WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 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. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:33.920 There's this moment that I've been thinking a lot about recently, and uh between my mom and I, and it's this story that I've probably told a handful of times in the last few months, and really I think it kind of just lives rent-free in my mind now. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:42.640 Um When I was a kid, I was probably like five years old, and I was like watching Power Rangers, and I got up and I got really excited, and I went to my mom. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:51.039 I went up to my mom and she knew I had something to say, and I looked up at all four foot ten of her, and yeah, she's not that tall. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:53.280 Um neither was I. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:01:02.079 Um I looked up at her and I was like, mom, can we can you have another kid so I can have another brother? 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:16.480 And I was so serious, and she took me really seriously because she looked back at me and deadpan, like real, like without breaking stride or a smile or anything, she looked at me and she's like, the factory is closed. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:29.359 Without any hint of like worry about like disappointing me or anything, she said that, she like walked back to the kitchen, laughed to herself, and felt like she had a mic drop moment. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:34.400 And then there's just like five-year-old me, like really con like bummed, but also confused. 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:40.000 I was like, wait, I thought there were storks, now there's a factory, like which which one is it? 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:54.000 And what I realized about that moment and that story in my life was that that kid was what he was wanting to do, that five-year-old me, he wanted to share his family with other people. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:02:06.959 Like, I was really enjoying my parents, I loved my parents, I love being big brother, and I was like, man, I really want other people to experience this little community that I have with my family. 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:09.759 That's what five-year-old me was wanting. 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:23.520 And I want to recognize for a second, when we hear the word family, especially in a room with this many people, um, that it has a whole host of different feelings and connotations that comes with it. 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:34.800 And even simply living on this side of the world in 2024, we all have different like images and pictures in our mind with what family should look like or what family should be. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:37.280 Loaded with plenty of imagery. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:44.000 And maybe for you, that the family you were born into was full of heartbreak and dysfunction. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:50.879 Or maybe for you, family is something that can't be trusted, or that you want nothing to do with. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:57.840 Or maybe you were like five-year-old me, where family was something that you cherished and loved and wanted to share. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:07.439 Wherever you're at with that picture of family in your mind, regardless of it all, inherent to all of us is this need for connection. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:11.439 Like that's what five-year-old me wanted was connection. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:18.159 There's this longing in our hearts to be truly known and to be truly loved. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:28.719 And we know this is true from the beginning of Scripture's story, from the beginning of the human narrative, because it's what God does, right? 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:30.240 He sees all that is good. 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:37.599 Genesis 1 and 2, he's creating all these things, he's forming a place for people to thrive and to enjoy. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:51.280 And yet there's one thing at the very beginning of our story that God says is he sees the lone human, he sees that, and he says this it's not good for a human to be alone. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:55.039 And intuitively, we kind of know this, right? 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:59.039 If you're around a crying baby, um, what happens when you pick them up? 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:00.319 They stop crying, right? 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:01.520 When they're held. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:08.319 Uh, over a shelter in place or in COVID, um, we did this weird thing where we downloaded this app called Zoom. 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:11.840 That way we could stay connected with the people we were really missing. 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:19.279 And when people are close to death, what what people want is for their loved ones to be near, right? 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:22.560 Nobody wants to die alone, is what we say often. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:30.079 And that's because God created the human condition to be bent towards relationship and connection. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:38.800 And within all of us is this deep, deep desire to be close to God and to others, whether we know it or not. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:44.240 Have you ever thought about how you've tried to fulfill that longing, right? 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:47.040 To be connected, to be known, and to be loved? 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:53.600 Let's for a second just consider all the some of the things that we spend all of our time and resources towards. 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:55.120 Uh, social media, right? 00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:55.920 The classic one. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:03.279 We'd often turn to these platforms to connect with others, to share our stories and experience and thoughts, to seek validation and support. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:06.399 Like we said, technology keeps getting better and better. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:22.000 Our phones and our Apple Vision Pro things or whatever it is, uh, all giving us the ability to stay connected with anyone at any moment, in any place in the world, to never be alone. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:34.240 Um, pets, many of us find companionship and a sense of connection through our dogs or our cats, and we have this sense of just love and support. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:46.319 We engage in hobbies and interests, sports, art, or music, because it can help provide a sense of belonging and shared interest, something to enjoy with others. 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:56.720 Work or school, uh, we we go to our offices and and um and we do these school projects to all work towards something together, to be connected. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:59.920 And lastly, there's books and movies and TV shows, right? 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:13.439 These fictional stories that can provide a sense of connection by allowing us to empathize with characters or experiences, or just to like be brought into that and to and to have those experiences in these mediums. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.120 And again, none of these necessarily bad, right? 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:18.720 Some of these are actually really good. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:21.759 God forbid I like say having a dog is bad. 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:24.240 I know how much some of you love your dogs. 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:37.600 But at the core of these things, whether we are conscious to it or not, there is this desire to sidestep sidestep the suffering that comes from loneliness. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.600 We go to these things wanting to fill that longing that we have. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:48.319 And the questions that are underneath the surface that we're actually asking is do I matter? 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:50.240 Can I be loved? 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:51.839 Do people care? 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:56.079 And that same desire for connection with others is one that we have with God. 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:59.360 And in turn, we start to ask those same questions of Him. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:00.959 Does God care? 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:02.480 Do I matter? 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:04.399 Does God love me? 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:15.279 And this morning, as we look to our Savior's sermon from the cross today, we'll see that Jesus, he answers those questions with the resounding yes. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:16.879 You do matter. 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:18.639 He does care. 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:20.319 You are loved. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:25.600 But more than that, he actually meets our needs by inviting us into a new reality. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:28.720 Like he doesn't just care, he also provides. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:34.000 He invites us into a new reality full of hope and healing. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:46.560 So, church, if you're following along in your Bibles or in the notes, let's turn back to John chapter 19 and explore how Jesus answers that for us today on his sermon on the cross. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:55.600 The beginning of our passage, if you remember, uh, it starts with these Roman soldiers, and they're basically seeing Jesus as good as dead. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:56.160 Right? 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:03.839 So what they do is they take his stuff and they start to divvy it amongst themselves, and like they're trying to make a profit. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:09.040 And if you think about it, like they're already at their job and they're like, oh, you know what, let's make more money out of this. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:11.120 And that's what they're doing. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:21.360 Meanwhile, while that scene's playing over here, meanwhile, there are just a handful of people that our passage tells us about that are at the foot of Jesus' cross. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:31.360 And if you're following along in the notes, the first thing that we learn from his sermon, that from this passage from today, is simply to draw near to Jesus. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:32.240 Right? 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:35.519 It says, but standing by the cross of Jesus. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:40.399 Let's consider a couple of the people that are moving towards God in this moment. 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:43.600 Uh, one, we hear about this woman named Mary. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:55.600 And uh she's a good story because earlier in the gospel narrative, um, Mary is one that Jesus actually had to rebuke, it says, or scripture says Jesus rebuked her. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:58.320 Um, because Mary has these two sons. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:12.559 She's hearing about this rabbi preaching and teaching about this new kingdom, and she's like, I have an idea, and goes to Jesus, like, Jesus, my two sons, would would you give them a more prominent and important role in your kingdom? 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:16.559 And like, would they, you know, like, can you do a girl a favor? 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:24.320 And um he doesn't, and he like sees that and he's like, Oh, she doesn't understand, she doesn't get it. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:27.360 So what he does is he has to correct her. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:29.600 And I don't know how you would feel. 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:38.960 I imagine myself in that moment, if I like really uh misunderstood what Jesus was doing and he had to tell me that, I'd probably feel embarrassed or ashamed and all those things. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:47.600 Yet what I love is that her presence at the foot of this cross after that moment says something about the kind of correction and Jesus offers us. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:50.159 That it shouldn't lead us into shame or hiding. 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:53.919 It actually should move us towards the cross, towards God. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:10:04.159 That it's not highlighted by saying that there's something irredeemably wrong about you, but actually his correction and his accountability, whatever it is, is highlighted by love. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:06.000 So she's there. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:08.240 Then there's John, too, right? 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.960 Uh the quote-unquote beloved disciple. 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:14.720 He's a dear friend and companion of Jesus. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:18.320 If you read Jesus' story, you know that he's like one of the inner circle. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:21.679 He's one of his like really close best friends. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:27.600 And this story that we're reading, John's gospel, he's the one that's attributed to all that we're reading together. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:32.879 And if you read down to verse 35, and I love that he does that, and he gets to call himself the beloved disciple. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:34.000 Side note. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:43.360 But the reason for him writing this, if you skip down to verse 35, if you have your Bibles with you, he tells us why he's writing all this to begin with. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:53.600 It says that he's writing all this that you and I, that people might believe in Jesus the way that he did, as Lord and Savior and giver of life. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:00.480 So John, he's drawing close to the agony and the punishment of his friend. 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:08.480 But lastly, let's think about Jesus' mother Mary, who's also at the foot of his cross. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:15.440 The only other time that Mary's mentioned in John's Gospel is actually a rather significant one. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:17.600 And it's probably a story you're familiar with. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:23.919 The first and only other time Mary's mentioned in John's Gospel was actually at the very beginning. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:28.080 At the very beginning of Jesus' account of Jesus' life, he mentions Mary. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:30.320 And it's at a wedding where they run out of wine. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:32.000 Starting to sound familiar. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:40.559 When Mary notices that, right, they're at this wedding, this big celebration, wine runs out, she goes to Jesus and says, Can you provide? 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.000 Can you do something? 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:49.519 And what Jesus ends up happening, what ends up happening is Jesus performs his first miracle by turning water into wine. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:56.399 And our faith tradition often tries to minimize Mary's story and the biblical narrative, and I get that. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:59.600 But there's something to admire here, right? 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:01.679 There's something that John's telling us. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:06.639 From the very beginning, Mary knew that Jesus could do something. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:12.720 She had certainty that Jesus was her son, yes, but also that he was more than that. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:18.799 And right from the outset, John is telling us that she had the faith of a disciple. 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:24.559 To say that Jesus in you is the power to change any circumstance, any situation. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:26.720 You can turn water into wine. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:33.519 Like from the very beginning of the story, Mary is portrayed as this person who is a disciple of Jesus. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:42.960 And now at the end of it, Mary is here at the first miracle, and now right before his last one, before the resurrection. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:48.960 But now she's approaching the cross in probably the most natural inclinations. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:50.159 Right? 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:56.080 She's not coming just as a disciple with the faith of a disciple, but she's coming as Jesus' mother. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:00.960 Who knows what uh what was going on with her? 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:02.799 But she was about to lose her son. 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:04.559 That was very clear. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:13.440 And I can only imagine the hurts and the agony she was experiencing as she watched her son Jesus be mocked and tortured. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:21.120 And more than that, on like a very practical level, um at this point, Mary's believed to be a widow. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:23.840 Her husband is no longer with them. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:27.840 And her husband is gone, and now she's losing her eldest son. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:36.159 If you know, remember, this is the first century ancient Near East, different, very different cultural context and time. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:48.799 But with no husband and her eldest son about to be killed, um, the way she was about to provide for herself was about to be very, very difficult if it wasn't already. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:52.320 But her life was about to change for the worse. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:14:03.600 And yet, with all that crushing anxiety and weight that was uh was befalling her and would come for the next few days and weeks and years of her life, she still came. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:08.799 She still approached, simply to be near and to love Jesus. 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:14.799 And it's sometimes lost on us, right, 2,000 years later, living on this side of history. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:20.799 But remember that the cross was it was actually a Roman form of torture, right? 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:21.919 Of execution. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:26.080 It was it was meant and designed for the most lowly of criminals. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:41.679 Uh it was, it's I know it's hard because it's kind of like a fashion statement now, but like if like if people in Jesus' time saw like all the crosses that we were wearing are on our shirts, like it'd kind of be like if some people were walking around here wearing jewelry of like guillotines. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.320 Like that's that's what this was. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:51.519 It was this torture device, this tool of the Roman government to shame and to mock and to kill. 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:56.799 So Jesus, he was a criminal in the eyes of Roman law. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:02.080 He was being mocked as a political prisoner, shamed for being king of the Jews. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:08.720 And his his death was being played out right before this small group of people. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:20.639 But by these few people coming near to Jesus while the torture is happening, while he's hanging on a cross, they were risking similar mockery and suffering. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:22.960 Because essentially, what were they doing? 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:26.639 They were identifying with a convicted criminal. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:32.639 And yet, these few people they knew that, they understood it, it wasn't lost on them. 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:37.360 And something in them says that I still have to draw near to God right now. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:39.360 I'm gonna move towards that. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:46.559 And all these people that are coming to Jesus in this moment were enduring some kind of suffering or hardship. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:46.960 Right? 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:48.480 We just kind of went over it a little. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:54.639 One person losing their closest friend and companion, another losing her son. 00:15:55.679 --> 00:16:06.320 Some probably came and left watching their rabbi who preached a new kingdom, and that their suffering, what where their suffering was coming from, was now from a loss of hope. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:11.840 That the one person that they thought was going to bring liberation and freedom was now bound to a cross. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:14.879 Moments from death, their hope was lost. 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:16.960 Their suffering came from that. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:26.080 And I don't know what you're coming into uh church with this morning, but I'm willing to bet up to this point as you hear about does God care? 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:33.519 These people having suffering and hurts and bringing it to the cross, that there's something that you can point to that just feels lacking. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:39.679 Something or feeling that you've asked, does God really care about that? 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:48.000 Maybe it's a loss of a friendship, maybe it's some financial burden, maybe it really is heartbreaking family dynamics or something else. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:58.159 Regardless of whatever it is, I know that our tendencies are to believe that Jesus either doesn't care, or even if he did, what could he do to change my circumstances? 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:00.240 What could he do to bring any relief? 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:07.759 Well, John, Mary, and his mother, they probably had a similar feeling, right? 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:09.839 And yet they still came. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:13.359 They drew near to God because where else could they go? 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:20.160 They were unsure if there was any real possibility of replacing what they were about to lose. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:23.279 Companionship, family, hope. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:25.359 And yet they still came. 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:28.079 They still approached that cross. 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:30.960 And it shouldn't be lost on us again. 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:45.839 This is what I kind of what I love about the story, is that at the beginning of our passage, right, on one on one part of the scene, there's these soldiers who what they're doing, right, is they're trying to find their hope in making more money. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.480 Or like, this is you know what's gonna make my life better? 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:52.640 Is to sell this dead man's clothes that I might have more. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.759 And what they are, right, is are merchants of death. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:57.359 Like that's what they're handing out. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:03.119 There's Roman soldiers, not Jesus, not the first person that they put on a cross, and they're merchants of death. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:04.720 That's happening over here. 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:14.880 Juxtappos with that, what's happening right near the cross, these people that are approaching Jesus, is Jesus, right? 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:17.119 Right next to the people who are merchants of death. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:19.759 What he's ready to do is hand out life. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:23.440 And this is Jesus' response to them, right? 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:48.000 With with their eyes fixed up towards Jesus, he looks back at them with compassion, and he turns their gaze from him to actually one another, and he says this woman, behold your son, talking to his mother Mary, motioning to John, and then he looks to John, and he motions to Mary and says, Behold, your mother. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:51.039 What does Jesus do here? 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:52.480 What is Jesus doing? 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:55.759 He sees their suffering and their caring or and their their suffering. 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:58.160 He does this beautiful exchange. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:06.720 He sees their needs, their burdens, their hurts, and he exchanges that and provides them with a new family. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:10.000 He's saying, Mary, here's your son. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:12.400 John, here's your mother. 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:19.599 The second thing, again, if you're following along in the notes, is that we are invited to receive from Jesus. 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:21.759 Draw near, but don't just draw near. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:24.400 There's actually something that Jesus wants to give you. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:27.039 And this is pretty incredible, right? 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:28.799 Because consider the story. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:38.000 Jesus' nails are, or hands are nailed to a cross, and yet with his hands bound, he is still able to give and to offer. 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:46.960 This is how William Barclay, a commentator, um, a Bible commentator, this is how he talks about this moment right here. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:20:00.960 He says, There is something infinitely moving in the fact that Jesus, in the agony of the cross, when the salvation of the world hung in the balance, thought of the loneliness of his mother in the days ahead. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:03.920 He never forgot the duties that lay to his hand. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.160 He was Mary's eldest son. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:13.200 And even in the moment of his cosmic battle, he did not forget the simple things that lay near home. 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:21.359 To the end of the day, even on the cross, Jesus was thinking more of the sorrows of others than of his own. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:26.880 Does that not tell you about the beauty of our Savior? 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:33.359 Does that not tell you about the character of a God who become man as displayed for the world to see? 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:45.200 That actually our sins would put him to on a cross to suffer, and yet his concern was your suffering and my suffering, the suffering of others. 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:50.079 And more than that, is that he provides for that suffering, how? 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.359 With a new way of relating to one another. 00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:00.240 He gives them the church, he gives them new family, he gives brothers and sisters. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:08.240 And nothing could stop him from from providing that for you and for me, not even hands nailed to a cross. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:10.160 And remember, right, they're standing near. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:12.000 We've said that like a million times now. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.160 They're standing close to the cross. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:20.079 When he says these words, they're a little different from the other statements that we're going to explore together in this series. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:27.279 Uh, you'll hear things like, It is finished, or last year, father forgive them, or last week, father forgive them. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:31.599 And there's these exclamations, but this is a little bit different. 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:32.160 Right? 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:37.759 These are people coming close, having to having to lean in to listen. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:46.160 And rather than this big exclamation, it's rather a picture of Jesus seeing these really hurting people right in front of him. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:49.279 Sees com sees them with compassion. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:57.920 And rather than this loud yell, more like a tender whisper, he gives them hope in being part of the family of God. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:21:59.519 He provides with this. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.880 Low voice that you have to like draw near to hear. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:07.519 He says, Behold your mother, behold, your son. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:12.319 And John's gospel, it's littered with the imagery of family, right? 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:23.759 He says this in the very beginning of his writing when he says, But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become what? 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:31.759 Children, to become family of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:40.240 Jesus, too, like he this whole time, if you follow his story, he's redefining family every step of the way. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:44.000 When he's a kid, they approach him in the temple, and they're like, Where are your parents? 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:46.480 And he's like, My father is in heaven. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:51.759 When he's out teaching in Galilee, they're like, You're saying all these things, but where's your family? 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:54.319 Where's your mom and your brothers? 00:22:54.559 --> 00:23:03.680 And in Matthew's gospel, he records Jesus saying this, for whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:14.880 In other words, what Jesus is doing is saying there's something of far greater significance to how we should consider our families more than just our biology. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:18.400 Who is it that's part of the family of God? 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:25.279 Jesus says, doing God's will far and above, uh far and above who you're blood related to. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:27.599 Who's part of God's family? 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:31.680 All those who come to Jesus and seek to follow and obey Him. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:38.000 But the question is, right, there's no striving, there's no need to make yourself any better. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:40.880 He says to come and belong, be part of the family. 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:48.079 But the question is, how is God caring for you and for me by putting us as part of this new family, this spiritual family? 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:52.240 Like, what does that really even do for my suffering and my hurts? 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.519 And on the simplest level, we kind of talked about it, right? 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:59.599 There's that relational part that we're all deeply longing for. 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:04.480 Within the church, within the family of God, we come and we belong. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:09.359 That we don't have to strive to earn love and acceptance. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:11.279 Jesus gives us that. 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:16.960 One of Paul's favorite metaphors for talking about Jesus' followers, you know what it is. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:26.799 If you read his letters, time and time again, he says that we are to relate to one another, those who are going to follow Jesus as brothers and sisters. 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:35.279 There's this familial thing that Paul also really cares about, that hears Jesus' words, no, that's a very important thing. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:42.400 That within the church, we're to have this sibling connection, one of deep commitment and loyalty to one another. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:46.720 And not because any one person has earned it more than the other. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:55.039 But also God cares for us through being part of his family because he also calls the church his hands and feet. 00:24:55.839 --> 00:24:56.480 Right? 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:25.519 When we come to the church, we're to find shoulders to cry on, lending hands to help pull us out of these ruts, feet that will carry the presence of God's hope in our lives, finding hospitality in one another's homes, ears that would listen to our stories, like very practically and physically, part of how God wants to care for you and for me is by giving us one another. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:32.799 And in some ways, it's actually really hard to quantify like how being part of God's new family really shows care. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:39.599 In some ways, what I how I like to say is you kind of just need to experience it or see it happen right in front of you. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:58.240 I just finished serving as our youth pastor for the past few years, and one of my favorite things is the number of stories that we would get about parents bringing students who were having a hard time connecting at school, who were just not doing well in social situations or with their grades. 00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:22.559 And they would come to this little youth ministry where there's a bunch of students who just empowered by the Holy Spirit to show love and hospitality and care, and that there would be these adult volunteers who would do two things, who would who would love God and love students, and these students who are having such hard times would come and experience the family of God, maybe for the first time, love and acceptance, maybe for the first time. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:26.720 And their lives would be changed, and they'd want to stick around. 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:33.519 And all of a sudden, these things at school or with their families or their friends, for a lot of them, things started to change and get better. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:35.839 Like I love those stories. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:50.640 Now I'm not saying like all of you have to go serve in our youth ministry, um, unless you are an adult woman who has passed a background check and loves junior high girls, then we'd love to hear from you. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:27:13.039 But I just wonder sometimes for us, what if we were more like our youth ministry, where we desired to be with one another, where we were committed to one another, where we lived in the power of the Spirit to love and accept others just as they are, as God continues to transform and renew them. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:25.200 Another story I think of is when I was in college, it's probably in my early 20s, went on this like summer mission trip where I got to be around other students who wanted to just follow Jesus with their whole lives. 00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:33.680 And uh I made a friend, and we were just talking one day, and he had this deep conviction to follow Jesus with his whole life. 00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:47.119 And he also had this same sex attraction, and his deep conviction was that, man, to follow Jesus, like I need to live a life uh uh to be celibate, lifelong, to not get married. 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:50.079 And that was and that's what it meant to follow Jesus for him. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:58.400 And he also wrestled with this tension, and we talked about it as how, man, that just sounds really lonely and hard and difficult. 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:20.960 But the thing that he told me about was there's actually this family at his church that brought him in, that would invite them to uh family holidays, that he would share a number of meals in their homes, that he would have a significant role uh in their kids in their kids' lives, that they brought him in as family. 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:30.000 And that loneliness that he was afraid of, that this family that showed the love of Jesus held that tension and said it doesn't have to be that way. 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:35.039 And for whatever it is, whatever reason, we uh we end up being single. 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:40.319 Like the church is the last place where it should be a life sentence of loneliness. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:49.359 And I just wonder, how much different would our lives look if if we lived into the family of God, the one that He has offered us? 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:57.359 If we were part of communities that really knew about our struggles and how our burdens were actually meant to be shared with our brothers and sisters. 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:18.079 And whatever it is that you came into this morning with, could God have brought you here to awakening for this season, sitting in these chairs, that there might be a handful of siblings, maybe right next to you, who in the power of the Holy Spirit might bring comfort or accountability or love where there hasn't been. 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:34.400 You see, the family of God, it's so important to Jesus that he wanted to use some of his dying breaths to tell us that our hope can be found in the body of Christ, Christ's bride, the church, the family of God. 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:39.920 And he says, life and flourishing, that's where you can find it. 00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:46.319 And I've heard many sermons about this, the family of God, and um, kind of just end there, right? 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:52.319 Like, okay, we should all get along, be nice to one another, receive care, and let's sing kumbaya. 00:29:54.160 --> 00:30:01.680 But the last thing that we learn is that after drawing near to Jesus, receiving from Jesus, it doesn't end there. 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:04.160 We're to give like Jesus. 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:07.119 Our passage ends like this. 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:11.279 And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:18.160 What that's saying is what John did is he actually took Jesus' new family vision seriously. 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:22.240 He brought in Mary as if she was his own mother. 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:27.920 He rearranged his life to help care and love and support. 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:31.599 Like, could you imagine if this moment happens at the cross? 00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:35.359 John and Mary have this, Jesus does this great exchange. 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:39.839 And John just tells Mary, all right, well, see you again next week at the 1115 service. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:45.759 And it sounds like a joke, right? 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:49.440 But that's how often we think about our church community. 00:30:49.680 --> 00:31:02.640 Rather than see it as the new family that Jesus has formed, and to see it as something, uh, we see it as something as we can just show up to and hear some person talk for like 30-ish minutes and not a minute more, and then bounce. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:09.440 No, Jesus says that the way that people will know you are his disciple, do you know this? 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:12.160 Is how you love others. 00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:13.279 Right? 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:15.440 Is the way that you love one another. 00:31:15.680 --> 00:31:19.440 Have you ever considered what Jesus' love looks like? 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:22.799 He was often inconvenienced. 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:29.839 He had to hang out with people who constantly misunderstood him, he had to be patient and forgiving. 00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:36.400 And all of these things in our Western hyper-individualistic culture, these things are just things we don't want to be part of. 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:38.799 Things that sound like too much. 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:58.799 And I can't think of a greater apologetic or reason for the faith or why the church should just like have this strong cultural or strong force in this cultural moment is to live a countercultural way, to offer that to people. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:05.359 Patience and forgiveness, love and care, community, belonging. 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:09.119 And the best part of all this is we often suck at it. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:10.559 Or I do, right? 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:14.799 I often mess up and fumble and do it imperfectly. 00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:24.880 Yet Jesus is convinced that this is the best way for us to be cared for and for us to care for our brothers and sisters is to commit to this family. 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:30.880 We had a pastor here who used to say, uh, we want to be more than just a Sunday church. 00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:32.160 And I love that. 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:35.759 Uh, it's such a quippy and easy way to remember it's true. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:43.599 Like we said, family, the kind of family that Jesus is forming doesn't just happen by coming together once a week for an hour. 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:56.720 No, that's why we have things like small groups or a young professionals group or a youth ministry or a college group or places to serve like a cafe team or a teardown team, or even the like quick meet and greet. 00:32:56.880 --> 00:33:00.400 If you're new and this is church is weird to you, I get it, you're excused. 00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:11.039 But for those of us who want to follow Jesus, that's a chance for us to offer hospitality and love and care from one sibling to another, from one sibling to a potential sibling. 00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:14.799 All these things, that whole list of stuff, right? 00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:17.519 Uh we have these things in place. 00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:25.839 We don't do them just to keep things busy, but because we so seriously take God's word when he says we are to practice the quote unquote one another's. 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:33.920 If you read your New Testament scriptures, you will see this phrase again and again and again and says, one another. 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:37.920 And when you see that phrase, it's often it often says things like this. 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:46.960 We are to love one another, be devoted to one another, exhort one another, forgive one another, encourage one another. 00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:53.920 It's going to take us not just receiving from Jesus, but also for us to give like Jesus. 00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:58.000 It's going to require a sort of death and resurrection. 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:07.359 This road to Easter, what we call the Lenten season in the church calendar, and really all of the Christian life is often marked by death and resurrection. 00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:10.559 It's something our whole lives are kind of to be about. 00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:12.960 That's what we celebrate on Easter weekend, right? 00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:18.400 That something that death would happen, but that God would bring new life through it. 00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:22.559 And for most of us sitting here, we need to actually put to death something. 00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:25.840 That way, something can receive new life. 00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:31.679 And for most of us, what that thing is, is we need to put to death whatever family looks like. 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:37.199 Because for many of us, we think that our biological families are the most important. 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:43.440 But Jesus is very clear when he says that is not the case if you are to follow him. 00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:54.480 Now, if you have a spouse and kids or loving parents, much like I do, yes, cherish that, enjoy that, cultivate that, take good care of it. 00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:57.679 I pray that that's they're part of the family of God as well. 00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:03.119 But if you are a Jesus follower, yes, that is your family, but that's not your whole family. 00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:19.760 We need to put to death our comfortable, more predictable, and easy versions of families that way, not just because like God wants to kill your dream or whatever, but that God might give you a better dream. 00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:27.920 That Jesus might resurrect that picture of family into something far more glorious and beautiful than we could ever construct on our own. 00:35:29.199 --> 00:35:30.960 That's the gospel, right? 00:35:31.119 --> 00:35:32.480 Death and resurrection. 00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:34.960 And that's what Jesus is doing with family. 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:39.840 And it's a hard but worthwhile call in our lives. 00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:42.960 But the church, it's not a building, right? 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:47.039 It's not an hour and 15 minutes at 9.30 or 11:15. 00:35:47.440 --> 00:35:51.440 And it's not even like a 501c that you get tax write-offs for tithing to. 00:35:52.400 --> 00:36:03.840 No, the church is the sons and daughters of the Father God who is united by the Holy Spirit, to willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus. 00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:13.599 And I can't think of a better way to close all of this than to see that this has actually been part of God's heart for humanity always. 00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:16.400 I'm going to invite the band to start coming back up. 00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:21.760 But I wanted to end with this story from our Old Testament about a guy named Mephibosheth. 00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:29.280 And I heard this joke, it's like really it's like he would be in all of our like children's Bibles if his name was just a little bit easier to say. 00:36:30.239 --> 00:36:37.199 But if you're unfamiliar with Mephibosheth, he was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of Saul. 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:45.519 Now, Jonathan, Mephibosheth's dad, was David's closest friend before Jonathan was killed. 00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:56.960 And to complicate things even further, um, Mephibosheth's grandfather, Jonathan's dad, was a guy named Saul, who was the leader and king of this rival kingdom. 00:36:57.360 --> 00:37:05.599 And for much of his life, what he actively tried to do was to seek and to kill David, Jonathan's best friend. 00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:11.199 Well, David, what he would eventually do is he would be appointed king, right? 00:37:11.679 --> 00:37:21.360 Saul's kingdom would fall, and he would be anointed king, and there would be this changing of power from Saul to David. 00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:27.440 And when this when this was happening, there's kind of this mad dash, there's all this commotion, right? 00:37:27.599 --> 00:37:32.000 It's the changing of a regime, a really scary thing if you live in a kingdom. 00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:39.599 And in the whole commotion, what ends up happening is Mephibosheth as a little kid, as a little baby, he would accidentally be dropped. 00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:43.519 And from that moment, he would lose the ability to walk forever. 00:37:44.719 --> 00:38:00.079 Now, if this wasn't tragedy enough, think about this time and culture again, where all of your ability to provide for yourself, to be worthwhile and your identity came from physical labor or agriculture or being a soldier. 00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:06.000 Like, Mephibosheth, like he didn't have the chance to go to some coding boot camp or learn C. 00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:07.840 Like, that was still a few years away. 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:15.280 So Mephibosheth, like years later, David remembers his friend Jonathan. 00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:18.559 And he wants to show kindness to Jonathan. 00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:24.639 He's like, hey, is there not anyone left in my friend Jonathan's family that I might show kindness to? 00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:29.199 And so what he does is he ends up seeking out Mephibosheth. 00:38:29.360 --> 00:38:44.079 And I imagine them just finding him maybe on like the countryside or on the edge of the road, kind of just begging or trying to survive another day, suffering for so long, when all of a sudden the king shows up and invites him into his home. 00:38:44.880 --> 00:39:04.880 David does that, finds Mephibosheth, welcomes him in, and he says this in 2 Samuel chapter 9 Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always. 00:39:05.519 --> 00:39:06.639 So what happens? 00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:13.039 The king seeks Mephibosheth out, and his life is forever changed again, but for the better. 00:39:13.360 --> 00:39:23.280 And I imagine him just sitting at David's table where he's invited to eat forever, and there's like David's kids, like the great and wise Solomon or the beautiful Tamar and all that. 00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:29.039 And if I were Mephibosheth, just feeling so like out of place, like I don't belong. 00:39:29.199 --> 00:39:31.920 And yet David says, No, you belong here. 00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:34.719 You can eat at my table always. 00:39:35.039 --> 00:39:42.880 Mephibosheth, he really had no reason to be eating at that table because he is literally part of a rival enemy kingdom. 00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:50.079 And yet, because of who Mephibosheth's dad was, Jonathan, David said, You have a place at my table always. 00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:52.159 You are part of my family. 00:39:53.840 --> 00:39:57.840 And church, if it's not clear, this is what Jesus does for you and for me. 00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:02.719 We were once enemies, but because of the cross, we were made children. 00:40:02.960 --> 00:40:05.360 We were invited into the family of God. 00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:13.280 We were invited to eat at Jesus' table forever that He has prepared for you and for me. 00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:30.239 And because Jesus has done that for you and for me, we actually get to offer that to others, to bring brothers and sisters who might feel hungry or alone and say, Come and eat, be part of this family. 00:40:30.719 --> 00:40:37.280 And as the psalmist says in Psalm 68, he says, God sets the lonely in families. 00:40:37.920 --> 00:40:44.800 So, church, as we go to the communion table now as we remember that Jesus has made a way for us to sit at this table. 00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:54.719 I want to challenge you as we sing these songs to remember who you are, who God says you are, and who said who God says you are to be to one another. 00:40:55.039 --> 00:41:02.800 And also remember that as you eat this meal, that God has given you a place at the table, at the family table. 00:41:02.960 --> 00:41:06.000 And because of that, we can offer that to the world around us. 00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:08.719 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:41:08.880 --> 00:41:13.280 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:41:13.440 --> 00:41:15.519 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:21.679 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.