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. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:21.199 Happy birthday, Awakening Church. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:23.120 Very, very good. 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:27.760 Now, for those who are wondering why in the world do we have a birthday? 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:28.559 I get it. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:35.119 It's a little different for a church, but uh the short answer is birthdays are way more fun than anniversaries. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:37.520 Uh but the real I think so. 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:38.640 I think they're funner. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:41.520 Um you shut up. 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:57.200 Uh the but I think deep down actually the real answer is because um we believe 11 years ago God birthed the movement, a new community called Awakening Church that exists to awaken this generation to new life. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:06.239 And we want to pause and stop and celebrate his faithfulness, his work of what he's done all these years. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:09.120 And so, yeah, happy birthday. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:13.920 Um today the sermon title is House of Mercy. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:17.519 Why don't you go ahead and just say that to your neighbor, House of Mercy? 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:22.959 And now that you're warmed up, go ahead and say it to your other neighbor, House of Mercy. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:38.799 As we celebrate year 11, as we're now a official tweener as church, I think it's important to ask the question: what kind of house do we want to be? 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:43.519 You know, we've yet to have a permanent home as a church, and we're so grateful. 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:46.719 We've been 11 years here at Del Mar High School. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:49.439 So yeah, it's a great partnership there. 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:53.920 Um but we gotta ask, what kind of house do we want to be? 00:01:54.079 --> 00:02:00.079 And a better question is, what kind of house does Jesus want us to be? 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:01.599 Uh, Dr. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:07.840 Martin Segelman, he's actually the father of like positive psychology. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:17.599 Uh what he was first uh well known for, came on the map for, was actually a study in the 1960s uh that he was doing with dogs. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:24.960 And it started with this uh group, group A, and group A was called the uh escape group. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:34.560 And this group of dogs, they would be put into this pen, the floor gave an electrical shock, not enough to seriously hurt the dog, but to bother the dog. 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:42.719 And um there was a button, and if they pushed the button with their nose, the electrical stop, uh, electrical shock would stop. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:51.280 And so, group A, the escape group, learned over the course of time if I press the button with my nose, the shock stops. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:03:03.280 Well, group B, group B was the you can't escape group, and you can figure out what that was for them, is nothing they did would stop the shock. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:05.919 And so it's kind of cruel, I know today. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:09.919 Uh so if they pushed the button with their nose, nothing stopped it. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:14.719 Then they took all the dogs together and they did another experiment. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:23.840 This time you had the floor, the surface that would shock the dogs, and then a low barrier that the dogs could easily hop over to escape the shock. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:35.120 Now, what happened and what they were expecting was that every dog eventually would learn to jump over that gate and, you know, stop, get away from the shock. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:40.960 But what happened surprised them is of course the escape group did this very quickly. 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:46.560 The you can't escape group didn't even try. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:56.719 They actually simply laid down because they thought there was no hope, and why even try? 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:03.520 Even though right in front of them was a little low gate that they could have jumped over and escaped at any moment. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:05.120 What Dr. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:09.439 Segelman noted was this condition that's actually famous today. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:13.360 He said they were in the condition of learned helplessness. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:19.040 Learned helplessness that I've tried and nothing works. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:20.399 Been there? 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:24.560 There's nothing I can do to change. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:26.800 Why try? 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:31.360 I'll never break free from and you fill in the blank. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:40.079 And at the end of learned helplessness is this idea that nothing I do matters. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:42.000 It has no impact. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:47.360 I just exist in this state, in this condition. 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:49.279 Let me ask you. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.480 Is there something in your life that you believe will never change? 00:04:55.839 --> 00:05:00.639 Is there something in your life where you've just given up? 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:05.360 You've lost hope, you refuse to try anymore? 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:09.120 Maybe it's that pervasive sense of loneliness. 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:17.519 We have a loneliness epidemic in our culture today, and you're like, I've tried, I've put my out my I've put myself out there. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:24.800 But I just constantly feel rejected and alone, and nothing I do changes it. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:29.759 Maybe you in Silicon Valley, it's the workaholism, it's the drive, it's the thing in you. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:36.560 And you want to be present, you want to be with your family, but but there's just something that just keeps you going and moving. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:45.279 And then yet at the same time, isn't there this sense of like you just always feel like you're failing and nothing you do changes it? 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:49.600 Or that sense of worthlessness or being unlovable. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:06:18.879 Maybe it's the addiction that's been running your life, and sure, you're really great at coping with it, and you put on a good face, and you know, nobody ever really sees it, but but the drinking or the pornography or the eating disorder or whatever it is, or maybe you're the one attached to the addicted person, and and you can't quite get out of that because your need to be needed is so strong, and nothing you do changes it, or perhaps you've been treated so poorly by someone. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:30.720 Repeat, and it's just become your identity, this is who you are, and you fall into those well-worn grooves of life and anxiety or depression. 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:38.399 Is there something in your life that you believe will never change? 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:46.240 And what does this have to do with the kind of house Jesus wants us to be? 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:59.120 Um, in the ancient day in for Israel, there were three feasts that every Jewish male that lived within a 15-mile radius of Jerusalem had to attend. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:04.240 Uh many people would make the great pilgrimage for these feasts, sometimes once in a lifetime. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:10.800 So you can imagine the great city of Jerusalem during these feasts are at surge capacity. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:11.759 They're maximum. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:16.639 It's just, it's it's a party, it's huge, it's big. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:21.279 Um and yet in big your family, like, hey, we're not gonna go there. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:23.519 The sheepgate was one of those places. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:31.120 The sheep gate was actually where they would lead often the uh sacrificial lamb into the city, through the gate to the temple. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:36.399 But but what was near the sheepgate is the reason why you wouldn't go in that area. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:40.879 There was this pool, and in fact, it was two pools, big pools. 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:49.600 They they were constructed under Herod the Great during his big construction, and uh, you know, like he wanted to show how amazing he was. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:53.519 These pools were a hundred yards long, twenty feet deep. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:57.600 They had these covered patios that protected from the midday sun. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:07:59.759 It sounds amazing. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:07.680 It sounds amazing, and they were called Bethesda, or the house of mercy, the house of outpouring. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:20.240 But there was, as there was in Jerusalem, as there were all over the ancient world, there were these cults of healing, these places where you bind in this moment. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:29.759 And thousands of cripples and blind and lame and sick all came to this place to hope to be healed. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:35.039 There was legend that had it that an angel would come and stir the waters. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:42.639 You know, later you look back on it and go, well, there's a mineral spring there, and it's probably the gurgling up of that in the subterranean surface. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:48.639 But if you were able to get into the water first, you would be healed. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:09:02.240 I can't begin to express how the sheer um depravity of humanity. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:18.159 How painful it would be to come and see this, the sick, the disabled flocking to the magical waters of Bethesda, the gravity of suffering and purity of staggering. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:22.639 This is an open up to John chapter 5, verse 1. 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:25.200 John chapter 5, verse 1. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:29.200 You see, learned helplessness is not a new phenomenon. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:31.759 In fact, it's as old as time. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:43.840 And in chapter 5, we get a picture of how Jesus meets us in our hopeless places of our lives and a vision for what kind of house we are called to be. 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:51.360 Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:10:05.200 Now, there in Jerusalem near the sheep gate, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, and which is surrounded by five colored uh covered colonnades, here a great number of disabled people used to lie the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:08.960 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:17.519 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked them, Do you want to get well? 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:24.720 Then Jesus said to him, Get up, pick up your mat and walk. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:30.240 And at once the man was cured, he picked up his mat and walked. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:38.320 Is there any hope for the things that I'm ha hopeless and helpless to change? 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:46.559 And how does the presence of Jesus change the areas of my life, your life, that we believe will never change? 00:10:47.519 --> 00:11:02.080 I just want to draw your attention to a few observations from the text, and I believe the foundation, the beginning part of experiencing hope and healing in the areas where we are most helpless begins right here. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:07.600 There is no magic healing pool. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:12.000 Now, we kind of think that's a mute point, right? 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:13.519 You're like, of course, Ryan. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:16.080 We understand the subterranean mineral springs. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:23.519 In fact, we go up to Calistoga to enjoy those now, regular and some medicinal purposes, and oh, isn't that nice and refreshed and all that? 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:26.000 But but is it gonna produce true healing? 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:26.960 No, of course not. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:30.320 We know that we're modern, we we get this. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:39.039 But here's the interesting part every single person on the planet has a magic healing pool. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:43.759 They're looking to bring wholeness and healing to their life. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:48.639 We all are, we're all longing for something. 00:11:49.519 --> 00:12:00.559 We maybe maybe it's the area of if I only I was married. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:16.399 If only I had a boyfriend or girlfriend, if I only had my person, because then if I had that, then the ache of my soul, this area, this thing that just isn't quite right, then it would be fixed. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:19.279 If only we could have kids. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:52.559 If only I was smarter, if only I was taller, if only I was prettier, if only I, if only I had that job, if only, and we have these healing pools that we visit, that we attend, that somehow offers something that ultimately we think will bring wholeness and life and satisfaction, and at the core of our beings, they operate often in the background, ever pursuing, never satisfying this longing, this hungering. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:13:01.519 And the first thing we have to understand if we're gonna step and experience the hope of Jesus is there is no magic healing pool. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:03.039 In fact, I like how Dr. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:04.240 Townsend said it. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:18.559 Um I was a part of a week-long um cohort thing with him, and he's talking about our strategies to deal with the brokenness inside, those areas where we're helpless, the stuff that we don't actually want to tell or show people. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:21.120 Oh, that I'm just gonna ignore it. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.679 Second strategy: work harder. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:26.399 I think that's the Silicon Valley mantra. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:31.279 I'm just gonna work harder, I'm gonna fix it, I can do this, I can do this on my own. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:33.840 I'm gonna be the best version of me. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:36.000 I gotta be true to myself. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:36.720 Oh, I wasn't. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:37.840 I gotta be true to myself. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:38.879 Oh, I'm not. 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:42.240 I don't even know what myself is now. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:46.240 Deny the real, work harder. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:49.679 Strategy number two, three, self-judgment. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:52.559 We just pour on self-judgment. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:53.279 Who are you? 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:54.320 What were you thinking? 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:55.759 You'll never amount. 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:01.120 Strategy number four, he says, is where you want to be. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:06.159 And it's so counterintuitive because it actually feels like the learned helplessness. 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:09.840 Strategy number four, he says, is despair. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:18.399 And he says, you want to be in despair because that is where God meets you. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:38.320 Ten years down the road, I need a new person because it's not working out right, and I need this job, as long as it's out there, you will never, never, ever get to experience Jesus and the healing and the wholeness that He offers. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:42.320 First, there's no magic healing pool. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:47.440 Second, only Jesus brings healing and wholeness. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:52.159 Only Jesus brings healing and wholeness. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:54.320 Not Jesus plus. 00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:58.960 Think about this story, by the way. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:05.840 This man, thirty-eight years, his sickness was his identity. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:13.440 And standing before him is one who can heal him in a moment's notice. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:14.720 And what is he doing? 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:18.639 What is he doing? 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:23.919 No one is here to help me. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:24.720 Where? 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:26.000 Get there. 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:32.480 And friends, I just got to tell you, I think so often, here's what we do with Jesus. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:37.840 We ask Jesus to help us get there when he's standing here to heal us. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:46.000 And we have in a picture in our mind, Jesus, help me over here, help me get over here. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:57.200 And we want to add Jesus as our personal genie, as our self-realization guru to help us live out our best life, and it's just Jesus. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:01.600 The problem is we've made Jesus a means to the end. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:04.080 He is the end. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:06.159 It's only him. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:15.120 And until you get that, you'll miss out on the freedom and the healing and the wholeness because you're looking at him saying, help me get there. 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:17.600 And he says, But I'm right here. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:20.320 I'm right that we're stuck in. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:22.960 First, we have to go, you know what? 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:24.159 Identify. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:25.679 What are your healing pools? 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:30.879 What are the areas that you you go, you know, I just gravitate towards and I just keep going there. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:39.039 And get to the point, I love how AA says it, where you let go and you let God. 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:47.200 Where you finally let go of that and realize in and of myself, I can't, but he can. 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:59.759 I am helpless in and of myself, but I have one who is greater than me, beyond myself, who can lift me up, and I will rely, I will lean, and I will call upon him. 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:03.360 For only he is the source of life. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:10.000 Friends, that is not just for someone who is new to the faith, that is for all of us. 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:14.880 That we return back to it time and time again. 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:22.240 And then what does this have to do with the type of church, the type of house we were to be? 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:29.200 See, I believe Jesus sets for us an example to follow. 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:32.480 Who he is, how he was. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:37.920 He called his disciples and said, follow me, which means follow him. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:42.640 I don't know why we complicate it. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:43.920 I don't really know. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:45.920 What does Jesus want me to do? 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.880 Um He said, follow him. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:52.960 It's pretty clear. 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:55.359 Where? 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:00.240 Well, whatever Jesus was doing, you go and do that. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:05.119 That's what a group of followers do. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.920 Whatever the person in front is doing. 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:12.640 He sets the examples. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:15.759 I love that picture, Bethesda. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:19.200 Literally, like I said earlier, means house of mercy, house of outpouring. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:32.079 And this man was hoping this pool would be the house of mercy, and yet the man of mercy, full of grace and truth, stood before him, and then we're called to be his hands and feet to a hurting and broken world. 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:34.559 So, what examples did Jesus give us first? 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:38.880 I want you to notice that Jesus went where others avoided. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:42.079 Jesus went where others avoided. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:46.160 Bethesda was not a family day at the pool. 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:49.759 You kept your family from there. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:53.839 Let me ask you this. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:57.839 Who do you tend to avoid? 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:01.680 Who do you tend to avoid? 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:03.839 You know, it was odd in Silicon Valley. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:05.359 You know who we tend to avoid? 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:07.039 Our neighbors. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:13.359 And then, like, if we're gonna say we're gonna follow Jesus, what do you say? 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:22.160 Love your I don't think it was like this, like, big, you know, metaphysical like question, like neighbor. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:26.799 You mean neighbor? 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:31.119 But isn't it weird how we just avoid people? 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:42.720 Uh we moved recently and it's across the street from the park, and I've realized this is in myself. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:45.680 It's this idea of willful blindness. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:50.079 It's the decision to feign ignorance when you actually know or have knowledge. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:59.119 I can't have willful blindness anymore because across the street from the park there are those who sleep outside who are unhoused. 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:11.039 I knew that, but I avoid it and live in my safe, comfortable existence, and I'm okay with it somehow. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:23.680 And then I see a lady sleeping on the sidewalk and a man on a bench, and I'm still figuring out how to respond to that and how to love. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:27.359 But it makes us feel uncomfortable. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:30.000 We don't want to go there. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:36.799 And friends, we can all come up with plenty of excuses, why not? 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:45.920 Jesus, by the way, if we're going to be a house of mercy, we must go where others avoid. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:49.440 We cannot turn a deep a blind eye. 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:54.000 And by the way, I think one of the things we avoid is we avoid good conversation. 00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:58.240 We avoid deep conversation, really getting to know someone. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:00.240 We can stay on the surface with people. 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:03.519 I can talk cowboys all day long. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:05.359 I know you can't, but I can. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:11.440 And we avoid those deep waters of like, how are you? 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:14.480 And that's what Jesus does next. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:18.960 Not only does he go where others avoid, he asks where rather than assume. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:26.799 I encourage you, read through the gospels and just underline every time Jesus asks a question. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:28.799 It's a lot. 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:32.240 He's constantly asking questions. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:33.599 And I love this. 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:35.599 This is so incredible. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:43.519 This man, 38 years, he's probably been spat on, he's been overlooked, he's been walked by, most likely, stepped over. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:47.039 Nobody would give him time the time of day. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:52.000 And if you notice in the text, it says that Jesus learned of his condition. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:59.680 Like he took time to really understand who this man was, that he had uh been an invalid for 38 years, and then he looked. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:05.200 Looks at him and asks, Do you want to get well? 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:09.039 He didn't ask, Do you believe in me? 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:11.279 Listen, you're at Bethesda. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:14.880 This is actually kind of a friend. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:17.680 Theologically, you're wrong. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:21.200 Just want to let you know, theologically you're wrong. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:29.440 And in fact, he would know, and we'd come to find out later, that his sickness and his ailment is because of sin and wrongdoing he did. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:31.920 So he kind of deserved it too. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:39.599 Jesus just sees the man in pain, his heartache, and he just asks him the question. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:45.599 Oh church, that we would be a people who look at one another, see the other person. 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:46.960 Isn't that what we're longing for? 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:48.640 We're all looking and longing. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:50.000 Do you see me? 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:52.079 Do you care that I'm here? 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:53.839 Am I enough in this moment? 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:54.960 Do I need to be better? 00:22:55.119 --> 00:23:00.960 We're all wrestling with those questions, and that we would be those who lean in and ask. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:05.680 I like how Simone Weil says it. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:09.759 Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:15.200 That was well, well, well, well, well before the iPhone when she wrote that. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:30.079 David Augsburger in his book writes this being heard is so close to being love that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:40.480 We so are quick in the church to have the answers, but are we just asking and hearing and listening? 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:43.680 It is so powerful. 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:46.240 It is so powerful. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:50.880 Jesus went where others avoided. 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:54.400 Jesus asked rather than assumed. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:58.960 And finally, Jesus led with compassion, then followed with clarity. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:04.480 We talk about this a bit here at Awakening. 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:16.240 And we'll start a series next week called Controversial Jesus and look at his teachings over these big subjects like uh politics and sexuality and anger and all the rest. 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:19.039 And I hope it's going to be a great series. 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:27.599 But one of the most fascinating things about Jesus, uh in John chapter 1 tells us that he is the fullness of grace and truth. 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:41.279 And when he was around those who were, quote unquote, the ungodly, the wrong people, what you'll find consistently is he always leads with compassion and then follows with clarity. 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:50.640 He reverses that with the people who shouldn't have the right answers, with religious leaders, he actually leads with clarity and then follows with compassion, like Nicodemus. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:58.079 But with those who are far from him, he's not giving them a doctrinal dissertation on why he's the son of God. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:00.559 He's leading with compassion in this moment. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:02.960 You are seen and you are loved. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:05.279 He said, Do you want to get well? 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:06.640 Yes. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:09.119 And then he followed with clarity. 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:18.000 He found the guy later and said, Listen, man, change your life, change, stop what you're doing, or you might fall back into this very same thing. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:23.839 The church so often, too often, leads with clarity and never gets to compassion. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:28.160 In fact, I think there's two equal and opposite dangers in the church. 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:29.920 They're both represented in this text. 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:31.680 The first is syncretism. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:36.559 Syncretism is changing the gospel, the message of the gospel to fit the culture. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:43.680 And we're seeing that all around and by culture, and how do we just adjust the message to whatever we're seeing? 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:55.680 And the reality is, is it's the unchanging message of the gospel that has the power of life change for every single person in an ever-changing world. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:25:59.039 It's the unchanging message of the gospel and syncretism. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:03.680 You saw this with the paganism and Judaism of the healing pool. 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:12.640 But then on the other side, and I wish we had time to unpack this, and when you have high syncretism, then you'll see more of this. 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:24.160 It's Phariseeism, legalism, wanting a quote, pure church, and so cast judgment, looking down on those who don't measure up. 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:26.240 Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath. 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:28.079 We don't have time to get into this. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:32.960 He picks up his mat, which you weren't, you know, allowed to do is considered work. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:36.480 He hasn't walked for 38 years, people. 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:38.720 Say it out loud. 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:39.680 38. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:41.359 I want to do this. 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:43.440 Like, how many of you are under 38 in this room? 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:44.400 I won't do it. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:47.119 But 38 years, he hasn't walked. 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:48.240 He's walking. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:49.359 He's so strong. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:51.039 He can carry his own mat. 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:55.519 And all the Pharisee can see is not a man healed. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:26:59.680 They just begin to condemn him. 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:01.279 How could you do that? 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:06.240 See the house of mercy. 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:11.440 The house of mercy goes where others avoid. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:14.880 The house of mercy asks rather than assume. 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:21.119 And it leads, we're going to lead with compassion and follow with clarity. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:26.319 I guess said another way, followers of Jesus. 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:29.839 A new command. 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:36.960 By the way, I don't know if we know this or not, but um commands are not optional. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:42.880 Especially if you call Jesus Lord. 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:47.759 A new command I give you, love one another. 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:52.160 See, love goes where others avoid. 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:57.839 Love stoops low and asks the question and sees you and meets you in your need. 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:02.559 Love has compassion. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:15.920 And it's not just compassion for compassion's sake, but then as clarity is grace and truth, both beautifully combined so that you experience the fullness of the life God intended for you and the healing you desperately need. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:18.480 Love one another. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:20.480 Is that clear? 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:22.160 Is that simple? 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:24.079 And is that difficult? 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:29.279 By this, by the way, everyone will know you're my disciples. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:35.839 Not how you post on social media, people will know you're my disciples. 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:40.160 Not by how you vote politically. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:41.599 We'll talk about that next week. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:42.799 That'll be fun. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:51.920 Not even, and I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna jab a little bit. 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:56.720 Not even by your doctrinal correctness, which is very important. 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:13.279 The hallmark, the distinguishing mark of a disciple of Jesus Christ is loving the way he loved you. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:17.039 That's it. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:22.400 And that, by the way, is a mature Christian. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:27.839 And that is our calling. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:31.920 And that's what it means to be a house of mercy. 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:36.400 So what kind of house are we going to be? 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:40.000 What kind of house does Jesus want us to be? 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:43.440 A house of mercy. 00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:49.680 And by the way, I really think that the church in America, I don't think just people dive in to learn helplessness. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:53.680 I think the church in America has learned helplessness. 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:57.680 Oh, culture's so bad, it's so hard. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:00.480 We've tried, we don't know what to do. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:03.359 He showed us. 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:05.839 He told us. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:18.079 And by the way, the early followers of Jesus lived in a hostile, hostile, both Judaism and Rome were against them. 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:26.319 And it was by the way they loved that transformed the entire world as we know it. 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:31.680 So what do I do with this? 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:33.039 Who am I? 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:36.240 I'm just I'm just a single person, Ryan. 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:38.880 I get the house, I get the whole big thing. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:41.359 Agnes. 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:46.160 Ganja Bohojiu. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:49.359 Try saying that five times fast. 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:55.359 Was born August 26, 1910, in what's known as Macedonia. 00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:57.759 Her father died when she was eight. 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:03.920 At 12 years of age, she just felt this call from God to serve. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:11.759 Her mother, incredibly godly, compassionate, would invite all sorts of people to their house and serve them. 00:31:13.039 --> 00:31:22.640 At 18, she left her house to go serve with the sisters of Loretta, teaching high school at St. 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:25.519 Mary's High School in Calcutta, India. 00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:33.920 As she was there, think about this 18-year-old little girl. 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:37.039 I have an 18-year-old, almost 19-year-old. 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:39.759 She's not a little girl, but I'm sorry. 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:41.920 Dad's hard talking there. 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:44.559 Showing up into India. 00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:53.599 As she's teaching, she's becoming increasingly more concerned with what's happening outside the convent than what's happening in. 00:31:53.839 --> 00:32:03.119 She's on a train ride and feels this call from God to begin to serve into the slums, into the poorest of poor in India, in Calcutta. 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:06.079 She asked for permission to go serve. 00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:08.799 And they said, sure, go for it. 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:24.160 And so on her own, all by herself with no funding and no people, she went to go serve those in the poorest of poor, all with the goal, I love this, no goal more than this, to serve the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for. 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:38.480 She got about six months of medical training and started an open-air school for the kids in Calcutta, wanting them to come to know the love of Jesus and meeting their basic needs. 00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:46.400 Shortly after, more volunteers began to join her, and then funding came her way. 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:50.079 She chartered what's known as the missionaries of charity. 00:32:50.319 --> 00:32:56.720 This order of sisters today is about 5,000 in 130 countries. 00:32:56.799 --> 00:33:00.799 And of course, you know her today, and I know her today as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:05.759 Think about this. 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:08.799 She stands a mere five feet, or stood. 00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:10.319 She's no longer with us. 00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:13.119 She stood five feet tall. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:22.240 And yet she stands with the giants of the 20th century who did incredible humanitarian work. 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:23.680 She stands with Dr. 00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:28.640 Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and Mahatma Gandhi. 00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:38.799 This one little girl that was born way far away from where God had her, God put on her heart just to serve. 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:45.119 And at 18 years of age, Jesus had her yes. 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:49.680 And she said yes. 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:53.200 One person. 00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:02.400 See, it's so easy to go, that's somebody else. 00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:08.559 But you are called to do something terribly important. 00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:12.800 God has placed you here for this time. 00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:15.199 God has gifted you. 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:20.960 You are called at your university. 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:31.760 Those unwanted, unloved can experience the goodness of God, the healing of Jesus. 00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:38.000 What I want to invite you to do is on your way out, grab one of these. 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:40.159 This is our 40 days of prayer. 00:34:40.400 --> 00:34:44.079 That God, would you just begin to align my heart with your heart? 00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:46.880 I'm going to begin to lean in and pray into this. 00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:49.039 And God, would you begin to use me? 00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:50.639 You have my yes. 00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:53.280 You have my yes. 00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:59.199 You can grab one at the connection table or to the left over there. 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:10.000 And for 40 days, we're going to just be praying together and looking for opportunities where God opens up doors for us simply to be Jesus to those around us. 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:13.920 And as we close, would you just stand with me? 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:16.559 And I just want you to, I want to pray. 00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:24.159 One of Mother Teresa, dear Jesus, help me to spread thy fragrance everywhere I go. 00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:28.239 Flood my soul with thy spirit and love. 00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:38.079 Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may be only a radiance of thine. 00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:48.400 Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come into contact with may feel thy presence in my soul. 00:35:48.639 --> 00:35:53.199 And Lord, make our house a house of mercy. 00:35:53.440 --> 00:36:13.679 In Jesus' name, and all God's people said.com slash card.