WEBVTT 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:07.200 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:11.599 We exist to awaken this generation to new life in Christ. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:13.039 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:16.399 To find out more, go to awakeningchurch.com. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:22.800 Well, we're in a series called This Is Good. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:27.359 And uh 2020, we need some good news, don't we? 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:29.679 In light of all the bad news. 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:33.119 And so we're talking about some really good news. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:39.119 We started a few weeks ago saying this is good, the heart of God is good to welcome you home. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:45.200 Last week we looked at this is good, the healing pool, that there's no such thing as a magic healing pool. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:50.399 Only Jesus will satisfy and bring healing and wholeness. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:56.079 And this morning we're gonna look at this is good, the whole gospel. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.439 And I want to ask this question today. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:04.719 What makes Jesus good news today? 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:12.560 Like what actually makes him really good news in this moment when we're going through a global pandemic? 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:31.439 When our nation has their eyes open to racial injustice and inequality, when when we're looking at the fires that are burning and displacing people and economic uncertainty. 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:36.640 Like in the middle of all that, Ryan, are you telling me that this is still good? 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:42.319 What is it that makes Jesus such good news today? 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:47.200 Well, today I want to tell you about the whole gospel. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:02:06.239 See, I I would like to suggest that perhaps part of the reason why we struggle with the connection of how Jesus is such good news today, and not just way back when, is when we're thinking about the gospel, many of us have just learned half of it. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:08.080 An important half, to be sure. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:13.039 A vital half, absolutely, but only half of the gospel. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:19.120 So let me unpack for you what I'm calling the whole gospel. 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:25.120 If you got your Bibles, would you open up to Luke chapter 4, verse 14? 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:27.840 Luke chapter 4, verse 14. 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:55.759 When Jesus began his earthly ministry, he actually heads to his hometown, he's showing up, and he says something that is so bold about his purpose on this planet, that is so staggering that it echoes through to today and is staggeringly good news for every single person on this planet, even now. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:57.120 We pick it up. 00:02:57.360 --> 00:02:58.400 Verse 14. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:08.879 It says this Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:13.360 Well, this isn't where we're going today, but I'd be remiss if I didn't touch on this. 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:16.080 You're looking at, well, where did Jesus return from? 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:18.639 Well, he returned from 40 days in the wilderness. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:20.879 He returned from 40 days of temptation. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:27.039 It was the preparation before he stepped out in ministry, and he returned from that. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:30.080 And here's just a little observation, and this is for someone. 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:32.560 Somebody needs to hear this today. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:38.719 Is Jesus' wilderness experience was preparation for ministry? 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:41.360 Now let me say it again. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:45.599 The wilderness was preparation, not punishment. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:48.560 And for some, you're in the wilderness right now. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:51.680 Globally, we feel like we're in the wilderness. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:04:10.639 And could it be that God wants to use that as preparation in your life for ministry and impact, that you would have the outward stripped away and you would engage, and the Spirit of God would begin to use you in ways you never dreamed or imagined, but would you shift your understanding of the wilderness? 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:12.080 All right, that's not even where we're going. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:13.280 Let's get down to it. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:17.360 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:20.319 I mean, he's he's starting to catch momentum. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:23.360 Now, he went to Nazareth where he had been brought up. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:29.600 This is his hometown, and on the Sabbath day, he was in went to the into the synagogue as was his custom. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:39.839 Now, he stood up to read, and now this is what would happen is you would stand to read God's word uh in the synagogue, and then you would sit down to teach God's word. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:46.399 And so he stood up to read, it says, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:50.800 Now, now it says this unrolling it, he found the place where it is written. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:52.319 So he is looking for this. 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:56.399 The spirit of the Lord is on me. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:00.079 We already know he's walking in fresh power of the Spirit. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:00.639 Why? 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:06.959 Because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:12.720 That's our word we've been talking about. 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:18.240 Uangelian, good news, news that causes joy, that makes the heart sweet. 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.600 They just go like, oh, thank God for that. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:36.319 He anointed me to proclaim good news to a people who had only been hearing bad news, who had only been receiving bad news, to a people who didn't just have a 20-20 year, they've had a 20-20 life. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:39.439 Well, what kind of good news is it? 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:54.639 He sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and then notice this to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:05.839 And Isaiah, his prophecy here, he's referring to what in Israel, when they were set up, is known as the year of Jubilee, the year of rejoicing. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.560 It's it's came every 50 years. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:18.959 And every 50 years set up in the nation of Israel, every slave was freed, every debt was canceled, and every ancestral property returned. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:25.120 In fact, they had a system upon which there could be no systemic oppression or poverty. 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:31.680 Every 50 years, it was like, whoa! It was a party, it was a celebration, it was liberation. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:39.759 And Jesus is reading this in this moment, and then it says, and he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, sat down. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:43.279 The eyes of everyone in the synagogue are fastened on him. 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:44.319 Okay, so think of this. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:50.079 He sits down, he just reads it, sits down, and they're like, Okay, this is the big preacher. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:53.040 This this is the guy everybody's talking about. 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:54.639 And then he says this. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.959 This is this stunned him. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:02.800 He says this. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:13.279 He began saying to them, Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:31.519 That person that we've been waiting for, longing for, hoping for, that person that is going to bring liberation and healing and sight and deliverance is sitting in front of you in the synagogue. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:33.040 It's right here. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:43.759 You've been waiting and looking and hoping and wondering, and maybe it's true and doubting whether it is, and he's saying, I have arrived. 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:44.959 No. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:53.279 As we're thinking about this with the whole gospel, listen to what Jesus is saying. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:08:00.160 He's saying the whole gospel addresses the whole of the human condition. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:06.319 The whole gospel addresses the whole of the human condition. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:11.920 And what we have done in Western Christianity is we've bifurcated the gospel. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:21.519 We've made it a spiritual thing, we've made it solely a personal thing, we've made it a private thing, and it's just about me and God and how do I have this relationship? 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:23.759 How does God make my life better? 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:46.000 He says, no, no, no, the whole gospel, if we want to expand it out, the whole good news of Jesus Christ, no, no, no, listen, it addresses the whole of the human condition, the whole of the pain and suffering, the whole of the issues that we're facing and wrestling and struggling with. 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:47.840 Well, what does that look like? 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:53.919 Well, let's talk about the first half of the gospel, the part that I think many of us are aware with. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:09:01.600 The first part is the spiritual part, the spiritual reality, that we're dead in our sins and separated from God. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:18.559 Romans 3.23 says, For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God, that that the wages of our sin is death, that we're fundamentally broken, hurting. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:32.000 He says the gospel addresses our deepest longing and need, and the fundamental deepest longing, need, and need of your soul is to be in right relationship with your heavenly father. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:39.279 Don't miss this because this is the deepest, most important need of our soul. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:42.559 And this is why there's so much emphasis on this for us. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:52.480 Our deepest longing, our deepest need is to be in right relationship with God, to experience new life, to be welcome into the family of God. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:56.080 It's our spiritual condition of awakening to new life. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:57.600 That is the gospel. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:03.679 Now, the gospel is spiritual with social implications. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:11.200 See, Jesus taught this when he was asked on a day, what's the most important command? 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:16.159 And he said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:19.039 Be in right relationship with your heavenly Father. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:24.799 And then he said, and the second is like it, meaning that you can't disconnect it. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:29.200 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:40.159 That it is this right relationship, vertically right relationship with God that has horizontal implications with every single person on the planet. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:11:01.120 In fact, what Jesus was addressing in that day with the Pharisees and the religious people in a way of going about it was a people that believed they could do and say and believe the right things about God and treat everyone else terribly and be okay with God. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:08.799 And Jesus said, that is not good news, and that is not the heart of God. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:10.639 That is not the gospel. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:18.639 See, the whole gospel, you're dead in our sins and separated from God spiritually, but it has social implications. 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:24.720 Socially, when it comes to injustice, poverty, sickness, exploitation, the marginalized. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:30.639 The gospel now becomes our operating system for how we engage in the world. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:34.399 That we're agents of good news to those that are poor. 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:37.279 We're agents of good news to those that are oppressed. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:42.399 We're agents of good news that are experiencing sickness and devastation and harm. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:46.080 That is the gospel and the good news. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.440 It's not just how do I get to heaven when I die? 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:54.559 It's how do we have heaven invade earth through our lives? 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:56.720 That's the invitation. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:58.720 That's the calling. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.799 See, it's not somehow do I work my way to earn God's favor. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:09.919 It's you have God's favor, so how do I give it to everyone else around me? 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:14.799 Notice what Brian Lauritz in his book, A Cross-Shape Gospel, says. 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:16.159 He makes this connection. 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.320 He says there are two beams of the cross, one vertical and the other horizontal. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:23.279 It tells us all we need to know about the gospel. 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:31.600 The cross-shaped gospel has to do with a man being reconciled to God, the vertical beam, and to one another, the horizontal beam. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:39.919 Through the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah who died in our place and for our sins. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:43.200 The Spirit of the Lord is on me. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:46.159 He's anointed me to proclaim good news to who? 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:50.480 The poor, those who experience bad news their entire life. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:13:04.639 I'm coming with good news, whether you're oppressed spiritually or physically, whether you're blind spiritually or physically, whether you're impoverished or stuck in caption, a captive. 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:15.440 See, there's been a lot of conversation lately as we look at the brokenness of our world, as we look at the brokenness of our nation. 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:20.159 And a lot of conversation about how our government's broken and needs to be fixed. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:21.919 And I don't want to argue with that. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:24.320 And I, in fact, I don't even want to get into that. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:34.240 But but here's what I would say bigger government is not going to fix the deep issues in our country. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:39.440 Followers of Jesus who live out the whole gospel of us. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:44.159 See, we we don't we don't need a program. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.159 We need Jesus followers. 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:56.320 We need Jesus followers who say, God, you have radically saved me. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:59.519 Spiritually, I was once dead, now I'm alive. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:06.000 I was once blind, but now I see, and so I can no longer see anyone else the same way. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:09.120 They are precious because of you. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:15.600 You died for them, and so I will come and serve and love them. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:18.799 This is the whole gospel. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:23.919 The question then What in the world does this look like? 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:32.240 Now, Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 begins to tell a story as he's explaining what the kingdom of God is like. 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:37.360 And he's explaining this, you know, when Jesus was walking on this earth, he would say it this way. 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:47.039 He said, The kingdom of God is near or at hand, the kingdom of heaven, like heaven's breaking forth because the Son of Man, heaven is right here. 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:50.320 And he would try to explain it in stories. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:59.440 And he began to explain one particular story near the end before he was crucified, Matthew 25, that should give us pause. 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:04.799 That should be a calling to us as a church. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:07.200 We pick it up in verse 31. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:13.360 He says, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all angels with him, he'll sit on his glorious throne. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:22.320 All nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people from one another as a shepherd, as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:25.360 He will put the sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:26.799 And you're like, okay, what's going on? 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:28.240 This is judgment day. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.600 We will be judged for what we do and how we live. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:36.559 Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my father. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.960 Take your inheritance and the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:41.519 Why? 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:45.120 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:47.919 I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.399 I was a stranger and you invited me in. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:52.399 I needed clothes and you clothed me. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:54.240 I was sick and you looked after me. 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:56.960 I was in prison and you came to visit me. 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:03.600 Then the righteous will answer the Lord, When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.000 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in? 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:08.240 Or needing clothes and clothe you? 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:11.360 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:23.519 And the king will reply, Truly I tell you, wherever whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:26.559 What does this look like? 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:33.200 Very simply, the whole gospel is expressed as a show and tell. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:38.799 If we're going to express the whole gospel, it's expressed as a show and tell. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:43.120 See, what we do is just the tell part of it. 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:45.279 We're good at telling people. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:53.679 I don't know if you remember as a kid having to do the show and tell, and you go, like, here's this, and let me tell you all about this. 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:56.399 It's this my coffee cup from Verve. 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:56.960 Awesome. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:08.160 You know, and you have these things, and I just saw actually uh one of my friends' daughters was um showing off uh they did on Instagram showing off the snake, and I just got like they have a pet snake, and the snake just gives me a hebie jeebies. 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:09.039 I'm like, oh gross. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:10.559 Uh and I can't believe they own it. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:12.000 But she was like, This is amazing. 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:14.240 This is her pet, of course. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:23.440 And God's saying, your life is to be on display, to declare the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:31.119 That's why Jesus would say it this way in Matthew chapter 5, I think it's verse 16, that you know, that we are the light of the world. 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:38.240 Let your light so shine before men that they see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:40.480 That we love the least of these. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:50.240 See, we don't do good work to earn our way to God or to be saved. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:53.519 We are saved to do good work. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:57.519 We have experienced his grace in order to do good work. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:01.519 The whole gospel is show and tell. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:04.400 It's like I'm gonna show you the love of Jesus. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:08.079 I'm gonna show you his grace, I'm gonna show you this is good. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:11.119 And as you see it is good, you'll want to know more. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:14.720 And let me tell you about this Jesus who changed my life. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:16.880 See, Matthew 25. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:27.839 Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:37.119 Jesus showed special concern for the poor and the marginalized. 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:52.319 And so his followers are to show special concern for the poor and the marginalized, for the least, for the last, for the lost, socially, economically, culturally. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:55.200 No, sociologically. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:56.960 Let's try that again. 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:03.440 Sociolog Soci Social I'm it's like two weeks in a row, can't say words. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:10.079 Sociologist, close enough, Rodney Starks, made this comment. 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:26.160 It was the early churches, care for the poor, in his estimation, that was allowed this early fledgling movement to expand and grow and be embraced. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:31.519 See, the early church actually took Jesus literally. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:36.160 When he said, love the least of these, they said, Done. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:36.799 Why? 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:42.400 Because they saw Jesus do it and they just started doing what they saw Jesus doing. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:44.319 And so, how did they do this? 00:19:44.720 --> 00:20:04.319 When it came to the vulnerable and the voices, there was a practice in the Roman day, if you had a baby that was maybe disformed or or had some sort of problems, or maybe it was the wrong gender, you know, you wanted a son, but you didn't want a daughter back in that day, and so you would leave that baby on a trash heap to die. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:17.200 And the early church people would come around and find these little babies and then begin to raise them as their own and love and care for these little ones. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:21.519 They cared for the vulnerable, for the voiceless. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:25.839 When it came to racial and social, you think about this. 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:48.480 The Roman Empire was divided between the haves and the have nots, whether you're a Roman citizen or not a Roman citizen, were you free or a slave, whether you're a man or a woman, and there was different classes, and that gave you worth and dignity based on what class you were, based on your affluence and influence. 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:57.279 And then the Apostle Paul, later unpacking the teaching of Jesus, would say, There's neither Jew nor Greek. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:20:59.920 Like there's no more racial divide. 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:07.200 There's neither, you know, slave nor free, there's no socioeconomic divide, there's neither male nor female. 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:10.240 Like, we're not gonna allow gender to break this down. 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:31.119 And the place of level ground in the Roman Empire were in the gatherings of the church, unparalleled to anywhere else, unheard of in the ancient day, where you would have those who were mistreated on the outside world being lifted up within the context of the church. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:38.319 In the church service, if they saw someone poor come into theirs, the person who was preaching that day would give them their seat. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:46.079 The church just said, We're gonna take Jesus literally vulnerable, voiceless, racial, social. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:49.599 Well, the poor and the oppressed. 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:53.680 Much of the early church was poor and oppressed, by the way. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:56.480 That was that was the movement that began. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:04.480 And whenever they saw someone in need, They would sell some of their property to take care of others in need. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:18.960 In fact, you'll read through the New Testament, you'll find that Paul's talking to the church in Corinth as they're giving an offering to help the church in Jerusalem that's going through a really hard time that has experienced a famine and aren't able to supply for their needs. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:30.319 They took care of widows and orphans and gave financially to make sure that those that they knew were needing were taken care of to their own hurt. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:36.000 In fact, uh Bruce Walkie says this, and he's it's a commentary on the Proverbs. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:41.359 He says, The righteous are willing to disadvantage themselves to advantage the community. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:46.480 The wicked are willing to disadvantage the community to advantage themselves. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:58.480 And the early church took this seriously of disadvantaging themselves to advantage those who are in need and hurting and broken. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:02.480 And then the sick and the diseased. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:14.559 They weren't quite pandemics because it didn't have the global scale, there were plagues that would pop up in the ancient world. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:26.720 And one of the great testimonies of the church in that day is they would, as everyone is fleeing a city for safety, they would go in and love. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:29.200 Care. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:35.200 Be the last voice for those who had been left by their own family members to die. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:38.799 And many died along with them. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:49.680 In fact, Dionysius, the third century bishop of Alexandria, writes this as some of the Christians' actions during plagues. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:58.319 He says, Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:16.480 And with them departed this life serenely happy, for they were infected by others with the disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors, and cheerfully accepting their pains. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:27.039 Friends, 2020, this has been a rough, bad, no good, terrible year. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:47.440 And we have a heritage and we have a calling that says, in the face of that, we're gonna love the least of these because that's what Jesus did, and that's good news. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:53.440 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:57.359 I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. 00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:01.039 I was a stranger and you invited me in. 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:12.880 Tertolian, the early church father, said that it is our care of the helpless, our practice of loving kindness that brands us in the eyes of our opponents. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:21.759 Church, my prayer is that we have an incredible opportunity that this would once more brand us in the eyes of our opponents. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:24.880 Not asking people to believe what we believe. 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:42.880 Go, man, this whole risen Savior thing and some of the morality things and ethics you hold, I don't hold, but I cannot deny how you're living your life, how you're loving your neighbor, how you're expressing and disadvantaging yourself for the advantage of those you don't even know. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:47.680 May that be our brand once more. 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:53.680 So the question: how do we get back to the whole gospel? 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:55.920 I just want to read the words of Jesus. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:59.519 This is our memory verse, and it's the call. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:03.440 It's the call to be a disciple of Jesus. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:10.559 Now, a disciple is one who does and walks in the ways of his master. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:16.079 Luke 6.40 says, when a student or disciple is fully trained, he'll be just like his master. 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:30.160 And a blessing that someone would give when they're starting off with the new rabbi is that you would be covered in the dust of your rabbi, that you would follow their ways and their pattern of life so closely that you would just be covered in it. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:34.319 They're dust, like you're literally just walking so close behind them. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:41.839 And so Jesus is gonna invite you here to be his disciple. 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:48.400 He says, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves. 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:50.960 So it will cost you. 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:54.240 Jesus says that up front. 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:58.400 We live in a world, discover yourself. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:00.000 Discover yourself. 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:02.400 He says, Deny yourself. 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:04.400 Take up your cross daily. 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:06.079 It will be sacrificial. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.559 I don't want to say it's not, it will. 00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:10.960 And then follow me. 00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:15.440 Follow my ways, follow my teaching. 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:22.000 Then he says this for whoever wants to save their life will lose it. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:29.680 See, what will shrivel up your soul more in this season than anything else is an absolute focus on yourself. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:34.480 We become just inward focused. 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:37.839 We become looking inward, and we're just kind of like, I need to get mine. 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:39.039 There's not enough around me. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:45.599 And it says, if you want to save yourself, you're gonna lose it. 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:47.599 And then he goes on. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:53.839 But whoever loses their life for me will save it, will find it. 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:56.960 True and lasting life. 00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:10.960 If you want to have the flourishing life, the fulfilled life that will only be found in giving your life for the sake of Jesus. 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:17.440 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their very self? 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:31.920 You can try to get rich, you can try to get fame, you can try to get all these other things, and the reality is, is it will leave you empty and hollow because there are no magic healing pools. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:32.559 Remember that. 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:36.319 Would you take up your cross? 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:42.240 Would we once more be the church that loves those in front of us? 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:48.319 We have great opportunity when it comes to the racial injustice. 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:51.680 And I just think of our team that's starting that off. 00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:52.799 We have great opportunity. 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:55.200 We have a team that's doing homeless ministry right now. 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:56.640 We have great opportunity. 00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:59.759 We have a team that's engaging in the foster care system. 00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:04.880 We have great opportunity, like never before in this season, to be the church. 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:08.000 What if COVID is a divine opportunity? 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:10.720 What? 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:11.519 Excuse me? 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:12.400 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:13.039 You heard me. 00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:18.880 What if it's actually a divine opportunity for the church to return to the whole gospel? 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:21.759 You can't go to church. 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:24.880 We were never built to go to church. 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:30.720 Since we can't gather, then the church can go. 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:33.279 You can go. 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:34.880 I can go. 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:39.440 Walking in this morning, I had this experience. 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:43.359 You know, I've been prepping this and thinking about this, and this is really impacting me. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:49.680 And there's a homeless guy in a um in a wheelchair. 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:53.599 And I just want to give you where I honestly would be at. 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:56.319 My first response, I saw him there, my heart was kind of tugged. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:57.279 And I'm like, I'm kind of busy. 00:29:57.359 --> 00:29:59.839 I'm preaching a sermon on loving the poor. 00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:10.240 Um and I've had lots of conversations with my kids about this as their hearts and the longings for others. 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:12.640 It's like we can just love them. 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:16.160 So I came into our office, I found some different food items for them. 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:21.759 I took them out there and kind of brought them to them, and we're starting to talk, and I'm, you know, getting his whole story. 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:26.640 And I don't have time to give you his whole story, but you know, he he's he's hooked on math. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:37.119 He's told me, I mean, he he drinks um hand sanitizer just to get, I mean, like, how hard is your life and things that you're addicted to over your life? 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:41.039 And just sat and talked with him, heard his story. 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:48.000 At five, he was in foster care because his mom was addicted to cocaine. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:56.559 By 15, he was a full-fledged addict himself, been living on the streets since he was 18. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:14.000 I've just been convicted because my first response is task over people. 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.480 I gotta get this done, I gotta get after this. 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:25.519 And what Jesus is asking us is people over task. 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:29.119 Would you be aware? 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:30.160 And would you look? 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:31.279 Would you take time? 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:33.039 You're not too busy. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:39.279 And the needs that are in front of you, the people that are in front of you, would you just love them? 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:43.119 Would you bring them some food, some water? 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:47.599 Whatever you do for the least of these, Jesus says, You do for me. 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:51.599 And the Son of God is hungry, and I'm not gonna pass by him anymore. 00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:54.559 The son of God is thirsty and I'm not gonna walk by. 00:31:54.640 --> 00:32:07.759 The son of God is hurting and sick and needing, and he's saying, I've put my image in these people that are all around you, and I died for them, and the whole gospel says, love them. 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:14.400 May we be that church once again, Jesus. 00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:58.000 I ask that you would use this moment in our lives for us to step in and to step out of our comfort zone, to step beyond our prejudice and presuppositions, to allow your spirit to do the work in us, and we would step forward to be your hands, to be your feet, to bring your good news to a world that's only heard bad news, to a people that are struggling and needing your grace in Jesus' name. 00:32:58.319 --> 00:32:58.960 Amen.