Keep Showing Up — Jeremy Taylor

Keep Showing Up — Jeremy Taylor | Matthew 9:35-38

Transcript

Forrest 0:06

Hey, I'm Pastor Forrest, and welcome to the Multiply Church Podcast. Each week we open God's word together to help you meet God and multiply good in your everyday life. We're so glad that you've taken time to join us for this week's sermon. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe and follow us on social media so you never miss a message. Now, let's dive into this week's sermon.

Speaker 2 0:30

Amen and amen. Good morning, Multiply Church. The previous two visits have been on Super Bowl Sundays. So no football jokes today. But I will have you know there are a couple of Multiply Church footballs still in our family vehicle. They were in the floorboard as we left Somerset. And uh I'm sure my son Miles woke up this morning since he is uh it's now feels like it's become a family rhythm that we're here on Super Bowl Sunday. I'm sure Miles woke up this morning uh here in Frankfurt and was like, Dad, is it Super Bowl Sunday today? I'm like, no, Bub, we're not, we're not, uh, it's not that close again yet. But uh I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be here. Uh my wonderful wife Jayla and the kiddos, Miles and Mia, that will be here with us uh for the second service. Um but it seems like the the last couple of visits, uh the enemy uh has something up his sleeve whenever we uh try to transition over here to the church house on Sunday mornings. Last visit, uh Mia had a uh was running a pretty high fever, and I woke up not feeling well myself. Uh but I remember that morning messaging uh Pastor Forrest and saying, we still gonna get this done today. And uh this morning we woke up and Miles had a nosebleed. And I said, Not today, Satan. Not today. We still gonna get this thing done today. Uh so we are here and we are grateful. Um and man, what a what a beautiful song we just closed down with. Uh let's give the music team a hand, guys. Let's give the music team a hand. That song makes me think about um in Mark where John the Baptist says, uh and he preached saying, After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals. I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie. I think about that song as it was playing, and you know, for those of you who've had an opportunity uh to worship uh with us here in my last couple visits, you know that I am no stranger to being a little bit emotional at times, and I'm overwhelmed a lot of times by by God's faithfulness and his goodness. And uh whenever the the call or the text is is reached out, is made and there's an invitation to preach, immediately my first thought is, man, I'm unworthy. But uh I'm so grateful uh for the opportunity to bring a word today. And as a former educator myself, knowing that, man, sometimes whenever that uh whenever the calendar hits August, you know, there's a there's a lot of mixed emotions that wells up. For some people, they're excited. School is here, it's a new start, it's a fresh start. For some people, it's uh, man, I'm not ready. I'm not ready. Um they feel the burden, they feel the weight because uh the the teaching profession is unlike any other. Um it's unlike any other. You know, what a what a gift as an educator to be able to influence families and kids and community in ways that many other professions don't have a chance to, but there's also a burden. There's a burden that, man, I I gotta work with other people's kids. There's a burden that says, man, I don't know if I can uh give all of these children and all of these families everything that they need, right? Uh so I'm grateful. I'm grateful to be here on this day as you all transition and as we prepare uh to for schools to open back up, for teachers to get back into the classroom, for kids uh to move back into spaces where for some of us we know uh we we worry about uh how those kids have been doing all summer long, right? Uh because for many kids the best part of their day uh is being at school because maybe the home situation isn't very encouraging, right? Um and um and and it just you know it's a fresh start, it's a new year. Um but uh I want to speak today to um how as educators and uh as community members, how we can uh can uh continue to keep showing up and stay in the game and sustainably loving the next generation and serving them well, right? Serving them well and doing so with the right, right, the right motivation and the right focus. Um you know, new classrooms, new teachers, new backpacks, new routines. But beneath all of that is something bigger. It's about another opportunity to influence people well. When I think about influencing people well, I think about how excited I was as a new teacher back in 2007-ish, I believe. I used to be a high school social studies teacher and a basketball coach. Uh seems like a lifetime ago, stepped out of public education in 2012. I knew I wanted to continue teaching, coaching, encouraging, educating, but I didn't think it was going to be in the public education sector. And as I stepped out of teaching and coaching, here I find myself as a speaker, trainer, and coach working with schools uh all across the state. And man, what a gift it is uh to be able to do that. But I remember like it was yesterday, my first year teaching. Some of you can relate. Um I was uh I was new uh to the game, and I remember signing my first contract as a teacher, and I signed that contract with the school district that I graduated high school from, so I was teaching in my hometown, but I was I signed that contract with the condition that, man, you gotta pass this last praxis exam or you ain't gonna get paid the way you think you're gonna get paid. Uh and there was some pressure there, right? Uh, because we already know that the pay ain't what it should be anyway. Can I get an amen? Uh but that's another conversation for another day. But I was so nervous about getting those exams passed and meeting all those certifications. But I stepped into that first school year and I didn't have my own classroom because technically we were overstaffed. Uh it was one of those situations where uh bless the the leadership of the school district, but they said, Jeremy, we want to keep you at home instead of going somewhere else. And I realize that sometimes those decisions can be made, and you know, maybe that cuts somebody else out of a job that they should have. And so uh I don't want to dwell on that. I was just grateful that they said we're gonna we're gonna do whatever we can do to make sure that you have a position here. And all that, all things considered, uh I ended up teaching that first year and I had four different preps. I think I had uh U.S. history, geography, world civ, sociology, psychology, didn't have my own classroom, so I was pushing a cart through the hallway to my next classroom, right? Getting made fun of. Here comes Coach Taylor with his little cart. Hey, trip his cart up, right? And uh uh I wasn't anybody's best friend on staff because I was borrowing other people's classrooms during their planning period, so I was impeding on their space, right? Uh and then I was told, hey, you want a job? We also need a volleyball coach, homie. Uh and so here I am coaching girls' volleyball as a first-year coach, thinking, what did I get myself into? I'm teaching arts and humanities, pushing a cart around, don't have my own classroom. My office is in a closet in the basketball coach's office. And I'm like, what is going on here? But man, you know what? I had a job, baby. I come on now, I had a job. But I remember, oh we also anybody remember K tip, Kentucky teacher internship program, and all that ridiculousness. Now I've met all the certifications. Let me do all this paperwork, right? To get prepared. I mean, man, it was it was nuts, right? And then I got that first check, that first direct deposit hit. I remember getting that pay stub in my in my uh my cubby hole in the the teacher workroom, and I opened that up and and I saw this thing on there that said FICA. And I remember calling my mom and said, Mom, who's FICA? And why does it say that they got more money than I got? And she was like, baby, that's taxes. You better get used to that. And so, man, I'm telling you, I remember like it was yesterday. I was actually late for my first day of school. It was bad, man. I did not get off to a good start, but I was grateful and I was hopeful, and I was excited about the fact that I had an opportunity to make a difference. Um, and I and I hope, educators, you're encouraged by that today. Um, there's some stats that roll around in like leadership circles, and I think maybe John Maxwell was credited for this on the front end. But as I dove in and did a little research, I don't know if there's really any empirical evidence of these numbers. But in leadership spaces and uh self-help spaces, a lot of times you'll hear numbers like uh in a lifespan, you influence 10,000 to 80,000 people, right? Any given individual, uh, even if you're not a people person. Um but uh after doing a little research on that, I I found something called the Dunbar's number multiplier. And it it speaks to this: it says that the average person, now you can't maintain close friendships, but relationships with about 150 people. We know folks, we have uh a frame of reference with those people, and that if your 150 people have their own unique 150 people, that when the multiplication begins to take place, you're just setting one step away from a network of over 22,000 minds. Uh I want you to think about that. Uh, every conversation, every interaction, every time you model integrity, display courage, every act of kindness, it matters. And when you think about that from an educator perspective, based on the nature of the work and the number of people that you come into contact with, maybe you have the opportunity to influence many more, right? The influence a teacher has over the course of a career is absolutely incredible. But let's acknowledge this reality before we dive in to a couple practical, what I believe are biblical applications to doing our work and doing it well, not only in this school year, this season, but in the years ahead. Educators are asked to teach students with shorter attention spans than ever before in human history. I know there's somebody out here saying, man, God, is it it can it get any worse, right? Navigate constant emails, calls, texts with concerns from parents. And usually those calls, text, emails, they're not necessarily uh, hey, thanks for doing such a great job for my child. Like a coach, rarely do you get calls or texts saying, Man, I just want to tell you you're doing a heck of a job, coach. No, it's why ain't my kid give me playing time, right? Adapt to changing expectations and curriculum, care for students carrying burdens that they never chose, do emotionally demanding work that often goes unseen, persevere through teacher shortages and growing class sizes, all while juggling their own personal circumstances and often wondering if they're really making an impact. And parents feel it too. Raising children has never been simple nor easy. Technology competes for our attention, schedules are full, budgets are tight, expectations are high, and social media can leave us feeling as if we're not giving our kids a childhood worth celebrating. Honestly, anyone trying to love and serve people faithfully knows this feeling. It's a process and it's hard. So here's a question I want to begin with is how do we keep showing up when the work is challenging and the results aren't always easy to see? And I believe we can draw some inspiration from part of God's creation this morning, uh, which is an oak tree. And the image that you're gonna see here on the slide is a beautiful oak from my own driveway. And I'm gonna tell you right now, I have a love-hate relationship with this oak tree. Right? It's beautiful. It it when you when you turn onto Rose Road in Somerset, Kentucky, and you span across the farm. I have a beautiful uh home on Jayla's family farm, which is why whenever I knew that I married her and we moved to Somerset, which is where she was from, and then we ended up in a house on her family's farm, I knew I'm probably not going anywhere. Right? Y'all know what I'm talking about, right? I'm probably not going anywhere. But when you look up the driveway and you see this tree, it just kind of makes a statement, right? Uh it just kind of sets the property off. And uh, but there's some complications that come with that tree that I'm gonna get to here in just a minute. But I wanted to share the oak tree as an illustration today. Did you know that an oak tree usually doesn't begin producing acorns until it's around 20 to 30 years old? I know a man named Jesus, where there wasn't really much about his life going on in this book here until he was about 30 years old. Full maturity, it takes an oak tree 30 to 50 years. Peak production of acorns 50 to 80 years. The lifespan of an oak tree is anywhere from 150 to upwards of 300 plus years. That's impressive. God designed one of the strongest trees in all of creation to spend decades growing before it fully produces what it was created to produce. And those decades aren't easy. Consider this an oak tree endures scorching summers, freezing winters, strong winds, heavy rain, drought, insects and disease, lightning, broken branches. I promise you, there's a lot of broken branches because I see them on a daily basis. In seasons when it appears nothing's happening at all, yet every challenge has a purpose, has its purpose. This beautiful white oak tree in our driveway, as I told you, is somewhat of a nuisance. Every fall it covers the roof and the yard with leaves, but the leaves that fall in the yard do make for some fun fall play with the kiddos for sure. Its branches drop sticks and debris into the landscaping. Acorns attract squirrels and rodents. And more than once they've decided that because of these nice little acorns and these vehicles that are parked here, let's go ahead and find a space up under this hood and let's chew on some wires. Guys, listen, we just have one of our vehicles in the shop with nearly $4,000 of damages because of wires eaten up by a squirrel. Not to mention that, not to mention, did we have one vehicle out of commission? I I feel like I'm doing something that a good parent should do, and I'm taking miles on a Saturday to go see Toy Story 5. We get outside and I look down at the vehicle and a bird comes darting out from the wheel well. It had nested up in there, already had laid eggs, right? So I'm freaking out. Like God, nature's just all over us here. And I said, Well, let me pop the, let me pop the hood of the SUV to make sure nothing funky is going on here. To which I popped the hood, and there's a groundhog by the engine. Can't make this up. I almost put the video on here, but I didn't want to scare anybody. And praise the Lord, I didn't use any four-letter words that I very well could have used whenever we saw that groundhog. Crazy, right? We've had our complications. Just as an oak tree and as you're producing fruit and you're seeking to plant seeds in the lives of young people as educators, there's going to be those complications and a number of challenges. But with all things considered, that oak tree provides beautiful shade in the hot summer months for my family. It's a gift, it's a blessing. Thousands of acorns, millions over a lifetime, 500 plus species of wildlife and insects. It supports generations blessed, and it all started with roots nobody could see. An oak tree doesn't grow because it chases fruit, it grows because it keeps sending its roots deeper. And that's where our application today begins. That's why we're talking about what it looks like to keep showing up for the right reasons with the right motivation to serve our schools and our families well. We're talking today about what it means to stay rooted so we can keep showing up and trust God with the harvest. Our first application today comes from Colossians 2, 6 through 7. What it means to stay rooted in Jesus, staying connected to the source. I believe the best way to serve students and families well this school year and beyond is to stay anchored in the one who can sustain you through no matter what challenges may come as you endeavor to love Frankfurt and the surrounding community. Colossians 2, 6 through 7 says, Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Now, Paul in in Colossians, this particular application, I want to make sure that that uh uh that we're not pulling scripture and using it in in ways that it's not intended to be used. His specific application here, he's speaking to the church, these new believers, and he's reminding them to stay rooted in who Christ is. He's trying to protect them uh from false theology. He's trying to protect them from folks uh who are giving them uh a false sense of what it means to be a Christian, right? Um but this application ultimately, if we're rooted in Christ, it shapes our identity. If if our roots are where they need to be, then it's shaping who we are and how we show up and why we do what we do, right? Um be established so you can grow. Healthy roots create healthy lives. The strongest part of an oak tree isn't above ground, it's where, guys, it's underground, right? The strongest part of a disciple of Jesus Christ is often unseen. It's what goes on in those quiet moments, it's those prayers, it's that Bible time, it's those conversations, right? Like mighty trees fed by strong roots, believers are to remain rooted in Christ, both in knowledge and practice. So if we want to show up and show up well for our students and our families this year, we got to stay rooted. Number two, we got to be faithful in the work. Matthew 9, 35 through 38 says, And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are what? Few. It goes that I haven't been said that we've experienced some teacher shortages, not just in Kentucky, but across the nation. That's for a number of reasons. We're not going to unpack all that today. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. The work is hard. So pray earnestly. Therefore, pray. Let's not just show up and do what we can do with what we have to the best of our ability, but let's pray. Let's pray to the Lord of hosts. Let's pray to the God above. Let's pray to the sustainer. Let's pray to the one who can truly make the change that's necessary to see our communities healed and flourish. Let's pray while we're doing the work. Let's pray and ask Jesus to do what only He can do to the Lord of Harvest to send out laborers into the harvest. Kentucky is 42nd in the nation in average teacher salary. Over 2,000 plus vacancies in the last few years on an annual basis and dealing with fewer qualified candidates. That creates uh challenges in and of itself. But the point is, is despite those challenges, many of you have raised your hand and said, I'm still gonna show up, I'm still gonna stay in the game, I'm still gonna make a difference because I realize that this isn't just work, this isn't just a paycheck, this is my way of making a difference in the world. That I'm not just gonna be a teacher, I'm not just gonna follow curriculum, I'm not just gonna discipline students, I'm gonna be Jesus' representative in the classroom. I'm gonna be what it looks like when the gospel enters this scenario and chooses to love, serve, support, build up, educate, disciple young minds, and give them an example of maybe what they don't see on a daily basis on the home front. That's what it looks like to keep showing up. Jesus didn't simply teach, he showed up village after village, person after person, day after day. Because he knew what his purpose was. And if we're rooted in Christ, then our purpose draws from that, and we show up to make a difference in the name of Jesus. That's what it is. That's the model. He's the standard when we look to him. Faithfulness is about showing up at home, on the job, in the community, and loving people in practical ways. And you can't be consistent, and that's not always glamorous. Showing up isn't always glamorous, right? There are families and students in situations that break our hearts. There are challenges that we have personally in our own lives and showing up and saying, there's no way I can give of myself to 30, 35, 40 other kids today, right? We have our own situations that plague us as well. It's not always glamorous, but it's about choosing to be consistent. But you can't be consistent if you don't know what your purpose is. And our purpose isn't just to educate young minds, it's to make a difference for Christ. We can't control how people respond, but we can control whether or not we keep showing up and how we choose to show up. And let me say this before I move on to our third point and begin to land this plane today is when it comes to doing the work, one of the greatest gifts that we can give the next generation. Please hear me on this. One of the greatest gifts that we can give the next generation is adults who refuse to play the blame game and finger point and instead choose to step up and collaborate. I'm gonna say that again, collaborate. I'm gonna say that again, collaborate, right? Teachers, we're not glorified babysitters. Families, we're not just sending our kids to school to pawn them off on someone else, right? For eight hours a day. It's about collaboration, right? And whenever we choose to collaborate, it advances our community, right? And whenever you have Jesus followers who are showing up who are stewarding that collaboration, right, as leaders, uh it begins to build gospel-centered communities. In other words, students flourish when parents and educators are pulling in the same direction, not the opposite direction, right? In it to win it for the right reasons with the right motivation, because we want our communities to look better than they've ever looked before. And that means we have to work together to do that. I know there's some educators right now. I'm like, can I call all my students' teachers and have them come sit down and hear this right now? Or all my students' uh parents and have them, uh, can you repeat that? Uh can I record that and uh and email that out to all my parents, please? Uh and our third application today is this is that if we're rooted in Jesus and we're faithful in the work to keep showing up, ultimately what happens here is we have the opportunity to trust him with the harvest. Trust him with the harvest, fruitful in God's time. Galatians 6, 9 through 10 says this, and let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap. Everybody say that with me real quick. We will reap. In due season, he said, if we don't give up, right? If we do not give up, so then as we have opportunity, let us do good, highlighted here for emphasis. Let us do good to everyone. Everybody say everyone. Not just someone, not just a few. Let us do good to everyone, to the best of our ability, right? Fueled by Christ. And especially to those who are of the household of faith. Uh that says here that let's make sure that we do the very best we can to love on our brothers and sisters in Christ and build up the body. But hey, listen, man, let us do good to everyone because whenever we choose to do good to everyone, we're giving people a glimpse of what it looks like to pull heaven down to earth, right? And when we do our work with that type of energy, with that kind of passion, with that kind of effort, that kind of heart, and that kind of motivation, man, it's it's encouraging. It's invigorating. It shows people something different in our occupations, in our work. God doesn't ask us to manufacture the fruit. He asks us to remain faithful because he's responsible for the fruit. Paul doesn't promise immediate results. He says, in due season, at the proper time. Listen to this. In heavy mast years, M-A-S-T, heavy mast years, that oak tree that I showed you a picture of earlier can drop 10,000 plus acorns in a single season. I know this because I see all of them. One oak tree can support an entire ecosystem. Sometimes you teach lessons you'll never know the impact of. Sometimes you encourage a child who won't appreciate it until years down the road. Sometimes you love people who never say thank you, but God sees every seed that you plant. Folks, we can trust his timing. Stay rooted. Keep showing up. Trust God with the harvest. And here's the bottom line: strong roots produce lasting fruit. Strong roots produce lasting fruit. Jesus is the source and the sustainer of our calling. And if we call ourselves a Jesus follower, if we root ourselves in Him, it gives us an opportunity to not only do our work differently, but it gives us an opportunity to do our work sustainably. To do it for years to come. To do it with patience. To do it with diligence. To do it with excellence. To do it with love. Because some students and some families are hard to love. To do it with hope. To do it with expectation. To do it. Knowing that God sees. And he's going to take care of the harvest. When Jesus is the source, oak trees, this is what they symbolize. Strength, endurance, wisdom, resilience. When Jesus is the source and we operate with this mindset and this expectation, we build a life that blesses others. That's ultimately what it looks like to be the educator that we say that we want to be. This is essentially how we make a kingdom impact by being representatives of Jesus in our respective spaces. I know for a fact, no one in here as an educator signed on the dotted line one day and said, you know what, I'm going to go into education because I'm going to be a multimillionaire. Doesn't mean it's not possible through other investments. Doesn't mean it's not possible through good financial stewardship, but I'm saying no one goes into it saying, man, I'm going to get the biggest paycheck and the payoff, and people are going to appreciate me for all that I do, and I'm going to do the best work. No, you go into it because you want to live a life that blesses others. And friend, I I commend you for that. I'm grateful for that. As we opened, I mentioned that August can feel like a fresh start. But for some people, that's not the case. Maybe for some of you, you're tired. Maybe for some of you, you're like, just like the weekend is never long enough, the summer is never long enough. Maybe for some of you, you're wondering if what you're doing really matters. I was in Davis County, Owensboro, just last week working with a group of educators. And a lady came up to me after we wrapped up the keynote before we transitioned into the breakout sessions that afternoon. And she said, Jeremy, thank you for encouraging us to show up this year. She said, But I just I worry. I don't know if what I'm doing matters. I don't know if I matter. I haven't built relationships. Uh I don't I struggle to stay connected with other people. I feel like I'm always running behind. I don't know how I can show up and love other people and be a great educator whenever I don't even have my house in order. It was an opportunity to remind her that listen, God sees you. And he will continue to make a way if you trust him. Maybe you've been planting seeds for years and haven't seen much fruit. I just want to encourage you with our illustration today that most acorns never become oak trees. This one didn't. Most acorns never become oak trees, but the oak tree in my driveway keeps dropping them anyway. You know why that is? It's because that's what healthy trees do. You've been planting seeds, you've been doing the work, you've been serving others. Sometimes you don't see the fruit, but you keep doing it anyway because that's what you are created to do. God takes care of the harvest. Acorn or uh oak trees don't stop producing because they can't see the outcome. They simply keep doing what they were created to do. Followers of Jesus were called to live the same way, folks. We don't keep loving because every effort produces immediate results. We don't keep sacrificing because all of the sacrifices are noticed. We don't keep teaching because every lesson is appreciated. We don't keep encouraging because every word is remembered. We keep showing up because of who we become in Christ. Our lives are hidden in Christ. Rooted people keep growing, faithful people keep planting, and God brings the harvest in his time. That's why in Galatians he says, we'll heap a we will we will reap a harvest in due time if we don't give up. Everybody say, do not give up. Look at a neighbor, say, do not give up. He says, if we do not give up, we will reap a harvest. So keep showing up, educators. Keep loving others, keep serving, keep teaching, keep encouraging. Not because every day is going to produce visible results in this school year, but because your roots are in Christ and your labor is never wasted. I want you to know that going into the school year, your labor is never wasted. And the God who grows oak trees is also the God who grows people. That's not your responsibility. You just keep showing up. So my prayer isn't simply that this will be a successful school year here in the Frankfurt area. My prayer is that it will be a deeply rooted one. That you will operate in the classroom out of your identity in Christ and allow him to do the work through you. Stay rooted in Jesus. Keep showing up. Trust God with the harvest. You may never know how many lives are being changed because of you, because you chose to keep showing up, but God does. The strength to keep showing up and serving others doesn't come from an easier life. It doesn't come from the profession getting better or easier or more practical. It comes from deeper roots. I'm just going to go out on a limb and say, since the times are getting darker and the way of the world continues to move in a more chaotic direction, I would venture to say that education, it's going to get more complicated. But we can be encouraged in knowing that if our roots grow deeper, we can still be used in the way that we're called to be used, and God is going to do what only God can do. That's it. So as we close today, we're going to transition now into a time of prayer as Pastor Forrest and some leadership returns to the stage. And I'm so grateful for the opportunity to visit with you today. I'm so hopeful for what this year has in store. Continued success and God bless not only to each of you educators here in the room, but all of you community members who are co-laboring aside those educators to make this community and leave it better than you found it in pushing Frankfurt forward. Multiply, I love you guys. Thank you all. And educators, let's go get it.

Sallie 35:18

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