WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:22.640 It is great to be back with you, awakening. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:23.839 Missed you. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:25.039 Gosh, man. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:27.039 Love you so much. 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:30.399 And like I've been ready to be back with you for a while. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:32.799 So today you just need to know. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:35.119 I just like full transparency. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:36.799 Like, I'm nervous. 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:39.200 You know, I am a little anxious. 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:44.479 I was like, um, I was telling Miles as we were driving to church, that's uh my youngest son. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:49.600 I was like, it's kind of like you're showing up for a basketball game that I'm moderately good at. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:53.920 Um but you haven't played basketball for three months. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:57.200 Um, so I'm gonna be a little rusty on this whole speaking gig. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:58.000 I'm nervous about that. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:05.359 I'm nervous just because I'm like, you know, like when you haven't seen somebody in a long while and you're just so excited and anxious and can't wait to be with them. 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:09.200 So that's me uh right here with you. 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:20.159 Uh before we dive in today, I just wanted to thank a few people that have done just an incredible job over the last uh couple months uh while I was away. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:32.879 First, if you served in any capacity this summer, whether it was space, cafe, worship, college, prayer, and there's so many other spaces and areas that I didn't uh say. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:38.400 If you served, even if it was just one time this summer, would you stand up uh for me? 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:40.480 Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, stand up. 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:42.000 Thank you, guys. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:45.359 Thank you, thank you, thank you. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:48.239 Go ahead and take a seat. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:56.560 This summer is a really hard time at awakening because everybody's in and out uh and on trips and all that. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:10.719 You showing up and serve prepares the way for God to work, changes a campus into a place where people that have a life-changing encounter with God, thank you for that and your consistency and faithfulness all summer long. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:14.719 And then I just got to acknowledge our staff and our leadership council. 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:16.319 If you're here, would you stand up? 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:17.840 You guys go ahead, stand on up. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:18.400 I can go. 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:19.919 Uh I'm looking around. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:20.719 There's Roman. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:24.639 Roland stand up, Molly, our leadership council, which is our elders. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:25.840 There's Brian stand up. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:26.639 Stay standing. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:27.840 Let's honor them. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:29.520 Let's honor them. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:39.599 Dave, um, and Alex and Jesse and others, and I can't see everybody, but um thank you for your leadership. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:48.400 Thank you for how you just showed up and your the way you uh pastored and ministered to our church this summer. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:52.400 Deep honor and gave me full confidence, even while I was away. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:53.360 You're in good hands. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:56.479 And we had a great lineup of speakers this summer as well. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:59.360 So um now you're back with me. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:03.840 Um on Wednesday, we have a leadership advance. 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:13.199 I would love to share some of the like sabbatical learnings that I had, a fall vision, where we're headed, and then also just some key updates in the life of our church. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:19.599 But I thought in this moment I would at least talk about the sabbatical elephant in the room. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:21.120 You know what it is. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:22.400 Some of you are like, what? 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:23.199 There's an elephant? 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:24.240 What is that? 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:30.960 Um, yes, it's the new ink that I have on my yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:34.240 And and some people are like, oh, that's sabbatical, Ryan. 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:37.680 Um I had somebody else do this. 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:39.840 This was uh uh last week. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:42.960 They're like, oh, now you're the cool pastor. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:48.240 Okay, if that's all it took, um, okay. 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:50.159 Uh let me explain them real quick. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:55.199 Uh so uh before I get there, um my daughter graduated high school. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:59.919 We dropped her off literally last Sunday at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:01.840 Terrible place to visit, by the way. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:06.319 Um and so as a graduation gift, she wanted to get tattooed. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:10.719 We had a cool father-daughter moment where we went and got tattoos together. 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:16.879 Uh, this one is my family and uh Jenny, my wife, Ella Rider Miles. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:20.560 And um originally, see, I got vetoed on this one. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:23.199 Uh originally I thought it was kind of fun that it's spelled germ. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:32.639 My family spells germ, and I was gonna just have in just really small print, but the Holy Spirit, I mean Jenny, um, came up with a new design. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:35.519 And uh this is what I have, and I love it. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:41.439 And some people have noticed that it feels almost directional, uh, you know, north, south, east, west. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:45.120 Ella loves that her name Ella is in the east position. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:47.680 Um, I don't know what writers in the south. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:51.120 I don't haven't got any deeper meaning on that yet. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:56.000 I do love as we're launching our kids out that Jenny is in the north position. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:12.399 One of the advice when our we first had kids was uh that one of the greatest gifts you can give your kids is a great and healthy marriage, and just love that she is uh my North Star in so many ways in our relationship and next how we serve Jesus together. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:22.959 Um, the other one is right over here, the cross on my right hand, and this has some deep significance to me, so I would love to share that with you for a little bit. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:31.680 Um Psalm 16, 8 has been a verse, it really is the um the impetus behind this. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:37.360 And I've been living in the Psalms all summer long, and I love Psalm 16, it's been ministering to me. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:43.920 And so I'll give you a little background, but it says, Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup, you make my lot secure. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:47.040 The boundary lies have fallen for me in pleasant places. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:49.680 Surely I have a delightful inheritance. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:58.240 And honestly, over sabbatical, I I felt that and was so grateful and woke up and thank God for this gift that you all blessed our family with. 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:00.480 I praise the Lord who counsels me. 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:02.800 Even at night, my heart instructs me. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:11.360 And then I love this line: I will keep my eyes always on the Lord with him at my right hand. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:13.360 I'll not be shaken. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:19.199 If you, those who were around last year, our theme for our tenth birthday was eyes on you. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:27.920 Uh, this whole idea as we step into the next decade, we want to be a church that simply keeps our focus and our eyes on Jesus. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:30.560 And then I love this thought. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:35.519 With you at my right hand, I'll never be shaken. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:36.639 It's something that'd be fun. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.519 You can look it up, you can go to Biblegateway.com and do this. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:48.000 Do a little word study, just right hand, and see uh the significance of the right hand biblically and in the ancient Near East. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:53.199 Uh, the right hand was the hand of strength, the hand of power, the hand of skill. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:59.759 It was the hand upon which you made oaths and covenant and the hand where you blessed other people. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:05.759 When you sat at someone's right hand, it was the place of highest honor. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:09.040 Uh when we shook hands, we shake hands with our right hand today. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:19.439 In the ancient day, when you shook or when you made an embrace, it was actually a sign of fellowship, intimacy, and vulnerability because you were giving up your hand of power. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:23.839 You're giving up the hand of the sword and becoming vulnerable. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:38.800 When it speaks of God, the right hand, it is the hand of justice that executes judgment, the hand of refuge upon which you come under and seek shelter, the hand of his blessing and favor upon you. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:41.759 And I love this thought, this is incredible. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:52.720 That it's not just that God's right hand is on us, but that he's at our right hand. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:54.639 I mean, isn't that a cool thing? 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:59.920 He's like, yes, my hand is on you, but then I'm actually at your right hand. 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:11.199 The prophet Isaiah picks up this theme in Isaiah chapter 41 where he says, For I, next slide, for I am the Lord your God who takes, can you say that with me? 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:14.480 Who takes hold of your right hand. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:24.000 Who takes hold of your right hand and says, Do not fear, I will help you. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.160 I love that picture. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:33.679 The picture is of a parent taking hold of their child's hand. 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:41.120 When my kids were little and we'd be in a really crowded area, I'd take hold of my kids' hands. 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:48.000 When the street is busy and the cars are flying, I'd take hold of my kid's right hand as I got you. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:50.480 I got you. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:52.720 You're safe. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:54.639 You're with me. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:57.679 I'll lead the way. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:04.240 You know what's amazing is we never outgrow our need for our Heavenly Father. 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:10.320 And our Heavenly Father says, I take hold of your right hand. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:11.759 I got you. 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:20.000 And so, yeah, this is a sign of Jesus, you always have my yes and my allegiance. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:25.600 But it's a daily reminder that God has taken hold of my right hand. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:31.679 My perfect heavenly father, our perfect heavenly father's goddess. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:34.559 And in that fact, I'll rest. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:41.519 And in that fact, I'll move through my days, and in that fact, whatever the future may come, he's got it. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.759 So those are the tasks. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:48.399 If you were to ask. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:53.039 If you weren't, you got it anyways. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:59.840 Today is a worship and communion sundae, and I want to set up the table. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:03.759 The Lord's uh supper and communion. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:06.879 Uh the apostle Paul said it this way. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:07.519 Hang on. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:09.440 Okay, guys, this is embarrassing. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:11.919 I wear contacts and readers now. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:20.080 That's I was doing Glenn's wedding before sabbatical, and I couldn't read his vow. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:21.679 I was like, this is bad. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:23.279 I gotta get glasses. 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:28.960 The apostle Paul says it this way, for I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:38.399 The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he gave thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you, do this in remembrance of me. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:43.919 In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:47.200 Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:54.000 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:11:01.279 There are two ordinances that Jesus left us with that we are to partake in and to do that he commanded us. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:02.559 The first is baptism. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.440 We're gonna celebrate that next week at our 11th birthday. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:07.519 It's gonna be a party and amazing. 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:09.840 Yeah, it's our public four of you. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:10.639 That's fantastic. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.279 There's baptism and okay. 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:22.159 It's your public identification that you're a follower of Jesus in the community and family of Jesus. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:32.559 The second is communion or the Lord's supper of this remembering his great love, his great sacrifice. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:42.480 And so to set the table for us as we begin to dive into this communion moment, let me ask you a question. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:55.120 What if there's a place that is so safe that the worst of you could be known and not loved less more? 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:34.000 What if there's a place where all of you, not just the you you present at work, and the you you present at church, and the you you present online, but the real you, the hidden you, the broken you, the ashamed parts of you, the secret you, the you that you don't want anyone else to see, and you're afraid if they did they would move away from you. 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:40.559 What if there's a place where the worst of you could be known? 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:44.960 And it's so safe that you're not allowed to less. 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:00.960 He chose them, he loved them. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:12.080 He spent twelve years investing his life into them, or not twelve years, there's twelve of them, he spent three years investing his life into them. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:16.559 And now he just has a few hours. 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:25.519 He knows that one of them that very night is going to betray him. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:32.559 And yet that one he invites to this table as well. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:50.000 Jesus, as he's setting this up, um, he understands that his disciples actually are looking at him as Messiah the way almost everybody in his day looked at Messiah. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:14:00.480 When we look back, we we actually think his spiritual kingdom and what he's doing, when they looked at it, they thought almost uh solely politically. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:14.000 And you as you read the New Testament and read the Gospels, you'll see uh and understand that there was this political excitement and energy around Jesus, that he was the coming Messiah, and his disciples believed in this. 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:23.360 They believed that he was actually going to overthrow the tyranny of Rome and reinstate Israel as this superpower. 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:33.600 This is their mental image and hope of a Messiah, so much so that James and Andrew, no, James and John. 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:36.720 I get confused on which one. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:52.879 They ask, their mother, ask Jesus, when he steps into his kingdom, his literal kingdom, can my boy sit at your right hand, the hand of honor, and at your left hand? 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:57.360 She, I mean, this doesn't happen today in the work world. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:03.440 There's no parents that go to the bosses and see it happened all the way back then, too, okay? 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:05.440 This isn't a new phenomenon. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:10.080 Word got out to his disciples. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:12.159 And so think about this. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:19.039 They hear that they that their mother is asking them, James and John, like, hey, guess what? 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:23.200 You're trying to jockey for position. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:38.720 And so hours before the Passover meal, which we now call the Last Supper, this was their Last Supper together, the disciples break out into argument who is the greatest among them. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:53.440 And this is the context for which we pick up the Last Supper, where the communion table was shared, and Jesus has one final act. 00:15:53.840 --> 00:16:11.919 This is his last act before he goes to the cross that left an indelible mark on their memory, so that every time they took communion, every time they sat at the Lord's table and ate the bread and the wine, they remembered this moment. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:15.919 It was seared on their conscience. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:21.679 If you got your Bibles, we pick it up in John chapter 13, verse 1. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:30.639 It was just before the Passover festival, Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave the world and go to the Father. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.480 Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:36.480 I love that line, love them to the end. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:39.440 Another translation, uh, we'll say it this way. 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:43.279 He now showed them the full extent of his love. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:52.080 Like what's about to happen, Jesus wants to reveal to them, and yes, obviously the cross is the final revelation of his love for all of humanity. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:59.600 This is the personal full revelation to them of how much Jesus loves these men. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:10.000 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:17.119 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, that he'd come from God, and was returning to God. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:22.319 So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothes, wrapped a towel around his waist. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:32.079 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that he wrapped around him. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:36.480 Jesus knew that his time was short. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.279 He had a limited few hours. 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:43.200 And here's what's interesting is he orchestrated this moment. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:50.079 And we know from the other gospel writers that he had actually orchestrated and found this really private room. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:58.240 Everyone, the town of the city of Jerusalem, is just flooded with tons and tons of people, and everybody's wanting to be around them. 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:01.039 And he orchestrated this private affair. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:07.680 And he actually orchestrates that there's no servants to wash the disciples' feet. 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:16.880 You would come in and the lowest of low, the lowest servant in the household would be the foot washer. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:23.359 And you can only imagine as the disciples walked in one by one, there's a towel, there's a basin, but there's no servant. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:27.279 And they walked all the way in and they then sit down. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:31.359 And now the way they sat in the ancient day, it wasn't like the paintings we have. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:34.160 You see them, they're all sitting at the table like this, right? 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:35.759 Um, they recline. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:37.519 The gospels tell us they recline. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.640 That was a normal custom for how one ate. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:43.039 It was actually a lower table with a cushion. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:46.400 They would lean on their left arm to eat with their right hand. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:59.119 And if I I can't, I won't do it for you, but their feet would point away from the table, and then another person would be very close to them, uh close to their chest, and they would sit like this all the way around the table. 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:00.319 Now imagine this. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:05.680 They all walked in, they passed the water, past the towel, and then they're leaning at the table. 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:15.519 Jesus gets up, walks over, takes off his rabbinic garb, lays it down, and then he wraps the towel of a slave around his waist. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:21.839 I mean, that moment has to be one of the most awkward moments for the disciples. 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:24.480 They're going, what is going on? 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:27.759 A rabbi does not wash feet. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:30.559 A messiah certainly would never. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:37.119 In fact, a rabbi's disciples was never considered to wash a feet. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:58.000 And here their rabbi takes on the very nature of a slave, goes behind them, and you can always imagine like how awkward that moment is as the disciples are kind of looking at each other, and they can see Jesus behind the other one as he bends down on his knees and he begins to touch their feet with his hand and wash it. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.160 And he took his time. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:02.799 Washing feet, it took time. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.920 And one by one, he goes. 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:11.519 And then he gets to Peter, and Peter speaks up, and he's like, No, not me. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:15.119 And Jesus says, Yes, you, otherwise, you have no part in me. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:19.680 But I can only think that these disciples are looking at Jesus with his hands. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:22.960 They're like, We know what those hands can do. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:29.680 We've seen you, we've seen your hand touch the blind and they receive sight. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:33.359 We saw you touch a leper and they're clean. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:41.440 We saw you take Jarius' daughter, who was dead, and pick her hand up with your hand and bring her back to life. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:46.079 And now those very hands are touching our feet. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:53.920 Stooped low to the mess and the dirt and all of it. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:56.559 The text goes on. 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:06.240 When they finished washing their feet, he put his clothes and returned to his place. 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:09.279 Do you understand what I've done for you? 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:11.200 He asked them. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:15.359 By the way, I think that's a rhetorical question at this moment. 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:22.079 You call me teacher and lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:29.440 Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:34.400 I've set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:39.839 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:45.279 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:59.680 And all the arguments about who is the greatest, all the jockeying of the disciples of this newfound kingdom and this political power and influence they have was washed. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:15.519 Away in a moment when their rabbi, the son of God, stooped low to take on the towel of a slave and wash their feet. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:30.559 What if there's a place that is so safe where you can be fully known and not loved less, but more? 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:38.480 If you do a careful study of the text, you'll notice three places where it says Jesus knew. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:41.359 Jesus knew that his time was short. 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:43.359 He knew he had a limited amount of time. 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:46.640 He's going to make the most of this with his disciples. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:52.799 Then it says that Jesus knew that all power and authority had been given to him. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:58.400 Jesus knew that literally all the power was in his hands. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:17.359 Instead of leveraging power and authority to promote him and for his own gain, he did what Jesus does and what God always does is leverage his power, his authority, what he has for your good and my good to serve. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:21.279 I mean, I just think about that. 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:26.079 We were just talking about the right hand of God and this power and might and strength. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:36.000 And then Jesus, God incarnate, literally the right hand of God, stooping low, not just to hold your hand, but to wash your feet. 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:44.160 And then it says this Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot would betray him. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:50.000 And he washed his feet too. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:24:00.400 Brings a whole nother level when Jesus says, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:05.359 A love so deep and so great that you can be fully known. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:14.480 And the Savior, the God of all eternity, says, I am not repelled by you, but I'm compelled to come closer to you. 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:21.680 Jesus knew that Peter would betray him and deny him that night three times. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:27.279 Jesus knew that the other ten would scatter and desert him in his time of need. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:41.680 And all of them around that, he wants to reveal to them the full extent of his love, that all of your brokenness and all that you bring to the table does not change your belovedness. 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:46.000 I like how Henry Nowen says it. 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:55.599 He was an incredible thinker, writer, Dutch priest, professor at Harvard, Yale, all these sort of things, incredible, but he wrote this. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:03.200 Being the beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence. 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:06.400 Just let that sink in for a second. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:08.559 Being the beloved. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:24.000 Not doing, not achieving, not performing, not earning, not measuring up, not trying to become more worthy, not any of those things. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:32.079 Not what you wear, not how many followers you got, not your ethnicity, your nationality, your sexuality, your ability, whatever it is, not any of that. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:35.759 Being the beloved. 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:39.599 Something you didn't even get to do. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:43.359 It's just you're the object of his affection. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.880 Not something that you can undo. 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:50.559 He still invites you to the table. 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:55.599 He's still the God that stoops low to wash feet. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:04.319 In the presence of Jesus, friends, in the presence of Jesus, it is so safe that you can bring all of you. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:08.559 And he does not love you less but more. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:12.799 His affection and love for you never varies in any way. 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:20.079 There's nothing you can do to make him love you anymore, and there's nothing you can do to make him love you any less. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:26.880 He loves you, he loves you, he loves you, and the cross declares his great love for you. 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:30.960 That you have a savior, by the way, that doesn't have a tattoo on his wrist. 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:41.440 He has the scar marks of love that declare, I will go to whatever lengths for you. 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:45.759 I love how the author of Hebrews says it. 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:49.279 It says in Hebrews chapter 12, I think verse 2 or 3. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:55.359 For the joy set before him, he endured the cross. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:57.119 Who was his joy? 00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:58.720 What was his joy? 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:00.400 It was you. 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:02.240 Me. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:06.240 You are his joy. 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:08.799 He endured the cross, scorning its shame. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:10.000 And now where does he sit? 00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:14.000 At the right hand of the throne of the Father. 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:17.599 And then he gives us this call, church. 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:19.519 Remember that. 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:26.480 Now that I, your Lord and Savior, have set the example, now go and do. 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:53.599 The table where the disciples walked in just moments earlier, arguing about who is the greatest, and their rabbi got up from the table to wash their feet, and it wiped away all that pretense and all that pride and all that jealousy and all that positioning and posturing. 00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:59.119 Now go and do likewise. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:04.960 The communion table is to be the table where you are known fully. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:07.279 We're known in community. 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:09.839 And not loved less, but more. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:25.200 Jesus, just a few verses later, John 13, 34 and 35, bringing it all together, would say, a new command I give you that you love one another in the exact same way I have loved you. 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:29.039 So you are to love one another. 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:34.160 By this the whole world will know you're my disciples. 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:44.240 And if we're honest, we we we gotta admit that the church hasn't been the place consistently where you're fully known and loved. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:47.759 And I'm sorry for that. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:58.720 The church is to be a hospital for all of us, broken wanderers, sick and needing of a savior. 00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:07.359 Too often we turn it into a country club with everybody trying to look perfect and hiding their real self. 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:13.839 What if, as we take communion, would you ask this question? 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:20.720 In this moment, what would it look like to bring all of me to Jesus? 00:29:21.519 --> 00:29:25.359 I think oftentimes we bring most of us to Jesus. 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:29.759 Sometimes we only bring part of us to Jesus. 00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:39.440 But what would it look like in this moment as the band is gonna come and Robbie's gonna sing, where you just took a moment and said, I'm gonna bring all of me to you. 00:29:39.680 --> 00:30:02.079 I'm gonna bring my fear, I'm gonna bring my anger, I'm gonna bring my regret, I'm gonna bring my bitterness, I'm gonna bring my anxiety, I'm gonna bring the secret stuff that I don't want anyone else, and what I know is you in this moment fully love me. 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:11.920 See, when we do that, then we open ourselves to experience the healing touch of our Savior. 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:25.119 We allow him to do the work in us, to cleanse us, to strengthen us, to meet us. 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:29.599 But often what we do is we have this ideal version of us, don't we? 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:33.839 That we pose to other people and we often bring it to God, and God's going, I already know. 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:45.200 I like this quote from Thomas Merton. 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:50.480 And Thomas Merton deeply impacted Henry Nowan uh in his writing. 00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:56.480 I want to leave you with this as we go to the tables, and I'll explain the tables in a second. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:58.240 I meant to do that up front. 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:04.559 We practice an open table for those who are followers of Jesus to just simply come forward. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:10.880 You take the bread, you dip it in the wine, spend a time of examination, of like, God, here's all of me. 00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:17.680 And I just want to sit in the reality that this declares your great love, my standing, my belovedness. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:20.559 If you need gluten-free option, it's in the back. 00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:31.279 Thomas Merton says this God is asking me, the unworthy, to forget my unworthiness and that of my brothers. 00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:33.519 Oh, could we do that today? 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:35.599 We're all unworthy. 00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:37.440 We come in here unworthy. 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:40.160 Could we forget our unworthiness? 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:48.319 And could we actually not begin to look and because we feel unworthy, we either want to, you know, we think other people are down here and other people are up here. 00:31:48.400 --> 00:32:00.160 And could we forget the unworthiness of my brother and sister and dare to advance in the love which has redeemed and renewed us all in God's likeness? 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:02.960 And then I love this next line. 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:11.599 And to laugh, after all, at the preposterous ideas of worthiness. 00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:16.559 Like we would ever be able to somehow earn our way to worthiness. 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:18.480 It's just simply grace. 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:25.839 It's simply our being, it's simply God's unmerited, undeserved favor and delight. 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:28.319 That's how we come to the table. 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:29.519 Beloved. 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:33.519 Jesus, thank you for this moment. 00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:39.680 We invite you to have your way. 00:32:41.359 --> 00:33:00.799 God, I ask for my friends that you would allow this moment to be one where maybe for the first time or maybe in a long time, there is just the cracking open of their heart to say, God, you have you can see it all. 00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:02.799 I'm gonna bring it all. 00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:09.119 In the safety of knowing that you lean in, you stoop well. 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:12.559 Your grace meets us. 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:16.079 Would you overwhelm us with your love now? 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:17.440 In Jesus' name. 00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:18.319 Amen. 00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:21.440 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:26.000 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:28.319 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:34.240 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.