WEBVTT 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name is Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.240 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:14.960 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:18.000 God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:25.839 Well, welcome to MetaCurch. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:27.280 If you're new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:29.120 I'm the lead pastor here at Meta. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:31.039 I'm so glad you joined us. 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:43.039 Whether you are a longtime believer, just looking for a faith community, or if you are someone who's a skeptic of the Christian faith, not quite convinced by the claims of Christianity, I'm so glad you're here as well. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:48.320 MetaCurch is a place where you can belong and be loved before you believe. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:53.759 So I hope that you'll lean in and really pay attention to what God might be saying to you today. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:01:01.200 Now, I want to let you guys know that next Sunday is a huge Sunday in the life of our movement at MetaCurch. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.719 God has been working on me internally. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:10.480 I've been wrestling with God with some angst that I have had for my own life and for our movement. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.280 And I'm finally ready to share all of that next Sunday. 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:16.079 It's a brand new series called Fulfilled. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:25.519 In years, decades of ministry, I've never been more excited for the beginning of a series and I've never been more expectant for what God is going to do through it. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:31.599 So I promise you, you do not want to miss next Sunday as we start our series. 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:35.280 We're going to have a gift for every single person that shows up. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:36.319 You don't want to miss it. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:37.760 So I will see you next Sunday. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.480 Now, today is Mother's Day. 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:56.879 And so first, I just want to wish a very, very happy Mother's Day to all of our moms, our expectant mothers, our stepmoms, adoptive moms, grandmothers, like everyone who falls under that category or who could possibly fall under that category. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:58.239 Today is your day. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:07.200 And while my sermon today isn't specifically a Mother's Day sermon, I do think it will really bless all of the moms in the room. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:09.520 And of course, I have to give a shout out to my own mom. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:15.439 So very happy Mother's Day to Renee Tyner and very happy Mother's Day to my wife as well. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:18.560 You know, my mom was one of my heroes growing up. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:20.240 We were a military family. 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:21.919 My dad was in the field a lot. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:23.439 He was on assignment a lot. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:26.639 A lot of times it was just me and my sister and my mom. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:33.919 And when we were young, we were almost always in small apartments, sometimes single bedrooms, sometimes just studio apartments. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:40.639 I'll never forget one time my dad was at work, and my mom was down in the laundry room of the apartment complex. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:45.919 And we were upstairs, you know, probably watching cartoons or doing something to keep us occupied. 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:55.439 And she happened to come up really fast in the corner of the room on this sharp, sharp edge of a laundry detergent dispenser. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:58.719 She came up so fast, she actually busted her head open. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:07.439 She came upstairs, and this is like one of those stories that every family has that we look back now and you know we just can't stop laughing about it. 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:10.400 But in the moment, it was very, very scary. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:13.199 I took the approach of just being worried sick. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:14.639 I didn't know what was happening. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:23.919 My sister, whose favorite show was Rescue 911 with William Shatner, she had been waiting for this moment her entire life. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:28.639 The moment that she could finally pick up the phone and call 911. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:31.599 She asked a hundred times, can I call 911? 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:33.199 Can I dial 911? 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:40.400 My mom, who always held the family together, what she didn't want to do was bother anyone, including my dad at work. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:48.719 So with blood gushing from her head, she got us in the car and she drove herself to the emergency room. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:49.759 She had two options. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:59.520 They could shave her head and then do the much less painful procedure of stitches, or she could keep her hair and they would staple her head back together. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:07.039 And all the moms in the room who have way higher pain tolerance than the rest of us, you probably already know she chose to keep her hair. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:08.800 She chose the staples. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:12.719 And that's like a signature story in our family. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:16.160 Uh, it comes up almost every time we all gather together. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:23.519 Just the unique dynamics of the moment, the bravery of my mom, like only a mom could do. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:27.920 And, you know, somewhere up there on her head, she still has the scar to prove it. 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:32.319 My message today is the story in the scar. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:34.800 Every scar tells a story. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:41.920 I have a little patch right on the edge of my chin where I think a lot of young kids end up with a scar right here. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.560 It's such a vulnerable point where really I can't even grow hair there. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:48.879 I have to get my beard long enough that it covers it up. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:56.160 That was a story from when we were in Colorado, and I tried to climb the counters to get a bowl by myself, fell off, busted my chin open. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:58.639 It was a sweet moment, actually, with me and my dad. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:04.959 He's the one who took me into the emergency room and gave me props for being so tough while I was getting my stitches. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:06.720 It's a fond, fond memory. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:08.800 Every scar tells a story. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:12.639 However, we tend to not like our scars. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:16.000 In some ways, we don't like our physical scars. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:26.720 You may not know this, but scar removal procedures, which is purely elective, purely aesthetic, it is one of the fastest growing industries in the entire world. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:32.480 Back in 2021, the market for scar removing surgeries was valued around$13 billion. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:36.959 Two years later, it had doubled to over$26 billion. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:43.040 They estimate in about 10 more years, it could be a$70 billion industry. 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:44.879 We don't like our scars. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:49.120 They are blaming some of this on what they call the Zoom boom. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:56.240 This is back in 2020 when instead of just being face-to-face talking to people, where when you look at them, you look at them. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.600 Instead, we were all on Zoom for almost an entire year. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:08.720 And if you're anything like everyone, then when you're on Zoom, you kind of look at the other people on the screen and you spend the majority of the time looking at yourself. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:16.959 So for the first time in all of our work settings, instead of just looking someone else in the eyes, we were in a meeting primarily looking at ourself. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:22.639 And of course, when you look at yourself for long enough, you start noticing all of the little flaws that maybe you didn't see before. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:27.920 We're also the Instagram generation, the selfie generation, the filter generation. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:33.519 And so you can filter your face on Instagram, but you can't really filter it in everyday life. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:39.759 And so all of these elective procedures are climbing, and none of them as quickly as scar removal surgery. 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:51.040 And it's kind of an issue if you think about it, because if every scar tells a story and we're always removing our scars, then in essence, we're removing a part of our life story. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:56.560 And if we really get honest, it's not just physical scars that bother us. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:00.240 All of us carry around deep emotional scars. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:17.279 We have relational scars from relationships that didn't work out, or from authority figures who wounded us at some point, or parents who split up when we were young, or grandparents who abused us, or people who spoke words to us that still circulate around in our minds. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:20.240 We have emotional scars and relational scars. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:24.879 Some of us grew up in church and we actually kind of have spiritual scars. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:32.800 We were wounded by spiritual leaders or spiritual experiences or abuse of power in a religious context. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:36.720 We carry these scars, and if we're honest, we hate our scars. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:46.480 We want to hide them, we want to ignore them, we want to just put them away, lock them deep, deep down into the abyss where nobody could ever find them. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:48.639 And there's quite a few reasons for this. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:50.480 There are psychological reasons. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:52.240 We do this for self-protection. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:54.720 We do this with pain in general. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:08:01.839 And scars are reminders of past pain that we went through, whether it's physical or emotional or relational or spiritual. 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:07.839 It's a reminder, like an everyday, ever-present reminder of pain that we have indoor. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.120 Especially today, we do impression management. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:18.399 And we've all kind of become experts at this online, where we can curate the image that we want people to have of us. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:20.639 There's also sociological pressure. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.040 We are a culture that rewards strength. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:26.399 We are rewarded for performance, for our image. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:28.800 We're rewarded for our independence. 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:39.679 And for the moms in the room, it probably already registered with you that no one is held to such precise, exacting, extreme standards as you. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:46.480 Moms are expected to have it all together, to never show weakness, to be perfect in every category. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:55.840 And you're held to the standard, not of the other real moms who are around you, who also have scars, who also suffer, who also struggle. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:07.279 You're held to the standard of fake filtered Instagram moms who run a million-dollar business and keep their house perfectly clean and have kids who obey all the time 24-7. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:13.600 And you can watch every one of those reels and you can know consciously that that's not real. 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:14.480 It's fake. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:15.360 It's online. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:19.120 But subconsciously, it informs you. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:22.480 And it informs you that your scars are to be hidden away. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:45.120 Your physical scars, the things that you're not happy about, your emotional scars, the things that weigh you down, your relational scars and the baggage that you have because life is hard and relationships are hard, your spiritual scars, the questions that you have about God, the doubts that you carry with you, the negative religious experiences that have kind of colored how you see God and how you perceive his goodness. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:56.000 I think this is a real problem for us because we tend to see our scars and we have psychological pressure and we have sociological pressure and we have the pressure of our past and we have the pressure of our pain. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:01.039 And we just say scars are bad, but your scars carry your stories. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:11.600 And one of the main tenets that we see in scripture is that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and who are walking according to his purposes. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:16.399 And what that means is that God has a plan for your stories. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:28.799 That God wants to use them and redeem them and unlock power that is residing in the very stories that are attached to the scars that we're trying desperately to get rid of. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:31.600 See, this is just a very, very different view. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:48.879 The way we handle our scars, physical, emotional, relational, spiritual, and the way that scripture outlines the great heroes of scripture, the great heroes of Christianity who started the church, the apostles, this is so different than how they thought about the hardship that they faced in their life. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.440 I want us to look a little bit at the Apostle Paul. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:11:00.320 He wrote to the Philippians in Philippians chapter three, he says this, but everything that was a gain to me, I've considered to be a loss because of Christ. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:02.080 He kind of repeats this in verse 8. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:09.840 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.480 Because of him, I have suffered the loss of all things. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:21.039 I consider them as dung, that's harsh language, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:29.679 Not having a righteous righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:46.080 Everything that was a gain to me, all of the image management and curation that we try to do, all the status we try to achieve, all of the power and performance and posturing that we do constantly and endlessly, exhaustingly on a loop in our society. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:48.559 Paul's like, I don't care about any of that. 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:51.600 It's all beyond worthless to me. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.399 Now he's gonna tell us what his goal actually is. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:02.000 In verse 10, my goal is to know him, that's Jesus, and the power of his resurrection. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:02.960 Those are good goals. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:14.559 I think everyone who's a believer, even those who maybe are skeptical or curious but interested in the person of Jesus, it's a good goal to really know him, to know the power of his resurrection, like defeating death itself. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:16.639 That's a good goal, but he's not done. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:18.159 My goal is to know him. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:28.559 My goal is to know the power of his resurrection, and my goal is the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:38.799 My goal is to know the fellowship, the koinania, the togetherness, the intimacy of the sufferings of Christ. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:44.639 And if you know the story of the gospel, then you know Jesus suffered like no one else in history. 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:59.360 Not only because he was the only actually innocent human in history, and therefore his suffering was as unjust as it could possibly be, he also just physically suffered in ways that are almost unimaginable. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.399 Back during the Easter season, a few weeks back, we looked at the reality of the crucifixion. 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:06.240 You can go back on YouTube and watch that sermon. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:08.720 We went through excruciating detail. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:12.240 It was hard for me to even preach about the sufferings of Christ. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:14.080 They were so extreme. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:23.679 And here's what Paul says the goal of my life is not to remove my scars, hide my scars, forget my scars. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:28.480 The goal of my life is to know the sufferings of Christ. 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:30.320 He finishes this passage like this. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:36.080 He says, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:55.279 In other words, Paul sees this intricate connection between the promise that Jesus has given to all of us that through faith in him, death will no longer hold sway over our life, that we will not experience the final death, that means separation from God, that we will experience resurrection someday. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:14:01.200 Like in light of that, he says, my job is to suffer like Christ suffered. 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:06.080 It's not to just pursue comfort, it's not just to pursue power. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:09.840 In fact, I don't care at all about those things, Paul says. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:15.679 He says, What I want to do is I want to know the fellowship of the suffering of Christ. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:22.559 There's this idea in Christianity that your best life is the life that is most intimate with Jesus. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:27.759 And so part of the question we ask is, how do we gain intimacy with Christ? 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:28.799 And there's so many ways. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:31.679 Like we we need to be in his word because God speaks to us through his word. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:33.440 And we need to spend time in prayer. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:38.000 And prayer needs to stop being something that we just sit down and do in small pockets. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:46.960 It needs to become a lifestyle where like everything we contemplate, we contemplate through the prism of who Jesus is and who he has called us to be. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:55.360 But if you really want to know Jesus at the most significant level, then you seek Jesus in your suffering. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:58.639 Jesus is always there in your suffering. 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:09.279 And sometimes we're unaware because we're so busy trying to medicate our suffering, we're so busy trying to ignore it, we're so busy trying to make sure we don't have to wear those scars so we can protect our self-image. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:10.720 And Paul says that's not the way. 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:15.200 The way is to embrace your suffering and to find Christ in the middle of it. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:18.000 Now that's a big game for Paul to talk. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:26.799 It's like if you want to live your best life, then what you need to do is you need to be willing to suffer and you need to see all of the status symbols of the world and all of the image management. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.360 You need to put all of that aside and said you need to pursue Christ even to the point of suffering. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.279 It's a big game to talk. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:38.720 But the thing to know about Paul is he didn't just talk a big game, he actually walked this out. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:44.720 One of the letters that he wrote was to the church he started in Galatia, and we have that in our Christian scriptures. 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:48.799 And here is how he ends this letter in Galatians 6.17. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:59.200 He says, From now on, let no one cause me trouble because I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:07.120 See, people were always calling Paul into question, and a lot of times they were questioning even the legitimacy of his ministry. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:10.559 And unfortunately, this is still something that people do all the time. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:15.679 You know, well, you guys aren't a real church because, you know, your pastor has tattoos and your music's too loud or whatever. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:23.039 It's like everyone wants to play this game, and it's a stupid game to play because the Holy Spirit moves in all kinds of ways and all kinds of methods. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:24.159 It's a waste of time. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:25.360 People like to do this. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:35.360 And even the great apostle Paul, who wrote almost half of our New Testament, who's the most successful church planner in the history of the church, people would even question the legitimacy of his ministry. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:40.960 And what did Paul point to to establish the legitimacy of his work? 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:44.720 Did Paul say, look, man, I I've planted more churches than anybody? 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:46.480 Like, check the receipts, bro. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:47.039 I've got it. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:48.480 What did Paul point to? 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:53.759 Did he say, look, here's how many thousands of baptisms we've had in our church? 00:16:53.919 --> 00:17:00.000 Here's our attendance, here's our annual budget, here's how many YouTube subscribers we have. 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:01.759 What did Paul point to? 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:06.880 Paul said, no one can bother me, nobody can question the legitimacy of my ministry. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:07.759 Why? 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:10.880 Because of my scars. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:17.920 No one can question me because I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:20.640 What exactly did Paul mean by that? 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:24.079 We find that out in one of his letters to the church in Corinth. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:30.319 He actually details how he got these literal physical scars on his body. 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:33.759 Here's Paul running through a list of just some of the things that he went through. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:39.119 He says this five times I received 40 lashes minus one from the Jews. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:41.039 Three times I was beaten with rods. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:42.880 Three times I was beaten with rods. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:43.680 It's crazy. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:47.039 Once I received a stoning, three times I was shipwrecked. 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:49.039 I've spent a night and a day in the open sea. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:59.920 On frequent journeys I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:08.640 Toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:10.720 This is the life that Paul lived. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:17.759 When Paul pulled up to your city, he literally physically bore the scars of his ministry. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:19.440 And he didn't hide them. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:34.480 As a matter of fact, he sees them as the very thing that legitimizes his role as one of the apostles, one of the men who started the movement that we are still a part of 2,000 years later, the movement that we call the church. 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:43.119 Now, what we do is when we go through hardship, we have our own scars, physical scars, emotional scars, relational scars, spiritual scars. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:45.519 And then we start to strategize. 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:50.000 And so the strategy around our scars is how can I hide this? 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:54.720 How can I keep as few people as possible from seeing this? 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.039 How can I make it to where I filter over this? 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:02.000 How can I distract from this? 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:05.200 We try to strategize around our scars. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:06.880 We run from them, we hide them. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.119 We hide them with performance. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:10.880 We hide them with addiction. 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:12.880 We hide them with relationships. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:18.319 We hide them cloaked in arrogance, even though the root of our arrogance is actually insecurity. 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:25.839 We try to exert undue control over situations, people, or things. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:32.400 We have emotional scars and they come out as anger or rage or stonewalling or lack of joy. 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:34.640 It's not what Paul does. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:42.880 See, this is 2 Corinthians chapter 11, but just a few verses later, and remember, when scripture was written, they didn't write in chapters and verses. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:43.920 This was just one letter. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:52.000 This is a few sentences later, after describing all of this hardship, here's what Paul writes in what we call chapter 12. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:20:00.640 But he said to me, Paul writes, Jesus said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power, right? 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:04.480 Jesus' power is perfected in weakness. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:09.519 This is so countercultural to how we think in our world today. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:13.839 We think like Jesus can best use me at the height of my ability. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:17.119 Jesus can best use me at the height of my giftedness. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:34.799 It's Mother's Day and moms, you're constantly being sold the lie that what your kids need is the height of your talent, the height of your giftedness, the height of your abilities, that you have to be on one all of the time, never miss, picture perfect, filtered perfectly. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:36.319 It's always got to be there. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.200 That's just not what Scripture says. 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:46.640 Scripture says Jesus told Paul that my power is perfected in your weakness. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:55.279 My story is best exemplified through your scars, the very scars that we are so convinced we are meant to hide. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:21:03.920 He goes on to say, Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:10.559 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecution, and in difficulties for the sake of Christ. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:15.519 For when I am weak, then I am strong. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:22.960 This is a huge part of what we believe and what we try to model here at MetaCurch, is that we lead through vulnerability. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:24.319 We didn't come up with that. 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:26.799 It's what we see the heroes of our faith doing. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.200 They lead through their vulnerabilities. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:48.319 I can tell you, as someone who has been in ministry full-time for like a couple of decades now, that people tell you or at least imply that the pastor of the church has to present themselves as having it all together, not really having any flaws, having all of the answers. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:52.960 And if that's the pastor you're looking for, you're gonna have to find a different church. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:56.079 I don't have all of the answers, but God does. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:03.119 And if I thought I had all of the answers, I wouldn't be so constantly Motivated to go to God to get the answers. 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:08.880 I don't have it all together, but I am in the process of maturing in Christ. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:17.279 And I can look back on my story and see how far along I am compared to where I was, not by my own strength, but by the grace of God. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:19.599 See, we lead through vulnerability. 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:26.000 And a lot of people will motivate you, even in ministry, they will tell you, you can't lead through too much vulnerability. 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:28.799 You got to kind of seem like you have it all together. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:34.880 And yes, we should be living lives on purpose and with purpose and growing and maturing and becoming more like Christ. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:37.200 But there are no perfect people allowed. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:44.319 And even the apostle Paul, a standard bearer for us, is saying, look, I'm not gonna brag about my giftedness. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:46.559 That's not what the people need. 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:48.559 That's not what your congregation needs. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:50.400 It's not what your co-workers need. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:52.400 It's not what your kids need. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.759 They don't need you to just brag about your giftedness. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:57.680 They need to see the grit. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:02.400 They need to see the things that you work through through the power of Christ. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:05.359 They don't just need to see your talent. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:08.240 They need to see bits of your trauma. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:15.519 They need to see that you've been through something, that you have to lean on something higher than you in order to make it through. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:22.000 Christ's power is perfected not just because we have it all together and we're already complete. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:26.079 His power is demonstrated in our own weaknesses. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:29.359 God gets all of the glory through our weaknesses. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:36.240 We are called to go into the whole world, to reach the whole world, to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:51.680 If you want to reach people who are unconvinced by the claims of Christ, what they need to see is that Christ makes a difference, not just in the areas where you're already great, already an expert, already put together, that Jesus makes a real difference in your scars. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:55.519 Your scars are meant to tell a story. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:24:01.680 It's worth acknowledging that this really is completely different than how we approach things. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:06.319 And this is our cultural heritage going all the way back to the garden. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:14.160 If you remember in the garden, Adam and Eve, they sin against God, and all of a sudden they are just surrounded and filled with shame. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:17.200 They realize their nakedness for the first time. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:19.599 They've been naked this whole time. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:22.720 Now they're aware they have shame. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:24.720 Sin does that to you. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:26.400 Sin scars you. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.960 And so what are you going to do with your scars? 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:31.119 I'll show you what Adam and Eve did. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:39.119 In Genesis 3, it says, Then the eyes of both of them were open, and they knew they were naked, and so they sowed fig leaves together and they made coverings for themselves. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:49.359 And then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:55.519 When the original Adam experienced pain, shame, and trauma, he hid. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:02.640 When the world leaves scars on our bodies, scars on our hearts, on our minds, we hide. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:10.240 We hide behind performance, we hide behind relationships, we hide behind addiction, sharp words, putting others down. 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:13.599 There's this incredible thing that happens, though, you see. 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:23.039 Adam comes and he gives us our legacy, this inherent impulse that when scars come, we hide them. 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:28.240 And then scripture says that Jesus comes as the second Adam. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:47.599 And Jesus never sinned, but crucially, on the cross, it says that Jesus, who was stripped naked, Adam to Adam, the second Adam came, he was stripped naked, he was hung above the people, and he didn't hide when the sin and shame of the world were placed on him so he could pay the price of it. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:49.359 That is the gospel, that's the good news. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:50.720 He didn't hide. 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:54.160 His sin and shame was displayed for all to see. 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:58.960 Now Jesus never sinned, but scripture is clear the sin of the world was placed upon him. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:05.359 He was the Passover lamb, he was Yom Kippur, He was the Day of Atonement, He paid the price for us. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:07.039 Jesus didn't hide. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:12.000 Jesus came as the second Adam, and he was willing to share his scars. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:24.480 Throughout the Easter series, uh, you know, I write these sermons ahead of time, and I never wrote one single thing about Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, but I kept bringing Thomas up. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:32.319 The Holy Spirit just kept laying Thomas on my heart, and Thomas would just show up in my sermons all throughout the make-believe series. 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:35.839 And so I was wrestling with this, like, why am I thinking so much about Thomas? 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:41.279 And if you remember, Thomas is one of the disciples, and like all the disciples, Jesus is arrested, he runs away. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:44.480 And he ends up coming back late to the party. 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:50.400 And he he shows back up to the disciples, and they have seen the risen Jesus, but Thomas hasn't. 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:51.599 And he doubts. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:53.839 So why do we call him doubting Thomas? 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:55.440 Very unfortunate nickname. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:58.160 We read about this in John's Gospel, chapter 20. 00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:02.640 It says, But Thomas, called twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:05.680 And so the other disciples were telling him, We've seen the Lord. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:16.079 But he said to them, If I don't see the mark of the nails in his hand, put my finger into the mark of the nails, put my hand into his side, I will never believe. 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:17.839 An absolute statement. 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:21.920 It says, A week later, his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:26.160 Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:29.279 And he said to Thomas, put your finger here. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:30.799 Look at my hands. 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:34.160 Reach out your hand and put it into my side. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:36.960 Don't be faithless, but believe. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:40.960 And Thomas responded to him, My Lord and my God. 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:44.319 You could preach this passage ten different ways. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:49.759 But what I want to say to you today is that Jesus didn't judge Thomas. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:51.920 He didn't condemn Thomas. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:57.039 Thomas wanted to see Jesus' scars, and so Jesus showed him. 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:01.920 And those scars told a story. 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:05.599 And for Thomas, it was a story of forgiveness. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:11.680 Not just of his sins so he could have eternal life, but forgiveness of his doubt. 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:13.680 People will call him doubting Thomas. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:19.440 They don't talk about the fact that out of all of the apostles who started the church, Thomas may have traveled the furthest. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:25.519 Church history tells us he made it all of the way to India, and there is still a major church there that bears his name. 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:28.720 In India, Thomas was martyred for his faith. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:35.119 He was killed for his belief in the resurrected Jesus, whom he saw and who showed him his scars. 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:36.880 And Jesus is the template for us. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:40.559 Jesus is the model that we are meant to follow in all things. 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:44.799 Jesus led with his scars, and we should too. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:47.759 Now it's important to note that we lead with our scars. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:52.720 I just want to say quickly, we lead with scars, not with open wounds. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:54.640 Many of us have open wounds. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:57.599 These are the things we haven't allowed God to heal yet. 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:06.640 And we kind of live in a victimhood culture where if you have some wound that you can show, it gives you some kind of cultural cachet, some kind of currency. 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:11.599 And that is an inversion, maybe even a perversion of what we are called to do. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:17.920 You are called to take your open wounds, the things that haven't been healed, and to give them to God, and he will heal them. 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:22.240 And once they are healed, you now have scars that tell a story. 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:24.480 Our last passage is in Romans 5. 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:26.480 Once again, this is the Apostle Paul. 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:36.720 Here's what he says: he says, not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:37.440 Watch this. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:44.160 Endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:46.720 And we all need hope. 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:50.400 We can't live or function without hope in something. 00:29:50.559 --> 00:30:00.319 And the problem is all of the options in the world to place your hope in or on will just fail you if given enough time. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:07.359 And you've probably lived long enough and you've tried enough things that you already know that at some level. 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:16.559 It's so interesting because we live in a culture that says if we can just remove our scars, our physical, our emotional, our relational, our spiritual scars, there's hope in that. 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:18.720 But scripture says the opposite. 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:21.279 We're living in the deception of the garden. 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:26.720 We're saying, when I have shame and sin and pain and trauma, my job is to hide it. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:30.240 And the truth is, our job is to bring it into the light of God. 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:33.920 As a matter of fact, Paul says, we rejoice in our scars. 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:39.200 We rejoice in our affliction because affliction produces endurance. 00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:42.480 And you need endurance because life is long and it's hard and it's difficult. 00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:50.079 And endurance produces proven character, a character that pleases God and serves the world around you. 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:53.119 And proven character produces hope. 00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:59.039 The one thing that we all need: hope for today and hope for eternity. 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:07.119 The biggest question that you have to ask during your time on earth, and many people are not even considering it, is what comes next? 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:11.759 Here's how he concludes this hope will not disappoint us. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:15.039 All the things in the world that constantly disappoint, constantly let us down. 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:19.920 You're trying and trying, you're filtering it and faking it, and it just leaves you more and more depressed. 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:32.000 This hope, the hope that comes from rejoicing in our scars, it will not disappoint us because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:40.880 Paul is talking to believers, people who have hope for today in Jesus and hope for eternity in Jesus. 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:43.599 And everyone needs hope. 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:47.839 And so the question is, what is your hope in? 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:50.400 And what are you doing with your scars? 00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:53.359 Your scars tell a story, if you'll allow them. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:57.440 If you're hiding your scars, you're hiding your story. 00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:04.960 If you're a believer in Jesus, then we are called to be Christians, little Christs, to mold our life into his image. 00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:07.200 Jesus didn't hide his scars. 00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:12.720 In fact, he was more than willing to show them in order to aid in somebody's unbelief. 00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:15.440 And that is how we spread the good news. 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:20.480 They don't just see it in our strengths, they experience it in our weaknesses. 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:25.039 If you don't have a relationship with Jesus, what is your hope in? 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:26.720 And is it enough? 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:32.240 I can say with confidence, if you live long enough, there is nothing that can sustain the weight of your hope. 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:35.359 There's nothing that can sustain the weight of your eternity. 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:38.720 And today you are being presented with the gospel. 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:51.759 That means the good news, really the best news, that God loves you so much that he's not distant, staying away, staying just big and transcendent, saying, good luck. 00:32:51.839 --> 00:32:56.319 Hopefully you do enough good and not too much bad, and maybe you'll make it to me instead. 00:32:56.480 --> 00:33:03.119 God came down to us and he proved his love for us that while we were still in rebellion against him, he died. 00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:10.160 And when Jesus died, he substituted his perfect life for our broken, sinful lives. 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:12.319 Jesus didn't hide his scars. 00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:16.240 It is by his wounds that you and I are healed. 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:19.599 It's by his scars that you and I are given hope. 00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:21.920 Hope for today and hope for eternity. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:26.880 And I hope that if you don't have that, that today you will get right. 00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:28.640 Start a relationship with Jesus. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:29.839 It's not religion. 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:32.880 It's not five steps, it's not jumping through hoops. 00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:34.240 It's relationship. 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:43.359 Scripture says we come into that relationship through faith, believing that Jesus is who he says that he is and that he's done what he claims to have done. 00:33:43.599 --> 00:33:52.480 Here's what we're gonna do across our venues, even for those watching online, if you just come into a time of prayer, bow your head and close your eyes. 00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:56.559 There's nothing magic about that, just creates a little bit of space for reflection. 00:33:56.880 --> 00:34:01.279