WEBVTT 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:07.040 Welcome to the MetaChurch Podcast. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.160 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.400 I'm the pastor here at MetaChurch. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:18.079 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. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.640 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:27.760 If you're new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:29.120 I'm the lead pastor at Meta. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:31.519 You've joined us at a very exciting time. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:38.640 If you haven't heard, we are just blessed with the ability to purchase a new permanent space for MetaCurch. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:40.159 We're very, very excited about that. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:42.320 You can clap for all that God did there. 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:49.280 The next several weeks, we're gonna be in the process of transitioning. 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:57.679 You're gonna see that in real time, moving our operations from here at the saloon uh over to what is a bingo hall, and just get bingo hall out of your mind. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:02.000 It's not your typical bingo hall uh over at 1207 Richland Hills Drive. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:05.040 Tonight we are having our first look event. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:08.959 It's our first opportunity to all gather together in the news space. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:11.120 We're gonna tour the property and the building. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:18.159 We're gonna pray over all that God is going to do there, and we're going to wrap up our whatever it takes campaign. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:20.400 You're not going to want to miss tonight. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:21.680 It starts at 6 p.m. 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:25.439 Bring the whole family right after service. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:33.120 If you have youth, which is age six through twelfth grade, they're gonna huddle up for just a moment since we are taking up their youth time. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:36.400 But bring the kids, bring the family is going to be an awesome time. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:42.079 Next week, November 21st, will be the last Sunday at the saloon. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:53.760 And so while we're very excited for all that God is doing in the future, we are going to take intentional time to look back and remember all that God has done in and through the work done in this place. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:02.879 What that means is that on November 28th, which is the Sunday after Thanksgiving, there are no in-person services. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:05.920 We are not meeting here or at the new building. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:12.319 We need those full two weeks around Thanksgiving to get everything out and to get everything up and ready to go. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:14.080 So it will be online only. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:23.520 And our hope is that as friends and family are gathered together to celebrate Thanksgiving, that maybe you can get our message in front of some of them in a digital way. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:29.599 And then we will officially open in the new building on Sunday, December 5th. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:32.479 Who's excited about seeing all that God is going to do? 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:33.280 Yeah. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:47.520 We'll talk more about it tonight, but to go ahead and get this in front of you because it is such uh a larger space, we're gonna open on December 5th with two services. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:59.599 It doesn't affect you if you normally come to 945, but we will have 9.45 and 11:30, and we're praying for the day that we get to open back up our 115 because that means that God is continuing to grow this movement. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:16.800 Now, with all of this excitement and how God is moving us and transitioning us and growing us and getting us excited for all of it, we thought the best use of our time in our services leading up to that was to really circle in on who we are and what it is that we believe. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:27.280 We as the people of MetaCurch are setting a foundation that God can grow something on top of, and we have to be a firm foundation. 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:32.319 Last week we talked about church exactly, what we believe that it is and how it should be lived out. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:38.000 We're gonna do part two of that conversation today by talking about our mission statement here. 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:39.439 Our mission is simple. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:46.000 At MetaCurch, we do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus. 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:47.599 Would you pray with me? 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:57.120 God, we love you, and I pray that this mission, when we when we hear it, when we say it, when we speak it, God, that we would feel it in every fiber of our being. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:03:58.879 That is who we are. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:01.120 It is what sets us apart. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:16.480 It is what has allowed you to use us to reach people who are unchurched and de-churched, to create a culture where all people from all parts of their faith journey can come, a place where you can belong even before you believe. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.879 And so, God, we want to continue to push your kingdom and your work forward. 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:22.800 And I pray that you would guide us in that today. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:24.319 We ask it all in Jesus' name. 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:26.480 And everyone said, Amen. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:29.759 We do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:31.040 Whatever it takes. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:42.480 We kind of have like a little asterisk on that, and we remind ourselves of this on staff, and it's simple, but we say we do whatever it takes short of sin, right? 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:48.800 It's like there is a line that we're not going to cross, even if we think it will be effective. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:05:01.439 But every single other thing on this side of sin, we will do it if we have any chance of reaching someone who does not know Jesus and has no interest in going to regular church. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:05.439 We do whatever it takes short of sin to get people. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:10.160 Another slight asterisk because we're not talking about church people. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:15.360 We're not talking about good people, we're not talking about the right or the wrong people. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:24.800 And it's interesting when you go through like church planting seminars or we're not a part of a church planting network, but often when you are, one of the first things they say is, What's your demographic? 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:26.560 Well, what do you mean? 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:28.160 Well, who are you gonna reach? 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:30.000 It's like, well, what do you mean? 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:30.399 People. 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:31.920 Well, what kind of people? 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:33.439 And it's like, I don't know. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:34.560 All kinds of people. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:36.480 And they tell you it can't work. 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:38.879 You gotta really narrow in your demographic. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:46.959 We're reaching 25 to 45-year-old families with children who are in upper middle income, blah, blah, blah, demographics after demographics. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:55.439 And we decided, crazy enough, that when Jesus said go into the world, he meant the whole world, and in the whole world are all of the people. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:58.000 And so we go for all people. 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:08.319 And that is the hardest part of our mission statement. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:23.439 Some people think it's the whatever it takes part, you know, because we kind of we kind of put ourselves on the line sometimes, and you guys know sometimes we show up and and we do we do worship, but then in the middle there's like a rock song, you know, and some people don't really like that we do that. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:27.279 And sometimes we show up and we do communion and we take the thing off and it's chips and salsa. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:35.920 And if you weren't there, it's a long explanation, but it's like we're willing, and so people are like, that's the barrier to entry, is really being willing to do whatever it takes. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:39.279 And it does, it does take some gusto, you know. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:55.759 It it does take some some uh like fortification in what you believe in, but honestly, the hardest part of our mission statement is truly going after all people, and it's hard because we're human. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:58.879 Jesus tells a great parable of this. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:03.040 The lead up to it we find in Luke chapter 10, it's a very familiar story. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:10.720 It says in verse 25, then an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.360 And Jesus asked, What is written in the law? 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:14.480 And how do you read it? 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:24.079 And the lawyer answered, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:35.040 Now this guy has obviously sat in on some of Jesus' sermons because this is what Jesus preached again and again and again Love God and love your neighbor. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:41.279 Jesus said in verse 28, you've answered correctly, do this, and you will live. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:48.879 But, verse 29, wanting to justify himself, remember that word justify himself. 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:54.480 He asked Jesus, and who exactly is my neighbor? 00:07:54.800 --> 00:08:02.480 Other versions say, and who do you, Jesus, who do you say is my neighbor? 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:06.959 This leads us to an important question because Jesus has laid it out for us. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:12.079 We love God and we love our neighbor even as we love ourselves. 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:17.279 The question is, how do we know who our neighbor is? 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:22.639 He wanted to justify himself, and he is a lawyer. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:28.240 And justification was actually a legal term in Jesus' time. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:32.320 It meant on the legal side to be declared innocent. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:35.279 What was he trying to justify? 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:45.919 You see, what we know about this place and this time in this historical context is that people had very small circles of who they would consider their neighbor. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:47.759 How do we know who our neighbor is? 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:52.159 It's kind of a loaded word in the Greek that Luke was written in. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:56.320 The word has a spatial meaning like proximity. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:08.159 If I were to tell you that my neighbor is already putting all of their Christmas decorations up, you would think about the person who lives directly next to me. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:09.360 And they are. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:11.759 And it's not been Thanksgiving yet. 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:13.279 What is wrong with you people? 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:16.240 Halloween goes up, down, Christmas goes up. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:18.080 It's like Thanksgiving never happened. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:23.200 We should just call it Black Friday Day, because all you're doing is preparing for Christmas. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:24.080 Have a heart. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:26.080 What must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:29.279 What Jesus said, and just don't skip Thanksgiving, all right? 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:30.720 Give it, it's due. 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:36.399 When I say my neighbor, you think one of the people who lives directly, directly next to me. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:39.679 And yet, I also live in a neighborhood. 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:49.519 You live in a neighborhood, which is a collection of streets and houses and people who, because you're all in the neighborhood, you're all neighbors. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:53.600 And then there are neighborhoods next to your neighborhood. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:56.000 That's a neighboring community. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:03.440 And so your neighbor is based on proximity, who is close, but proximity is based on perspective. 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:10.480 When we zoom really far out, we learn that Mars is a neighboring planet to Earth. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:15.519 Your neighbor is based on proximity, but your proximity is based on the level of your perspective. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:25.200 And at this place and this time, and for all of human history, people's perspective on those they would allow proximity was very, very small. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:33.519 We take this for granted because we live in 2021 in the West and we put a high priority on equality and diversity. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:35.039 That's new. 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:45.840 For like all of human history, all people were systematically segregated by class, by gender, and most of all by race. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:51.840 You had your nation, your tribe, your class, and that was it. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:54.320 And the lawyer said, Well, who is my neighbor? 00:10:54.559 --> 00:11:02.879 Wanting to justify the limited circle that he actually saw as his neighbors. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:10.720 And so he was a lawyer, he was upper class, and at that point in time in history, upper class didn't speak to lower class. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:12.720 They were not neighbors. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:17.679 Even if they lived within proximity, there are other ways to be close. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:24.000 You're close economically, you are close relationally, you are close to the same place in life. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:26.320 You are close in how you think and vote. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.000 You're close in your worldview. 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:30.080 There are all different levels of proximity. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:36.960 And we use all these different filters and barriers to decide who is in our circle and who is out of our circle. 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:45.679 And the people who are in our circle are our neighbors, and the people who are out, we could honestly care less about. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:47.840 You've answered correctly. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:48.559 Do this and you'll live. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:52.399 And wanting to justify himself, he said, And who is my neighbor? 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:56.879 And Jesus launches in to a famous parable, which is a story. 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:02.159 It's a fictional story to expose a deep underlying meaning. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:06.960 And Jesus is going to challenge the very fabric of society with one simple story. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:20.799 In verse 30, Jesus took up the question and said, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers, and they stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:23.039 Now, what Jesus does here is genius. 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:24.480 He's in a Jewish context. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:30.000 He's speaking to a Jewish audience, and so they don't know anything about this character. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:35.519 He gives almost no details other than they can assume this is a Jewish man. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:49.919 He's going from Jerusalem to Jericho, and because this character is a blank canvas, everyone in the audience, the lawyer included, can project onto this character whatever would make someone their neighbor. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:13:02.399 So now, as they have someone who is close to them in mind, they are taken by robbers, they are beaten up, left half dead, dying in a ditch. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:14.000 And so he continues, and he says in verse 31 a priest happened to be going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.679 Now the priest represented the law. 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.600 And the law for Jewish people was an actual law. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:29.200 It was 613 rules, regulations, and commandments that guided and governed every single aspect of Jewish life. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:31.279 And the priest represented the law. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:41.919 The priest worked in the temple, the center of their culture, in the center of their religion, and they were responsible for teaching the law and for upholding the law. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:49.279 You see, a law is a set of agreed upon beliefs that binds people together. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:56.320 The agreed upon law, this social contract, is one thing that brings proximity. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:04.480 Whoever this Jewish man was dying in the ditch, this priest should have been his neighbor, and yet he passed by on the other side. 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:06.399 And Jesus doesn't tell us why. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:08.080 We can take some guesses. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:09.759 I mean, this guy got jumped. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:12.879 If I stick around too long, I might get jumped as well. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:17.440 Maybe the priest didn't get close enough to realize he was still alive. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:30.639 In the Jewish culture, part of their law was if you touch someone who is dead, you are ceremonially unclean, and you have to go through all of these different difficult details to now be seen as clean again. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:36.320 And so, in order to not be unclean, he doesn't go to the aid of his neighbor who needs help. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:40.960 And that's called missing the forest because you're so focused on one small tree. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:48.480 We don't know why the priest didn't stop, but we know in Jesus' story, he went to the other side of the road and simply passed by. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:59.279 In verse 32, it says, in the same way, a Lev, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:04.320 This Jewish man on his travels is robbed and beaten almost to death. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:07.200 A priest goes to the other side of the road and passes by. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:10.480 A Levite goes to the other side of the road and passes him by. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.360 Now the priest represented the law. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.799 The Levite represented the culture. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:23.600 The Levites also had really significant roles inside of the temple, and they also had a very storied past. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:30.879 In fact, the Levites could trace their lineage all the way back to Aaron, the brother of Moses. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:34.480 They were like the culture embodied. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:38.879 They were seen as like the height of Jewish society. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:45.200 And so we have these two men, one represents the law and one represents the culture. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:54.720 Both of them should have been neighbors to this Jewish man, and instead they went to the other side of the road and they simply passed him by. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:57.919 How do we define who is our neighbor? 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:03.600 How do we make the decision of who is in and who is out? 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:10.639 Our neighbors are based on proximity, and so what the world tells you is your neighbor are those who are close to you. 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:17.440 And now more than ever, we are in such a connected world that it is very little about physical proximity. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:23.039 It is more about emotional proximity, social proximity, demographic proximity. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.080 Who is close to the way you live your life? 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:33.840 Who is it that when you look at them, you see mirrored back the same life that you are comfortable living? 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:39.519 The world says your neighbors are those who are close to you. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:55.919 This idea of in-groups and outgroups has been studied for years and years by psychologists and sociologists, and what they have found is that we all have a deep, deep need for connection because connection brings safety. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:59.440 This lives at the level of self-preservation. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:07.519 And so when you walk into a room filled with strangers, the first thing you will look for is someone that you know. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:20.240 And if you can remember the last time you were in an uncomfortable environment and spotted someone that you know, even a little bit, the sense of relief that just rushes over you. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:24.079 You have found someone you are close to. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:29.759 You can be at a party that is full of strangers and see someone from work that you don't even like. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:34.799 And for that night, y'all are best friends attached at the hip. 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:45.279 What we do is if we if we can find someone we know, even if we don't agree, even if we don't get along, we have had proximity, it makes us feel safe. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:50.160 What happens when you walk into a room and you don't know anybody? 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:58.960 At a biological level, what starts to happen is you begin to look for external identifiers that you can relate to. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:03.839 This is why I can be traveling in a completely different state. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:11.440 And if I see someone with a Spurs jersey on, forget neighbors, we're family, I'm dapping you up. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:17.680 We're talking old school Spurs, it's instant connection, it's safety. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:21.440 I don't have to know your name, I don't have to know who you are. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:25.599 We share something where we are now close. 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:39.519 And the priest represented the law, and the Levite represented the culture, and these are like the two ends of the spectrum of where we find our connection to who's in and who's out. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:44.160 The law is what governs, the culture is what guides. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:53.279 You have the political and you have the deeply personal, and all of these factors and demographics in between, you cannot help help it. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:54.799 It's at a biological level. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:19:01.039 You walk into a room of strangers and you begin to find the person who is closest to you. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:09.440 If you're a young person and you walk into a senior citizen's home, you will find the next youngest person, and that is who you will connect with. 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:16.640 If you are single and you walk into a party where everyone is married, you will find the only other single person there and you will connect. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:17.839 They are close to you. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:26.799 If you have children and you are at a place full of single people, you will find the one other person there with their kids and you will connect with them. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:28.640 Military City USA. 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:47.440 If you walk in as someone in the military and it's a room full of civilians, odds are you'll find the one other person in there who is also in the service and you'll make a connection because we have self-preservation, safety instincts, and we find that with the people who are close to us. 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:56.160 And so what that means is at a biological level, we are all prejudiced. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:07.599 We all have prejudice, and I know it's a dirty word, but all it really means is we have a biological filter to help us make decisions. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:09.279 And we all make a decision. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:23.440 We walk into a room and we decide who is closest to us, who is the most like a mirror to the way that we're living, to who we are and how we vote and how we think and where we're at in life. 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:28.880 And so we make our groups, and if you're close, the world says that's your neighbor. 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:33.440 Your neighbor are the people who are already close to you. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:40.400 And so what happens is we tend to be comfortable with those who are most like us, and we segment ourselves off. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:49.599 And social media has really made this problem exponentially worse because you can connect yourself to thousands of people who think, look, and vote just like you. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:59.440 You can segment yourself off in a little Facebook group, it becomes an echo chamber where you only reinforce through confirmation bias the things you already believe and know. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:02.240 And that's how we live. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:15.920 And if you think back to a pre-Jesus world, this went to its extreme of everything separated out by class, by gender, and by race. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:17.279 Who's my neighbor? 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:21.119 The world says it's those who are already close to me. 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:24.559 What does Jesus say about it? 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:30.240 In verse 33, Jesus absolutely drops a bomb. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:33.599 He says, but a Samaritan. 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:36.079 But a Samaritan. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:47.039 And what you can do there is you can think about the demographic of people, the identifying marker of the people that you hate the most. 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:49.200 Pastor, I just I don't hate anybody. 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:50.960 Guys, I follow y'all on Facebook. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:55.119 If you don't hate people, you're doing a bad job of showing it to the world. 00:21:55.279 --> 00:22:04.400 You can put in that word Samaritan the people that you despise the most, the people that Keep you up at night thinking about them and just how they could ever be so stupid. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:11.599 You can put in there the political part of the political party that just makes your blood boil. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:16.319 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:22.240 And when he saw the man barely hanging on to life, he had compassion. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:24.880 And there's two very significant things in this story. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:28.160 Because we all create our in-group and we all create our out group. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:29.599 And it's it's natural. 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:35.440 We all look for things that we identify with, and the world says this is how you determine who your neighbor is. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:38.400 And Jesus picks a Samaritan. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:23:00.559 And here's the problem: if you walk into a room full of strangers and there is nothing on them to identify whether or not they are close to you, race has been such a contentious issue from the beginning of human history because we all walk around with an external identifying factor. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:07.359 I don't know if you know this, but I am white. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:15.599 I'm a special kind where if I were any whiter, I would be see-through. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:18.079 I'd be like the geckos on the windows at night. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:20.000 You can see my internal organs. 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:36.160 We're all walking around with an external identifying factor, and it is the simplest, it is by far the simplest common denominator to decide who's in your group and who is out of your group. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:45.839 And I'm telling you, for almost all of human history, everyone decided that was how we will be divided. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.240 And one thing changed that. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:51.279 And it was Jesus. 00:23:52.240 --> 00:24:00.880 And there's no, there's no surprise that the hero of the story and who should be your neighbor is a Samaritan. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:03.759 The Jews and the Samaritans hated each other. 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:09.279 And all of the different ethnicities and tribes and nations, they all segmented off from one another. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:15.440 But the Jews and Samaritans had a special hatred because the Samaritans were half Jewish. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:24.799 They were Jewish individuals who, in the eyes of the Jews, had defiled themselves by intermarrying with ungodly pagan nations. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:26.799 And so they called them half-breeds. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:28.160 They despised them. 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:31.200 They hated each other deeply. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:39.839 Jewish families on their travels would add days to their journey just to not step foot in Samaria. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:43.359 This goes back generations and generations. 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:50.799 And when Jesus said, but a Samaritan, there's a chance some people fell out in the audience that day. 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:52.720 People could not believe it. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:56.240 This is the kind of stuff that got Jesus crucified. 00:24:56.559 --> 00:25:03.279 Surely he is not about to make a Samaritan the hero of this story. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:07.039 Something else is so significant about this verse. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:10.400 It says, the Samaritan came and saw him. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:13.039 Like really saw him. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:16.559 Close enough to realize he wasn't actually dead yet. 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:19.039 Got some proximity to him. 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:22.559 And the Samaritan had compassion. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:29.359 The Gospel of Luke was originally written in Greek, and in Greek, this word compassion is an unbelievable word. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:30.720 It's really a mouthful. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:33.200 I'm gonna look at it because I can't really uh say it all that well. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:35.119 It's spon chinzomi. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:40.559 It's a compound word, and where it comes from is a very visceral image. 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:50.880 It actually means, like literally, to eat the internal organs of an animal, to eat the heart and the stomach, the entrails of an animal. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:26:02.240 And and what it became, the meaning became over time, is this idea of compassion, literally, that what is happening is like eating you alive on the inside. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:06.880 It is tearing your heart apart, it's eating you up. 00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:08.559 We feel this. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:18.960 This is not like some compassion where you watch a commercial and there's a bunch of poor kids and they're all hungry and you feel bad for four seconds, and then Jeopardy comes back on and you forget all about it. 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:24.559 This is like deeply felt, like it moves you to action, you just can't help it. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:29.279 This word tells us something about the parable of the Good Samaritan. 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:34.960 It tells us that the Samaritan represents Jesus. 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:39.279 And if you think about it, it's so accurate. 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:42.720 What were what was their problem with the Samaritans? 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:46.079 It was that they were two parts in one. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:51.920 They weren't pure Jews, they were part Jew and part something else. 00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:58.799 You know, one of the problems the religious leaders had with Jesus, they accused him of this in the Gospel of John. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:02.559 They said, We don't even know who your father is. 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:08.559 Jesus was man, but he was also God. 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:15.599 Splunchenzo Mai, compassion for something to just eat you up. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:19.759 It's used a lot of times in scripture, but here's what's so unique. 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:27.920 Every single time it appears in scripture, it always is talking about Jesus. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:33.200 Jesus moved with compassion, Jesus filled with compassion, moved to compassion. 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:36.799 Jesus, every time it's about Jesus, except one. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:42.960 The one time it's not about Jesus, it's about the good Samaritan. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:49.359 We all have people who are out of our group. 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:53.200 We have our circle, those who are close to us. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:55.599 Those are your neighbors. 00:27:55.920 --> 00:28:03.440 We have our neighbors, and we have the outcasts, the people that we, if we were honest, want nothing to do with. 00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:06.720 To the Jew, that was a Samaritan. 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:11.440 And Jesus is about to turn society on its head. 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:22.960 It says that the Samaritan went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine, and then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:30.000 The next day he took out two dinari, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, Take care of him when I come back. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:34.400 I'll reimburse you for whatever else you spend. 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:36.400 This is a Samaritan man. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:44.640 That means from the time he was a Samaritan baby, he was indoctrinated with a deep hatred of the Jewish people. 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:48.319 And yet, compassion will mess you up, man. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:51.599 Compassion will begin to eat away at you. 00:28:51.759 --> 00:29:00.640 Compassion is this thing that says, if I walk away without taking action, I don't know if I could ever live with myself. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:02.559 He bandaged his wounds. 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:21.119 Not if, not I'll check on him if I'm in the area. 00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:24.160 When I intentionally come back. 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:27.279 We say we do whatever it takes. 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:28.880 Whatever it takes. 00:29:29.119 --> 00:29:30.880 And I'm telling you, this is part of it. 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:33.279 That's why we invite, we invite, and we invest. 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:34.480 That's why we invite. 00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:35.839 This is the front door. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:36.799 That's all this is. 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:39.839 This is the top of the funnel to get people involved in this movement. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:40.799 That's all this is. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:44.000 And this and this alone just simply is not enough. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:54.880 If you think you can just invite and bring them along and not have any ongoing proximity to them, not allow them to see how God is using your life, not circling back around to them. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:56.720 Here's what a lot of us do as Christians, man. 00:29:56.880 --> 00:29:58.000 It's like I invited them. 00:29:58.079 --> 00:29:58.960 Well, well, when? 00:29:59.119 --> 00:29:59.680 A year ago? 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:00.559 How many times? 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:01.519 Once, kind of. 00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:05.119 I text him, I actually don't know if it's the right number, but I tried, you know. 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:08.960 It's real effort. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:13.279 Whatever it takes to get all people. 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:25.680 And the point Jesus seems to be making is not just that you should consider people who are outside of your circle, but that the people outside of your circle should actually become your priority. 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:30.559 And so Jesus looks back at the lawyer in verse 36. 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:35.839 And he says, which of these three do you think proved proved? 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:42.079 Which of these do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robber? 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:43.119 This is a lawyer. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:50.960 And I'm telling you right now, Jesus is hilarious because first of all, the lawyer came to him as the teacher. 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:52.400 He addressed him that way. 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:54.880 Teacher, how do you get eternal life? 00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:56.240 And then he responds. 00:30:56.400 --> 00:31:00.480 But after Jesus responds, he tries to take over the line of questioning. 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:02.640 And the lawyer says, Well, who do you say? 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:04.000 Like he's the teacher now. 00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:05.839 And so Jesus gives him a little parable. 00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:10.160 And then in verse 36, he's like, Nah, son, I'll ask the questions here. 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:12.880 Who do you think proved it? 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:14.480 He's a lawyer. 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:16.319 And what did he ask? 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:18.240 Jesus, who do you say? 00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:22.000 And Jesus says, When it comes to being a neighbor, we don't do this by hearsay. 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:23.920 What year are you in law school? 00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:24.799 We prove this. 00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:28.000 If you're in a court of law, who proved to be the neighbor? 00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:35.680 Not who you're comfortable with, not who is naturally closest to you, not who you were raised to be around, but who proved it? 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:41.440 And in verse 37, the lawyer says, the one who showed mercy. 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:50.079 So much hatred that he can't bring himself to say the word Samaritan. 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:52.960 The one who showed mercy. 00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:54.640 And Jesus told him. 00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:58.160 Now you go and do the same. 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:04.720 Now you go and live like the Samaritan. 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:08.400 Jesus is the Samaritan. 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:12.319 He is the one with compassion. 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:16.160 And what that means is that Jesus is the ultimate neighbor. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:19.200 And I'm going to tell you why that matters. 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:22.079 Because Jesus sees you in your life. 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:24.880 Right where you are, He sees your disappointments. 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:26.480 He sees your frustrations. 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:29.279 He sees what you view as your inadequacies. 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:39.839 He sees the false narratives that run around in your mind moment after moment, convincing you that you're not good enough and beautiful enough and smart enough and you're never be able to make enough money and no one will ever marry you. 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:45.599 And of course the marriage is gonna end, and your parents got divorced, so sure you're gonna get divorced, and you've already spoken it into existence. 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:50.400 Jesus sees all of that and he is moved with compassion. 00:32:51.039 --> 00:33:04.559 He sees you as you are actively trying everything in your power to run away from him, and he is so moved, it is eating him up on the inside to such a degree that everywhere you go, he is pursuing you. 00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:07.680 He sees you, he has a plan for you, he loves you. 00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:15.599 You might be in the ditch of your life, barely hanging on, and Jesus, the ultimate neighbor, will come to your rescue. 00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:19.839 Jesus is the ultimate neighbor. 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:23.039 That means he is the example of how this works. 00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:30.799 And so here's what the world tells you your neighbor is that person who is already close to you. 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.920 They look like you, think like you, vote like you, dress like you. 00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:36.720 They root for the same teams that you root for. 00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:39.839 They're in the same uh tax bracket as you. 00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:42.400 They go to the same vacation spots as you. 00:33:42.559 --> 00:33:44.480 They're the people who are already close. 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:54.720 They're the people that you can walk into a room and with this crazy biological filter, you can scan the room for three minutes and you can find them because at some level they mirror yourself. 00:33:55.200 --> 00:33:58.319 That's who the world says your neighbor is. 00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:04.319 Jesus says being a neighbor is not about who is close to you. 00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:09.920 Being a neighbor is about who you are willing to get close to. 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:14.239 It is not passive, it is active. 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:19.039 It is not something that stands still and waits for neighbors to show up. 00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:38.079 Being a neighbor is a process that is in development of you allowing a gospel-centered, holy spirit-filled, Jesus-led life to get that prejudice that is natural out of you so you begin to see all people in all places as worthy of your love, your time, and your attention. 00:34:38.239 --> 00:34:46.880 Being a neighbor is about who you are willing to go pull out of the ditches of life and get back to some semblance of hope. 00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:51.280 It's about doing whatever it takes to get people to Jesus. 00:34:51.760 --> 00:34:55.199 That is what it means to be a neighbor. 00:34:55.440 --> 00:35:01.840 It turns the world's definition on its head, and we're missing a piece. 00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:08.239 Because to get outside of your circle, to get outside of your comfort, it is very difficult. 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:11.840 The priest and the Levite, they should have been the neighbor. 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:13.360 But it was too much. 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:14.960 Too much hassle. 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:16.480 It wasn't really worth it. 00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:17.920