WEBVTT 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.320 I'm the pastor here at Medichurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.920 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:34.880 Hi, my name is Yvette Betis, and I am the life team leader for Soul Squad here at MetaCurch. 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:38.719 One of the things I love about Meta is a sense of belonging. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:43.359 Just walking in the doors, the welcoming feeling that you get when you walk in. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:45.200 I feel like I belong here. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:52.479 So I was already part of a life team, and I decided that I wanted to have my own life team. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:59.759 So I just wanted to grow friendships, grow have my church family basically, and that's basically what we are. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:01.679 We're a church family. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:13.280 It was very important to us to serve in the community any capacity that we could, and we ended up deciding that we wanted to serve at Ethnos Ministries where we do our service. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:19.599 So the organization, they're actually in a community, you know, in the west side of San Antonio. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:21.840 They reach out to Afghan families. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:25.359 So these are families that are, some of them are basically in hiding. 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:32.959 They help their children, they give them clothes, they help with household items, anything that people in the community need. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:39.760 And so the first time we went, we helped uh with the distribution of goods that were donated to them. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.280 It's really humbling, and we really have fallen in love with serving there. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:52.719 I think it's important for people to serve in their community, especially as a church, because to show God's love and grace. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.760 I mean, I that I think is the ultimate. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:01.760 All right, MetaCurch, how you guys doing? 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:02.719 Yeah. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:06.719 Wanna welcome you guys in. 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:09.199 Man, I have loved every week of the series. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:13.039 We have a video showing what you guys are doing. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:23.039 These are just real people in this movement who sit right alongside you in Sunday services that are out there, not just meeting together like we learned in week one, out there moving together. 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:25.680 Also, just shout out to our life teams. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:36.319 If you are not in community with other like-minded people trying to live out their faith, make sure you go to Connect After Service and find out more about our life teams. 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:39.840 We are in week three of our made two series. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:42.240 If you're new with us, I'm so glad you joined us today. 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:43.360 My name is Clayton. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:45.280 I'm the lead pastor at MetaCurch. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:54.879 What we're doing in this seven-week series is we're looking at the seven values that have guided and formed our movement since day one of MetaCurch. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:59.120 In week one, we saw that we were made to meet together and move together. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.199 That is the simplest definition of church. 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:05.680 In week two, we saw that we were made to live with the end in mind. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:11.520 This is the key perspective shift that will make you powerful as a follower of Jesus. 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:18.960 And today, as we move into week three, we are gonna answer the question of how we live out the rest of these values. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:22.560 What is the key behavior that should guide us today? 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:26.560 We're gonna see that we were made to love unconditionally. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:29.599 We were made to love unconditionally. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:36.800 One of the most pressing issues that is damaging the movement of Jesus is getting this value wrong. 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:40.800 The value of actually loving the world around us. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:48.719 I mentioned last week that Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as saying, I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:52.800 Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:59.680 I like Jesus, I'm good with him, I just don't love the Jesus followers because they don't appear anything like him. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:01.439 And it's a really startling statement. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:06.560 I like Christ, but not your Christians, because Christian literally means a little Christ. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:11.759 We learned last week that our purpose is to be an ambassador of Christ. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:14.639 That is what you sign up for when you put your faith in Jesus. 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:20.480 An ambassador is sent by someone and they represent that person. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.879 We actually represent Jesus to the rest of the world around us. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:27.680 You're the only Bible many people are ever gonna read. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:31.519 You're the only Jesus that they're ever gonna have any contact with. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:37.439 And when we get that wrong, it is a reflection not only on his church, but on Jesus himself. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:40.800 And we can know logically that that's not fair. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:56.079 You know, like if you own a company and you hire an employee who goes out and really treats some clients terribly, it doesn't mean you're a bad leader, and it doesn't even mean you have a bad company, but that client will believe that based on your representative. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:04.079 It's not a big leap in logic for someone to be treated terribly by a Christian and reflect that back on the God of Christianity. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:09.920 And you know this because many of us at MetaCurch come here with a lot of church hurt ourselves. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:14.560 We were hurt by people who stood in the name of Jesus and didn't act anything like Jesus. 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:23.199 We could echo the sentiment of Mahatma Gandhi saying, Man, I like the idea of this Jesus guy, just everyone I know associated with him keeps treating me like crap. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:26.399 It's not a huge leap for us to make. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:28.879 And we're talking about unconditional love. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:36.079 Jesus is such an interesting character when you study his life because no one had as high of a standard as Jesus. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:43.839 Like Jesus came and he raised all of the standards, even of the incredibly strict religious environment that he was in. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:50.000 Like the Pharisees and scribes, the religious leaders, they couldn't believe how high his expectations were. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:58.879 And yet, at the very same time, the people in society who were the furthest from meeting those standards flocked to Jesus. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:01.920 They were drawn to him like a magnet. 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:14.480 He never compromised on holiness or righteousness or repentance, changing your mind and changing your behaviors, and yet his deep love for people drew them in, drew them close. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:19.360 Unconditional love is something like meeting people exactly where they are. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:21.759 And that's very different than what religion says. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:32.240 Religion says you clean up your act, you break all your bad habits, you get all your relationships right, you start looking the right way and sounding the right way and giving the right way and thinking the right way. 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:37.360 And when you've checked all of the boxes, then you can come in and be in relationship with us. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:43.439 Jesus met people exactly where they were, no matter how far from God that might be. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:52.720 Unconditional love meets you right where you are, but true unconditional love seeks to not leave you right where you are. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:07:03.199 And here's the issue in the church today, and here's the issue among Christians today, is that we have picked only one side of the unconditional love equation and gone to the extremes of it. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:10.399 And so there is one side that stands in their fundamentalism and their judgmentalism, and they're all about behavioral control. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:28.000 And so they will manipulate you to make sure that you don't stay where you are, they will control you to make sure that you change your behavior, they will coerce you, they will use fear and they will use judgment, they will go to the people around you, including your family members, to put pressure on you to try and get you to change. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:35.439 And every time I talk about this side of the equation, I see a lot of nodding heads because you've been to that church and you've sat under that leader and you know what it's like. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:46.959 And some of you still bear the scars of people who only have one side of the equation, and yet, just as dangerous and just as deadly are people who go to the other extreme. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:52.240 They meet you right where you are, but they also leave you right where you are. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:08:05.199 And they're very seeker sensitive, and then anyone feels good coming in, but they can't figure out why their anxiety never goes away and their relationships never get better, and they never feel closer to God, and the Holy Spirit's never unleashed in their life, because yes, they're all out in. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:20.399 There's no judgmentalism here, but they won't preach about sin and they won't preach about repentance, and they won't tell you what God actually thinks about how you're treating your spouse, and they won't give you any kind of processes or procedures to break out of the habits that are keeping you from unleashing the purposes of God on your life. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:40.159 And so you have the two extremes, and you maybe have experienced both of them at different parts, and Jesus stands dead center, uncompromising, the highest standard imaginable, and yet the deepest love and willingness to meet you exactly where you are, so that people are drawn in and attracted to him. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:49.279 And here's the key: Jesus will meet you exactly where you are, and he's desperate for you to not stay where you are, but he gives you the choice. 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:52.879 No coercion, no manipulation. 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:59.519 You don't change for Jesus out of fear, you change out of awe and inspiration of his love. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:08.559 And so we are called to be the representatives of Christ, to live and love like Jesus lived and loved. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:23.679 And so typically, what I would do in a sermon like this is I would take one of the moments where Jesus meets with someone who's broken and battered, who's living on the fringes of society, marginalized and show his love to them, and we would deep dive into that. 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:28.480 But as I was preparing for this a few months ago, I got inspired. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:32.320 It was like I heard, don't tell one story. 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:34.399 Tell them all. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:37.120 So everybody get comfortable. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:38.879 We're gonna be here for a minute, you know. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:45.039 I'm not actually gonna tell them all, and to be completely honest, last service I ran out of time and I had to cut the story of Zacchaeus. 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:47.440 He's a wee little man, but he's a pretty long story, okay? 00:09:47.600 --> 00:10:00.879 I'm gonna tell a lot of stories, a lot of instances of Jesus meeting with normal, everyday, regular, broken people like you and like me, and instead of deep diving one story, I hope to put together a tapestry of stories, and here's why. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:08.320 Because if I tell one story, you might be able to exempt yourself from it or not be able to find yourself in it. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:21.759 But in this tapestry of stories, if you're paying attention and if you're willing, if you're honest and if you're humble, I believe you will find yourself in one, if not many, of these encounters with Jesus. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:27.440 And we have to be careful to always read ourselves into scripture, you know, like we're always the hero of the story. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:36.879 Today, what I want you to do is I want you to see Jesus' love for you mirrored in the lives of the people that Jesus is demonstrating his love to in scripture. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:44.080 And here's why Living and loving like Jesus, as Jesus followers, that is our aspiration. 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:45.840 Say the word aspiration. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:47.120 Aspiration. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.840 That is our aspiration, it's what we desire. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:58.720 But I believe that to get to our aspiration, we must first come under the inspiration of seeing how much Jesus loves us. 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:06.720 And scripture backs me up on this because scripture says we love because Jesus first loved us. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:14.879 Our capacity to love is in direct proportion to our capacity to understand how much Jesus loves us. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:16.559 Would you pray with me? 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:26.320 Jesus, as we get into your word and we read these incredible stories about you, I pray you would be more than just uh just a character in the narratives we're telling. 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:29.919 Jesus, we believe that you're here with us in this room. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:33.200 We're not just preaching about you, we are conversing with you. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:49.919 Holy Spirit, you are moving in this room, and I pray that we would be open to anything you want to show us, and that today, every person under the sound of my voice in this room and online, every person would get a new, deeper glimpse of your great love for us. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:51.519 We pray it all in your name, Jesus. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:52.399 Amen. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:12:03.600 At the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, in fact, this is just moments after calling his very first disciples, he was approached by a leper, a man with leprosy. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:11.840 Now, this is a disease we're not super familiar with because it's basically been eradicated in our modern world, but leprosy was terrible. 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:15.759 This was a disease that would kill all of the nerves throughout your body. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:24.480 And eventually, because you had no nerves, if you cut your hand open or bit your lip or bit your tongue, or snag something on your leg, you wouldn't know. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:30.000 Eventually, people's bodies would literally begin to rot and decay right off of them. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:32.960 Now, this is a pre-scientific, pre-medical world. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:35.039 They didn't understand how diseases spread. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:40.799 All they knew is that leprosy would spread through proximity and touch. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:43.360 Proximity and touch. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:58.480 And so as soon as leprosy was discovered on you, whether you were 50 years old or five years old, you were removed from your community, which meant you were removed from your home, which meant you were removed from your family. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:01.919 You now lived outside of the city limits. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:04.559 Most people would live in a leper colony. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:08.639 You would be the most marginalized person in society. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:11.279 People were terrified of you. 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:14.960 You were a monster for all intents and purposes. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:21.039 In many villages, they would have lepers wear bells around their neck just to make sure you could hear them coming. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:31.679 And it was by law that if you had leprosy and came within any stretch of other people, you had to cry out, unclean, unclean. 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:35.200 So everybody knew that you were near. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:42.720 This was a life of deep sadness and the constant reminder that you were the unclean of society. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:49.600 In Luke chapter 5, it says, While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man was there who had leprosy all over him. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:50.960 This is a bad case. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:14:00.080 He saw Jesus, he fell face down, and he begged him, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:04.480 As soon as there is a leper, I don't think this is an exaggeration. 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:12.879 I think a leper approaching your group would be like synonymous with someone with a drawn gun approaching you and your group. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:17.440 You're like, hey, hey, calm down, calm down, you're good, you're good. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:25.840 You would freak out for someone with leprosy to be coming towards you, and yet this person has heard of the power of Jesus. 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:28.000 It's very interesting what he asks. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:38.960 He doesn't say, if you're able to, if you have the power to, if you can summon the spiritual force to, it's like he already assumes all of that. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:43.200 He just wonders if Jesus is willing to. 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:50.559 Now, if we're gonna make it to our aspiration to live in love like Jesus, we first have to find the inspiration of how Jesus actually feels about us. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:59.200 And I don't know about you, but there are times where I have felt very, very dirty before God. 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:06.240 Fully aware of my own sin at a level that no one but God knows. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:18.000 I think that sometimes people have a desire to believe in Jesus, and at some level in their heart, in their mind, they believe that he's real. 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:24.320 They actually believe maybe that Jesus has the power to save them, the power to heal them, the power to restore them. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:27.279 He's all good and all powerful and almighty. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:30.799 You just know how unclean you are. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:35.440 And so you wonder whether or not he's willing. 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:39.120 If you are willing. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:45.279 In verse 13, reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, I am willing. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:46.720 Be made clean. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:49.519 And immediately the leprosy left him. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:16:02.399 This really stands out, and we learn a lot from what Jesus does here because we know throughout the rest of Jesus' time that there are situations where Jesus does miracles and they're long distance miracles. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:14.480 There's a time where a soldier comes to him and one of his servants is sick, and he wants Jesus to heal him, and Jesus says, Alright, I'll come out to the house, and he goes, I have faith, you can heal him from here. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.399 And Jesus is like, Nah, you're right. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:18.480 Heals him long distance. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:22.159 You know what that means. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:26.159 He didn't have to touch the leopard. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:29.440 He could have stood at a distance. 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:32.720 He could have healed him from across town. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.799 He could have sent him back to his colony, he could have sent him back to the fringes. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:40.000 And you're really making everyone uncomfortable. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:41.279 You head home. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:42.960 I promise, I will heal you. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:47.840 Get out of the city limits so we can all feel comfortable. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:53.440 You know, all of us clean, all of us clean people, so we can feel comfortable. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.879 Jesus with intention approached him. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:01.279 You know somebody said something. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:04.799 If nobody else, you know Peter said something, you know. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:08.319 Jesus, hands in your pockets, Jesus. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:15.759 He reaches out and he touches him. 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.119 He needs him exactly where he is. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.759 That's what unconditional love does in verse 14. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:30.799 Then he ordered him to tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:35.200 The first thing he sends him to do is to make a sacrifice to God. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:43.519 I'm not healing you just for you to get your life back, just for you to get your family back, just for you to get your relationship back. 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:44.720 I'm healing you. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:49.920 Not just to meet you where you are, but to move you towards who you were created to be. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:55.440 We don't have leprosy in the modern world, but there is a saying that is stuck with us. 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:59.039 And you know, if you're young, you might not use this, but your parents probably used it. 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:07.519 When like you get fired, you know, and then none of your old coworkers will talk to you, there is a saying, like, man, treat me like a leper, you know? 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:11.759 After the divorce, that whole side of the family, they treat me like a leper. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:18.079 Like after the falling out, after the mistake, after you get found out, after it comes to light. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:24.400 It's just saying, like, obviously to them, I'm unclean now. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:27.599 They won't come within a hundred yards of me now. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:29.839 They're not returning a text now. 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:32.160 Treating me like a leper. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:44.799 And so many people, because of where you've been, because of your history, because of who you've hurt, because of what people have convinced you about who God is, you believe that that's how God sees you. 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:48.079 Unclean, dirty, marginalized. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:51.759 A story I hear all the time, I love this story, from so many of you. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:59.920 I've heard you say, man, the first time I ever came to Sunday service, I told my homeboy, as soon as I walk in, this whole place is gonna catch on fire. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:01.519 So many of you have said that. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:02.640 Come in here. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:09.680 At some level, you're like, I'm not about God because God's not about me. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:14.400 And maybe you'll begin to see yourself in the story. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.240 You can't be dirtier than a leper. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:22.400 You can't be more marginalized than a leper. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:39.680 And maybe Jesus is here today, and he's not just willing to come close, he's not just willing to reach out, he is willing and able to touch you, to meet you where you are, to heal you, to save you, and to give you a chance of moving towards who he created you to be. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:41.279 Now we're building a tapestry. 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:47.119 It's one thing for Jesus to meet this guy, heal him, get him on with his life, a guy he's never gonna see again. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:49.119 This guy's gonna do his own thing now. 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:56.000 It's very different for the people that Jesus is selecting to come and stand by him and walk with him for three years. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:59.599 Jesus hasn't picked his whole squad at this point in scripture. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:10.160 And you know, all 12 of his disciples, we could like dig into all 12 of them, and all of them say something about the love of Jesus because none of these are first round draft picks. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:13.759 There is not a Victor Wimbenyama in the whole lot, okay? 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.000 These guys don't make the draft, okay? 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:23.279 They're these are like everyone that Jesus picked, everyone paying attention was like, that was a weird pick. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:27.920 You know, like some fishermen, some uneducated, some zealots, some this and that. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:30.799 Nothing was crazier than the call of Matthew. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:40.240 In Matthew chapter 9, as Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, Follow me, and he got up and followed him. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.759 We think of tax collectors as not our favorite people, you know. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:51.359 Like, I feel like I could spend my money better than the government could probably spend my money, you know. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:57.680 But there's no comparison to like an IRS agent today and a tax collector in ancient Israel. 00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:12.799 In ancient Israel, they had been occupied by Rome, which means the Roman Empire, who was constantly expanding its territory, came into Israel, took them captive, took away their autonomy, took away much of their freedom, kept them under their oppressive thumb. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:33.039 And after all that happened, after their pride and their national instinct and their heritage and identity, after that was subsumed by the evil Roman Empire, after that, some of their own agreed to collect taxes for the enemy. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:36.480 Some of their own took a buyout. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:40.000 Tax collectors were traitors. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:44.000 Not only that, but almost all of them were fraudulent. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:48.000 It's like you have already lost every friend and relative you'll ever have. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.680 Why not charge everyone a little bit extra and pocket the difference? 00:21:52.319 --> 00:22:06.400 They were known as like prostitutes to Rome, selling their soul, selling out their country just to make a Okay, so they're like criminal, traitor, fraudulent prostitutes. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:14.319 That's who Jesus calls to come and be one of his twelve closest friends and followers. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:21.680 People would write poems and sing songs about like slowly murdering tax collectors, okay? 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:24.240 This is the reputation they have. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:29.680 Odds are the eleven other disciples were like, he called who? 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:44.480 And the craziest thing happens in verse 10, while Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:47.039 Everyone hates the tax collectors. 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:48.880 Everyone hates them. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.400 They have distanced themselves from their society. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:54.880 They're not allowed in the synagogue. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.119 They're on the fringes of the fringes of society. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:05.599 Jesus calls one, shows love to one. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:10.640 And all of a sudden his house is full of them. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:26.960 You know, when uh when we were starting Metachur, I had another friend, and he was starting a church, and he was really frustrated because he couldn't figure out how to get enough Christians to come to his new church to fund the ministry. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:34.880 And he was very frustrated because he bought into this idea that exists in the church world that when you start a church, you focus first on church people. 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:43.440 You know, like people who walk into a church and assume that they belong in the church, not people who walk into the church waiting for lightning to strike, okay? 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:48.799 And I tried to describe to him, like, look, man, there's, you know, two million people in our city. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:57.920 And out of those two million, there's like 20,000 church people who just know that they know that they belong in the in the pews. 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:03.519 And what are there maybe a thousand churches in town? 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:09.200 All fishing for the same tiny percentage of people in our city. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:19.359 I said, dude, if you trust God and just throw your line into the millions of people who are convinced that if they walked into your building, the whole thing would catch on fire. 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:42.559 If you would just believe God that if you go after the people who don't know that there are churches like MetaCurch that exist, that are focused completely on making a place where you can come, where you can belong before you believe, where you can wrestle with the biggest questions of life, faith, and spirituality, where you walk in, not only does it not catch on fire, everyone there loves you, everyone there cares about you, the message is relevant to you. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:54.559 You start to understand Jesus came for the tax collectors and sinners of this world, and all of a sudden your church, your movement will be overrun with people who are looking for hope. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:25:01.200 Nothing can stop the movement of Jesus except Christians who forget what it's actually about. 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:12.720 Satan cannot stand in the way, hell cannot stand in the way, governments cannot stand in the way, only Christians who forget their assignments. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:19.279 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:22.319 In verse 12, Jesus was like, Y'all aren't very good at whispering. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:27.839 He said, It's not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:29.440 Go and learn what this means. 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:36.720 I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I didn't come to call the righteous, I came to call the sinners. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:57.200 So not only if you are the unclean, the marginalized, the left out, the looked over, not only if you have made the decisions where you have betrayed some who love you, where you have sold out to build your own kingdom, to make yourself your own God, you've turned your back not only on God, but the people who love you. 00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:07.119 Not only will he meet you and touch you and heal you, but he will call you and commission you to come alongside of him, like he did for Matthew. 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:12.400 Jesus isn't in the business of handing out consolation prizes. 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:24.880 He's in the business of handing out assignments to the broken, jacked up, messy people among us who are ready to trust that his love for us is real and his call for us is true. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:31.200 We've seen Jesus meet with a man with leprosy, touch the untouchable, heal him. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.839 We've seen Jesus meet and call to follow him. 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:42.319 Matthew, the tax collector, the criminal, traitorous, defrauder, prostitute, calling him to be one of his inner twelve. 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:48.640 And now we see Jesus interacting with a woman, a woman who is in dire straits. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:27:01.599 And John 4 says, Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sikarar, and near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph, and Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well, and it was about noon. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:05.359 And a woman of Samaria came to draw water. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:07.759 Give me a drink, Jesus said to her. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:10.160 Okay, now we have like a triple threat here. 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:12.160 Because number one, she's a woman. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:16.720 This is 2,000 years ago, there was nowhere on earth that women were seen as equals. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:22.319 And for a rabbi to be in conversation with a random woman was actually quite controversial. 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:31.359 Not only that, but she is a Samaritan woman, and Jesus ethnically is Jewish, and the Jewish people and the Samaritan people hate each other. 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:32.960 They revile each other. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:36.960 I mean, they are like in this constant, centuries-long feud. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:46.000 And she's a woman who's a Samaritan woman who is drawing her water from the well at noon. 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:58.480 You know, those of you who are like still in the dating game, I know most of this is happening on apps, but you know, there are certain things that maybe someone sends you back, or there's certain things that you learn on a first date, that's a red flag, you know? 00:27:58.880 --> 00:28:04.559 A woman in the ancient times who drew water at noon, red flag, okay? 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:16.079 The women, they always drew the water, but they came at the earliest part of the morning when the sun was just coming up, or the latest part of the evening when the sun was going down, because this was very difficult work and it was very, very hot. 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:31.440 The only reason that you went to the well at noon, the only reason that you sat under the scorching sun and did this hard labor was because you were intentionally hiding yourself from the broader community. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:47.759 What we learn about the woman at the well is she has at least the appearance of the very sin resume of someone like Matthew, the tax collector, and she is hiding away on the edges of society, unclean, like the leper. 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:51.680 And Jesus sits down and asks her for a drink of water. 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:52.720 She's shocked. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:57.599 How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman, she asked him. 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:00.400 For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:06.960 And Jesus answered, If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, give me a drink, you would ask. 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:09.599 And he would give you living water. 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:23.680 And by the end of their time together, this is exactly what Jesus offers, and exactly what she accepts: a well of living water, of eternal life springing up inside of her instead of hiding out from her community. 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:28.400 She runs back to town as a witness of what Jesus the Messiah has done. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:35.039 She tells everyone she becomes an evangelist, but first, Jesus meets her exactly where she is. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:36.559 And he's Jesus. 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:39.680 So he knows exactly where she is. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:43.759 In the conversation, he says, Go in, bring back your husband. 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:47.599 And she says, Well, I don't have a husband. 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:55.599 Jesus is like, Okay, you got me on a technicality there because you've actually had five husbands. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:00.240 And you're now living with a man who you're not married to. 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:03.039 I mean, everything's already against her. 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:08.559 She's already a woman, she's already a Samaritan woman, she's already a Samaritan woman who has to go to the well at noon to avoid everyone else. 00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:12.960 But now he's aired out her dirty laundry. 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:15.279 It's after. 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:21.119 It's after he lets her know I understand exactly who you are. 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:25.759 I know exactly the situation you're living through. 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:35.039 That he then restores her, gives her salvation, meets her where she is, but moves her on to what God has purposed for her. 00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:38.640 It's an incredible story, it's an incredible moment. 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:51.680 It is a moment that the equality of women in our world today can look back to at the moment that a rabbi, a religious teacher, sat down with a woman of ill repute and offered her eternal life. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:53.200 It's incredible. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:59.680 And at the same time, many of us have read the story and we've never seen ourselves in it. 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:06.480 So many of us live our lives hiding things away, distancing ourselves. 00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:23.039 You know, the woman at the well, a lot of times we read into this story what we get out of the movies and all of the kind of like modern movies and stuff we take in, and we think, married five times, something is wrong with this woman, you know, like she must be throwing it all around town. 00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:26.960 Like, what is going on that she's been divorced five times now? 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:30.000 And the truth is, there's a good case to be made. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:32.400 The woman at the well was a victim of circumstance. 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:37.200 At that place in that time, a man could divorce his wife for burning the toast that morning. 00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:40.720 I mean, it was easy to get out of a marriage if you were a man. 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:50.240 We don't know this for a fact, but we do know in many places of the Eastern world, at that time, women were only allowed to be married five times. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:53.519 And after that, you could not get married again. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:56.720 Basically leaving you homeless and helpless. 00:31:57.279 --> 00:32:04.240 There's a case to be made that she was a victim of her circumstances, but the next story we're gonna look at, that case cannot be brought. 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:08.640 This is the story of what happens when you are caught red-handed. 00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:12.480 What happens when you are caught dead to rights? 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:16.240 And how does Jesus actually act and react? 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:20.160 How does Jesus feel about you when there is no way to escape your guilt? 00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:27.279 In John chapter 8, it says the scribes and the Pharisees, they brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:32.079 And it's like, okay, she got caught, you know, maybe they discovered the ancient DMs, you know. 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:32.880 No, no, no. 00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:41.599 Verse 5, teacher, they said to Jesus, this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:45.599 Caught in the act, no way out of it. 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:49.279 In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:51.599 So, Jesus, what do you say? 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:55.519 I wonder if you've ever been caught. 00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:05.359 Like all of us have, okay, because when you're a kid, one of the things that all kids have in common is they do a lot of stupid stuff and they're all terrible at lying, right? 00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:08.559 Thank God all of our little kids are terrible at lying. 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:12.880 It's kind of a double-edged sword, because then they get in trouble for lying, so they get better at it, right? 00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:16.000 But when they're young, they're really bad at lying. 00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:22.880 But maybe you've been caught as a teenager in a way that still shapes your life to this day. 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:26.799 Maybe you were caught as an adult, dead to rights. 00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:28.799 No way out of it. 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:35.839 It's the deepest moment of shame, probably the worst moment in your life. 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:38.720 This is where Jesus meets this woman. 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:40.799 There is no way out of this. 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:55.759 And I want to go a step further because if you believe in God, if you believe in a supernatural realm, then even if you never got caught, and even if today you're still getting away with it, it's all kept under wraps. 00:33:56.000 --> 00:34:02.640 Even if you haven't got caught, if you believe in God, you've already got caught. 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:07.599 There is nothing that evades the eyes of our Creator. 00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:12.239 There is nowhere you can run to hide your sin away from Jesus. 00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:17.920 Even if you haven't got caught, you got caught. 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:20.159 He already knows. 00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:22.880 So, how does he feel about you? 00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:25.920 In that moment of deepest shame and regret. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:34.079 In verse 7, when they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her. 00:34:34.239 --> 00:34:36.960 And then he stooped down again and continued riding on the ground. 00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:43.519 And when they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men, and only Jesus was left with the woman in the center. 00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:46.960 And when Jesus stood up, he said to her, Woman, where are they? 00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:48.880 Has no one condemned you? 00:34:49.679 --> 00:34:51.599 No one, Lord, she answered. 00:34:51.840 --> 00:34:54.559 Neither do I condemn you, said Jesus. 00:34:55.039 --> 00:34:55.360 Go. 00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:58.880 And from now on, do not sin anymore. 00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:07.519 Caught red-handed at the worst moment of her life, and he meets her right where she is. 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:12.400 There's no steps she has to take, and she doesn't even apologize. 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:13.679 Nothing. 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:17.199 Jesus meets her right where she is. 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:22.000 But he does not leave her right where she is. 00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:25.440 She deserved to be stoned to death. 00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:27.440 That is actually what she deserved. 00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:33.199 Just like you and I deserved the cross. 00:35:33.519 --> 00:35:36.239 The wages of our sin is death. 00:35:36.559 --> 00:35:39.199 The scripture is that blunt, it is that clear. 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:50.480 Your sin, any and every way, you have missed the mark on God's design and desire for your life, the consequence of our sin is our death. 00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:55.760 Jesus meets her there in a most vulnerable moment and he protects her. 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:00.639 And he restores her. 00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:05.039 And he is offering you the very same thing. 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:16.000 Our aspiration should be to live in love like Jesus, but before we can really be compelled to live that out, we first must find the inspiration of how much Jesus loves us. 00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:37.280 And maybe you are able to so clearly see yourself in the life of Matthew, or in the plight of the leper, or in the woman who is at the well ostracized, hiding away from her community and society, or in the woman who's caught in the act of adultery, all of these moments, these tapestries of stories that show who Jesus is and his unbelievable, unconditional love. 00:36:38.639 --> 00:36:47.280 But if you have not been able to find yourself in any of the stories yet, number one, maybe take inventory of your life, you know? 00:36:47.760 --> 00:36:54.960 Like if you're really honest, truly humble, and see what Jesus has done for you, you're going to find touch points in there. 00:36:55.039 --> 00:37:00.559 But if not, none of us can avoid or evade our last story. 00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:08.000 You see, right at the end of Jesus' life in Luke 23, he showed directly his love for you and for me. 00:37:08.159 --> 00:37:13.519 In Luke 23, it says two other, two others, criminals, were also led away to be executed with him. 00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:20.400 And when they arrived at the place called the skull, they crucified Jesus there along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. 00:37:20.559 --> 00:37:27.760 And then, right before Jesus died, then Jesus said, Father, forgive them. 00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:32.320 Because they do not know what they are doing. 00:37:33.679 --> 00:37:35.840 Father, forgive them. 00:37:36.320 --> 00:37:39.280 They do not know what they're doing. 00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:42.639 So the question is, who's the them? 00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:46.239 Who is the them that crucified Jesus? 00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:49.920 Who are the them that he is forgiving? 00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:56.239 Most directly, it's the Roman centurions who actually held the hammers and nailed him to the cross. 00:37:56.639 --> 00:38:05.920 Indirectly, it's Pontius Pilate and Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee, and all the Jewish leaders who made sure that he ended up crucified. 00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:12.480 Who is the them that he is for being forgiven? 00:38:12.719 --> 00:38:14.320 Who are they that crucified him? 00:38:14.400 --> 00:38:22.400 In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote, For I passed on to you what is most important, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins. 00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:26.559 Christ died for my sin. 00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:32.960 See, we read this as a generalization, but put your name on it. 00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:42.639 Christ died, he was crucified, the nails driven through his body, lifted up, naked, ashamed in front of the crowd. 00:38:43.119 --> 00:38:45.519 Christ died for Clayton's sin. 00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:48.239 I put him there. 00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:52.800 He substituted his perfect life for my life, stained. 00:38:54.960 --> 00:39:01.440 And as if it was not enough for him to give his life for me before he died. 00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:18.400 The cross meets you exactly where you are. 00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:25.760 But if you really understand the cross of Christ, it does not leave you where you are. 00:39:26.559 --> 00:39:30.320 If right where you're at, you just bow your head and close your eyes. 00:39:53.440 --> 00:40:06.480 In these magnificent stories of Jesus meeting with the broken and battered, the marginalized, the left behind, the looked over, the outcast and ostracized. 00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:09.039