WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:06.080 So I get this text last night that the the last food truck has said we can't do it. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:18.160 And it's so funny because I had the message prepared and uh and never before, I think this is the first in church history, I changed the message this morning because of food truck canceled. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:22.879 It's the first message ever inspired by the cancellation of a food truck. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:25.839 I was hanging out at my at my uh in-law's house. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:34.560 We have a lot of family in town this week, and so we were all there, and Sander texts me, and it was interesting because as soon as she said, hey, they just they can't find help. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:40.640 This this one specific teaching of Jesus just jumped into my mind. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:47.200 And to the point where I couldn't stop thinking about it, and I just I just knew, okay, Lord, this is what you want me to talk about. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:48.799 And so I'm gonna read it. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:52.079 Matthew chapter 9, verses 35 through 38. 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:59.200 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:07.040 And he healed every kind of disease and illness, and when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:11.760 He said to his disciples, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.879 So pray to the Lord who's in charge of the harvest and ask him to send more workers into his field. 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.959 The second I got that text saying, The hot truck, truck, the hot dog truck is down. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:22.239 The hot dog truck is down. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:23.840 They don't have enough help. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:28.879 It's just that phrase, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:31.760 Just started replaying in my mind over and over again. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:38.480 This is a teaching of Jesus that shows us a lot about who he is and how we can respond to him. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:41.040 It's a really powerful teaching. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:44.239 It's really important that we understand all that's that's in it. 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:51.040 And it's funny, lately I've been I've been praying, well, I've been praying for longer than lately, but like lately I've been praying this very specific thing. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:52.560 And it happened by accident. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:55.840 I was I was actually in the prayer room a few weeks ago and I was praying out loud. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:02.719 I was by myself, and and I prayed, and you know, sometimes if you've ever had this experience, you're praying and you don't really know where you're going with it. 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:04.640 The Lord's just sort of guiding you in your prayer. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:07.760 And what I prayed was actually really cheesy, and you'll see why in a second. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:09.520 But it was just what the Lord was leading me to pray. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:17.599 I said, Lord, help me see you more clearly, and help me love you more dearly. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:21.439 And the first thought that came to my mind was like, well, that was that was really cheesy, Justin. 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:23.680 You know, because my prayers don't usually rhyme. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:36.000 But uh, but look, you know, at the end of the day, cheesy or not, if we can see Jesus more clearly and love Jesus more dearly, our life is in a really good place. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:48.960 The more clear our understanding of who Jesus is and what he cares about and who he values and how he sees the world, the more clear that becomes, the more we see what really matters and what doesn't. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:03:00.319 And the greater our love for Jesus grows, and the more we begin to partner with Jesus in the work, and I mean the work that he wants to do in this world, the better we respond to him, the better we love him. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:02.800 Like he's really good at loving us. 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:05.280 Like I'm trying to get better at loving him. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:09.120 And so if you see him more clearly and you love him more dearly, you're in a good place. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:11.360 And I think this teaching, it helps us do that. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:20.960 And so, so inspired by food trucks needing some work, needing some help, we're gonna talk about this idea that the workers are few. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:27.680 I want to I want to look at three really simple but really important things that this teaches us about Jesus and about us. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:32.000 Number one, and this is gonna seem like a throwaway, this is gonna seem like an obvious one, especially at his hands. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:34.000 If you've been here for long, we focus on this a lot. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:37.199 Even if you've been watching at home for a while, you know that we talk about this a lot. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:41.840 Uh, number one, Jesus loves people. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:45.759 Jesus loves people. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:50.800 It's interesting, this teaching about the workers being few, the harvest being great. 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:52.719 This is something Jesus taught on occasion. 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:58.240 It's important when you read the teachings of Jesus that you don't realize that he just said these things one time and moved on. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:02.000 Like he would go from place to place and place, and he would often teach the same things over and over again. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:03.599 That's why the disciples knew them so well. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:06.000 They had heard these things like hundreds of times. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:15.840 Those of you who have parents, those of you who are younger, you can probably like start to finish your parents' sentences when they begin to give you the speech again, and you're like, you're doing that, and you're trying not to do it with your mouth, because then you'll be in trouble. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:19.680 Like, that's how the disciples could have been with Jesus, because he taught these things over and over again. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:24.639 And so one time in John chapter five, Jesus says this. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:30.079 You know the saying, four months between planting and harvest. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:34.480 But I say, wake up and look around, the fields are already ripe for harvest. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:39.839 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:42.560 What joy awaits the planter and the harvester alike? 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:45.680 You know the saying, one plants and another harvest, and it's true. 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:47.920 I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:51.680 Others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:55.600 Where Jesus says this is just as important as what he says. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:01.279 Because it just so happens that at this moment in time, Jesus and his disciples are in a place called Samaria. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:11.120 And if you were a Jewish person, which Jesus and his disciples all were, you would have been taught from birth to extremely, passionately dislike the Samaritans. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:16.319 That's why when Jesus tells the classic story that even if you haven't grown up in church, you probably heard like the good Samaritan. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:22.720 That was meant to have shock value because a Jewish person would not have any concept of a good Samaritan. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:25.920 If you were a Samaritan, you were not good. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:30.319 And so early in his ministry, Jesus starts to make his way to Jerusalem. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:37.120 And the fastest way to Jerusalem was through Samaria, but no Jewish people would ever go, no Jewish person would ever go through Samaria. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:38.959 They would go the long way just to avoid it. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:41.759 But Jesus says, no, no, no, let's just go through Samaria. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:44.560 And the disciples were probably thinking, oh my goodness, what's he thinking? 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:49.519 You know, but he's the master, we're the followers, we've got to do what he says, but we're just gonna go straight through. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:49.920 Nope. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:54.000 Jesus stops and he interacts with the people and he teaches them. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:06:01.279 In fact, it's a Samaritan woman who becomes the very first person to ever hear Jesus outright say, I am the Messiah. 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:06.399 And he's with his disciples in Samaria, and he says, Hey, look at these fields. 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:10.000 And it's interesting because the translation I read uses the word ripe. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:11.759 The fields are ripe for harvest. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:15.439 In the original language, in the Greek language, it's actually the word white. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.560 The fields are white with harvest. 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:20.160 And they're like, what in the world does that mean? 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:23.360 Well, the Samaritans, when they would go harvest, they wore white. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:25.360 That was part of their culture, their tradition. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:26.879 They wore white clothing. 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:30.879 And so here are Jesus' disciples, and he's pointed to these fields, and what do they see? 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:36.480 They see all these workers in the fields, and they're all wearing white, and Jesus says, I see a harvest. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:44.959 They would have been taught to see people that when the Son of Man came, when Jesus came, the Messiah that they had been promised, they would have seen people that he's gonna deal with them. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:50.959 The Pharisees, the religious leaders, they would have seen those people like chaff that was meant to be burned away. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.439 Not the harvest, not what you want to keep. 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:55.920 But Jesus says, No, no, I see a harvest. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:57.600 I love those people. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:06:59.439 I love those people. 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:01.680 I came for those people. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:06.240 You see, we have to understand that Jesus loves everyone. 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:16.079 And that's easier to grab a hold of and get excited about at first, but the deeper and deeper you go, it gets a little bit more challenging. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:20.000 Number one, hear this Jesus loves you. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:25.680 Now, for some of you, you're like, yeah, and he oughta, you know, and uh pray about that if that's your response to that. 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:30.480 But uh, but let's be honest, there's a lot of us that go, does he really? 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:35.279 Like it's hard for some of us to believe that Jesus loves us because we know ourselves. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:40.800 And some of us maybe actually believe that, yeah, that his love, it's not for me. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:42.639 I'm too far gone. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:45.680 You don't know the things that I've done, you don't know the things that I think. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:52.240 If you if you knew the thoughts that ran through my mind, there's no way that the Lord would love me. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:55.040 And we say this very often, but it has to be repeated. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:57.920 This is such a part of our of our church's DNA, our culture. 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:00.480 Jesus does not love you out of ignorance. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:04.720 Most people love you out of some degree of ignorance, right? 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:06.079 They don't know the whole detail. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:07.279 They don't know all the story, right? 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:08.000 They don't know everything. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:10.800 If they knew all the details about you, they might love you a little less. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:12.079 Let's be honest. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:22.079 I mean, we work really hard as people at keeping some things buried because we don't trust the people we're around to love us if they knew that about us. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:25.120 So they love us out of ignorance. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:28.000 Jesus does not love you out of ignorance. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:29.680 He knows everything and he loves you. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:32.879 You are not too far gone, you will never be too far gone. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:37.039 He loves you, he's died for you, he's given everything for you. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:48.799 And so don't believe for a second that the love of Jesus is somehow not for you, that you are somehow disqualified from his love because of anything that has ever happened in your life or will ever happen. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:56.080 And if you happen to be going through a season right now that's really difficult, if you feel like a failure, you are not exempt from the love of Jesus, not for one second. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:57.919 Don't believe that, it's not true. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:08:59.519 He loves you. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:03.039 He also loves everybody else. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:06.799 Now that becomes a problem too, because we don't love everybody else, right? 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:08.720 And we might say, Oh, I love people. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:10.960 What we really mean is I love certain people. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:13.600 Or I love certain types of people. 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:16.320 You know, we have these four words that guide us as a church. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:18.399 Uh, and I have this conversation with a lot of people. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:21.039 It's the words love, accept, agree, and endorse. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:23.360 What that means is we love everybody. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:24.720 We love everybody. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:38.080 We accept, like virtually everybody, even the only reason I say virtually is because I don't know if someone came in and they were like doing something really dangerous that could harm other people around them, we would say, hey, we love you, but you just can't be here right now until this gets settled, right? 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:47.919 Like that's happened maybe twice in the history of our church, where literally something was happening in the moment that was so intense that we had to say, You, you've got to go and we'll reach out to you, but this is this is not good. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:49.120 That's that's like a caveat. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:51.679 We love everyone, we accept like everyone. 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:53.840 We don't agree with everyone. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:10:04.399 And we we don't even endorse what everyone thinks or or does, but but how sad is it that we live in a culture that says, if you don't endorse me or agree with me, you don't love me? 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:08.639 And I'll have people sometimes reach out to me and what they want is agreement. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:12.960 They'll say, hey, I just need to know with this church, I need to know that you agree with this. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:15.519 And I'll look at them and say, Well, I don't. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:21.440 If all you want is agreement, then you're you're you've got really low goals. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:23.919 Because love is better than agreement. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:28.240 Love is so much more powerful than agreement. 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.720 And we can love each other even if we don't agree. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:36.960 Don't settle for agreement when you can have love and don't just love the people you agree with, because that's not hard. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:40.080 Like it's it's easy to love people that you agree with, right? 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:43.200 It's easy to love people who believe the way you believe. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.279 It's easy to love people who vote the way you vote. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:50.240 It's easy to love people who see the world the way that you see the world. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.919 What's really hard is loving people who don't. 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:57.919 But what we have to understand about this Jesus loves people thing is that it is complete. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:00.320 It is, there's there's no caveats to it. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:04.799 He loves everyone, and in some ways, that's kind of a problem we got to deal with because he loves people passionately. 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:13.679 This means that the people that you believe are the problem with the world, the people you might look at and go, they're the reason that things aren't the way they should be. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:16.960 Yeah, maybe, but Jesus loves them a lot. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:20.399 Every bit as much as he loves you. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:30.720 Even the people, and this is where it gets really hard and really personal, even the people who have done things in your life that they've jacked you up a little bit. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.480 Jesus wasn't for what they did, he doesn't excuse what they did. 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:37.919 In fact, that's why scripture says, never take vengeance, for vengeance is mine, says the Lord. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:40.879 The Lord will make everything right, but he still loves those people. 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:42.720 That's a hard thing to reconcile, isn't it? 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:45.519 Like God, how do you love the person who hurt me? 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:50.399 You love the person who betrayed me, who lied about me, who harmed me, who abused me. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:55.039 You love that person, and I'm supposed to love that person. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.080 And the answer is yes. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:01.120 Now you may need to love them at a distance. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:14.320 But love, love has this way of completely and totally unbinding us from the burden of unforgiveness and bitterness and resentment. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:16.080 That just twists us up. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.799 It just makes us wither and die inside. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:22.399 And love, it takes all that away. 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:28.799 When Jesus looks at the Samaritans, when he looks at these people, that the disciples would have been taught to loathe, to avoid. 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:38.639 I mean, they literally would go out of their way, go out of their way to get to Jerusalem, which was like their capital, just so they didn't have to go through Samaria. 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.720 They would inconvenience themselves to not have to be around those people. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:46.559 Jesus says, Hey, before I do anything else early in my ministry, see those people? 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:47.679 I love them. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:54.720 And so we have to be a people, we have to be a church that loves everybody. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:59.440 I mean, picture the person who's the most opposite you you can possibly imagine. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:05.039 I mean, down to every viewpoint you have about the world and the team that you root for. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:08.799 I mean, I, you know, I'm a huge Duke basketball fan. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:11.519 There's North Carolina fans that go to this church, and I'm all right with that. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:12.399 You know? 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:13.840 Scott, I know where you're sitting. 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:14.720 I see you every Sunday. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:15.840 It's all right, man. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:16.639 It's all right. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:17.360 I'm praying for you. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:18.720 I pray for you all the time. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:21.039 God deliver Scott from his folly. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:21.919 You know? 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:28.080 And Scott will tell me, hey, you know, look at the sky, it's Carolina blue, and I'm like, that's after the fall. 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:29.840 Before, it's clearly it was Duke Blue. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:30.559 Everyone knows that. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:31.519 Pastors know that. 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:33.279 That's just the broken world we live in. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:33.840 I'm teasing. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:39.600 But like, but honestly, all jokes aside, no, no, picture the person who's the most opposite of you you can imagine. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:48.080 And maybe it's a person that uh that pops up in your news feed because every time they post something on Facebook, you stop and look at it for a second and go, like, oh, you know? 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:51.679 And then Facebook sees that you do that and they're like, oh, you might, you must like what they say. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:54.399 And so it just keeps popping up, and you're like, ah, right? 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:57.519 Jesus loves that person. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:01.679 You know, it and I'll move on. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:05.360 Jesus probably didn't agree with that many people when he was on the earth. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:07.919 Because like, no one had it right. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.039 He knows God the Father completely, he knows everything. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.919 And I bet there were very few people that Jesus agreed with. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:17.360 There were very few people who could have said something to Jesus and him go, nailed it. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:19.919 I mean, everybody. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.720 He was like, Yeah, kinda, but you know, not, no. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:27.279 Even his own disciples who followed him, there's these stories where they're like, hey, Jesus, you want us to go do this? 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:32.000 Like, there's this one time where these people reject him, they're like, Jesus, you want us to pray and call like fire down from heaven to burn them up? 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:34.240 And he's like, No, I don't. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:35.440 Not at all. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:41.919 Jesus agreed with very few, but he loved everybody. 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:44.080 What would our community be like? 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:46.559 What would your life be like if you could love like that? 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:52.559 Jesus loves people, he sees everyone as a harvest. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:54.879 Number two, this is a big one. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:59.120 Because this breaks some categories for you if you've been following Jesus for long. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:01.039 If not, this might be a really easy one. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:02.480 But Jesus needs help. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:05.919 Jesus needs help. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:09.039 Jesus saying, hey, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:12.559 This is the equivalent of God putting a help-wanted sign out front. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:19.519 And you know, it's it's one thing if food trucks and restaurants and businesses are understaffed. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:23.200 And they can't do what they're meant to do because there's not enough workers. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:23.919 And that's sad. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.960 And like even the food truck thing, like, I'm bum for us, but more bum for them. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:29.120 They were gonna have a great day. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:31.600 But that's one thing. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:39.120 If the kingdom of God is understaffed, and there's people who don't know Jesus just because other people won't step up and do some work. 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:42.399 That's that's more tragic than anything that we can imagine. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:43.919 Jesus needs help. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:46.879 Now it's it's hard to think of Jesus as someone needing help, right? 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:47.360 He's Jesus. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:51.759 And again, if you've grown up in church and you have this view of Jesus, like it needs help, but he but he does. 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:55.200 In fact, there's many times in his story where he he asks for it. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:57.759 And there's other times where he couldn't even ask for it, but it was given. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:15:59.759 In fact, I was reminded of this a couple months ago. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:01.519 I had a moment with God. 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:03.519 It was really powerful, really personal. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:05.519 I went on this uh five-day retreat. 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:06.240 I talked about it. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:07.759 It was a silent retreat. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:08.960 Didn't make it. 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:10.799 But uh, but I did good. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:11.600 I did good. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:12.799 I did really well for me. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:14.480 I think I had a two-day silent retreat. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:16.480 I'm there, I'm working my way up. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:21.519 But uh, but on this retreat, they had this path, this little path you could walk, a trail. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:27.039 And on the trail were these things called, you you, if you've grew up, some of you guys grew up Catholic or or Lutheran, maybe something like that. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:27.759 Uh something like that. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:28.960 Like it's a weird thing, sorry. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:30.720 We're all we're all weird. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:41.679 Um But there's this thing called the stations of the cross, and that's not something that was part of my tradition growing up, but but what they are is they're they're pictures of certain moments in the story of Jesus going to the cross and then the resurrection. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:51.120 And the idea is that you you stop at the different stations of the cross, you reflect on them, pray and say, Lord, what does this say about who you are, what you did, what you've done for me? 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:57.759 And so I'm walking and I'm looking at all the stations of the cross, and you know, I mean, there's like his his on his on the cross, like he's dying. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.960 And that one was really cool, but it's not the one that stuck out to me. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:04.799 And it wasn't even the brutality of Jesus being beaten. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:06.960 That wasn't the one that stuck out to me. 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:09.039 The one that actually stuck out to me, I have a picture of it. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:11.759 I took a picture of it while I was there, and so guys, you can put that up. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:17.119 Um, I'm walking on the path, and this this is the one that jumped out to me. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:28.000 And if you guys could zoom in on that a little bit, um this is a picture of a very specific moment when Jesus went to the cross. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:32.240 We read about it actually in uh Mark chapter 15. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:39.680 It says that the soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor's headquarters, called the Praetorium, and called out the entire regiment. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:46.000 This is after, by the way, that they have uh just brutally, brutally beaten him. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:51.599 They dressed him in a purple robe and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:55.519 And then they saluted him and taunted, Hail, King of the Jews. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:01.359 And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, they spit on him, and they dropped to their knees in mock worship. 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:08.000 And when they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and they put his own clothes on him again, and then they led him away to be crucified. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:15.519 A passer by named Simon, who is from Cyrene, was coming in from the courtside, from the countryside, rather, just then. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:19.279 And the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:22.480 Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:26.160 And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means place of the skull. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:30.079 They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, which is like a painkiller, but he refused it. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:33.200 And then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:48.640 And so that picture, if you guys don't mind putting that back up, the zoomed-in version of it, that picture is uh it's him lifting the cross, lifting the burden off of Jesus. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:19:00.160 And I'm standing there looking at it, and and I literally heard the Lord say, Justin, will you help me carry my burden? 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:05.599 Because in that moment, Jesus He couldn't carry his own cross. 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:06.960 He was he was so beat up. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:09.759 He was so, so beaten, so hurt. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:12.000 You gotta imagine how crazy of an idea this is. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.720 This is the Jesus who healed people, walked on water, performed miracles. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:17.039 This, by the way, is the Jesus that played a part in the creation of the world. 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:21.599 So that that wood that that tree that became the cross that he's carrying, like, he helped make that. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:25.200 But he's so hurt, he's so exhausted he can't carry it. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:26.720 Jesus needed help. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:30.960 He needed someone to carry that burden. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:36.000 What we have to understand as Jesus' followers is that Jesus still carries a burden. 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:40.480 Because he loves every single person on this earth. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.960 And he needs help. 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:46.240 He needs help to bring those people in relationship with him. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:50.480 He needs help. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:52.400 He wants to use people. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:54.160 And I don't know if you guys are like me. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:55.920 If I was God, that would not have been my plan. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:57.599 Plan A would not be people. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:00.559 People should be like the fallback plan, right? 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:09.599 Actually, you hear that a lot of times, even in language that people will have if they're Jesus followers and they're praying for miracles, where like maybe they're sick and and they pray that God just heals them. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:11.519 And they want it to be without doctors. 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:16.880 Because in our minds, if it's done through a doctor, that's somehow less God, but it's weird because God always likes to use people. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.319 I mean, think about it in scripture. 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:21.119 How often could God have just done something on his own, and yet what does he do? 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:23.440 He raises up a person, he uses a person. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:26.480 I'm not saying God doesn't miraculously heal people, he does. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:27.759 I've seen it. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:29.440 He loves to use people. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:32.559 People are not plan B in his eyes, even if we think they should be. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.119 We often think, God, I want you to work and just bypass the people. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:36.960 And he's like, that's not what I do. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:39.759 I use people. 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:47.519 And again, if I was Jesus, my plan A would not have been people, and it definitely would have been the people that Jesus picked. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:50.480 But that was his plan A, and here we are. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:55.119 2,000 years later, and we're worshiping him along with billions of people. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:57.599 So maybe Jesus knows what he's doing. 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:00.880 People are his plan A. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:02.559 He needs us. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:06.480 He's chosen us to be the way that he's gonna reach the world. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:08.559 Jesus needs help. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:10.240 He needs someone to help him carry that burden. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:13.200 The question is, will we will we answer the call? 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:15.440 One final point. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:19.599 Jesus doesn't just need help, he needs your help. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:21.920 This is where it gets really cool. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:25.440 Jesus needs your help. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:33.920 Matthew chapter 5, Jesus writes, You are the light of the world. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.160 Like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:38.240 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:41.440 Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand where it gives light to everyone in the house. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:48.160 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:53.359 One of the things that makes our faith really unique, and it's important that we know these things. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:57.039 This is important for us to have an intellectually developed faith. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.759 One of the things that makes our faith very unique is that our God believes. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:00.799 In us. 00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:05.920 Like it's one thing to believe in God, but it's another thing to believe in a God who believes in you. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:15.599 And I'm just gonna be honest: if you put all the founders of the major faiths up on a stage and ask them about their view of humanity, Jesus would stand out. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:18.960 He would stand out and it wouldn't even be close. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:22.799 Because Jesus believes in people. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:28.480 Jesus has a high view of humanity, and Jesus has a high, high view of you. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:31.680 When he says that you are the light of the world, he's talking about all of us. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:34.240 That that in our language would be a y'all. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:36.799 Like he's saying, y'all are the light of the world, right? 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:39.279 In Georgia speak, it's a plural you. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:42.720 But I don't think the Jewish people had y'all that hadn't developed yet. 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:46.319 I'm still waiting for everyone in the world to get y'all is actually a really helpful word. 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:48.559 I didn't speak that word until I moved down here. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:50.240 We didn't have that word in Wisconsin. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:51.759 We said things like you all. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:54.240 Um but it's just not, it's less efficient. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:57.839 And so uh it's a y'all, but but it's personal too. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:00.400 And so I I want you to seriously think about this. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.440 Do you believe that you are the light of the world? 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:30.160 Do you believe that you personally have been created by God and you are you are of such value, there is something so insanely important about you that you are actually meant and designed to be put on display by God so that people can look at you and the way that you live and say, there's something different, there's something powerful, I believe in God because of that person. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:37.839 It's hard for us to believe that about ourselves because we have a lower view of ourselves than God has of us. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:47.039 And that is clear throughout the entirety of Scripture because time and time again, if you read the stories of Scripture, God comes, He often sends an angel to someone, he says, Hey, I'm picking you, and the people always argue. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:48.559 They're like, Nope, wrong person. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:50.640 You have way overestimated me. 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:52.400 It's Moses, right? 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:53.519 Who am I? 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:56.319 Like, I you can't send me, send somebody else. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:58.160 Read the story of Gideon. 00:23:58.240 --> 00:23:59.920 He's like, Nope, wrong person. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:05.839 Time and time again, God shows up, he says, I've picked you, and everyone's like, uh-uh, not why? 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.480 Because we have a lower view of ourselves than God has of us. 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:09.920 You need to hear this. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:13.119 Whatever you think about yourself, whatever your view of yourself. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:19.440 Unless you're like maybe a clinical narcissist who thinks the world revolves around you, right? 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:20.559 And there are people like that. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:24.480 I'm actually scared because one of my kids one time said that they were struggling to make the sun come up. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:26.960 And I was like, do they actually believe that they make the sun come up? 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:29.680 Because that's a whole different whatever. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:32.000 I'm like, Dad, I can't make the sun come up. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:33.279 It was like five in the morning. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:34.079 I was like, what? 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:35.440 All right, pray about that. 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:40.799 Um but reality is whatever you think about yourself, God thinks higher. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:44.079 Whatever you think you're capable of, God thinks you're capable of more. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:47.759 You are the light of the world. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:25:02.079 You are meant to live in such a way that it inspires people, that it causes people to have like a crisis where they have to sort of reconcile and wrestle with God because they see something in you that is undeniable. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:04.160 And this is where it becomes really personal. 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:09.359 Like people are not just God's plan A for reaching the world. 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:12.400 You are God's plan A for someone. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:19.039 You are someone's best chance to know Jesus. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:34.079 Right now, there is someone alive who does not know him, who has not experienced that joy and that hope that only Jesus can provide. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:39.920 You know, in the in the lobby, we have that light fixture that represents people knowing Jesus. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.079 And every time someone gets baptized, we turn another light on until it fills up, and then we start over. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:48.640 And I love that visual because the lights that aren't on, they're not broken. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:51.759 They're just not connected to power yet. 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:55.039 There are people in your life that's that's what they're like. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:26:04.079 They're just waiting to be connected to their power source, and then they'll be able to do what those lights are meant to do, which is to shine, to live the life that they're meant to live. 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:06.960 And and you are that person's best chance. 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:15.200 That's a that's a huge privilege, but also a massive responsibility to think about. 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:21.519 For some of you, it's it's the people you work with. 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:23.200 It's the people you work with. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:27.839 You work with someone, and they need Jesus, and you know it, but it's awkward, right? 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:29.279 It's awkward to talk about Jesus at work. 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:30.640 Sometimes you might get in trouble. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:42.319