, it's too much energy expenditure for the energy that it receives. That's the scientific, you know, conclusion of it. You look at middle school students, they do the same thing. They do! Look, and I'm not bagging on middle school kids. I'm just saying, kids are kids. People are people. Adults are adults.

You know, oh, he's used so far. Literally six inches from their reach.

Ah, forget it. I'm not that hungry. Or I'm not that thirsty, or I'm not that whatever, right? People do the exact same thing. Adults do the exact same thing. But they've also found that not just lizards, not just, you know, smaller organisms, larger organisms, predatory cats, you know, on the plains of Africa, will do the exact same thing. They don't chase the strongest and the fastest. Why not? It's hard to catch them. The weak and the slow are so much easier to catch.

And so they go for the weak, and they go for the slow. Less energy expenditure, therefore, a greater net energy gain, at least, is the conclusion of researchers. That's the theory. It's called forage theory. Forage theory. Humans internally have a similar balance point, not just in food, but also in perception of our relationships. When it comes to the point where we value relationships, where we value friendships, or where we value, you know, our own spiritual walk with God, often we reach a point where we internally determine whether continuing in that relationship is worth it or not. Whether it's worth it or not. Whether we are willing to expend the energy, so to speak, willing to put out the work that it's going to take to maintain that relationship, and we weigh that against how we personally value that relationship. And if the answer is, it's too much work, it's too much effort, it's too much energy, I don't value the relationship enough to put in that work and put in that energy and put in that effort, then the answer is, I'm done. I'm done. The ultimate conclusion is, if it's not worth the time or the energy expenditure, we cut it off. Whether it's a friendship, whether it's a marriage, whether it's our own relationship with God. If we conclude personally that it's too far gone, that there is too much work necessary to fix it, subconsciously, sometimes even consciously, we will sabotage that relationship even further, to be able to say it is beyond repair. This is probably as good a time as any to throw in the caveat. There are some relationships that have to be ended. There are. If you are in a friendship or relationship which is dangerous or physically abusive, if you are in a relationship where your safety or your life is in danger, you have to end that relationship. You simply have to.

If you are in a place where you're in a relationship where a person is being encouraged to do things that are contrary to their beliefs, for example, young people, if you're dating or whatever, and you have somebody peer pressuring you for sex, for drug and alcohol use, for criminal activity, that needs to be ended. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 33, we won't turn there, but you can jot it down, states, do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good character. Bad company corrupts good character. A person with good, solid morals can only hold up so long when surrounded by the influences of those that are continually operating in opposition to those morals.

Sometimes I think we think, well, I can change this individual. I can cause them to see the error of their ways by my good example. And while, you know, occasionally that may happen, chances are very good that their influence on you is going to overwhelm your influence on them.

Again, not necessarily a hard and fast rule, but it's a biblical principle worth considering, particularly during our adolescent years. Particularly as we're selecting those friends and as we're selecting those individuals with whom we spend our time with. Don't be deceived, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, bad company corrupts good character.

We need to be on guard for these sorts of situations, but honestly, being perfectly frank, most of the time these kinds of relationships, those that are physically abusive, those that are dangerous, those that are creating, you know, all manner of difficulties from a morality standpoint, frankly, are not the norm. They're more outliers in that regard. More often than not, we get frustrated with each other over our idiosyncrasies. We get frustrated with each other over our perceived incompatibility. Most of the time, brethren, we cut off relationships with one another because we refuse to change. We cut off our relationships with each other because we refuse to change. And just like Cain and just like Abel, it's the other person's fault.

We see the other person as the problem. We don't recognize that we ourselves harbor the anger. We harbor the bitterness. We harbor the frustration and the resentment. To fix that relationship, we must first fix us. Which, frankly, is why many relationships are thrown away instead of repaired, because it is so much easier to throw it away than to fix ourselves and to change ourselves.

Let's go over to Matthew 5. We're going to pick up the account in one of the locations here where Christ expounds on the Ten Commandments as delivered to Israel. Matthew 5, and we'll pick it up in verse 21. Matthew 5 and verse 21. Matthew 5 and verse 21 says, You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.

But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raka shall be in danger of the counsel. But whoever says, You fool, shall be in danger of hellfire.

Christ tells those gathered, You may have heard that murder is wrong, you know, invoking Cain and Abel, invoking some of those different things that they've learned through the law. I said, You may have heard that those who say to their brother, Raka, you fool. Which translates like, You empty-headed fool, essentially. You idiot is basically the modern translation of Raka. You idiot.

Are in danger of the counsel, but what he tells him is, wait a minute, no, those of you who say Raka, those of you who say you idiot, you stupid, empty-headed fool to their brother are in danger of the lake of fire.

Now, I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but I would venture a guess that some of you in your frustration have said worse. I'm just going to take a step out and guess that that may be the case. Brother, where does murder begin? Where does hatred begin?

It begins right there. It begins right there. It begins with a devaluation of the individual whom you have an issue with in your mind. It begins with a devaluation of that relationship.

It's like looking at the appliance and going, well, it's old, it's busted, it costs too much to fix it, might as well just chuck it and get a new one. It starts there.

Once again, no show of hands, because I don't want anybody to incriminate themselves.

But I would venture a guess that in an argument, some of you have said worse than you fool, or you idiot. Maybe thought worse than you fool, or you idiot. You know, honestly, calling someone a fool these days seems pretty tame compared to what we hear in the media, compared to what we hear on the news and whatever else. Often, when we're engaged with, we might say, and put this in quotes, a heated discussion with someone, we're not in our best form. We're really not. We're not in our best form. We're stressed. We're angry. We're frustrated. It's very likely that at that point in time, things have been building for some time, and at that point, the volcano just blows.

And, as Scripture says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If the heart is full of anger, if the heart is full of resentment and bitterness and frustration, then that is what will come spewing forth at that point. James writes that the tongue of the fire, a world of iniquity, says it can start incredible forest fires from just a little spark. And how many relationships have careless words destroyed over the years? Countless relationships have been destroyed over the years by careless words. Notice Matthew 5, verse 23, in case there's any question to the seriousness that God places upon reconciliation to one another. Verse 23, here, says, Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. In case there's any kind of a question as to the seriousness that God places upon reconciliation to one another, God told those gathered that if they are coming to bring a gift and offering to the altar, and they recall an offense or something that their brother has against them, He says, put it down. Stop what you are doing, and fix it before you come. He goes that far. Reconciliation in God's eyes is that important. He says, put down your offering, and go to your brother, and fix the situation. Matthew 18. I'm going to have you before you turn to Matthew 18. I know some of you start because you're speedy off the line real quick. Before you turn there, put a bookmark or a finger or something in John 17. We're going to come back to that after we go to Matthew 18.

John 17. But in Matthew 18, God outlines the process by which He expects people to solve their differences and to solve their conflicts. And I'd like you to note as we go through this, and as we look at this, that it does not appear that God supports the concept of planned obsolescence.

He does not support the concept of thrown-away relationships. It appears that His desire for us is that we work through our issues, that we unify with one another as He and Christ are unified. Again, put a bookmark in John 17 before you go to Matthew 18. We're going to head there after we're done. But Matthew 18, we're going to pick it up a little bit earlier than we do normally when we go to this passage. So Matthew 18, we're going to pick it up actually in verse 11.

Because again, we've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.

The Bible, when it was originally written, did not have chapter and verse breaks in it. Those were added later. And so these things that we read followed one another, immediately following one another, without the breaks, without the divisions of how this all went together.

So Matthew 18 and verse 11, what we read in verse 15 comes directly on the heels of verse 14.

It immediately follows verse 14 and what's outlined between 11 and 14. So Matthew 18 verse 11 says, For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that's straying?

And if he should find it, assuredly I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Now, we have a break there in our Bibles, but pretend that break's not there.

Go straight from 14 into 15. So even so, it's not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him this fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. If you will not hear, take with you one or two more that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. Verse 17, if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Now, I'd like to draw your attention to a couple of different things from this particular passage.

Number one, God came to save that which was lost.

God came to save that which was lost. Those that wander and those that go astray, God goes after the one. And in that regard, we are to endeavor God, or we are endeavored to emulate God and do the same. We are to become more like God as time goes on. Number two, while the direct context of this particular passage is sin, it's not outside the interpretation to assume that this process is designed as well for offense. It works equally as well for offense. When we're offended, we don't automatically go to our friends and complain about what happens. You know? We go to that individual and we line it out, and we say, hey, you know, this caused offense, this hurt, let's work this out.

And if they don't hear it, well, maybe you do go back with some witnesses, those who saw the behavior, those who were there. But number three, and I think this is the important thing to recognize with this passage, the goal of this interaction is reconciliation. The whole purpose of entering into this process is to gain your brother. That's the whole purpose here. It's not designed for us to get a bunch of people together and go gang up on them. You know, that's not the goal here. Not the goal to go in and prove, ha, I'm right and you're wrong. That's not the goal here. The goal is reconciliation. The goal is that we are restored to our brother and that they are restored to us, as we both reconcile ourselves to God. We go to our brother in love with the hopes of solving the issue, getting to the bottom of it, fixing it. And so in that regard, Matthew 18, brethren, is the direct antithesis to playing the obsolescence. It is the direct antithesis to this conspiracy, because if planned obsolescence was the goal, then God would have simply let the lone sheep wander away and instead focus on the ninety-nine. If planned obsolescence was the goal, then there would be no attempts to reconcile the brother. Instead, we see three attempts.

This is a method that God has designed in order for brethren to remain unified with one another, in spite of sin, in spite of offense. God desires that we repair rather than throw away as much as depends on us. Now, it should be noted there are times that the sheep run from the shepherd.

There are times that it doesn't matter how much the shepherd pursues, the sheep keeps running.

And it's in those times that you don't give up, but you recognize that there's going to have to be some change on the sheep's part in order to begin to want to return. There are times sometimes that that lone sheep doesn't want to be unified. They have no interest in it. There are times, too, that the individual involved is not at all interested in fixing the issues, not at all interested in reconciling themselves to God and to others. Sometimes the sheep would rather separate itself from the flock and run. And that is a reality as well. Those are tough situations.

So, very tough situations. What is God's goal? What does God want? God wants reconciliation, and God wants unification. Let's go over to John 17. Had you put a bookmark in there, because we were going to go over there shortly after. In John 17, I'm going to pick it up in verse 20. John 17 is one of those places where we see Christ kind of pour his heart out, so to speak. In this prayer to the Father here in the Garden of Gethsemane, God is last night on earth.

He would be betrayed. Following afternoon, essentially, he would be dead.

John 17, in verse 20, in the midst of this prayer to the Father, he says, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, and that the world may believe that you sent me. Verse 22, in the glory which you gave me, I have given them that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. So Christ prayed that those who believed in God through the word of His disciples, which, that's us, you know, we believed through the word of His disciples, through the calling that God has given to us, He prayed that those down through the ages would read and would hear, and that God would call them to understand, and that they would be one.

Not only one, but that they would be one as Christ and the Father are one.

When you start to tear that apart, you tear apart the body too.

They are unified in a way that is very difficult for us to understand at times. They are two distinct beings that are unified in spirit, unified in mind, purpose. They are truly one. And we've said this before, likely the closest thing that we can experience to this level of oneness in this life is the marriage relationship and institution of marriage.

Two distinct beings, whose goal it is to be unified in spirit, mind, and purpose, who over time, as they grow closer to God, enables them to become closer to one another.

Because they're yielding themselves to the nature of God and becoming more like Him. As both of them become more like Him, they become closer. This is analogous to the relationship that God and Christ have. It's analogous to the relationship that is between Christ and the Church. It is a physical representation for us to understand spiritual lessons.

Mark 10 and verse 9 simply states what God joins together, let no man separate. And I think sometimes we read that and we say, oh, okay, well, He's talking specifically about a man disannulling a marriage or giving some sort of a certificate, an upholding by judgment, a certificate of divorce, or whatever. And I think that's a valid interpretation.

But I think it's really, really, really, really, really, I don't know how many more release I can put on it. I think it's really important for us to recognize that that man includes us. That man includes us. Every marriage that is ultimately separated by divorce was first separated by the actions of the individuals in that covenantal relationship. And that's the unfortunate reality. And that gets at the core of what we're talking about here today. That gets at the core of what we're looking at, where we reach a point that a friendship or a marriage relationship, or, as we'll see shortly, our relationship with God, that we conclude, you know what, it's beyond fixing. It's not worth the time or the energy to fix the issues. That's all she wrote. I'm done. Instead, what do we see in Scripture? 1 Corinthians 13.

4 Chapter 13, I should say, please. 1 Corinthians 13.

We've made this point recently. In fact, I think we went here in my last sermon, so please forgive me for going here again. I try not to reuse passages over and over and over again, but it just is too important to this particular topic to overlook.

1 Corinthians 13. And we're going to pick it up in verse 4.

1 Corinthians 13, verse 4. We've mentioned this before. You can find this written out on pieces of wood at Hobby Lobby all over the place. You can find this particular quote. You know, vinyl stickers that you can put on your walls, etc. But 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 4 says, 1 Because love suffers long and is kind. 2 Love does not envy. 3 Love does not parade itself. 4 Is not puffed up. 5 Does not behave rudely. 6 Does not seek its own. 7 Is not provoked. 3 Thinks no evil. 4 Does not rejoiceelle in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. 5 Here is all things. 6 Believes all things. 2 Hopes all things. 3 Endures all things.

Love never fails. I'm going to stop there. The rest of it kind of continues with that concept. And I think often we look at this passage and we tend to consider it when we think about marriage and when we think about, you know, the union of two individuals. And I think that's a perfectly acceptable interpretation of that passage. But one thing I don't think we often consider is that this is also reflective of the kind of love that is expected to exist between us as brethren.

You know, in a marriage relationship, yes, we are to be patient with one another. We're not to be envious. We're not to parade around and be puffed up. We're not to be selfish. We're not to be rude. We're not to be easily provoked to anger or provoke to anger. Sometimes it's interesting. I don't know if you've done this before. Sometimes it stings a little bit, too.

Fun to put your own name in there every time it says love. Ben is patient. Ben is kind.

Ben does not envy. See how far you can get in the list before you realize you've got work to do. It's an interesting bit of self-examination. It really is.

And one of those things where you look in the mirror and you go, okay, I have work to do.

But again, I think sometimes what we fail to consider is that this is the kind of love that we're to have towards one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

In our actions with one another, we are to be patient. We're not to be envious. We're not to be puffed up. We're not to be rude. We're not to provoke one another to anger. We're not to rejoice in sin, but we're to rejoice in the truth. We're to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things, above all remembering that love never fails.

This is the kind of attitude that is expected of us in our interactions with one another as brethren, with our spouses. This is the expectation, period. Period.

There isn't an option for us to be like, you know what, God, I'm good. It's not really something I'm particularly interested in doing, thanks, but no thanks.

As followers of God, we are known by our love for one another. That is how we are known to the world around us. 1 John 4, verses 10 to 11. We won't turn there. We'll go ahead and just reference it. But it states as follows. It says, In this is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Then it goes on to conclude, Beloved, if God so loved us, if God loved us like this, we also ought to love one another.

You know, spring holy days are soon upon us. Passover's a few months out. It's coming up very fast. And as we undergo our self-examination process this year, it's essential that we take a look at ourselves, that we consider ourselves, and through that examination that we begin to examine our relationships. And here's why. Because our relationships are a metric of our own level of application. They are. They're a metric of our own level of application to what we just read. They are a measurement, so to speak, of our level of love toward one another.

If you would turn over to Luke 15, verse 11.

Luke 15 and verse 11 will turn as we start to kind of close here today.

Luke 15, in this particular passage, Christ gives His disciples a parable that illustrates the love that God has for us. And ultimately, through that, I mean, we can conclude, ultimately, by taking a look at that, is that that's also the kind of love that we're then expected to reciprocate to others. I mean, as much as possible, right? As much depends upon us.

And frankly, brethren, I think it's a love that at this time of year becomes very, very personal and needs to become very, very personal as we enter this self-examination period. As we start to enter this time where we start to look at our relationship with God, our covenantal agreement in baptism, we start to look at, hey, what did I say I was going to do? And then ask ourselves the question, am I doing it? As we enter into this time, this is an important parable. Luke 15, verse 11. Luke 15 and verse 11 begins by saying, Then he said a certain man had two sons.

The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.

Give me my inheritance now, essentially. And so he divided to them his livelihood.

Not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, grabbed his stuff, so to speak, and journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living, with wild living, as some translations put it.

Might say partying in today's vernacular. Verse 14, But when he had spent all, when he had essentially spent all of his stuff, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went out and joined himself to a citizen of that country, kind of entered into indentured servitude, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. So we reached, at this point, pretty dire straits. He's looking at pig food going, that looks pretty good.

Verse 17, But when he came to himself, when he realized, and when he woke up, when he got woke, as the kids say today, nobody really says that.

But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bred enough and to spare? And here I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. And I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. And he arose, and he came to his father, and when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran, and fell upon his neck and kissed him. The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son. The father said to his servant, Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf here and kill it and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is now alive again. He was lost in his sound and they began to be merry. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and he asked what these things meant. And he said to him, verse 27, Your brother has come, and because he has received him, safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf. But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. And so he answered and he said to his father, Lo, these many years I have been serving you, I never transgressed your commandment at any time, and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.

And he said to him, verse 31, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found. It's a powerful parable, an incredibly powerful parable, because brethren, this parable is about us. It's about us. Isaiah 53.6, you can jot it down. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him, on Jesus Christ, the iniquity of us all. Brethren, this parable is about us. Jesus Christ died so that you and I may live. He died, and he shed his blood so that we might be able to return home, that we might be able to step out of that pigpen, out of that muck, and out of that mud, and be restored to our Father, that we might have the ability to come home and to return to that loving embrace. You know, despite the sins of the Son, the wild living, the squandering of his birthright, that Father in that parable saw that kid coming from far away and ran. And he wrapped him up in his arms, and he kissed him. Can you imagine the joy and the relief to see his Son come to his senses? To come to himself, as it says in the passage. Can you imagine the absolute joy of seeing him repent of his sins? So much so that it was a celebration and a lavish party. You know, as I talk with individuals at times, sometimes there's a thought expressed, and it goes a little like this. How could God still love me after all the things that I've done? After all the mistakes that I've made, why hasn't God just thrown me aside? Or, even worse, individuals sometimes allow their own perceived self-worth in God's eyes to cause them to self-sabotage their relationship with God, that God couldn't possibly love me. So what's the point? Why pray? Why study? And what's the point? I'm going to light the fire anyway, so why doesn't God throw us away? Why doesn't He just chuck us in the landfill and buy a new one, quote-unquote? Because our great God does not subscribe to the concept of planned obsolescence. He did not buy into the conspiracy. He sees the worth of each of us. He sees the potential. He sees the promise. He's called us. That's right, He called you.

He's given you an opportunity to learn these things. And He's given us an incredible amount of time to repent and continues to give us time to repent, providing us that necessary time to be able to draw close to Him, to recognize the mistakes that we've made, to come to ourselves, so to speak, and to reconcile ourselves to Him and to one another. You don't throw away a life that's a little banged up. You don't throw away a relationship that's a little banged up.

It's worth the effort to fix it. It's worth the time and the energy. Why? Why is it worth the time and the energy? Because God didn't give up on you. Is why. God did not give up on you.

And as each of us improve our personal relationship with God, as we reconcile ourselves to Him, we are better able to reconcile ourselves to one another. As we are reconciled to God, we can reconcile ourselves to one another in a far greater way. As we enter into this time of self-examination, going into the Passover this year, considering our relationship is crucial.

Because our interactions with one another, as the interactions that we have with one another, is a metric of how well we're putting on Christ, how well we're expressing God's love to others, how well we're practicing 1 Corinthians 13 in our own lives. Remember, love is a verb. Love is a verb. It's an action word. It's designed to be shown. It's designed to be acted out. It's designed to be provided to others. Let's turn over to 1 John 15 here, and we'll finish it. I'm not 1 John 15. I'm sorry, John 15.

John 15, as we kind of draw things to a close here today. John 15, we're going to pick it up in verses 34 and 35.

Nope. What did I do? Did I do it again?

Yeah, I know. Me either. What did I do?

It's not in 1 John. Anyway.

Luke, Matthew, Mark, Luke. What did I do? I don't know what I did. I'm reasonably certain that's the location of that, unless I transcribed a number funny. I'm looking. Give me a second. Sorry. Can we find it?

This is where you're supposed to read my mind. How are we doing on that?

That's where I'm going. Yes. Thank you.

Well, maybe. Maybe. I'm not 100%. It's hilarious. It's in my notes. Well, the verse itself, I copied it into my notes, but apparently wrote the wrong stuff there at the beginning. See, this kind of stuff happens. Nope, that's not it.

All right. Well, it's a mystery scripture that is included in our Bible, and here's the wording.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another, by this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Okay? Kids. I'll give you a high-five if you tell me where that's at after services. Okay? See, that was totally planned. It was just a way to get the kids involved. No, that was completely not planned. Anyway. That statement, that new commandment that is given to us, that new commandment, quote-unquote, new commandment, quote-unquote, one that's been there since the beginning, that we love one another as God has loved us, by that God knows whether we are His followers or not. And again, the contrary to that is true. If we're not expressing love for one another, that tells something as well. Okay? It tells something as well. This is not something that's optional. It's not something that's a suggestion. This is a command. This is not optional. This is not like, I'd like to opt out of showing love to people. We don't get to do that. It's a command. It is God's instructions to us.

Well, now you've taken away all the opportunities for the kiddos to tell me later. Again, it's not optional. We have to love one another as Christ loved us. And how has Christ loved us? He laid down His life. That's how. He laid down His life. The blood of Jesus Christ enables us to get up out of that pigpen, to get up out of that muck and that mud, and make that repentant walk to our Father. It enables us to reconcile ourselves to God, into one another, and it enables us to repair our relationships with one another and with God. Now, the bigger question comes in. Will we? Because that blood makes it available to us. It gives us the opportunity to get up out of that pigpen and make that walk.

But will we?

Well, thank you for that message, Mr. White. Wow, it's really hard.