Following Jesus Up Close

A softer heart sees more clearly. We trace a path from the Beatitudes’ upside-down blessings to Epiphany’s invitation to truly see, naming how distraction, certainty, and fear keep us from love while Jesus keeps moving toward the margins with light and welcome. When he says keep turning from sin and come back to God, we hear repentance as returning from the illusion of separation—back to union, belonging, and the kingdom that’s accessible now.

We explore what close discipleship looks like in real life: dropping nets that bind, letting God untie the knots we can’t fix, and imitating the character of Christ—patient, gentle, self-controlled, and kind. The call isn’t to carry heavier yokes but to learn the unforced rhythms of grace. Healing becomes ordinary and near: presence that ends isolation, meals that communicate worth, words that bless instead of brand. With a simple filter—does this heal or harm—we practice everyday discernment in families, workplaces, and neighborhoods.

Not every “Jesus” we’re handed is the real one. We name the counterfeits and return to the Jesus children ran toward and the excluded trusted. From stories of following too far behind to the relief of letting go, we re-center on a Savior who makes space at the table and sends us out as agents of mercy. Communion ties it together as embodied formation: waiting, receiving, and obeying even when it feels beneath us, like Naaman’s seventh dip that finally heals.

If this message sparks hope, share it with someone who needs light today. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what one knot are you ready to let God untie this week?

Chapters

• 0:00 Gathering, Beatitudes, And Hope
• 3:10 Epiphany And Learning To See Anew
• 5:20 Jesus In Political Upheaval And The Margins
• 7:20 Repentance As Returning To Love
• 10:00 Softening The Heart And Seeing Others
• 13:40 The Kingdom Is Now, Not Later
• 15:10 Calling Of The First Disciples And Transformation
• 18:20 Following Close, Not From Afar
• 20:00 Loved Without Fear And Dropping What Binds
• 23:10 Joyful Witness And Sharing Good News
• 24:15 Mid-Episode Thanks And Support
• 24:40 The Tangled Line: Trusting God To Untie Knots
• 29:00 Letting Go Of Burdens For Freedom
• 31:10 Healing As Everyday Love In Action
• 34:00 Speak Less, Be Present, Live In Community
• 36:10 Choosing Love Over Judgment And Labels
• 39:00 Kindness Toward Enemies And Ourselves
• 41:00 Following The Real Jesus, Not Imitations
• 44:30 Re-Enchanted Hope And Living The Kingdom
• 46:00 Communion, Obedience, And Perseverance In Love
• 48:30 Closing Blessing And Resources

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Welcome to the First Love Church podcast. This is a collection of Sunday teachings inspired by the revised Common Lectionary and recorded weekly in Ocala, Florida. What a hopeful reminder for all of us. Whatever it is that you're grieving, let the hope of Christ renew you, empower you. I'm grateful for your presence here this morning as we gather together in the name of Jesus, and as we gather together as people who are learning how to love more fully, more deeply, and more like Christ for the whole world. This morning we have a beautiful text that I'm anxious to get at, but I want to remind us of the Beatitudes. Jesus taught us these things, and it is something that as followers of Jesus we need to remember and keep within ourselves this holy flame of this is what love looks like. And so if you would read this morning with me from Matthew's Gospel, chapter five, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of their righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Amen. We remember this upside-down world that Jesus shows us. Blessed are those who mourn. For many people in all of our humanity, we felt that if there was something that is mournful or something that is grievous, or some kind of pain, that must mean that God had abandoned you or that you were alone. And Jesus came and said, No, there is a blessing in the morning. It is the comfort and it is the presence of God. That you, beloved, will never have to suffer loss alone. That there is a presence that is offered to us and that we are offered to engage in. And we're so grateful this morning for that presence and for that reminder. We're in the season of Epiphany, and I'm hopeful for you and prayerful for you that during this time the Spirit will reignite your holy imagination and allow you to see things perhaps like you've never seen them before. This is what Jesus did for people when he was present with them is that he on a regular basis healed their sight or lack of sight. And you might say, well, I have corrective lenses or I have glasses, I don't need your help. But we're talking about being able to see with our heart, to be able to see things that are eternal, to be able to value and see the things that actually matter. Because very often we are people who see things around us and then we're distracted. Recently there was an update on my phone and it asked me for permission to distract me. And I said no. It wanted permission to give me notifications whenever they wanted. And you know what I did? I did not agree. I do not accept, I do not accept, I do not accept, I do not want. And I was thinking to myself, I did it on an app, but I don't always do that to the world around me. I don't always dis not accept your distraction. I look at that and then I'm all distracted. And so the invitation for us is to consent to the spirit, for us to say, I consent to the working of the Holy Spirit. Whatever God is up to, let me see that and let me join in it, and let me make that my focus and that my priority. And so at this point where we look into the story of Jesus and in the Christian calendar that began with Advent, we follow the story of Jesus. We look at how Jesus came to us, incarnate, and then we also look at how he lived. Because as people who want to follow or emulate the way of Jesus, we should be very familiar with the story of Jesus, with how the witness tells us that Jesus actually appeared to us. When Jesus heard that John the Baptizer had been thrown into prison, he went back to Galilee. This verse is set in a time that is really horrible politically. There is a Herod, there have been many Herods, and the Herods are always threatened. And in their power and in their cruelty, they are always making a mess. And this story, the witness of this story tells us that Jesus is right in the middle of this. John has been thrown into prison and he will be beheaded because he spoke truth to power, because he said, What you are doing is not right, because you're taking from somebody else is not okay, and that infuriated the people in power, so they threw him into prison. And so Jesus recognizes the political upheaval, and Jesus moves back to Galilee. Jesus moved from Nazareth to make his home in Capernaum, which is by the Lake Galilee, in the land of Zebulon and Natalie, and he did this to make the prophecy of Isaiah come true. Listen, you who live in the land of Zebulon, in the land of Natalie, along the road to the sea and on the other side of the Jordan in Galilee, the land of non-Jewish peoples. So I just want to remind you that when Jesus starts out his ministry, when he starts out doing the things that he's doing, he's going to people outside, he's going to people in the margins, he's going to the people who are not the spiritual elite. He's going to the margins, he's going to the people that were cast off, and he's saying, I have good news. You who spend your days shrouded in darkness can now say, We have seen a brilliant light. And this is for us the hope of Advent and the hope that comes right behind it, Epiphany. We have seen a brilliant light. We, like the Magi, have learned to follow the wisdom, to find the Spirit, and to come to the light that is Christ. And those who live in the dark shadow land of death can now say, the dawning light arises on us. And from that time on, Jesus began to proclaim his message with these words. He goes into the margins, and Jesus begins to speak with these words. Keep turning away from sins. Come back to God. For heaven's kingdom realm is now accessible.

SPEAKER_00: 7:08

You know, I wonder if we can um really wrap our minds around the fact that God wants to help us see in a way that we can't see yet or we can't see now. Um years ago, Heather said to me, after I had an interaction with my daughter when she was a young girl living at home, Heather and I were that she said, uh, you know, your daughter's upstairs crying. And I said, No, that that went quite well, I think. You know, I I told her what you know you know what I needed to say, and I felt like she heard me and that was fine. And Heather goes, I'm telling you. I said, Why were you up there? And she goes, No, I just know. She's up there crying right now. And I said, Well, I'm gonna prove you wrong. And so I went up.

SPEAKER_01: 7:58

Which is never a good plan for anyone, beloved. Don't be busy proving other people.

SPEAKER_00: 8:03

That's the plan of man. And I will prove you wrong. And so I went up uh stairs and I opened the door and her face was buried in the pillow. And I said, Katherine, are you alright? She turned and wiped tears and she said, Yes, I'm fine. And um and then uh I I realized, you know, just how much I'm missing of what's going on right in front of me. Because I was confident I knew a thing. And I would have bet money on it, and I would have told you, I would have passed the lie detector. I'm certain about what I'm certain about. And I bet you you're certain about what you're certain about. But I wonder if Spirit wants to show us a more gentle way, maybe a path without such uh uh roughness, you know, a path of love. And and so this light that God, you know, wants to shine on us, the opening of our eyes, um, really has to come with some sort of acceptance that I need it. Or that maybe I don't know everything that I think that I know. Maybe she is upstairs with a broken heart, and I was much more cruel than I thought I was. Or I could justify to you, well, listen, this is how I said it, and and and by God, is the dead, and this is how I should be able to, or I could let my heart be broken for the hardness that has been developed in there. Amen? And I'm sure I'm the only one here, and so just stretch your hands out towards the pastor, or do all of us maybe have some places where where I wonder if God's knocking at the door. You know, and so that's what we want to look at today is how do we follow Christ? How do we emulate Christ? You know, because I'm kind of convinced that Christ wasn't going staying from house to house and making all the little girls go in their bedroom and cry. Right? So there's a way that we could behave as followers of Christ that would be more Christ-like for all of us, right?

SPEAKER_01: 10:22

The invitation is into a softening. Love is patient, love is kind. Love has its own self-control. Love is not waiting on someone else to control it. Love is gentle. These are the ways of Jesus, and what Jesus keeps offering us is another way, a new path. Keep turning away from your sins and come back to God. In the Gospel of Mary, she offers this return to the good, keep returning to the good. Doesn't matter how far you're on this journey, keep returning, come back to God over and over and over again. Come back to love. Keep turning from sins. And I think that sometimes we get confused about this because we think that there is like a list of sins, and there's things that maybe some of you have to practice have done really well, or some of you, just by your own personality and culture, are better at than someone else. But I want to remind you that sin is an illusion of separation. We see this because Jesus told us about the Father, and Jesus said, God is like a shepherd who leaves 99 and goes after the one. The illusion that this one is left out. That's not true. That is not who God is. God is like the God who, the shepherd who leaves and goes and brings us back from our illusions, from our ideals of separation. And God says, no, come back to the fold. And God is like a woman who loses a coin and tears up the house to find it. And then says to all her neighbors, I found it what I was looking for. Come and celebrate with me. That is really the way of a woman, too. I mean, if you're gonna look for something that's lost, send a woman, but then she's gonna want some celebration afterwards. We found what we were looking for. And Jesus said, That is what God is like, and God is like a father who, when the son decided that it would, he would have a better life away from the father, that he would have a better life away from home, that the father was there looking, waiting for him to turn around and come back. And then the father also said, Let's have a party, let's celebrate, let's have joy together, let's enter into the joy. But Jesus, the way of Jesus is a way of returning from our illusion, from our separation, and continuing a practice of returning to God.

SPEAKER_00: 12:54

You know, and sometimes we get hung up on the idea that God just, you know, because he hates sin, it's all about your behavior, and so then church becomes a behavior modification uh tool for us instead of really to understand that when we choose sin, we choose another path, a path that we're convinced is best for us. And so we're separating ourselves. We're choosing that illusion that separation is somehow better, that somehow there's a plan outside of God that's gonna get me more than the plan that God has. And then there's a surrender to that to say, I don't want to do that. I don't want those things. And God's not keeping a toll. Well, you did it this many times, so you must. It's really just about us allowing our hearts to be changed from a heart that wants only what one wants to what it would be best for all of us. Amen. That oneness is separation, right? It's individuality. I want what I want when I want it. Or can I want what's best for the people that I love?

SPEAKER_01: 14:01

I think it's essential too, just go back onto that part. For now, heaven's kingdom realm is accessible. That this was not a promise. Jesus didn't say, you know, you're gonna live your life, and then when you die, there's gonna be a good reward. Jesus said now, right now, you can experience God's kingdom. And God's kingdom is so close, it's as close as your very breath, that it's here, it's now. You can have joy now. You can be in peace now, you can have the presence of God now. And as he was walking by the shore of Lake Galilee, Jesus noticed two fishermen who were brothers. Now, I remind you, a few verses before, we talked about this last week, they had already heard about Jesus. And I'm not, you know, telling on the story here, you guys know how it goes, but they actually had dinner together and they sat and talked for a long time. It started at four, we don't know what time it ended, but I'm just saying it was a while. And he's walking by the shore and he sees the brothers, one nicknamed Kepha, later called Peter, and the other Andrew, his brother, watching as they were casting their nets into the water. And Jesus called out to them and said, Come and follow me, and I will transform you into men who catch people for God. This has been the plan of Jesus since the very beginning, that we would be transformed. That we who had come to an illusion of separate would be transformed, that we are one, that Jesus has made us one in him, and that abiding in God allows us to live in this freedom. But he goes up to these brothers that he's hung out with, so there's hospitality before, and he's like, Yeah, come and follow me, and I'll change this, I'll transform this. These brothers were employees of Rome. Nobody had free enterprise during Roman occupation. It wasn't like they and their dad had a boat and they could fish and then just sell and make money into what they want. They were conscripted by Rome to fish from this lake, and then all the big fish had to be sent to Rome. And then the little fish, they were allowed to give in, you know, to the people around them to sell them to make money. But it was not a way to uh, again, uh a free market. This is not what they were offered. They were conscripts to a system that was brutal and that was trapping them. And Jesus said, Yeah, follow me, I want to transform you. Jesus didn't say anything about the system, but he said, You, you friends, let me transform you.

SPEAKER_00: 16:43

You know, Heather and I've been watching, uh, we we're uh uh don't watch much TV, but we'll binge watch a show now and again. And we've been now, we've been like in these British uh thriller things or whatever you want to call them, they're espionage. And they're so interesting. And what happens is uh no matter what what happens, there's a guy they gotta follow. And they uh they're they're they're walking behind him and they're acting like they're reading the newspaper with the whole cut out of it, they're doing whatever, and they're following. And inevitably, so that they won't be seen, they're so far away they lose the guy. They were supposed to be following him. He slipped me, or whatever they said. You know, he got our way. They were supposed to follow him. Well, if you follow really far behind, really far away, that's probably gonna happen. But wouldn't it be best if you could just follow real close? And I like it how the Jewish people said that may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi. Do you know what that means when you live in a desert, a dirty place? That when that guy walks, he kicks up dirt. And may you be so close that that dust settles on you before it goes back to the ground. That's close, amen. And so I wonder if following, if we really understand it in our culture, you know, we're we're maybe some of us we're following, but but we're one of those spies that are so far we're trying to not be seen or something. It's okay to get close, amen? It's okay for us to to to uh to really follow, and I think in that following there's uh there's an emulation.

SPEAKER_01: 18:23

Can I can I jump on what you're just saying? Because I don't want to get too close to people that don't like me. I don't want to get too close to people that are gonna judge me. I don't want to get too close to somebody who's already made up their mind that I'm no good. And I wonder how many of us have that idea about what Jesus is or who Jesus is or what God is. Beloved, you are loved. There is nothing you can do to change God's mind about you. And so sometimes I think that I'm wondering if people don't want to follow too closely because what if when Jesus turns around he sees you as less than or lacking? And so sometimes fear keeps us in separation or fear of judgment keeps us from back. And beloved, I'm here to remind you that there is nothing to fear about the love of Christ. I think some things there are missing. We can l we can listen to the witness of scripture and learn about Jesus, but I want to tell you something. Children loved Jesus, so much so that they were always around him, and it made his disciples frustrated. They're interrupting, they're whatever. And Jesus said, No, no, no, you let these people come, these little ones. And he blessed them. And Jesus said, in fact, if you harm one of these, it's better for you to have a millstone put about your neck and be thrown into the sea. Jesus is reframing things either, that we are not to be harmful to children. But this invitation that we have, everybody loved Jesus, particularly people who were marginalized. And so we look to the witness of Scripture and say, if someone who knew that they were excluded wanted to be with Jesus, I promise he wasn't adding to their exclusion. He was in fact saying, I am the way, I am the truth, there is a door, there is a way, there is a love, there is a path that you can enter. And immediately they dropped their nets, left everything behind to follow Jesus. There's a lot in this, and I'll let the Spirit talk to you about what maybe you need to drop or what you need to leave behind in the following of Jesus. Maybe it's a pattern of thinking. Maybe it's a way that you see yourself. Maybe it's a pattern that a way that you feel like the world works. And Jesus is offering to us a way to be transformed, a way to remove the old scaffolding and allow this transformational, this invitation into life in the spirit. Dropping everything and following Jesus. Leaving there, Jesus found three other men sitting in a boat mending their nets. You gotta love this too, because when you find something really good, you do tell your friends, you know? Like a really great taco. Have you ever had a great taco and then just kept it to yourself? No. You gotta tell someone about this really great taco. And I want to tell you, beloved, Jesus is even better than a really good taco. In fact, the scriptures tell us all the time, taste and see that the Lord is good. And so there's other people there, and they're sitting in a boat bending their nets, two brothers, Jacob and John, and they were with their father Zebedee, and Jesus said to Jacob and John at his side, Come and follow me. And this morning I want to remind us that this story tells about that first disciples that are called, but it is also a call to us. That loving Jesus is also looking at you and saying, Follow me. I'll show you how to live. In fact, at one point Jesus said to people as he looked around at them, Are you tired? Are you worn out? Are you burnt out on religion? Come and follow me, and I will show you the unforced rhythms of grace. I will show you how to live freely and lightly. Beloved, this is the plan of Jesus that we would find ways to follow Jesus and that we would live in these unforced rhythms of grace, in the following of Jesus, that we ourselves would be freed from heavy burdens, from ill-fitting yokes. Jesus says at the following of this, I'm not gonna put anything heavy on you. That's a relief right there. I don't know what your favorite Bible verse is, but that's one of mine. He's not gonna put anything heavy on you. Now, I know that there are people who like to put heavy things on as long as they can take them off. They know when that's coming off. Your little ruck vest or your lift your heavy weights. But this idea of sometimes we feel like there is a heaviness that has been gifted to us by the world, by our cultures, by our families, and that's yours just now to walk with the rest of your life. And Jesus said, Come to me and I'm gonna show you how to live fully. Beloved, this is the transformational power of Christ, that we would be able to live in our humanity, uh aware of the divinity within us, made in the very image of God, but that we would be people who live in both realms.

SPEAKER_00: 23:40

You know, uh, if you ask Silas after church about the best taco, he's gonna talk to you about uh going to Las Vegas. What's the name of the place, Silas?

unknown: 23:50

Taco Gordo.

SPEAKER_00: 23:51

Taco Gordo. I'm telling you, church. It's life-changing. We we were in Las Vegas three days and we ate there two days. So that's awesome. And I I think, you know, the with the joy that he'll share that with you is because of the experience and what it's done, you know. And I want that for you that that you share Christ with that same enthusiasm.

SPEAKER_01: 24:15

We pause here for a moment to thank you for joining us today. If you're finding this episode meaningful, would you take a moment to share it with a friend? This podcast is made possible thanks to the generosity of people just like you. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church and the continued work of our podcast, visit us online at firstlovechurch.org, reminding you to like, follow, and subscribe.

SPEAKER_00: 24:42

Has anyone ever went fishing and used an open bale reel? Rod and reel. You're supposed to, you know, if you're doing this right, you keep your thumb on that lightly and you cast it and you let that go out, and then you press down as it goes to the end, and then every that and theoretically it all works out fine. But inevitably, you don't press down hard enough, and at that momentum, when the the weight stops, that bale just keeps going, and you look down and you have a nest, and there's not a single person in here that if you were honest, you or your family of origin or your selfishness or stuff that's happened to you has made your life that bale of twisted. And there's not one of us. Some are a little more untwisted than others, but you're all twisted. And what happens is somebody's standing over there and they start getting because you'll get some string out. You'll start tugging. And I this is the way I do it. I just grab one that looked interesting and start pulling it and see what happens. And sometimes it makes it tighter, and sometimes it begins to loosen up a little bit, and then I go, Oh, look at me. I got the secret to life. Now let me be the teacher. And that's what we do. Some of us think we're called to be teachers because we grabbed a string and got a few feet unloose of this knot. And so now we're your teacher. And you looked and you said, Well, they got further than me, so I'll listen. We're all to be followers of Christ. All of us. We're all students. Now I can learn from other students, but I need to keep that in perspective. We are not your teachers. We're on this road following him. Last year, you should have seen the knot. And just because I got a little string, I'm not going to stand up here and proclaim how great I am. How great I art. Not. But I want you to see that other people can show us how to pull a little bit, but we need to trust God, who's the one who untangles that. And that's just it, because I'm going to guess, you're going to give me your best guess of what string to pull. But the truth is, only God knows how that's going to get unwound. And that's where we need to put our trust in. And I can't see what that next step is, where it needs to be pulled, where it needs to be done. Because sometimes things get pried out of my hands that I did not want to let go of. And then a year or so later I look at that and go, oh, it makes perfect sense. Look at the freedom that's come from that. I didn't realize. I said five years ago, you'll pry the keys out of that 63 Galaxy convertible out of my cold dead hands. That's the car I've always wanted. And I will die with that thing. And it was killing me. Every time I go out, more rust is falling off the frame, the tires are flat, the starter won't work, the alternated needs are, you know, I mean, just. And all of a sudden I got the idea. I wonder what it what freedom would be if I let that go. And as I've sold that church, I have not looked back for a second. That I'm free from the thing I thought was going to bring me satisfaction. Because I don't know that not. And you don't either. But I just feel like if we see, as we continue to follow, we're going to have to lay down some stuff. And we're like, oh poor me, I can't do that. I can't have that anymore. Yeah, you can't have that thing that was causing you torment, distraction, shame, depression. No, I'm sorry you can't have that. But I want it. Say one more thing and then I'll shut up. I used to hang my guitars in my bedroom on the wall, and I'd walk around. I remember I had Nathaniel was just born. And he walked by my Les Paul and went, I want it. I'm like, no. Because you did not know how to handle that. And then I was thinking about that, and I realized that's me. I'm constantly. I want it. Now nobody else is like this. But I'm looking at everything in this world. I want it. I want it. Give it to me to make me happy. But it's not. No. God's gonna say, no, that's not what you need right now.

SPEAKER_01: 30:01

In the Celtic tradition, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is also known as Mary, the untire of knots. And I love that. Because that is an invitation for all of us to follow in the way that Mary did. How can Christ be born in us? How can this be untied because we give up the tight grasp that we have onto all these things? How do we open our hands and consent to the Holy Spirit and say, Be it unto me according to your word? This is how we untie the knots. We follow in the way of Jesus. And once they had left their boat and their father, they began to follow Jesus. And Jesus ministered from place to place throughout all the province of Galilee. Which again, we remember, these are all the non-Jewish people. These are all the people who are outside, these are all the margins, these are all the people who are not considered the elite, these are the people who do not fit. And Jesus ministered from place to place throughout all the province of Galilee, and he taught in the synagogues, preaching the hope of the kingdom realm and healing every kind of sickness and disease among the people. This is who God is. God is healer, love heals us, love comes to us, love the ultimate power, but love without any force, love with no coercion, love who offers. Jesus offers this beautiful plan and says, I want you to follow me. I want you to pay attention to how I'm living and how Jesus lives is being healing to the world. Now you might say, Oh, I'm not a miracle worker, I can't do this, but we do, beloved, have ways to heal people. People who suffer from isolation, we can be the healing power of Christ. People who suffer from feeling alone, we can offer friendship. We have so much power at our disposal, we forget that we are miracle workers in the following of Christ. He taught in the synagogues, preaching the hope of the kingdom realm. The kingdom is not for when you die, the kingdom is for now. God's kingdom with us. Your kingdom come, your way of living. Change the way that we see things so that we can live differently. We can choose differently and healing every kind of sickness among the people.

SPEAKER_00: 32:36

Do you know heaven doesn't need fixed? And so we have this idea we're gonna go to that kingdom where everything's gonna be alright. And you will, but what about this kingdom? How much does this kingdom need fixed? And we have a God who wants to usurp this false authority. You know, come against this system that brings such pain. And how else would he do it besides using his followers? But I need to know how to do that. I need to follow close, I need to see what Christ did, what Christ said, how Christ responded to people, how he lived. And I want to live that way. I want to radically affect this kingdom for God. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

SPEAKER_01: 33:35

The way that we do that is we live in love. We choose to stay connected to love at all times. We choose to give up our way of doing things, we choose to give up our plans for vengeance, and we allow God to tell the story. We choose to do what Jesus did, to feed people, to encourage people, to offer belonging. When people felt left out, Jesus set a table for them over and over again. Jesus washed the feet of people. He included and he said, This is what it looks like to really live connected to the knowing that you are beloved. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and beloved, Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit as well. And said, You will have a teacher, a comforter, you will have an instructor, you'll know what to do if you can listen for the voice of Spirit. In every situation, you can ask yourself, is this healing? Or is this harmful? If it's harmful, beloved, don't do it. Put it down, walk away. But if it can offer healing, then ask the spirit, is this mine today? I also want to remind you that sometimes systems in our world also help us to see things and to see them differently. One of the things that I know is I am not a doctor. I didn't know if you knew this. I don't even play one on TV. I'm not a doctor. And so while there's some wisdom that I can, if a doctor tells you something, you should listen to the doctor. You should listen to somebody who has more authority. And this invitation is sometimes you don't need to go around telling people everything that you know. It's a real blessing, probably, if you don't. It could be more healing if you just were quiet. Maybe you could just bring your presence. Maybe make chicken soup. Maybe don't talk a lot. Jesus showed us how to live freely and lightly, and he showed us that it was going to be together. The way of Jesus is through community. The way of Jesus is through being a part of something that promises that even when systems and governments are not changing, people are invited into this transforming power where the world changes because we change, because of what we are invited into. And following Jesus looks like saying to yourself before you say anything. I wonder if Jesus would say this to them. Just pause for a minute, just for a second, and ask. I wonder if Jesus would do this, behave like this. And I know we have to use our holy imaginations because there was no internet, so the Bible does not tell us how to do that, and that's why we need the Spirit. How do we live in equity to all people? How do we not just take everything for us? How do we live generously? How do we live in the realm of God's kingdom? If we talk about God's kingdom, there are no suffering children in God's kingdom. I just want you to know that. The suffering is here because we created it. And God's inviting us. Live in another kingdom, act differently, take care of each other. The invitation of Jesus is into finding ways to be more loving. And in that we find ways that we are more ourselves. This is who we are. We are made from love. God is love. And when we practice these kind of loving things, not only loving ourselves but loving the world, this is the way of Jesus.

SPEAKER_00: 37:20

Haven't I have this thing where we're just kind of like mirrored? Is that loving? Is that kind? You know, just kind of ask yourself, and and like even after I've said something, you know, it uh it echoes. You know, and I'm sitting there, and I I I often will say, you know, I heard it too. In the silence, I'll say, I've heard it too. That was not loving, that was not kind. You know, we talked a few weeks ago about you know having judgments on on people, and just how uh that is probably a thing that you know you got tangled up into from your family of origin or whatever. Uh just part of human growth too. We put names on things and labels everything, and so we we do that with people so much of the time. And and we talked about how we were gonna commit to not do that at church a couple weeks ago, and then there I was in the house, and I just let off a big statement about somebody. And then I I told her that I heard that too. And I and I think I say that just maybe that might help you too to be able to just have those little things. Like, well, is it loving? And if not, we don't want to be a part of it. We don't want that a part of our lives. That's not that's not loving, that's not kind. Can you imagine just allowing that to be a filter for you? To me, it's been tremendously helpful. So I I just share that with you. So it's been beautiful.

SPEAKER_01: 38:57

In Luke chapter 6, Jesus is telling the people about God. Love your enemies. That's a hard one. There are enemies for a reason. Sometimes you don't even say someone's your enemy, they name themselves as your enemy. Like they brought that here. Do good to them, beloved. Love them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. I think Jesus just pushed a little bit there. I feel like that's a push. Now we're gonna give them things that are ours. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High. Beloved, this is the goal for all of us that we would act like our Father, that we would ourselves know how loved we are, and that we would behave like God behaves, for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. God is kind, beloved. God is kind, and as God's children, we ourselves are supposed to be kind to the world, but then also to ourselves. Kindness toward ourselves as well. Kindness toward the world. Love your enemies. Do good. This is the way of God, beloved. This is the way of Jesus. In case someone got it wrong and you were following the one time, this was years ago, before GPS. Thank the Lord for the woman who came up with GPS. God bless her. And it was a woman, you can look it up. A beautiful black woman. She just died, but she invented the GPS that we use today. Thank I am so grateful for her. This was a long time before then, and um we were we were driving across country, and this was before cell phones, too. So again. In a car on the interstate, across the country. I just want to tell you one sad part of the story. I was following what I thought was him, and it was not. It was also another silver car, and I was following them for hours. Yeah, I know. Thank you for being horrified, as I was. And I wonder, I wonder how many of you are following somebody else's version of God that's not. Maybe it's the same color, but it is not who Jesus is.

SPEAKER_00: 41:17

Come on. That's good preach.

SPEAKER_01: 41:20

Beloved. Jesus says God is kind to everyone. Jesus tells us to love our enemies. When I realized it wasn't that I wasn't following the right person, I was really afraid. I didn't know where I was. I had no way to call anyone. There was no cell phones. I had to pull over. And then I had to figure out like who I could call to leave a message because maybe if he called them, it was a nightmare in my mind. Now I'm here today, beloved. We worked it out, we found ourselves. But that moment of recognizing I was not following who I need to follow was very scary. And I want to encourage you today, if you were following someone that you thought looked like Jesus but was not, I remind you of the story where Jesus comes for those who are lost, for those who can't figure out how to get back. We have a God who is looking for us. God like a woman who goes looking for the coin. Wherever you are, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, the presence of Jesus is available for you to connect again to, for you to find that GPS, that spirit thing, and go, this is who I am following. I am following the way of Jesus.

SPEAKER_00: 43:10

And people, men get put in leadership for a lot of different reasons. They're wealthy, they're charismatic, you know, there's nepotism. It's not always because God put them there. And so many of the times we look, well, they're the leader, so I'm just gonna do it. And there's a real humility. And you looking at that and going, I see that that's not Christ-like. And I'm not gonna run them down and go down that path criticizing. But I'm gonna look at that and go, that's not for me and my family. We're not going to follow somebody that's not Christ-like. If it walks like a duck, cracks like a duck, it's probably a duck. And when you see people's behavior, they they show you who they are. So we can call it all kinds of Christianity if we want to, but when it's not loving, it's not laying down the life for the it's not gentle. The church is not Jesus.

SPEAKER_01: 44:31

In John chapter 3, verse 17, God said, The text tells us, for God so loved the world that God sent Jesus. Because of God's love for you, God sent a path, a way, a light. And the invitation is that you would follow the light. And the light that is already in you. The spirit that already tells you, no, that's not right. No, you know that's not loving. The spirit that already tells you that God's kingdom, that God's realm is bigger than we could have even imagined. And during this time of Epiphany, I am so hopeful that the spirit will re-enchant the text for us and that we'll be able to see the hope that is here. One of the things that Jesus did and Jesus asked us to do was to celebrate together the breaking of bread. And what we as followers of Jesus do is every time we're together, we retell the story. And we tell the story with our whole bodies. I love that about Jesus because there are those of us who don't listen really well just with our ears. And there are some of us who would rather be doing and that tells the story. And there are some of us who are impatient and we don't want to wait for anyone else to hear the story, and that's why we have like a line in communion where you wait for someone else to receive the story. And what we enter into is a holy mystery, that there is something supernatural about the doing. I remind you of a story in the Old Testament where a man needs to be healed and he has leprosy, and there is nothing that he or the doctors can do. He needs a miracle. And the prophet tells him to go and to dip in the river. And he goes, No, I don't. That's dirty. That's not even a river. I have better rivers where I came from. I don't want to do that. And I wonder if the word of the Lord has come to us and said, do this. And we're like, ugh, I don't want to do that. Love your enemies. This is where the healing comes. Love your neighbors. I love the text because we're always looking for a workaround. Then who's my neighbor? Everyone is your neighbor, beloved. We're all neighbors. Everyone, no one is not a neighbor. We're all neighbors. Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 47:08

Isn't that like the attitude of, you know, that's beneath me?

SPEAKER_01: 47:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 47:14

To do, you know, like uh I I should be I should be saved for something amazing. Like uh, you know, being on TV or something, or what about just you know, going and washing in that dirty river? Wherever it is.

SPEAKER_01: 47:31

So the man who ha who is vulnerable needs the miracle. Says, no, I'm not gonna do that. And then there's a slave girl with him, says a lot about the guy. And she says, if he asked you to do something really hard, wouldn't you have done that? Then maybe doing this. And he changes his mind and he goes and dips in the river. And I do love the intention of the teller of the story, because it's not just one dip. He has to dip seven times before he's healed. Just imagine the frustration on six. I bet he was saying, I knew this wasn't going to work. I knew this was not going to do what you said it was going to do. And I don't know how much coaching he had, like from the sides. Like, were people going, please, just one more time? I don't know what kind of encouragement he had. But on the seventh time, he comes up and his skin is clear. He has received a miracle. We hope you've enjoyed this week's sermon. If you would like more information about us, visit us online at firstlovechurch.org.