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. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:20.640 My name is Fred Mock. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:22.480 I'm the lead pastor of Quicksilver Church. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:28.559 It's a privilege for me to be here today with you and to kick off this Love Local series. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:31.600 The favorite item in my house is a squat rack. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:32.399 Love it. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:34.000 I enjoy working out. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:37.439 Something I started during COVID and continue to do. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:45.280 And then Ryan was telling me about his habit of working out mid-morning, so I'm gonna maybe pick up that habit of not the early morning workout, but the mid-morning workout. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:49.520 So appreciate really being able to be here and share with you guys. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:57.119 I want to have a confession to start with that number one, I think I'm here not because of me, but because of my wife. 00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:00.000 My wife is the one that loves the unhoused. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:08.640 And I know I have a reputation for it, and I have some friends that that appreciate and invest in that, including Herm Smith, who will be here next week. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:12.640 But my wife is the one who started a partnership with Path five years ago. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:17.519 Path is a permanent supportive housing complex in downtown San Jose. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:22.799 And so she started by hosting a Thanksgiving dinner back in 2020. 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:26.959 And so this month she'll be hosting the sixth one that our church has sponsored. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.560 So it's pretty exciting that we've had that ministry going forward for the last six years. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:36.640 And she also helps lead a monthly game night at Path for these residents that were formerly unhoused. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:38.799 And she also leads a Bible study too. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:44.560 So she does all the she does all the stuff, and I pop in every now and then and I'm a part of these events, but I think I'm here because of her. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:50.799 And I hope that's also an inspiration to you, that we need examples in our lives to kind of push us and encourage us. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:54.959 And she's an example for me, so I hope that I can be an example for you. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:03.840 And that was something that was prayed for this morning in the pre-service meeting, this prayer that we would all be examples to one another because we need that. 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:12.879 And even as we were praying in the pre-service meeting, I just had the sense, some of it was like a little bit of annoyance, because I was like, how does everyone know what I'm preaching on? 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:15.680 Because people were like saying things that I was that were in my sermon. 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:18.080 I was like, you're kind of stealing my thunder, you know? 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:21.520 Um, but I realized, like, this is what I want. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:31.120 Like, when you want to speak about something or God is speaking to you about something, I think what we really desire is that that would also be integrated with everything else that you're learning. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:31.439 Right? 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:40.240 And so somehow I think what God was speaking to me is that the words that I have to say today, that God is also speaking to each of you and has spoken to you in some other ways. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:48.400 Whether it's through circumstances, whether it's through the word of God, whether it's through creation, that God brings this kind of alignment with what he wants to do. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:55.039 And so I'm praying for that alignment today, that the words that I speak will be reinforced by what happens after today. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:56.960 Okay, that's my that's my hope in prayer. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:58.000 I've been learning about prayer. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:02.000 I just I love how God just wants to get our attention, you know, as we listen to him. 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:03.520 And he does it in so many ways. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:11.439 So I'm hoping for that, I'm praying for that kind of alignment today, that as you hear me speak, you'll hear other frequencies at which God is saying a similar thing. 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:19.120 We're gonna be in the book of John, the Gospel of John, and let me take you through this message is called being seen. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:22.080 And let me take you through the three points that I'm gonna have. 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:24.400 Number one, visible sin. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:29.919 Number two, visible and invisible healing, and then number three, true sight. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:34.080 And we're gonna be in the Gospel of John, chapter nine, and so give you some context. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:40.800 The Gospel of John was written about 2,000 years ago in a Jewish community, and the Gospel is a narrative about Jesus' life. 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:46.319 We're gonna learn about Jesus' life with the intention of helping people have faith in him. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:51.759 And so I'm gonna start with John chapter 9, reading verses 1 through 7. 00:03:52.800 --> 00:04:00.479 As he, Jesus, passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:08.560 And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:18.639 Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:24.160 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.839 Night is coming when no one can work. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:32.639 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:38.160 Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:39.439 Kind of nasty. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:45.759 Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of siloam, which means scent. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:49.600 So he went and washed and came back seeing. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:52.160 This is your first time reading this section. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:57.519 You probably have a lot of questions as I I still do, I still have a lot of questions about this, like why mud? 00:04:57.600 --> 00:04:58.800 Why do you have to pack it on his face? 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:01.199 It's really gross, why did you have to make him wash it? 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:06.879 But the big question I want to address is the question the disciples asked, and that's in verse 2. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:15.120 You know, Jesus notices this blind man, the disciples ask him, Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind? 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:17.839 And I just love how judgmental this question is. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.759 This is like a super judgmental question. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.000 He's making assumptions about this blind man. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:26.800 But I think the Bible is very profound in its understanding of human nature. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:32.560 So even though it is judgmental, what the disciples are asking the question that everyone else is thinking. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:34.639 They're just putting it in words, right? 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:36.079 They're just saying it out loud. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:42.319 Because the disciples, they seem to be asking about sin, but they're talking about a man who's blind. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:44.319 And being blind is not a sin. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:06:03.199 But they're talking about this idea that was prevalent at that time, and especially in the Old Testament, where if someone had some kind of visible brokenness, like blindness or disability, that it was because of sin, it was because of evil that had happened in that person's life or the previous generation, or the parents, or the grandparents. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:08.639 Because there's this idea of sin being passed down from generation to generation. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.560 And so what the disciples are asking is a real thing. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:14.079 It's a real question. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:22.639 And this relationship between sin and brokenness and this disability is what we might call today trauma. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:24.879 We might call trauma. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.000 And trauma is this idea where there's something that happens to a person. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:34.399 It could be war, it could be neglect, it could be the addiction of their parents, it could be anxiety or depression. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:36.160 That's not sin in itself. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:40.720 Or that, yeah, that's not sin in itself, but it's been acted, it's an evil that's acted upon the person. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:46.639 And so the disciples are asking, what happened to this person that would result in brokenness? 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.920 And that's kind of a question we all wrestle with today. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:50.399 Right? 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:54.319 We all wrestle with the question of where does trauma come from? 00:06:54.560 --> 00:07:06.319 And even the specific term that I think Jesus is using here, or the specific terms I think the disciples are talking about, that's not used here, but that we may be thinking, is this idea of generational trauma, right? 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:10.160 Just a trauma that's passed down from one generation to the next. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:18.319 So I think even though we don't have that exact language here, I think this is the idea, the principle that the disciples are talking about, and that we can wrestle with. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:24.160 And so, if that's the case, then, you know, why pick this guy as an example? 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:26.079 Why pick this person, this blind man? 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:28.160 And what does that have to do with the unhoused? 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:36.000 Well, I think the disciples pick this person, pick this blind man, is because that disability was visible. 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:39.759 All of us have some type of invisible brokenness. 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:42.639 We all have some kind of trauma, but nobody can see it. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:47.040 But this guy, this blind man, you could see the evidence of trauma. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:50.639 You could see the evidence of sin and brokenness in his life because he's blind. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:51.600 He couldn't work. 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:53.120 All he could do was beg. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:58.319 And this is where I want to transition to talking about a blind man to talking about the unhoused. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:05.040 Because the thing that about the people, people that are experiencing homelessness, is that their brokenness is also visible. 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:08.240 You can see it, you can smell it, right? 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:13.120 And something about someone whose brokenness is on the outside is different for us. 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:15.199 Because then it's easier to judge them. 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:18.240 And that's what that's what the disciples were asking about. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:24.319 How do we judge of this person whose brokenness is visible, as opposed to the rest of us, who can hide it? 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:32.559 And so, where this is where I want to examine a little bit about our own consciousness and the way that we see the world. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:36.559 Because Jesus is always concerned about how we see the world. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:41.519 And this idea of generational trauma is present in our culture today. 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:43.679 And so let me show you this next slide. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:50.559 And it says, Jesus may live in your heart, but grandpa lives in your bones. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:09:04.799 And the premise behind this is this idea of generational trauma being passed from down from generation to generation, where you may talk about Jesus and your faith, but that the way that you act, those survival instincts, they came from generations past. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:05.759 Right? 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:13.039 And what's so tragic but also helpful about a blind person is that that brokenness is visible. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:13.919 You can see it. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:24.080 And the way that we handle that today is what we take people whose brokenness is visible, and we work our hardest to make it invisible. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:26.559 Because we don't want to see the ugly stuff. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:30.000 And so let me give an example from my own life and even in our church. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:38.639 We rent an unused church building from a Lutheran church, and over a year ago we had a guy living out of his car, living out of his car in the parking lot. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:40.080 And it bothered me. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:41.679 He didn't smell great. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:50.960 He would go get around in a wheelchair, he would use the bathroom, and he would charge his phone in the building, and when he left the bathroom, you could still smell where he had been. 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:54.639 Um and after a few weeks, people in our church began to ask me what was going on. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:56.480 Neighbors began to complain. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:02.080 I would bring him coffee and I would try to, at one point, I tried to buy him a spare tire so that he could move his vehicle. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:10.080 And I had this like just tension inside of me where part of me really wanted to help him, and part of me just wanted him to go away. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:11.440 I didn't want to see him. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:13.679 I didn't want to be reminded about his presence. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:22.399 I don't wonder if a lot of us have that same kind of tension where we see someone who's unhoused and we think, yes, I want to help you, but I actually just really don't want to see you. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:30.720 I actually just want you to be invisible because I don't want to deal with the visible and the brokenness that I can see and the brokenness that I can smell. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:34.080 And Jesus understood that. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:36.480 And this was his solution for that. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:42.159 So let me go on to my next point, which is about visible and invisible healing. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.200 Because Jesus is concerned about both. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:50.399 And so you'll notice in this account, Jesus has the power to give sight. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:51.519 He can do it instantly. 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:56.080 He could just command the man to see, and this man could see, but he doesn't do that. 00:10:56.240 --> 00:11:00.159 He spits and makes this, he makes this mud paste, he sticks it on the man's eyes. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.960 I don't know, it's like a makeup thing or something, you know? 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:04.879 And he says, Hey, you need to go wash. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:08.159 So he gives this man steps that he's supposed to accomplish, right? 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:17.600 And the problem with going through those steps is that after he's done washing the stuff off his face, he doesn't know who healed him. 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:19.279 And that's by intention. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:23.919 Jesus actually doesn't want him to know yet who healed him. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:41.519 And so what we're dealing with then is the rest of this story is about the miracle of how this man isn't just healed from the inside, and isn't just healed from the outside, but what Jesus does to heal him from the inside, to do some invisible healing in his life. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:12:01.279 And so the what happens then is that the Pharisees, then, and the Pharisees were a Jewish ruling authority, so they're the authorities and pastors, if you will, at that time for the Jews, and they also had civic authority, which means they were also like the mayor of the city, and they had both of those roles aligned in themselves. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:15.279 And so what happens is that they now, and because this healing was done on the Sabbath, when you're not supposed to be healing, and they and they felt threatened by Jesus, they begin to interview, they talk to the blind man, and then they also talk to his parents, and then they also talk to the blind man again, a second time. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.399 And this is what happens in John 9, 32. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:28.720 And this is the blind man responding: Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.559 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:35.200 That's the blind, the formerly blind man speaking. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:37.200 And then the Pharisees answered him. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:38.799 This is in verse 34. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:44.320 They answered him, You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us? 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:45.919 And they cast him out. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:54.399 And so the Pharisees' solution is to realize, hey, you know, we're threatened by this guy, this formerly blind, we're threatened by Jesus, and we're also threatened by this guy. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:58.240 And so the solution to this argument is just to say that you're born in sin. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:04.799 Okay, which is an ad hominem attack, and they're just, they're basically saying, hey, look, we see all your brokenness and we want nothing to do with it. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:06.240 That's all we see. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:15.200 And what they're confronted by is now that they realize there's something actually about themselves, because Jesus is actually having a message for the Pharisees. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:19.360 And if there's a group of people that we most resemble, I'll start with myself. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:24.639 If there's a group of people that I most resemble in this story, it is the Pharisees. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:26.000 It is the Pharisees. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:27.279 And why is that? 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:40.960 Because oftentimes in our course of being confronted by the unhoused, by those who wear their brokenness on their sleeves, it is a mirror back into my own brokenness and sin. 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:43.759 And I actually don't want to look at that. 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:46.720 That's actually way too unpleasant for me to have to face. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:48.240 And so let me give an example. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.639 I have a friend named Connor, not his real name. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:55.039 I've known him since he was 18, and he was coming out of the foster care system. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:57.919 And we got to know each other playing basketball. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.919 And Connor goes in and out of sober living environments on a frequent basis. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:06.879 So he's he experiences homelessness quite often, most recently last week. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:10.320 And I've uh he's also has not been able to keep a job. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:15.759 And so one of our one of our frequent conversations we talk about all the time is have you gotten a job? 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:16.799 Can you keep a job? 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:17.759 And he says, no. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:19.039 He says, Why do I need a job? 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:24.080 And we just go around and around, and I get angry and I get frustrated, and then I don't want to talk to him. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:30.080 And what my rage kind of reveals is I am not able to change him. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:31.679 I'm not able to change him. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:34.559 And it also kind of points a mirror back into myself. 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:37.679 I also think, man, why am I getting so angry? 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:41.840 Because the one who might need to change more is me. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:46.320 Because I am so frustrated and I'm so enraged that he doesn't change. 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.840 It's almost like a window like, do I believe God can change me? 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:51.919 And so where is that in the story? 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:59.200 Well, in John 9, 38, you kind of get the resolution to this miracle. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:01.679 Where the blind man says this. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:04.159 He said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him. 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:11.039 And then Jesus said, For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:16.000 And those who see may become blind. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:17.279 Verse 40. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:23.440 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, Are we also blind? 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.240 Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no guilt. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:32.240 But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:37.120 So Jesus' project here isn't just about the blind man. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:40.399 His project isn't even just about the disciples. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:43.600 What Jesus is focused on is giving everyone sight. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:45.200 He wants to give everyone sight. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:53.919 And the problem with the Pharisees is that they don't think they're blind, they don't see their own brokenness and sin. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:55.679 They don't see it for themselves. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:16:01.759 And what Jesus is saying, look, if you come to terms with your brokenness and sin, then I can heal you. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:03.200 I can make you better. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.559 But until you come to terms with it, nothing can happen. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:11.120 And so, in conclusion, I'm going to talk about true sight. 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:12.799 What does it mean then to have true sight? 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:18.559 And I think there's two options when it comes to being confronted with our own sin and brokenness. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:23.200 Because we know the answer to the disciples' question, who sinned, the parents or the man? 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:26.799 And the answer is yes, right? 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:27.360 Yes. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:28.080 All of it. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:29.360 All of it happened. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:31.200 And so for us, we have two options. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:34.399 The first option is let's just ignore it, let's pretend it doesn't happen, right? 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.039 And kind of the Pharisees were in that boat, let's just pretend it didn't happen. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:40.159 Let's evade it, and then let's just blame and project it on other people. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:44.399 So we don't want to deal with our brokenness and sin, so we're just gonna call the blind man steeped in sin. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:50.879 But there's another option, and the other option I think is more popular today. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:56.399 It's where you see your sin and your brokenness and your trauma and you think that's the end. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:57.519 You think that's it. 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:03.360 And then you see the brokenness and sin within institutions, even the church, and you think that's the end. 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:12.960 And the word for when nothing makes a difference, when nothing matters and is prevalent among young people today, it's called nihilism. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:14.640 It's a philosophy called nihilism. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.160 And what nihilism means is that nothing matters. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:22.400 Nothing you do makes a difference because we're all screwed in the end, right? 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:28.240 We've all got the generational trauma, we've all got the sin, we've got all these broken institutions, that's it. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:31.279 Doesn't make a difference, it doesn't matter. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:35.119 But this is what Jesus said, and let's go back to verse 3. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:42.400 And it says, Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.079 He's like, that's irrelevant. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:46.400 Yes, his parents sinned. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:47.599 Yes, he sinned. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:54.480 Yes, he's got those issues, but that the work of God, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:59.359 He's saying, look, the sin and the brokenness, that's not the end of the story. 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:02.720 Death is not the end of the story. 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:08.000 The end of the story is an invitation for the works of God to be displayed in him. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:10.079 And there's a reward. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:16.079 There's a reward for people who receive that, for people that see the works of God displayed in them. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:19.200 And that reward is being able to see Jesus. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.079 So in verse 35, this is what it says. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:30.720 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:36.000 Okay, and the blind man doesn't know what Jesus looks like, remember, right? 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:37.920 He has no idea what Jesus looks like. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:40.079 He answered, And who is he, sir? 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.240 He's like, I don't know who this guy is. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:44.319 Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:48.400 Verse 37, Jesus said to him, You have seen him. 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:50.799 And it is he who is speaking to you. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:59.759 See, when you when Jesus recognizes you and he recognizes you alone, then your reward is to see Jesus, is to recognize him. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:03.680 And this all started with verse 1. 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:05.759 Let's go back to verse 1. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:08.799 This is where it all starts. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:14.079 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:19.599 Everything started with Jesus noticing the blind man. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:23.359 It all started with the blind man being seen. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:26.559 Because after all, that's what we all want. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:29.359 We want to be seen. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:36.079 We want to be seen in our sin and our brokenness, and we also want assurance that that is not the end. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:37.839 That is not the last word. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:49.279 And God in his son Jesus, he sent his son to die on the cross to bridge that gap so that death and brokenness and sin would not be the end so that we could be seen. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:50.799 He became flesh. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:54.480 He went from invisible to visible so that we could be seen. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:20:00.000 And the thing that I offer Connor, the thing that I offer my friend, it's not my advice, it's not my help. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.599 And sure, I buy him meals and I think it's great to buy someone food. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:05.359 I think it's great to give people housing. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:10.160 It's not my intelligence, it's not my basketball skills, it's not my work ethic, it's none of those things. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:16.319 What I can offer Connor at the end of the day is the very thing I can offer him in the first place, and it's to see him. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:17.920 It's to see him. 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:25.359 It's to see him in his brokenness, it's to see him in his sin, and to say, this is the invitation of God to work in your life. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:38.240 Because when I'm seeing him, I'm also seeing myself, and I'm not just seeing the death and the separation and the trauma and the problems and the and the brokenness in myself, I'm seeing the invitation of God to work in me. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:40.960 Because it's always mirroring back. 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:46.240 Because he saw us first, and it starts and ends with being seen. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:21:02.640 And so my prayer for us today is that as you see the inhouse, those who wear their brokenness on their sleeves, those who make broken, their brokenness is visible, this would be an invitation to see the work of God displayed in that person's life and also in yours. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:08.559 You are testifying to the work of God in your own life and asking his spirit to come into you. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:14.240 So let me give you three ways that you can practice this, three application points. 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:17.680 And it was even prayed about in our pre-service meeting. 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:22.160 The first thing I'd like you to do, it's to slow down. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:23.680 It's to slow down. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:28.160 I was late getting here this morning, might have been driving a little faster than I should have. 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:32.799 I live in South San Jose, so I take 87 north, and then there's a 280 North interchange, right? 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:33.759 And there's that ramp. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.640 And I usually just like to take it like a kind of like a racetrack, you know? 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:39.200 You just kind of hit that curve, you go as fast as you can. 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:45.359 And what I um noticed a couple years ago, then not there now, is that there used to be a large homeless encampment there. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:48.240 And I had no idea, because I would just blaze through there. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:50.000 I'm just going like crazy, going through there. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.680 And then someone told me about there's a homeless encampment right on this right on the freeway, it's right right there. 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:56.160 And then I started slowing down, and I'm like, oh my gosh. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:57.759 It's like, how did I miss this? 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.599 I just had to slow down and look for it. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:10.400 And some of you, maybe many, many of you, love to listen to podcasts, and you love to listen to John Mark Comer tell you to ruthlessly eliminate hurry, and you're like, oh yeah, it's so good. 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:11.680 Oh, I almost hit that guy. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:13.039 So good, so good. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:15.920 So you just you just need to slow down. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:16.319 Okay. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:18.640 You need to slow down and take a look around you. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:24.720 Because all those all those things where the brokenness is being made visible, you're just zooming past it because that's the way our society is set up. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:26.799 Second thing. 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:29.359 I know it's to make eye contact. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:35.680 I know at freeway off ramps, you will encounter those who are unhoused, you encounter those who are panhandling. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:49.279 And I know what the temptation is because I've done it, is to like stare at your phone, you roll your windows up, you like maybe get something out of your purse, you know, lean, you just you make yourself unseen because you don't want to make eye contact with that person because you don't have something to give. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:23:00.240 Now, I think it's great to be able to give someone something, but I think it's also the greatest gift I think you can give someone is to see that person, is to make eye contact with that person and to say hello. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:08.319 Okay, so I think it's great if you want to give something, but I I just want you to let that person be seen by you and for you to be seen by that person. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:11.839 And I don't want to pretend like it's like an easy thing, right? 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:13.039 But God sees you. 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:15.759 Jesus sees you, you can see another person. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:24.319 And then the last thing, there's gonna be an interview after my sermon about the be a friend ministry. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:28.960 And this is an opportunity for you to see an unhoused person. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:33.200 And it's uh in that be a friend ministry, it's working at the Arena Hotel. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:37.759 I think it's Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m., where you're gonna go from door to door and introduce yourselves. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:43.279 And I think it's you know, giving out um like a gift bag to another person, to a one of the residents there. 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.400 And it's an opportunity to see someone. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:52.160 Okay, it's an opportunity to see someone whose brokenness has been made visible, right? 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:58.960 And it's not it's an invitation to the work of God to be displayed in that person's life and also in yours. 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:03.839 I'd encourage you to give attention to that and to think about doing that because I think there's great steps. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:09.119 These are these are invitations for God to work in your life, for the works of God to be displayed. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:15.920 So I trust today that we would see others the way that Jesus sees us. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:21.839 He sees us first, he sees us last, and he shows himself to be seen by us when we're only seen by him. 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:23.680 So, church, let's pray together. 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:32.799 God, thank you for your love for us in Christ Jesus. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:43.839 That you saw our sin and brokenness and generational trauma and the fact that we can be tempted to believe that nothing matters, and you saw more. 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:50.319 You saw an invitation for the work of God to be displayed in our lives. 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:58.640 And so, Lord, would you give us your heart for the inhoused, for those whose brokenness has been made visible? 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:21.119 Because in doing so, we are making an invitation for your work to be displayed in that person's life, but most of all, we're making an invitation for your work to be displayed in our life, for our brokenness and sin to be made visible, and then for us to be healed, to receive meaning and forgiveness and hope. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:26.480 And so, God, in the doing so, as you see us, would we see you? 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:28.640 In Jesus' name. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:29.599 Amen. 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:31.920 Amen, church. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.160 Hey, can we give uh Fred a hand, please? 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:35.359 Can we say thank you to him? 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:36.720 Yeah, thank you guys. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:37.680 Thank you, Fred. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:39.680 Hey, good morning, Church. 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:40.720 Uh, my name is Brian. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:42.319 I'm your local outreach coordinator. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:44.000 Thank you for having me up here this morning. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:46.000 I mean, you didn't have a choice, but here I am. 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:49.680 Uh so I just want to say uh please welcome my friend Jolie. 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:55.359 Uh she has been a longtime awakening member, and she works with Be a Friend Outreach. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:56.799 So thanks for being up here with me. 00:25:57.119 --> 00:25:57.519 Thank you. 00:25:57.759 --> 00:25:58.559 You're welcome. 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:06.079 Um so Julie, uh, what brought you to be a friend outreach and what uh how'd you get started with that? 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:13.680 So I moved to San Jose about three and a half years ago, and um I work downtown and I get to bike to work. 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:25.680 Um, but as I was biking to work, um downtown there's a lot of people experiencing homelessness, and I would bike by them, and I was like, I have the Holy Spirit in me, I can pray for these people. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:26.240 Who knows? 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:29.039 God could heal them, but I'm too shy. 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:33.759 And this just like ate me up for like a year and a half or something. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:39.759 And then one time at a Bible study, I was like asking my friends to pray for me about this, and they did. 00:26:39.839 --> 00:27:10.400 But one of my one of my friends, Stevie, she had just started working for City Team, started working for City Team, and so she told me about um City Team has uh or had a ministry called Hope on Wheels, where they would go to a homeless encampment and they would bring a food truck there and provide meals and set up tables for people to be able to eat together and just be able to, like volunteers would come to serve food, but also and also to just encourage the res or the people living there. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:19.359 Um so I decided to go to that, which was very I was very scared to go at first, but it was there a lot of really cool experiences. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:29.359 Um and doing that I met one of the other volunteers, um, his name is Frank, and he told me about something else that he was doing. 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:32.960 Um then he was doing it in San Francisco. 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:49.759 Um they had these transitional housing facilities in San Francisco where people who had been unhoused, um, like there was a I think it's like state funded, but they would um provide like a hotel room or like an apartment room for them to live in. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:58.319 Um and so Frank would go there with this other organization and bring the like the we call them blessing bags. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:05.920 It would have like hygiene supplies or food or and like usually an encouraging note too. 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:20.799 Um and so in San Francisco they would go and bring those and knock on people's doors and just like be there to build a relationship with the people there and be a friend, be a friend to them, encourage them, and share the gospel and pray for them. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:27.599 Um yeah, so he told me about that, and then he was like, I want to start doing this in San Jose. 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:55.440 And so he was like thinking about this for a while, praying about this a lot, and then he's about like a year and a half ago, I think, um, he asked the organization that was, or the not the nonprofit that was running the some of the transitional housing facilities in San Jose if they could come and do this, if like he could come with his little group and do this in San Jose. 00:28:55.920 --> 00:29:15.119 And actually, um he told me that like other churches and organizations had tried to do some kind of outreach at these transitional housing facilities in San Jose, run by this one nonprofit, and um this nonprofit had been like just not let them come basically. 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:18.880 But um when Frank asked, he was like, What are you guys talking about? 00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:21.279 They're like super like down for this, they're all good. 00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:29.039 So God had had changed something in that organization, like there was a specific person, like something had changed, so that when Frank asked, then they were really welcoming. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:41.359 Um so then Frank asked me if he wanted to go, so then I started going around-ish the time when um we started doing this, started via friend outreach in San Jose. 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:54.640 Um, so yeah, now we've been going and knocking on the doors and offering these blessing bags and just being there to be a friend and to offer the encouragement um that God has encouraged us with. 00:29:55.279 --> 00:29:56.400 That is so awesome. 00:29:56.480 --> 00:29:56.960 Yeah. 00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:09.200 Um, yeah, so you guys know nonprofits don't always work well with faith-based organizations, not because they don't want to, but just because there's a little bit of a fear of kind of that mix of church and state and that whole deal. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:17.200 Um, but this is just really a good testament that God really went before, paved the way without Frank even knowing that he was doing work in somebody's heart. 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:25.920 So that when Frank went there with his uh his vision for what be a friend would look like in the nonprofit or at the arena hotel, they said yes. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:31.599 Uh, I got to go on a tour last week and I got to meet the folks at the arena hotel, uh, the people that are in charge. 00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:41.200 Um, they're not non-denominational Christians, uh, but yet they welcomed us with open arms and they're excited for the opportunities that we're gonna have there uh coming up in the future. 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:41.680 Yeah. 00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:51.039 So of all the different people that you've interacted with, the people that you've knocked on doors, is there any one person or uh a story that really stands out to you? 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:53.359 There's well, there's many, many stories. 00:30:53.599 --> 00:31:04.400 Um but yeah, one of them, also on the note of the nonprofit like being welcoming to us, we actually host Bible studies every other week instead of doing the door-to-door, so we alternate. 00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:08.960 Um and they let us post like advertisement for the Bible studies on everyone's door. 00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:13.359 Um and this is like it's like a state-funded thing, so it's pretty awesome. 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:26.880 Um but, anyways, so one of our friends who's been coming to the Bible studies for a while now, um, about six months ago, he told us that he's been clean for three months, so hasn't hadn't done drugs for three months. 00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:30.000 Um and he was super excited. 00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:32.799 Um he was like, Yeah, I just I just can't help myself. 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:34.480 I'm just like running up and down the stairs. 00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:38.319 I'm just so excited for what God, like the freedom that God gave him. 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:43.920 Um and he's praying to continue that, but just giving us, yeah, praising God for that. 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:51.039 And then like he's continued to be clean for another six months, so now he's been nine months clean. 00:31:51.359 --> 00:32:12.640 And um just he came to Bible study like a couple weeks ago, and he told us about one time um in the evening he was um he's yeah, walking at night, and he saw a young man who was homeless um on the street, and he he was like, Oh, should I should I go talk to him and and tell him about Jesus? 00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:13.519 Like I could. 00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:20.079 But he kept walking, but he said, as he kept walking, like the Holy Spirit was like, No, like this is your calling. 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:25.519 I'm gonna use you to encourage these young men and to tell them about me. 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:34.799 Um so this is just super, super duper cool to see, and just like this is just us being there to see what God is doing. 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:36.160 That is so awesome. 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:41.440 Um, I don't know if you guys have ever had anyone in your life or anyone that you've known or just heard about. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:58.960 I mean, once they drop those chains of hardcore drug addiction, the freedom that they have is just it's amazing because they really know that there's a supernatural higher power that was at work, uh, whether they recognize it as uh God or not. 00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:08.559 Um the fact that they were able to overcome that obstacle is just such an amazing thing, and that he's able to just be so joy-filled and wants to share it with everybody was awesome. 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:10.319 Um, so thank you for sharing that. 00:33:10.559 --> 00:33:16.079 And Jolie, if anyone's interested in getting involved, what are some next steps that they would maybe take? 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:24.160 A great step right now, because Thanksgiving is coming up, is to help us with cooking food or serving for Thanksgiving. 00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:30.960 Um, so we're gonna have a Thanksgiving dinner there the Sunday before Thanksgiving, so November 23rd. 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:46.960 Um and we'll be preparing food at a woman and children's shelter in Mountain View on that Saturday, and then serving both at the arena in downtown San Jose and at that shelter on the Sunday, the 23rd. 00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:57.039 Um so if you we would love to have you help with that, um, and we're actually gonna have signups outside right after service, and you can come ask us questions as well. 00:33:57.279 --> 00:34:02.079 Um, but yeah, in addition to that, you're always welcome to join for the door-to-door outreach. 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:05.440 So, yeah, you can let me or or Brian know if you're ever interested in that. 00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:06.720 Awesome, thank you. 00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:11.039 So, like Jolie said, uh, we'll be outside after service right next to the white tent. 00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:18.559 There is the signups for the Saturday and the Sunday before Thanksgiving, um, where you guys can come and serve in any capacity. 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:21.280 Uh, we can talk to you more about that outside. 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:30.800 Um, one other thing we're doing outside, um, this is kind of a call to action, a little bit of a challenge, a little bit of something to push you outside of your comfort zone. 00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:35.840 Uh, one of the things that Fred said was God wants us to see people. 00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:41.119 He wants us to see his creation, he wants us to see people as his children. 00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:44.400 So, what we have outside are blessing bag kits. 00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:55.280 Uh, I'll invite you to come outside, grab a bag, go down the little assumbly line, throw a kit together, uh, one, two, three per household, however many you think um you want to take with you. 00:34:55.440 --> 00:35:00.800 And then the challenge sometime this week, sometime next week, is to really listen to God's calling. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:05.360 Uh see someone who he has put on your heart and hand them that blessing bag. 00:35:05.440 --> 00:35:12.320 And don't just hand it to them, uh, but look at them, look them in the eye, tell them that they're loved, tell them that they are God's child. 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:16.719 Um, you don't have to get out of the car and you know be their friend for the next six hours. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:20.320 Um, but just stop for a moment and see them for who they are. 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:22.880 Uh so I would love to invite you outside afterwards. 00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:25.360 Uh, but in the meantime, you guys please stand up. 00:35:25.519 --> 00:35:29.599 Isaac is gonna lead us in some more worship, and uh, we'd love to just praise God together. 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:30.800 Thank you, guys. 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:34.000 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:38.639 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:40.880 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:35:41.039 --> 00:35:46.960 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.