WEBVTT 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.559 Welcome to the MetaCurch podcast. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:05.440 My name is Clayton. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:14.240 I'm the pastor at MetaCurch, and I hope that today's message is inspiring and enlightening and really builds you up wherever you're at in life. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.079 Man, it is so good to be here with you guys. 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:22.640 If you're new, my name's Clayton. 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:24.000 I'm the lead pastor here. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:26.160 And if you're not new, guys, it's me. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:27.120 I just got a haircut. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:28.559 It's me, Clayton. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:31.839 So stupid. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:36.960 I'm very excited. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.520 Um, this house, to some of you, means nothing. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:41.920 Uh, to some of you, it means everything. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:48.079 You you were here over seven years ago on the weekend that we announced we were starting Metachurch. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:53.759 It was the first time we put this house on stage and it didn't have any names on it. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:01:04.480 And over the years, we have written names of people who we know in our lives who don't know Jesus, who are far from God, who are living without hope. 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:13.359 And it was out of this same passage I'm gonna preach today that we clarified our mission statement here at MetaCurch. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:18.799 Our mission statement goes like this we do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:19.599 Say that with me. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:23.200 We do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus. 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:26.959 And that has informed everything that we have done for over seven years now. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:33.760 Now, what's interesting is every time I have preached on this story in the life of Jesus, I've preached out of the Gospel of Mark. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:41.920 If you're new to the Bible, you're new to Christianity, there are four Gospels, four historical narratives about the life of Jesus. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:45.519 Three of them we call synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:49.519 And so many of these gospels share some of the same stories. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:54.959 Mark tells the same story, but we are walking through the Gospel of Luke. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:56.480 We're going line by line. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:58.239 We've broken it into seven sections. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:02.319 We're in the second of those sections that we're calling the kingdom way. 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:06.239 And the thing about Luke is he is a physician in the ancient world. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:09.840 He is a historian of the first class, he is incredible. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.080 And so he adds some details that Mark left out. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:22.639 And these details really bring some nuance that's gonna be important to our conversation as I preach through this passage today. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:36.639 And the reason we call this section in Luke the Kingdom Way is because Jesus has started his ministry, and every single second of his life on earth, he is demonstrating to us the way of the kingdom of God. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:48.960 And what we're going to see progressively throughout Luke is the more Jesus steps into the kingdom way, the more he comes into collision with the kingdoms of this world. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:55.599 That is true of Jesus, and that is true of you and me. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:05.919 The more we live out the kingdom way, which means God's way and God's will in our life, this is the prayer Jesus modeled for us. 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:11.840 Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it already is in heaven. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:32.479 When we start to live that out, when we die to our sins, surrender to Christ, carry our cross, deny ourselves, follow after Jesus, the more fully you step into that, the more you will begin to collide with the kingdoms and influences and power structures of this world. 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:36.960 And some of you have already begun to experience that. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:44.240 Paul reminds us in one of his letters that we're not actually fighting against flesh and blood. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:46.319 Our fight is not in the material realm. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:55.599 Yes, there are kingdoms, yes, there are empires, yes, there are power structures, yes, there are people who will come against us, but that our real fight is in the supernatural realm. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:56.479 Amen? 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:59.919 You begin to understand that when you begin to really follow Jesus. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:05.680 And man, if we want anything at Metachurch, it is to know and follow Jesus. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:14.080 And we're trying to lean in and be more spirit-led, and we're doing things like we are not missing a Sunday where we do not pray together corporately. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:23.199 And I told you when we started all of this, when we started going slow, when you started carrying the scriptures so that you could take notes and take your faith seriously. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:29.040 When we started all of this, I said, we will get the attention of the supernatural enemies of God. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:50.800 Last week, our staff and leadership, we just experienced maybe the most obvious, direct, supernatural attacks in a short, consolidated amount of time. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:57.680 And it it shook all of us a little bit, just to be completely honest with you. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:00.319 It was just a lot, it was a little bit overwhelming. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:14.480 And at the same time, it's a signal because spiritual opposition when you're walking with Jesus is the exact same thing as spiritual opportunity when you're walking with Jesus. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:22.800 If you've put your faith in Jesus and the devil never bothers you, it means you're not on his radar. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:32.800 When you are dating somebody, uh the guys that don't look at her twice, you don't worry about it. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:35.360 It's the guys who look and then they look one more time. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:36.800 You're like, I see you, bro. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:39.439 I see you're doing too much, is what you're doing. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:41.120 You're on my radar now. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:51.839 Some of you are not on the devil's radar because you've believed in Jesus to secure your spot in heaven, but you haven't haven't actually started following Jesus to start trying to see evidence of heaven here on earth. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:58.480 And this passage just removes any excuse for us to sit still. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:00.720 This is where we get this mission. 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:09.439 Now, to understand the context today, I need you to know there's two stories that are happening simultaneously, which makes it a little bit more difficult for me to preach. 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:21.040 As a matter of fact, I've preached a sermon once today, and I'm not all the way confident I did a great job, but I'm gonna trust the Holy Spirit can do more through me just humbly presenting this to you and bringing into your hearts the way that it's supposed to be received. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:22.079 Because there's two stories. 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:28.240 There is a cosmic story with the collision of the kingdom of heaven with King Jesus on earth and the kingdoms of man. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:34.399 That's the cosmic story, and then there is a deeply personal story happening on the ground level at the same time. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:36.720 And so we need to start walking through this together. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:50.000 We're in Luke chapter 5, in verse 17, it says, On one of those days, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and also from Jerusalem. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:07:07.759 Now, this is really critical context, and this is the part that Luke adds that Mark, which is a quick gospel, Mark doesn't add this, and man, this flavors everything that is happening in this moment because Jesus' audience has changed for the first time in Luke. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:17.519 So far, we've seen Jesus do incredible things, these like mass healings, he's laying hands on people, healing the sick, healing the disease, casting out the demons everywhere that he goes. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:24.319 We've seen large crowds gathering, but these large crowds are people like me and like you. 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:34.240 Everyday people who are interested in Jesus, who are seeking Jesus, who are looking for inspiration and revelation from Jesus. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:37.360 That's who his crowds were, but not today. 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:48.720 We know he's in Capernaum, we know he is in a house, and it is most likely Peter's house, and Luke tells us it is filled, but not with his normal audience. 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:53.759 It is filled with the religious elite of his day, and check this out. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:59.120 Jesus is in Capernaum, which is in the region of Galilee, which is known as the Stix. 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:01.040 This is the backwoods of Israel. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:09.680 And it says, not only are the religious leaders in Capernaum, that town there, but in every town in Galilee, the religious leaders have come. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:34.639 And not just in Galilee, all the way from Judea, the other part of the kingdom, and not just there, Luke tells us in an escalating fashion, he says, even the religious leaders from Jerusalem, the top dogs, the guys who work in and run the temple in Jerusalem, the city that is the seat of the Jewish faith. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:37.600 Even the leaders from Jerusalem are there. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:41.200 And it says that they're sitting. 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:49.759 And we'll get there in a second, because here's what that means: to be seated is to be in a place of honor. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:09:02.559 As a matter of fact, at some point in Luke, we're gonna get to a parable where Jesus looks at those religious leaders and he tells a parable about how you should not desire the seat of honor. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:04.879 And so this would be shocking to us. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:08.480 This would be like some real housewife's nonsense if this went down in our life. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:10.799 But this is how it would have happened. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:15.679 Peter's friends and family and the followers of Jesus would have filled the house. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:22.799 And then the religious leaders would have come, they would have walked right in, they would have seen you in a seat, and they would have gone like this. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:25.600 And you would have moved. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.720 That's the way it worked, and they would have sat down. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:36.559 And then someone who had a higher station than them would walk in, and if there were no seats, they would lift you up. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:41.679 Now you're standing, and the person who was standing is outside the house, leaning in the window. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.200 And then the big dogs from Jerusalem walk in. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:48.080 They work at the temple, they walk in. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:49.840 Everybody up. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:51.440 They get the seats. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:53.440 People in the seats, they gotta stand. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:59.039 The people who were standing, now they're outside the house, leaning in, trying to listen through a window. 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:07.200 Here's what we have to understand contextually is the house was not full of need. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:13.759 The house was not filled with the sick and diseased and demon-possessed, which is Jesus' typical audience. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.559 The house is filled with religion. 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:18.960 And so I want you to see this. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:30.399 Verse 17, on one of those days while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law of the law, they were the ones sitting who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and also Jerusalem, and the Lord's power to heal was in him. 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:39.200 And just then some men came carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to bring him in and set him down before him. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:47.200 And we're gonna see that they could not find a way to bring him in, verse 19, because of the crowd. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:49.840 Now, this is a different crowd. 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:56.399 This isn't a paralyzed man who can't make his way through a sea of other people who are sick and diseased. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:03.039 This is a paralyzed man who cannot get in because religion has blocked the door. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.639 These are not men who have come all the way from Jerusalem, bro. 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:11.840 If you live in Jerusalem, you do not want to go to Galilee. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:15.600 That is an assignment nobody in Jerusalem wants. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:23.519 But they have loaded up their donkeys, they have gone on a long, arduous trip not to come and be inspired by Jesus. 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:28.879 They are not looking for revelation, they are in the house for investigation. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:35.440 In Israel, the religious leaders were the leaders. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:44.080 They were the political leaders, they were the social leaders, they were the cultural leaders, they were the spiritual leaders, they were the leaders, they held the power structure. 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:48.000 And if you've been with us as we've walked through Luke, you know this. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:30.559 The same religious leaders who just a few years from this moment will conspire and collude to hang Jesus on a cross. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:36.799 This is their first investigation into the man that everyone can't stop talking about. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:49.120 The guy who's not going through the temple to do his miracles, who's not working through the system of synagogues, who is not asking their permission before he speaks with authority, who is circumventing their power and is now a threat to their power. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:50.000 Does that make sense? 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:51.360 This is the first story. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:53.039 It is a cosmic collision. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:13:01.279 God in human flesh, the king of heaven, is standing before them, and he is a threat to their power, their authority, and their influence. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:12.480 And they are so busy trying to investigate and tear Jesus down that they have blocked the door to those who most need Jesus. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:18.480 You will not be surprised to know that some things never change. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:37.120 And that there are still many churches in the West and in America who are compromised and they are so filled with religion and so filled with hypocrisy that they are not actually living to build the kingdom of heaven and they are not living to build the kingdom of God, they are living to plant their own kingdoms right here on the earth. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:54.320 And they use their power and they use their skill sets and they use their gifting to try and hoard power and protect their little buildings and protect their little kingdoms, and nobody's allowed to criticize them, and you can't ask them any questions, and they are the man of God, and you are a peon, and you cannot question them, and you are nobody, and they are somebody. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.840 You won't be surprised to know that that's still happening today. 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:08.399 And here's the truth: your church can be filled to the brim, no seats left, and can be as empty as you can imagine. 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:28.799 And here's what's also true your church building can be completely empty of people, you can't get anyone to come, and yet it is so filled with hypocrisy, so filled with judgment, that the very people who most need Jesus can't get through the door. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:45.279 The door's not just blocked by a crowd, the problem isn't just Jesus' popularity, the problem is that there are religious leaders who are taking up space with no intent to advance the kingdom. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:49.200 Some of you won't like this. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:54.080 I've been a fan of the UFC almost since the very beginning. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:15:00.000 If you don't like that because it's brutal and bloody, then you have something in common with my wife. 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:01.759 She doesn't like it either, okay? 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.519 I've been a fan for a very long time of most combat sports. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:10.960 And uh here's something that happens regularly for those of you who don't watch. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:23.120 Is there will be someone in a late round who's pretty confident they are winning in the points, which means as long as they don't get knocked out or submitted, they will win. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:28.240 And so what they do is they stop fighting and instead they clinch. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:35.600 Now, if you don't know what that means, it means I get you up against the chains, up against the octagon, and I just grab you. 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:41.679 And if you've ever, your husband's been watching and you just kind of walk through and it just looks like two guys are hugging for a very long time. 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:43.039 That's called a clinch. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:48.720 Or maybe they'll even shoot a takedown and get you on the ground, not to do damage, just to hold you. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:53.519 And what they're doing is they are just holding space and running clock. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:54.000 Okay? 00:15:54.240 --> 00:16:01.679 They're holding space and they're running clock because they know if they can just get to the end, they will win. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:10.639 Religion just holds space and runs the clock. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:13.360 The clock is running. 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:14.559 Do you know that? 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:18.000 Oh, 2026, I'm gonna teach you how to talk to me. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:19.360 The clock is running. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:20.639 Do you know that? 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.320 We do not know when Jesus is coming back. 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:28.720 All we know is there's nothing stopping him. 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:31.360 We're not gonna try to guess. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:32.960 I'm not gonna write that book. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:34.320 Jesus told me not to. 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:36.080 Jesus told me I won't know. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:39.840 But he did give us some signs, and that's not my sermon today. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:46.320 I'm just gonna remind you one of the signs wars, rumors of wars. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:51.440 More wars, obviously, on the horizon. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:54.240 I don't know when he comes back. 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:56.480 What I know is there's nothing stopping him. 00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:00.879 There is nothing unfulfilled on the prophetic timetable for Jesus to return. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.600 Doesn't mean it will be today, it means it could be today. 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:05.200 The clock is running. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:10.240 And what religion does is it just puts you in the clinch. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:13.039 We are fighting a supernatural battle. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:15.039 You already agreed with me on that. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.680 And here's what we know Bro, we've got Jesus. 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:23.599 We had the moment, we put our faith in him. 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:28.640 If we just run out the clock, we will win. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:54.640 And so religion just holds space, it just builds buildings, and it convinces Jesus' followers to get in that building as many days of the week as possible, so you can huddle down and create your little unwritten rules and be judgmental and block the door to where if someone does come in, you'll make them feel as uncomfortable as possible because they didn't dress the right way and they don't talk the right way, and they didn't know the words to the song, and they can't quote scripture. 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:55.359 You can clap for that. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:56.720 That's a good thing to clap for. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.440 I've got somebody who will preach with me today. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:05.519 You know this because you're alive and you're paying attention. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:16.799 Your friends and family and coworkers and loved ones who don't know Jesus, one of the worst things that could possibly happen to them is for them to walk into the wrong church service. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:19.599 What an indictment. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:22.960 What an indictment. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:28.640 And so we have power structures. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:37.920 And as long as humans are interested in power, we will not build the kingdom of God. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:47.359 Jesus said, if you want to follow me, the very first thing you have to do is deny yourself. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:50.160 Surrender. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:52.880 Give up your power. 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:55.759 Take up your cross. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:00.240 Be willing to suffer, and then you can follow me. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:14.480 Even our ministries can be run as our own personal kingdoms if we are not denying ourselves and willing to recklessly and fully follow Jesus at great cost to ourselves. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:19.680 And so the cosmic collision is happening all the time. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:22.079 It's happening in my life all the time. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:28.720 Jesus is stress testing the things that I tend to put my faith in that are not Him. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:30.960 And every time they come up short. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:39.039 This is the process of spiritual maturity, is realizing that there is no one else who is worthy of my trust, attention, devotion, and worship. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:42.240 No one else is worthy of my faith except Christ and Christ alone. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:43.039 Amen? 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:48.000 You don't have to believe that. 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:52.799 Jesus is in charge of reality, and that reality will assert itself in your life. 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:54.079 Just give it time. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:57.680 Everything else you put your faith in will fall. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:01.359 And so the Pharisees are there and they are blocking the way. 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:07.039 This is what religion does it holds space while not advancing the kingdom. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:11.279 And I've been to those churches, I'm not interested in those churches. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:17.759 We are not gonna run the clock out and all hold hands and have our special little Christian circle and just wait for Jesus to come back. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.559 Metachurch, we are going to fight. 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:21.839 We are there to fight. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:24.480 You know what happens in the UFC when someone clinches? 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:28.640 You get about five seconds and the arena starts to boo. 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:31.200 Boo! I'm on my couch at home. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.839 Boo! Hit somebody. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:35.759 My wife's praying for me in the other room. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:48.000 I'm like, look, I'm probably stretching the metaphor too far, but when churches are just holding space, just hugging the devil, bro, the devil's happy to be in the clinch with you. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:57.920 As long as you're not swinging, as long as you're not fighting, as long as you're not going for the knockout, as long as you're not saying another prayer, as long as you're not inviting someone else to service. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:05.599 Bro, I bet every angel in heaven is watching churches in the clinch, like, boom, hit somebody. 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:11.279 It's time to fight. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:13.920 It's time to get in the arena. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:16.880 It's time to throw some spiritual haymakers. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.799 Here's the thing you can't lose. 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:30.160 The apostle Paul said, hey, if I keep on living, keep on swinging, to me, that's that's that's great. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:31.599 That's a win. 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:35.839 And if I die, it's even more gain. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:37.440 You can't lose. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:42.559 And so the only loss is standing still. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:50.720 Four friends, at great cost to themselves, have brought their paralytic friend to Jesus and they cannot get in. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:52.799 Here's the energy matter, church. 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:59.759 Like if we want to fill every seat in every service at every venue, and God continue to move us to the ends of the earth and to see revival. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.359 And to see an impact like you can't imagine, this is the energy we need. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:19.440 Verse 19 since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, because of the religious elite who were sitting in the seats, they went up on the roof and they lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before Jesus. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:26.720 Bro, nobody would have blamed them from just walking the guy home. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.839 As a matter of fact, they would have gotten props. 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:36.240 Social credit virtue has been signaled. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:38.079 It's like, dang, y'all must really love him. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:40.160 Y'all walked him all the way to Peter's house. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.240 It's a huge bummer you couldn't get him in. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:43.119 Y'all tried. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:44.720 Y'all tried though. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:47.599 They would have gotten nothing but credit. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:52.319 Look, bro, we already carried your heavy butt all the way across Capernaum. 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:00.079 They probably looked for a window, they probably looked for a back door. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:04.400 Listen, like, here's the problem. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:11.920 You're gonna invite your friend to come like sit in a service with you on a Sunday, and they're gonna say no. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:14.480 It's like, dude, I brought them all the way to the house. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:16.880 I just they, you know, couldn't get in. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:23.039 And you can go and fall asleep feeling good about yourself, and no one will blame you, and you'll probably get credit. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.880 I'm just telling you, that's not the energy that changes the world. 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:33.759 When we're like, hey, uh you wanna you wanna go to church with me this Sunday? 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:38.240 You're like, God, I'm pretty sure they heard me say that. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:41.839 And they're like, ah, you know, I've got a thing. 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:43.440 They don't even say no. 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:46.400 They're just like, actually, I've got a thing, I'm going to a thing. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:47.839 And you never ask again. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:49.200 It's like I did my thing. 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:50.240 I try. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:52.079 It's just not the energy. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:53.440 There's four friends. 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:54.480 I'm making this part up. 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:59.200 I always want to be clear when I'm outside of actual theology, and now it's just me. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:03.359 But in every friend group, there's a friend that has a lot of bad ideas. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:09.279 If you don't have that in your friend group, you already know you're the friend with a lot of bad ideas. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:14.799 And I'm not mad at you because I'm the friend with a lot of bad ideas. 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:20.480 We do creative meeting, you know, to try to make these services as good as they can be. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:24.640 And my my batting average is like seven. 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:31.599 Like 93 of my ideas, the whole team is just like, what? 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:37.599 I'm like, okay, we're doing Jonah, so we could call SeaWorld, maybe we could borrow shamu. 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:43.759 But every once in a while, I'm like, you know what we should do? 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:46.880 We should go line by line through the book of Luke, and it's a good idea. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:58.880 My guess is one of the four has had four months of bad ideas, and on that day was like, What about the roof? 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:07.119 And the other friend was like, Peter will kill you. 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:11.440 I love it in Mark's gospel. 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:13.119 He uses a different phrase. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:20.640 Every time I've preached on this, uh, the phrase literally is they unroofed the roof. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:25.920 You saw a roof, they saw an elevator. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:29.279 This is really formative for us. 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:37.680 When we started MetaChurch, we announced this new ministry and we explained the name through this phrase. 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:41.039 You'll notice MetaCurch is always written as one word. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:45.440 Meta is a prefix, as a Greek prefix, it typically means change. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:58.000 And with all of the layers of corruption and nonsense over the past couple of centuries that have been layered on what people think of as church, we said, hey, we will unchurch the church. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:04.559 We'll get it right back, as close as we know how, to what Jesus intended for this thing to be. 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:09.920 Out of this moment, seeing these guys, can you imagine? 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:14.400 Your friend is paralyzed, and you gotta get him on a roof. 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:19.200 Once you're on the roof, you gotta commit like a misdemeanor. 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:24.240 Destruction of public property, breaking and entering. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:29.519 It's like this gave us our mission statement. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:33.359 We will be people who are like the four friends. 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:40.400 We will be people who do whatever it takes to get the people we love to Jesus. 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:53.359 There are people in your life, you know who they are. 00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:55.839 They need Jesus. 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:02.880 They're living without hope, they're living without eternal security, they're living without answers. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:12.400 And this passage, the inspiration of these four friends, it just begs the question to me and to you. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:15.519 What are you gonna do about it? 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.720 Are you gonna get to an impasse and go, okay, well, I tried. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:27.759 Let me tell you something that's true. 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:31.039 A lot of your friends, you'll invite them to service. 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:31.920 You should. 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:33.440 That's an easy win. 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:35.200 Hey, come sit with me next Sunday. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:37.039 It's fun, the band's good. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:39.440 The preacher yells a lot, it's fun. 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:40.720 Come sit with me. 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:41.440 It's easy. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:47.920 But I I will let you know right now, some of them will say no because it's church. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:59.279 They've already tried to get through a door blocked by religion, they've already been hurt by spiritual leaders, they already have the wounds of their upbringing in church. 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:01.599 They won't go, it's not because they don't love you. 00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:03.440 They're not going to church. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:07.519 So you gotta go to the roof. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:11.920 If they won't come to Jesus, you gotta get Jesus to them. 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:15.279 You have to be Jesus to them. 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:20.720 You have to stay persistent, you have to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:27.119 It is not us that saves anybody. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:30.079 It's Jesus alone. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:34.319 The Holy Spirit draws them, Jesus saves them, but scripture is clear. 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:38.480 Jesus uses us as a means to that end. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:29:02.079 And I just have to imagine that Jesus sits in heaven and looks at the state of modern Christianity and is like, you're telling me that I would go to a cross to get to these people, and my followers won't go across the cubicles. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:14.079 That I went from a perfect heaven to a broken world, and that my followers won't get on their face and pray for the lost. 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:21.440 And my guess is that Jesus is justifiably angry about that. 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:25.359 And that someday we will stand before him. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:48.000 And any excuse for why we did not radically prioritize the kingdom of heaven and emptying out hell and filling the kingdom of heaven with as many people as possible, any excuse for why we did not do that after we were the paralyzed man, after we were carried to Jesus, after we were healed and saved by Jesus, any excuse we have will fall flat. 00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:59.839 And we struggle to get outside of ourselves and even just worship our Lord with abandon. 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:07.759 And we struggle to get outside of ourselves, even though we are prompted to come forward as a show of reverence and kneel and get on our face. 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:11.759 We won't let our pride get out of the way enough to do that. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:24.079 Every time we come together as the body of Christ, we have the easiest opportunity to show, to prove to the Lord and to prove to ourselves that we are the kind of people who will do whatever it takes. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:35.839 You won't let me in the door, I'll find a freaking ladder, I will get some ropes, I will find a way to get a paralyzed man on a roof, I will break the law, I'll tear open your roof, I will attach those ropes, I will lower them to Jesus, I will do whatever it takes. 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:39.440 Yo, people did that for me. 00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:44.480 You have to understand this. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:49.440 There are two types of paralytics in the room in front of Jesus. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:51.680 There are two. 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:37.680 But I will say we tore that hole in Peter's roof. 00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:40.240 Mainly for the leg thing. 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:47.839 What's happening in this moment is our two stories are colliding. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:57.359 A story of cosmic kingdom collision and a deeply personal story of a man who wants to get his life back. 00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:02.799 The first thing you need to know is Jesus does not always give you what you want. 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:08.799 But he is willing and able to give you what you need. 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:12.960 Jesus cares about your life right now. 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:14.160 He does. 00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:16.640 And healing still takes place. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:26.480 But he knows that your 80 years on this little dot in the universe that we call Earth is a blip on the radar to eternity. 00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:30.480 And if you don't get your sins right, you won't get eternity right. 00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:42.880 And so before he cares about what car you drive, and before he cares about your chronic illness, and before he cares about your anxiety, he cares first about your soul because your soul will outlive this life. 00:33:48.799 --> 00:34:01.200 When I hit rock bottom in my own journey, it came about almost primarily because of a disease that when they finally figured out what it was, is known to be incurable. 00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:04.640 I found Jesus at rock bottom. 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:08.559 As I began to follow Jesus, I began to pray for healing. 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:09.760 Others prayed over me. 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:11.039 I still pray for healing. 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:14.719 I did the whole thing, man, anointed with oil, the whole, the whole nine. 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:18.400 Still have the disease. 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:21.360 Carry it with me to this day. 00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:23.599 And I thank God for it. 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:28.960 Because I may not be healed, but please hear me. 00:34:29.280 --> 00:34:30.719 I am healed. 00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:41.199 Now there's something else very important happening here, and it is this cosmic collision. 00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:42.719 And we see it in the very next verse. 00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:47.519 Then the scribes and Pharisees begin to think to themselves, who does this guy think he is? 00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:53.119 This guy is blaspheming, by the way, a charge which could result in death. 00:34:53.280 --> 00:34:54.960 Why is he blaspheming? 00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:58.079 Who can forgive sins but God alone? 00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:00.320 Luke is showing us an escalation. 00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:10.559 First, he teaches with authority in the synagogue, and it points out that he has power that is outside the control of the kingdom of man. 00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:18.079 Then he begins to heal, not in the synagogue, but out in the streets, bypassing the power structures that be. 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:21.360 Then he heals a leper, then he casts out demons. 00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:24.480 This is escalating, but here's what you need to know. 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:31.280 Other men of God had been used by God to heal, to cast out demons, to speak with authority. 00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:35.039 Even the great prophet Elisha had been used by God to heal a leper. 00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:39.840 But no one except God can forgive sins. 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:52.400 When Jesus says, friend, your sins are forgiven, it's the exact same thing as Jesus announcing, friends, I am Yahweh. 00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:53.679 I am God. 00:35:55.519 --> 00:36:08.400 It's shocking to me how as humans, sometimes we can be so incredibly right and so incredibly wrong at the exact same time. 00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:14.159 The Pharisees, listen, the Pharisees are correct. 00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:17.760 Only God can forgive sins. 00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:27.199 And yet, the Pharisees are so incorrect because they can't see that God is standing in front of them. 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:28.639 It's math. 00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:32.239 Only God can forgive sins, Jesus is forgiving sins. 00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:33.760 It's like one plus one. 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:38.159 But they cannot acknowledge it for many reasons. 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:58.960 But when it comes to our conversation today, they cannot acknowledge that Jesus is God because the moment they do that, their only option is to fall on their face, worship him, and hand over to him all their power, all their influence, and all of their authority. 00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:04.159 If they admit Jesus is God, they lose their kingdom. 00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:09.039 And so here's what Jesus does. 00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:15.199 He says, To prove that I am God, I'm going to do something that could only happen through the power of God. 00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:20.239 In verse 22, perceiving their thoughts, Jesus replied, Why are you thinking this in your heart? 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:25.760 Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and walk. 00:37:25.920 --> 00:37:33.519 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he told the paralyzed man, I tell you, get up, take your stretcher, and go home. 00:37:33.760 --> 00:37:40.320 And immediately he got up before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. 00:37:44.320 --> 00:37:46.719 Only Jesus can save you. 00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:48.719 Only Jesus can heal you. 00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:52.000 And you need to know this God doesn't always give you what you want. 00:37:55.119 --> 00:37:57.360 I don't know if I will ever be healed. 00:37:57.519 --> 00:37:59.039 I'm very open to it. 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:00.559 But I don't know. 00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:08.320 But I do know that someday my disease will be healed. 00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:13.360 It will happen on earth or it will happen in eternity. 00:38:13.679 --> 00:38:16.960 And here's what faith looks like, and it's taken me a long time to get here. 00:38:18.159 --> 00:38:26.159 If it never goes away on earth, I will live with the assumption that it is because God will get glory from me having it. 00:38:27.199 --> 00:38:29.679 And I can tell you, he already has. 00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:33.760 And I can tell you, it's probably the only reason I'm here. 00:38:35.760 --> 00:38:40.159 God doesn't always give you what you want, He does sometimes, and we glorify Him for it. 00:38:40.880 --> 00:38:44.159 But He's the only one who can give you what you need. 00:38:44.400 --> 00:38:45.679 And so what does it look like? 00:38:45.840 --> 00:38:47.280 I just want to point this out. 00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:55.760 It doesn't say when Jesus saw the faith of the paralyzed man, it says when he saw their faith, all five of them, he forgave his sins. 00:38:56.960 --> 00:39:00.960 You have a role to play in the kingdom of God. 00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:11.280 There are people you are connected to who do not know Jesus, and the question is, what are you going to do about it? 00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:16.159