WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.799 So now we'll move into a time of hearing from God. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:08.800 Our scripture today is Luke 5, verses 27 to 31. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:17.519 Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tactile tax collector's booth. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.719 Follow me and be my disciple, Jesus said to him. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.399 So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:29.120 Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:33.679 Many of Levi's fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:42.479 But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus' disciples, Why do you eat and drink with such scum? 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:47.840 Jesus answered them, Healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:55.280 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know that they are sinners and need to repent. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:02.640 Hey, you guys look great today. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:03.520 Good morning. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:05.439 My name is Joel. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:06.719 I'm one of the leaders here. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:14.239 And before I introduce our guest speaker, which is longtime friend Nathan, I want to catch you up to speed on what we're doing when we talk about practices. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:16.719 So Alex, there's a slide. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:20.560 So if you've been with us, you kind of this should sound like old news. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:25.680 If you're newer, this is kind of the spinal cord, the backbone of what we are as a church community. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:35.439 We tell the story of God in nine movements, which is God's action in the world, and then we faithfully respond with nine practices that correlate to each of those movements. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:37.280 We talk about practices. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:46.239 Um, we're talking about things that we schedule into our lives that we do that would shape us to become people who follow the way of Jesus. 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:54.959 It's like a trellis for a vine to grow, or it's a discipline that creates space to for God to work in us. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:10.240 Um and so when we call them practices, they would be things that maybe don't come natural to us, but we would, as a community and as individuals, schedule these practices in our lives so that they would form us into uh the image of Jesus. 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:22.159 And so if if I'm like your basketball coach and you are we are the team, I would say we need to practice shooting and passing and defense and dribbling and left-handed layups, unless you're right-handed, then right-handed layups. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:28.960 And I would expect as a team that we would go home and like you would be like Michael Jordan out in your backyard practicing foul shots or whatever. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:45.039 And so that's kind of the hope is that we lay this out as a grid and a framework, and all of us would be locked into as a community, but also individually, scheduling these practices in our lives so that we would be formed into the way of Jesus. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:50.400 So after today, we're talking about hospitality, which correlates with our story movement of Christ. 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:59.919 We only have two more movements of the story and then two more practices, and then we will have gone through kind of the core DNA of our new church plant community. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:09.280 So um a long time ago, when I scheduled this sermon to be on this date, I thought, who could I bring in to share about this practice really well? 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:14.719 And the first person and the only person that ever came to my mind was my friend uh Nathan Riley. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:24.719 So Nathan and his wife Carrie, I've uh Laura and I have known them for about nine years, and they've become really close friends and have been crazy generous to us. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:31.039 They have four wonderful kids who are mostly high school age, which you will see pictures of them during his uh slide. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:34.639 Uh, Nathan and Carrie were missionaries overseas for a bit. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:41.919 In 2014, they planted a church in Albany called Hub City, um, which is still going strong, apparently. 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:43.759 Apparently, no it is. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:48.639 Um, and we shared some time at uh Antioch Church in Bend together where he was the worship pastor. 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:52.719 But for the last uh six years since 2020, they've lived in St. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:54.639 John's, North Portland. 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:57.599 And Nathan is the lead pastor of Red Sea Church. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:02.240 And Red Sea prays for us as a church plant regularly. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:07.520 Uh they support us financially for three years, they're giving us monthly um support. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:12.000 Um, and I've been able to preach there about once a year for the last, I don't know, six years or so. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:20.160 So they're as close as we have to kind of like a partner church that think similarly to us and support one another. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:25.199 So uh Nathan and Carrie live with radical hospitals hospitality. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:29.360 It's grungy, it's messy, um, and it has been encouraging to me. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:31.439 So I'm excited to hear from Nathan. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:32.959 He's tall, dark, and handsome. 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:33.519 Give it up. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:34.560 I don't know. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:40.800 Hey, what is up, guys? 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:42.000 It's uh it's good to see you. 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:42.800 I'm gonna raise this. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:43.519 I'm sorry. 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:46.879 I can't see mostly anymore, which is fine. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:50.399 But um, yeah, how are we doing? 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:57.199 Um I feel like in so many ways I have been like your biggest fan from afar for over a year now. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:04:58.560 Um praying for you guys. 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:07.279 And uh it's it's a delight to get to be a part of the Citizens Church story um from afar, but also to be with you in the flesh this morning is it's a huge gift. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.639 So greetings, uh greetings from Portland, um, right? 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:15.680 That's the only city in the Pacific Northwest that is weirder than Eugene. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.600 Um, we're the only ones, and that I would contest is only because we're bigger. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.720 Like per capita, you guys have it locked down. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:24.800 Um the weird factor here. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:30.480 Uh growing up in Albany and Corvallis, it was like this is a very different world down here in Eugene. 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:34.720 You guys are the Oregon Country fair types, uh, which is amazing. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:41.920 Um, which speaking of, by the way, there are way fewer bare feet here this morning than I was assuming uh I was gonna see. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:43.279 Yeah, I know, I know. 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:45.439 You can pop those off if you need to, Jarrell. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:46.240 It's just fine. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:48.480 Um, but yeah, no, I I love Eugene. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:49.360 I love Eugene. 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:51.199 I love that you guys love Eugene. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:57.360 Uh, and mostly I love uh that you guys want to see Jesus known and loved in Eugene. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:05:58.319 So keep at it. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:05:59.839 Uh you guys are doing great work. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:09.600 Um, like like Jarell kind of prefaced, you guys have been in this series engaging the story of God and specifically how God's story shapes the practices that we embrace as his followers. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:19.439 And I really love, I really appreciate the fact that you guys use that language of practice because it implies uh that every single one of us are in process, right? 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:25.360 Nobody's nobody's perfect at this yet, not even like Jarell and Lauren, and they're pretty pretty amazing. 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:27.199 Um but yeah, we're we're practicing. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:28.879 Practicing means a lot to me. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:34.319 Um, so I have been a youth and high school sports coach uh for for years. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:36.480 Uh historically, that's been football. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:40.879 And looking at me, you're probably like, yeah, this makes sense. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:49.279 Um this offseason this summer, my three lovely high school age daughters sat me down and asked me basically, like, if I even love them. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:59.839 And and if so, then why is it that I spend all football season coaching like 75 boys who are not my children uh rather than supporting the sport that they love? 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:02.879 So I'm a volleyball coach now. 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:04.959 Uh that officially changed. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:07.279 Uh I know nothing about volleyball. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:12.639 Uh I it uh other than the fact that the bus rides smell infinitely better. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:13.680 Um yeah. 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:19.680 So I'm like Ted Lassoing my way into this sport that I know nothing about, um, but it's it's going great so far. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:20.480 We're having fun. 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:32.959 But my point is like every day we practice, every day after school, and usually on Saturdays, we drill and we condition and we hone our skills, and and progressively over time, what happens is we develop as athletes. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:37.360 And I love that you guys are using that same language as you look at your following of Christ. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:43.199 This is something that we practice and it requires discipline and sacrifice, but there's really no other way to do it. 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:45.600 So uh it's a joy for me this morning. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:49.439 I'm stoked to be talking to you about the practice of hospitality. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:59.120 Uh, hospitality has become really a passion uh of mine and a and a central part of not only mine, but really my family's calling uh and ministry over the last several years. 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:03.920 I'll get to some stories in a little bit, but uh let's talk about let's talk about the scripture. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:13.600 Um, our scripture reading this morning was from Luke's gospel, and it gave us a really beautiful glimpse or kind of a paradigm for the concept of Christian hospitality. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:16.959 So so Jesus is talking to this tax collector, right? 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:22.160 Uh, this guy named Levi, and he calls him to follow him, and instantly he he does. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:28.000 Uh he leaves his tax booth, it says, and he jumps at the chance to become a follower of Jesus. 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.360 And then I want you to note this what is the very first thing? 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:38.399 Like what is his first action or his first response that followed this kind of this conversion calling moment? 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:40.879 Bro throws a party. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:42.000 Right, a banquet, right? 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:45.360 Verse 29 called it a great banquet. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:48.799 Um, and it's a party or a banquet that's full of whom? 00:08:49.279 --> 00:09:00.320 Well, it's his former co-workers, it's his social circle, his neighbors, it's people that that Levi wants to meet Jesus. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:05.440 And so he's saying, hey, come come on over, come to my home, come to my table, meet my Lord. 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:08.480 You can follow him too. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:21.919 It's really fascinating to me, by the way, um, back at Red Sea Church in Portland right now, we are in a teaching series through uh the book of Acts, which if you're not familiar, it is literally it's the sequel to the book of Luke. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:28.480 It's part two of the story of uh of Jesus' life lived out through his first followers. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:33.919 And just like two weeks ago, last time I preached, I preached on Acts chapter 16. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:40.639 And that's the story where the gospel makes its way into what is today the continent of Europe for the very first time. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:48.639 And in the city of Philippi, we learn the stories of two, these two people, Lydia uh and this Philippian jailer, right? 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:50.960 Like a corrections officer in the city. 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:57.120 And both of them come to, they they convert, they come to love and trust Jesus as Savior. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:11.440 Uh, and then with both of them, their very first action after coming to salvation was to gather a whole bunch of people at their tables in their homes, was to throw a party, to throw a banquet. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:18.240 And so it's just so interesting to me that Luke seems to be pointing out a pattern, right? 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:25.200 That when Jesus opens someone's heart, they in turn open their home. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.159 We see it again and again in the stories of Luke and Acts. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:38.080 And those homes, when we investigate a little bit further, um become filled with radically uh diverse groups of people. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:43.679 You can say it this way it's people from almost every color and collar and class. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:44.240 Okay. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.799 So in this story, we saw the tax collectors. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:53.440 The tax collectors were shady white-collar government contractors, right, taking money from people. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:11:01.600 Uh we see the the sinners as the Pharisees referred to them, which in Jesus' posse ranged of everything from like prostitutes to fishermen, right? 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:03.600 Working class blue-collar folks. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:08.559 Uh, and then finally in this party, we have these self-righteously pious priests, right? 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:11.279 The the Pharisees, the the clerical collars. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:14.799 We've got all the collars, blue-collar, white collar, clerical collar. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:19.840 And so you have to assume can you like put yourself there at that party for a moment? 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:23.120 It's awkward for everybody, right? 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:27.279 Like being in that mix of people had to be uncomfortable. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:29.440 Nobody wants the other people there, right? 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:32.080 You think the sinners are stoked to hang out with the Pharisees? 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:33.679 Absolutely not. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:38.080 The Pharisees even call out, they draw attention to the awkwardness. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.799 They're like, why in the world would you eat with them? 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:44.159 I think the translation that we read was eat with the scum, right? 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:46.000 That's brutal. 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:53.919 That kind of diversity breaks all social norms. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:56.559 That's not how we tend to party. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:58.399 You think about it. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:02.879 Think about the last time you went to like a big social function engagement, a party. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:05.360 There's all kinds of parties, right? 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:07.759 Was it was it for you, was it a fancy party? 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:11.600 Was it like a champagne and hors d'oeuvres type of party, right? 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:18.320 Or maybe you're like, that's not my jam, is more of like a Miller Light and Buffalo Wings kind of party, maybe watching a football game, right? 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.399 A working class party. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.919 I saw the horde that left the room a few minutes ago. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.000 A lot of you are like, it was more of like a pirate's booty and capri-sun kind of party, right? 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:29.360 You're in that stage of life. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:30.399 I've been there. 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:33.039 Um, hold on, guys, parties get better. 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:35.840 They will they'll come back into your life. 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:51.200 Um, whatever it was, my point is there were probably a lot, I we can assume, at whatever party, that there were a lot of similar people from similar backgrounds sharing some sense of similarity, right? 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:59.200 They're sharing in common affinity or uh a similar life stage, or we all have young kids, or whatever, whatever it was. 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:05.120 But Christian hospitality, we could say, requires diversity. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:11.200 Christian hospitality is not just aimed at the in-crowd, it's aimed at the outsider. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:16.399 So uh are you guys up for a little Bible nerd, Bible language moment? 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:18.559 Just let me, I want to unpack this word for you. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:25.519 In the New Testament Greek text, this com these compound words are used for what we render in English hospitality. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:27.919 Okay, and specifically it's two Greek words. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:32.480 It's the word phileo or phyllo, which means uh familial love. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:35.360 Uh I met someone earlier from Pittsburgh. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.679 Uh so close by is Philadelphia, right? 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:38.799 Philadelphia. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:40.480 You know, it's the city of what? 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:41.840 Brotherly love. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:42.960 Somebody said birds. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:44.559 I don't want to talk about the eagles. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:47.840 Um yeah, brotherly love. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:51.279 Okay, the other word is the word xenos, which means stranger. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:55.360 Um, if you've ever heard you can think xenophobia, right? 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:58.080 Is the fear of those who are different than us. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:03.919 So in Greek, they just smash those two words together, and what you get is in English hospitality. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.960 Uh, in Greek, philoxenia or phylosenos. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:09.919 Um, most literally translates. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:20.320 The best literal translation here is loving the stranger, or what I like to do is make a verb out of family and say familying the outsider. 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:23.200 That's Christian hospitality. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:28.159 It goes far beyond uh just loving our church small groups. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:35.039 Uh Christian hospitality goes far beyond hosting your extended family for uh Thanksgiving dinner. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:42.639 Uh it really means showing real love to strangers and to outsiders and to unbelievers. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:52.080 I've heard it said this way before, that it's not actually Christian hospitality until there's someone there who you wish wasn't. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:53.440 Does that make sense? 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:58.399 Uh and some of you are thinking that is exactly what holidays with my family are like. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:00.960 And uh, believe me, I get it. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:06.559 Uh our families are not always the most enjoyable, but they're still insiders. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:08.240 They're still insiders. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:24.000 And the reality here is that it doesn't take a bloody cross and an empty tomb for us to hang out with a whole bunch of people that look just like us, that think just like us, that believe just, that embrace the same values and and and lifestyles as us, right? 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:43.679 And and I have this fear and this sneaking suspicion uh that my fear is that our churches today, churches across the nation especially, um, we we might get so good at the practice of community. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:49.120 And by community, I mean spending meaningful time and and meals and life with other Christians. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:55.039 My fear is we might get so good at community that we never actually break into hospitality. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:56.240 Does that make sense? 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:07.600 Um So I want to challenge you to just think through the question like when are there unbelievers at your table? 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:10.720 Where are you making space for that in your life? 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:16.240 When is diversity present in your home? 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:33.840 Uh at the core of the gospel, we see that Jesus came to create one uh multicultural, multi-ethnic family uniting people of every color and color and class together into one family. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:36.240 And and guys, we are a part of that story. 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:42.320 We are called to open up our homes, to open up our tables with the exact same intent. 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:45.600 So Levi. 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:49.279 I love Levi's story. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:57.039 He's a baby believer, he's been following Jesus for five minutes or something like that, but he he nailed the practice of hospitality. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:58.879 Uh he's a great example. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:05.440 But in the late 1990s, when it became popular, nobody wore a what would Levi do bracelet, right? 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:07.519 Um so let's talk about Jesus. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:11.119 Let's talk about Jesus' hospitality, an example. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:23.200 Um just out of curiosity, does anybody happen to know the what was the most common title that was used of Jesus in the New Testament hint? 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:29.200 Commonly, uh incorrectly, people often think that this was Jesus' last name, which it wasn't. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:30.079 What was the title? 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:32.880 Christ, yeah, yeah, Christ. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:33.839 The Christ. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:40.240 It shows up like I forget 530 something times in the New Testament, Jesus referred to as the Christ. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:46.240 Interestingly, Jesus almost never used that title of himself. 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:53.519 Everyone else did, but he had a different title that he preferred, and that title was Son of Man. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:54.720 Son of Man. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:57.759 And if you're unfamiliar, it's a super cool title. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:00.160 It's got all sorts of roots in the Hebrew Old Testament. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:03.440 It first shows up uh in the the book of Daniel. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:16.799 He has this crazy vision, and there's the son of man, it's this mysterious and and tragic and very heroic figure that shows up like riding the clouds and slaying apocalyptic beasts at great personal sacrifice. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:20.720 He should he's almost like a Marvel hero, is really the vibe of the Son of Man. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:23.359 And Jesus was like, you can call me that, right? 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:27.200 Like, I'll go by Iron Man, um, is essentially what it is. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:34.240 And so over 80 times, 80 times in our four gospels, Jesus refers to himself as the son of man. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:40.000 And what's funny is that almost every time it's super mysterious and everyone's confused. 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:41.759 Why are you like, what? 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:49.759 Uh Jesus even asked at one point, he's having a conversation with his disciples, and he's like, hey, who do who do people say that the son of man is? 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:54.400 And they're like, Elijah? 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:55.759 They just start throwing out names. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.240 Jeremiah's John? 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:00.400 Like they they no clue. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:04.400 Jesus enjoyed ambiguity, and I love that about him. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:16.400 Uh but there were three times specifically where Jesus could not have been more clear, not have been more explicit about the son of man. 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:17.359 Okay. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:22.160 Three times Jesus makes these statements and they all start the exact same way. 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:25.279 They start with the words, the son of man came. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:26.079 Okay? 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:27.839 So let's let's check those out really quick. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:29.119 The first one's in Mark 10. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:38.160 He says, The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.319 That's a pretty clear statement, isn't it? 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:41.599 Pretty concise. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:43.839 The son of man does what? 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:48.319 He comes and he gives his life in order to save others. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:53.359 Okay, now the next time uh we see this very similar statement, Luke chapter 19. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:54.079 It's like this. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:58.559 He says, the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:00.240 Very similar idea, right? 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:07.359 And so both of those statements you really combine to speak to the very definition of Jesus' mission. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:11.519 These statements are purpose statements for his life. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:12.559 He came to what? 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:20.640 To lay down his life on the cross, dying for sinners in order to bring God's salvation to the last and to the lost and to the least. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:23.279 This is the crux of the Christian gospel right here. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:31.039 And so those two statements really set our expectations high for the third statement, like incredibly high. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:32.240 Okay, are you excited? 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:33.359 You ready for it? 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:34.799 Here we go, Luke 7. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:38.640 The Son of Man came eating and drinking. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:41.599 That's it. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:42.559 Yeah, amen. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:46.240 I mean by comparison, you hear that and you're like, what is going on? 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:46.720 What? 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:51.680 This is that that seems so elementary, right? 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:58.240 It seems so basic, almost silly and inconsequential by comparison. 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:06.640 But listen, Luke knew exactly what he was doing when he penned those words in that way. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:18.000 And and and I think what he was doing is this, that if those first couple of statements are ultimately defining Jesus' mission, and by his mission I mean like what work he was coming to do. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:22.079 And that last statement it defines his method. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:27.119 It defines how he was gonna do that work. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:38.480 And we know, of course, the cross, the cross is coming, but first there's gonna be a whole lot of eating and drinking and hospitality. 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:57.519 Um I don't think it would be an overstatement to to claim that that Jesus' primary method, his primary method of spreading the good news of his kingdom, his main strategy for like evangelizing the world, it wasn't mass preaching. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:58.880 It wasn't. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.480 This. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:10.160 It was long meals around big tables late into the night with good food and with even better wine. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:12.400 That's what he did. 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:29.200 Um there's this Franciscan scholar, author, theologian named Robert Karras, and he he wrote a book about the book of Luke, and he said that in Luke's gospel, Jesus is either going to a meal, he is at a meal, or he is coming from a meal. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:32.880 I read that and I was like, I've never wanted to be more like Jesus. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:35.279 This sounds amazing. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:43.039 The dinner table was the heart of hospitality for Jesus. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:49.200 It was absolutely central to his life and to his mission and to his ministry. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:55.440 And and when you think about Jesus' life, like all the way from his very first miracle, anybody remember that one? 00:22:55.759 --> 00:23:02.160 He brought like 150 gallons of better wine to a wedding feast, which is awesome. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:16.160 All the way to like one of his very final miracles, like his post-resurrection miracles, he's got a couple of them, and there's the the the fishing trip where he tells them to throw their nets in and they haul in like 150-something fish, which is just an interesting connection. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:18.799 The wine and the fish sounds like a great party. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:31.039 Uh the Son of Man came eating and drinking with wildly diverse people, with all sorts of outsiders, and so should we. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:41.599 And not only uh was hospitality absolutely central to the life of Jesus, it's also a direct command to us. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:44.960 It's commanded of us as his followers. 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:51.200 I think people often think of hospitality and think of it as like it's a hobby for extroverts, right? 00:23:51.440 --> 00:24:00.400 It's a holy hobby for you extroverts, but it's one that we introverts, we can just take a pass on it if we'd just rather not, because I don't like people in my space. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:04.079 Sorry, but no, it's it's it's not. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:05.039 It's not optional. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:08.559 This is expected of the church today. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:11.440 Did you know this to me is interesting? 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:18.000 Did you know it's actually one of the biblical requirements for church leaders and elders and pastors? 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:32.160 Did you know that hospitality is one of the things that they is like there's these couple of extensive lists in the New Testament, like 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1, where Paul uh is saying everything that church leaders, elders, pastors have gotta be. 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:40.559 And he says specifically that they are not qualified for leadership if they don't practice hospitality. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:47.440 Like it is right up there in the list next to sexual fidelity in marriage, next to living above reproach. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:49.759 This is a serious mandate. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:52.160 I think it's sad. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:25:06.240 Um we've heard the stories, we've probably been a part of the churches uh where pastors become uh disqualified or removed from ministry because of like egregious moral failings, gnarly stuff, right? 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:13.599 Sexual affairs or embezzling money or bullying and abusing uh church members, whatever it may be. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:22.559 Who has ever heard of a pastor being removed from ministry because they weren't practicing hospitality, right? 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:31.680 Like, I don't know, it's been it's been three years now, and Pastor Karen has never invited her next door neighbors over for dinner. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:33.680 I think we gotta let her go, right? 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:36.400 Like, that it it that never happens. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:37.279 Nobody. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:39.039 Um, nobody does that. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:41.440 Why not? 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:42.960 Why not? 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:55.680 I think it's because we don't take hospitality nearly as seriously as Jesus did, nor do we take it as seriously as our scriptures command. 00:25:55.839 --> 00:25:56.160 Okay? 00:25:56.400 --> 00:26:06.000 So just for fun, rapid fire, I've got three different imperatives from the Bible from three different New Testament authors all charging us with the task of hospitality. 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:15.359 Romans 12, seek to show hospitality, Hebrews 13, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, 1 Peter chapter 4. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:19.039 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:19.519 Okay? 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:26.079 So they say, seek to do it, don't neglect doing it, and then also don't complain about it. 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:29.359 That's it's pretty clear. 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:31.119 It's pretty clear. 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:42.880 And so looking back at Jesus' life, um, we have a few stories, like just actually a handful of stories of Jesus where he's preaching to the masses. 00:26:43.039 --> 00:27:03.759 He does that on occasion, but the majority, I mean the vast majority of his work came through personal encounters, through personal conversations and invitations to outsiders, to fishermen, to the tax man, to the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, right? 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:07.359 Like personal relationship. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:14.160 Uh and and Jesus actually spent a whole bunch of time avoiding crowds. 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:17.680 We read those stories where he's got to like, I gotta escape, I gotta get why? 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:19.920 So he could find a table. 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:26.880 And anytime he found someone that would open up their home for long meals and these personal conversations, he was all about it. 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:29.519 Time to make people feel loved in real relationship. 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:39.039 And even the most diverse and disparate people find that their hearts were open to the gospel and disciples were made. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:40.400 Disciples were formed. 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:44.240 This is the power of Christian hospitality. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:28:06.960 Not just to open our homes, uh, to host the Christian homeschool co-op or whatever it is, not just to open our homes for like a Super Bowl party for all of my church buddies, uh, but opening my home and my heart to the outsider, to the downtrodden, to the different, to the other. 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:09.599 And friends, it changes lives. 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:11.119 Changes lives. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:21.519 And so probably one of the best books that I've ever read on Christian hospitality is called The Gospel Comes with a House Key. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:25.759 Uh, and Rosaria Butterfield writes this absolute banger of a quote. 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:28.640 Um, it's kind of long, but stick with it because it's so good. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:31.200 She says, Christian hospitality. 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:41.759 It aims to meet strangers and make them neighbors and meet neighbors and by God's power welcome them into the family of God. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:46.559 Hospitality seeks the salvation of the stranger. 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:52.640 We serve a God who sought us out while we were strangers. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:29:01.279 God found us, he took us in, he made us part of his family, and he brought us to his table. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:11.039 Our homes are not castles, but incubators and hospitals, and the gospel comes with a house key. 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:40.640 Hospitality aims uh for strangers to become neighbors, and for our neighbors to become God's family, and our homes, our homes are not castles we can retreat into and draw the drawbridge and hide from the world, but but hospitals for the broken, and the gospel grants us full access, a house key. 00:29:42.799 --> 00:30:05.759 And friends, I have become more convinced uh than ever that if we're actually gonna reach our cities today, gonna actually reach Eugene, we're gonna actually reach Portland with the gospel of Jesus, that is not gonna happen uh primarily through awesome worship services and through killer preaching, through great sermons. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:10.960 If it's gonna happen, it's gonna start at our dining room tables. 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:26.799 This is a lesson uh that God has been teaching me uh over the last several years as my family has leaned uh really as much as we can into intentional Christian hospitality, and it has been beautiful. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:29.119 Uh, Jarrell said it's been gritty. 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:33.279 Uh he and Lauren have had a front seat to some of it and and some of our stories. 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:37.519 Um it's been beautiful, it's been incredibly hard. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:43.599 Um and at times incredibly heartbreaking, and it's been quite humbling. 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:47.920 Um, but yeah, Jarell asked me to share some stories with you. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:54.079 And so I'll just kind of in wrapping up, have a little story time, share some photos. 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:57.759 Uh so North Portland, if you're not familiar, our neighborhood is called St. 00:30:57.920 --> 00:30:59.519 John's, home of the famous St. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:00.559 John's Bridge. 00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:02.640 Um and if you didn't know, St. 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:08.319 John's is really one of kind of the two armpits of our city. 00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:18.559 Like the concentration of drugs and crime, uh, of houselessness, and in particular gang, gun-related violence among young people. 00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:19.920 It's endemic. 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:29.920 Um our first year moving into the neighborhood, we averaged three shootings a week, um, and all within about a mile of our home and our church. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:34.960 Uh we are also a really, by Portland standards, a very diverse pocket within our city. 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:37.920 We're still pretty white, we're like 60% white. 00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:43.440 Um, but interestingly, our public schools in our neighborhood are only 20% white. 00:31:43.759 --> 00:31:45.279 So do that math. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:56.400 Um, a significant majority of the student body at Roosevelt High School, which is a couple blocks from our house and where we do a lot of ministry, um, live a lot of life. 00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:01.039 Uh, majority of the student body there are from single-parent homes or zero-parent homes. 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:10.319 And the resulting poverty is overwhelming, which just kind of fuels it, it just breeds more of that vulnerability and crime and and abuse. 00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:27.039 Um, specifically this summer, three of our local kids that we knew well, two of whom had spent significant time in our home and in our church, including spending holidays at our dining room table, uh, were victims of gun violence. 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:31.119 Um that brought the total, I believe, up to 12. 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:40.880 12 teenagers that we have known specifically through the school and the community over the last six years that have been shot. 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:44.880 Um, several of them were football players of mine. 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:59.039 Um this is what's interesting too, though, is that not only has it been the victims that spent time with us in our home, uh, but in at least a couple of these cases, so have the aggressors. 00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:10.640 Like the shooters have eaten cheeseburgers that I've cooked on my barbecue and have played video games in my basement with my kids and have sat with us in church on Sunday mornings. 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:16.880 That has been an almost impossible reality to try to live with and deal with. 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:19.279 It's been even harder to walk through that with my kids. 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:32.799 Um when DJ, who is a kid that was in our youth ministry, um, gunned down Elliot, who was not only his teammate, but also my JV running back. 00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:35.839 Um, he was 15 years old. 00:33:36.319 --> 00:33:39.440 He's now serving 40 years in prison. 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:42.079 Um so this is a little bit of St. 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:42.640 John's. 00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:42.960 St. 00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:44.079 John's is tough, man. 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:44.880 It's tough. 00:33:45.119 --> 00:33:46.400 And so we moved to St. 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:46.880 John's. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:48.160 It was 2020. 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:51.680 And when we got to Red Sea, Red Sea Church uh was struggling. 00:33:51.839 --> 00:34:00.240 And they were struggling because over the preceding decade, the the challenges of Portland um had really caused the church to kind of circle the wagons. 00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:01.279 You know what I'm talking about? 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:09.519 Like just kind of face inward, and and we gotta just protect one another, and we gotta protect our kids from the godlessness and the brokenness of this culture. 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:13.280 And they were crushing it at Christian community. 00:34:13.519 --> 00:34:27.119 They truly loved one another and cared for each other deeply, but the problem is they'd built their castle walls so high that they lost sight entirely of the world that Jesus had come to save. 00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:40.400 It had been years, I think like five years or something like that, since any outsider had come into the church, met Jesus, been baptized, and the church was dying because of that. 00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:48.239 Uh, there was not a whole family uh in the congregation who had their kids in the public schools in our neighborhood. 00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:51.840 There was there was one family, it was a single mom who had no other choice. 00:34:52.000 --> 00:35:01.119 Um, so everyone was avoiding the schools like the plagues, which admittedly the North Portland public schools are like they are a bit of a dumpster fire. 00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:03.519 But Christians were running away from them. 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:09.599 And so instead they chose to, we're gonna homeschool, or we're gonna Christian private school, or we're gonna charter our kids outside of the neighborhood, whatever it is. 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:11.920 Anything that's safer than this. 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:18.320