Lust and Shame

Series: The Sermon on the Mount
May 30, 2021 - Alec Seekins

We’re just going to dive right into things. I’m kind of hoping that you guys will be willing to follow me to a place that will be pretty uncomfortable but ends someplace pretty awesome. I’m kind of hoping that, at some point of time during the service or during the course of your day, that each of us will allow ourselves and our heart to kind of sink into a place where we’re willing to feel some of the weight of our sin and our shame, whether present or past.

Please don’t be confused. What I don’t mean is that we would camp out there. I don’t think that Jesus wants us to live in a place where we’re rolling around in our sin and shame. I absolutely don’t mean that I think Jesus wants us to go back to something that he’s already set us free from. But I suspect that there is probably quite a few of us that think we’ve really dealt with our sin, but all we’ve done is managed our shame effectively.

Jesus doesn’t want us to just manage our shame. He wants us to actually move past that. He wants us to end up in a place of transformation. I think that, in order to end up in a place of transformation, we have to experience it at his feet, by his blood. I think in order to do that, we have to be moved to repentance. I think in order to be moved to repentance, for many of us it can be really helpful to feel some of the weight of our sin and our shame. To allow ourselves to be re-sensitized to that, so that again we would repent and let the Lord actually deal with the root of the shame, which is our sin. Because he is absolutely able to do that.

Without Jesus, I don’t think we have hope in this area. But with Jesus wee have hope to get through this on our knees, by his blood. I’m not asking you to follow me into this difficult and painful place to find hopelessness. I’m asking you to follow me there so we can follow Jesus out of there for good. 

A lot of you guys know, because I got to share this a few months ago, that last year my wife and I spent the year in southeast Asia, working with an anti-trafficking ministry. When we had been there for a little while, I was asked if I could teach English for these two women who not too long ago had left their lives as prostitutes. They had subsequently come to Jesus and now they were engaged in this year-long discipleship program. So me and a woman from our team would teach that class twice a week for a couple of hours each class and we would just go over English stuff. 

Before too long, we decided, you know, why don’t we kill two birds with one stone, because these women are brand new in their faith, they’ve never really been exposed to very much of the Bible, let’s kill two birds with one stone and start reading through stories in the book of Genesis.

What I was thinking of when we made that decision was like how the book of Genesis is all these cute, fun little children’s stories that are so great for learning English, right? Like Noah and the fluffy animals and Joseph and his really cool coat and all that kind of stuff. But if you’ve ever read that book as an adult —I don’t know why this didn’t click for me because I’ve read it many times as an adult — you realize really quickly this is not fluffy animals and cool, colorful coat. This book is full of scandal and sexual brokenness. It’s rated TV-MA if it was going to be on Netflix, for sure. It’s not PG, I promise you. 

So we started reading these stories. And every time we would read one of these stories that had to do with sexual brokenness and depravity and this wickedness, I would start to feel super awkward. I’m the only guy in the room. Two of the women in the room, not too long ago were prostitutes. I am profoundly and acutely aware of the fact that my very presence might make them feel threatened. And now we’re reading stories like, you know, Noah passed out naked and drunk. Abraham’s got tons of them, right? Multiple occasions Abraham takes his wife and passes her on to another man and says, “Nah, she’s not my wife. Go for it.”

Then some years down the road in his relationship with Sarah, his wife, they’re having a hard time getting pregnant, so Sarah comes up with a brilliant idea and says, “Why don’t you take my servant, Hagar, and why don’t you sleep with her and she’ll get pregnant and she’ll have a kid and the kid will kind of be our kid a little bit.” 

And then they do that. Then, surprise, surprise. Sarah ends up really angry and frustrated and bitter and jealous of Hagar. So she goes to her husband and says, “Why don’t you take the servant, the slave woman and her son and dump them in the desert?”

And he does that. Father Abraham had many sons, and one of them he left in the desert. It’s kind of messed up. And it continues from there. It doesn’t stop. It goes on and on and on. We look at Lot and his daughters and Judah and his daughter-in-law. And it just continues from there. And it’s usually at the hands of the protagonists, or the man characters or the heroes of the faith that this wickedness is being done.

I had these moments when we would read these stories. It kind of felt like, if you remember being a teenager and you’d watch a raunchy comedy with your friends, and you think it’s so  funny because you’re all teenagers. And, gosh, it’s so funny how gross that is. Then a few months later you go to Blockbuster if you’re old enough, or whatever, and you rent the DVD and then you bring it home. And what you don’t think about is how raunchy that comedy was. It was so funny, but now you’re watching the movie and Mom or Grandma are in the room. And Will Ferrell’s not so funny anymore, is he?

And we have these experiences where we’re reading these children’s stories and they don’t really feel like children’s stories. And I’m acutely aware of that. And as we would read these, I started to get concerned that my friends, who were so new in their faith, that they might hear the stories of the depravity of the heroes of the faith and it might confuse them. And they might think, Do I really want to follow a God whose holy book is full of these broken people?

So every time we would get to the end of one of these stories, I would start explaining it away. I’d say, “Before we move on to talk about grammar, let me just talk about this a little bit. Just because the main characters are doing this, doesn’t mean that God or the Bible wants us to emulate what they’re doing. They’re not the cartoons that we grew up watching, where the main character, the protagonist ends up in a moral quandary and they wrestle with it a little bit, but ultimately they end up deciding to the right thing and if we emulate their behavior then we’re doing pretty good too. That’s not how the Old Testament is written. It’s very different from that. 

So I would explain this away out of fear that my friends would see themselves in the shoes of the victims of the heroes of the faith. And one of these times, maybe the fourth or fifth time I had done this, I think we were talking about how Abraham had abandoned Hagar and her son in the desert place at the tail end of tons of wickedness. And I’m explaining it away, one of my friends stops me and says, “Alec, I don’t think you understand what the story means to us.” I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “Well, it’s really good news for me that Abraham did this.” I said, “What?” She said, “Yeah, because God still used him, right?” I said, “Yeah.” And she said, “So, he’ll still use me, won’t he?” And I said, “Yeah, he will. He absolutely will.”

That was the beginning for her of realizing how far Jesus was going to take her. That Abraham was so messed up and God still used him. Because, for her, the shame of the things that she had done and the shame of the things that had been done to her, in her heart they were inextricably interwoven. You couldn’t pull them apart. It didn’t really  matter to her if Jesus was going to pull the things apart and define them  and put them in their own nice, neat, tidy little boxes before he took her sin along with her shame and cast it as far from her as the east is from the west. For her, all that mattered is that Jesus was going to get her clean, and that Jesus used horrible people like Abraham, and that we look back and call them righteous. And that God was going to use a person who had done the things that she had done and that we could look back and certainly God could, and call her righteous.

A few weeks later this same woman came to me and said, “I’ve been going on this treasure hunt through the Old Testament to find all the stories of the women who have been sexually broken and have done some sexual breaking of their own. And it’s a pretty good treasure hunt.”

The moment she said that, I don’t think I was able to see the Bible the same way and I don’t think I ever will be, after realizing all of a sudden that, yeah, this thing is full of these stories. The tip of the iceberg is pointing out the fact that there are at least two women in the line of King David, and ultimately Jesus, who played the prostitute. That holy lineage that we trace painstakingly throughout the Bible. There’s even an entire book that’s all about a man pursuing a woman who was a prostitute and setting her free. And then her coming and finding some freedom and then abandoning him and leaving, and then him going back and chasing after her again. And God wants us to know that we are that woman. 

I started to wonder. Man, was this book written primarily for an audience of prostitutes? That’s confusing for me. Because I know so many people who have never been prostitutes who have experienced so much freedom in these words, who have encountered the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit through the words of the Bible. And they weren’t prostitutes. So how could that be? 

And as I’ve chewed on this question for about a year now, where I’m starting to land is I think perhaps the Bible was really not necessarily exclusively written for prostitutes, but the Bible was written for people who are willing to sit in the same seat that prostitutes do when they look at themselves. For people who are willing to look at themselves from the same perspective that a prostitute was when they compared themselves to everyone else in the room.

See, for my friends the gospel was so obvious and so powerful and so clear, that they saw it in the story of Abraham abandoning the woman that he had abused. Because, for them, the story of the gospel was, “I am filthy. Jesus makes me clean. Then he sets me free. Then we move forward from there, as he makes me holy.” It was that simple and that powerful, that they can see it in the most broken stories of the Bible. 

But for you and me, I think we lack this advantage of a prostitute when it comes to looking at the gospel. I think we lack perhaps what Jesus was pointing to a few verses before the ones we’ll read today, where he said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Because for you and me, we get so stuck on step one. We start to complicate and convolute the gospel when we say, not “I’m filthy.” But we say, “I’m okay and I’m not the worst person in the room. I’m a pretty decent human being. Yeah, there are people that are better than me, but I’m not the worst.”

So we have to do all these weird aerobics and gymnastics and strange things as we contort ourselves to fit into the gospel. Why? Because we’ve deceived ourselves into thinking that we are somewhere where we’re not. We’ve deceived ourselves into thinking that God is grading holiness on a curve. And that’s not how it works. And Jesus wants to make it clear to us, “No, actually, if you want the gospel to come alive, you’re going to have to realize that you don’t live up here in this better space than everyone else, than anyone else.” Jesus is saying, “I want you to come down here.” Because the people who are going to get this message understand that they cannot look around the room and say, “I’m any better than anyone else.”

My friends didn’t need to hear this message. When Jesus clarifies to a group of people that they’re probably guilty of adultery even if they don’t think so. Why? Because there were mornings when my friends would wake up and they would eat breakfast with the money they had made committing adultery the night before. You and I have these useless veils that enable us to pretend that we’re not guilty and full of sin and shame without Jesus. 

So Jesus wants to make that point clear and so in Matthew chapter 5:27-28, he says this:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” 

And then he’ll go on to talk about how, if your eye is causing you to sin, cut it out. If your hand is causing you to sin, chop it off. It’s better that you would do that than that you would be cast into hell. There’s something more serious that you don’t understand about the depths and the weight of your sin and of your shame. And you may be able to tell yourself, “I have never cheated on my spouse, therefore I’m not an adulterer.” And Jesus is saying, “No, you missed it. If there’s lust in your heart, it’s that serious.”

Righteousness is not graded on the curve. It’s pass/fail and chances are most of us, if not all of us in the room, have failed. Why does Jesus want me to feel so bad? I think because he wants us to understand the good news. 

For me, the place in my life that I can look back to and say, “Yeah, that was complete and total failure,” that’s the place in my life where I began to be able to sit down next to my friends that I didn’t know yet, that I wouldn’t know for years to come, where I could sit down with them and say, “I’m absolutely the same as you. It’s good news to me that Abraham would do those things.”

That time of life for me was when I was nine years old. I started looking at pornography and I entered into a season of four or five years of my life where my heart and my mind were completely wrapped up and intertwined with lust and brokenness. Where I couldn’t even look at my friends without being ashamed of the things that were happening in my mind and in my heart. 

In that season of life I began to become really acquainted with some of the different strategies that we can employ to manage our shame. I want to walk you through three of those today. Then there’s a fourth one that’s very different from the first three.

The first of those strategies that I started to encounter, what I would consider the most base of those strategies, the most primitive of them. It’s what I would call self-pity. Or a better way to put it maybe is just wallowing in your shame. And that’s the most base because it’s just what you do. You feel shame and what are you going to do? You’re going to feel the shame so you roll around in it and you stick with it and you carry it with you in the back of your mind and the back of your heart and you don’t know what to do with it. And you try to figure out What can I do with this shame? Then, all of a sudden, you slip back into the same sin that precipitated the shame in the first place. And you find a little bit of relief from the shame. It changes your mood and you feel better for just a little bit.

For me, in that season of life, it was pornography. But I think that’s probably a good example, because it’s really good at conjuring up shame for us. But you could probably plug in any different sin that you want to. Right? So you go back to the sin and you find some relief from your shame and it feels good for a little bit, for a few seconds, a few moments, or at best until the next morning. But then the shame snaps back stronger than it ever was before. So you carry it again until the next private moment when you fall into this sin again and find some momentary relief. But every time you do this, the relief you get is not as strong, and the shame becomes stronger. 

Those of us who use this as our primary strategy of shame management, the same thing happens by two different avenues. We continue to walk deeper and deeper into more and more and darker and darker sins, because lust will fill any space you give it. And once it’s filled that space it will begin to fill the next spaces. We find ourselves needing to do more sin, more frequent and more dark sin, just to find the same amount of relief that we got int he beginning, like any other addiction. 

At the same time that’s happening, we’re starting to actually grow an addiction, not just to the sin, but to the shame itself. We start to like that feeling. We start to love what we do. We start to love that we hate ourselves. Eventually, people who stick with this long enough, they’ll need to hop into a whole different kind of sin that’s probably more public. Because they need the thoughts and words and condemnations of other people to magnify their own shame, because they love to hate themselves. Because we love to hate ourselves when we’re wrapped up in this self-pity strategy of shame management.

For me, this wasn’t good enough. I didn’t like the feeling. I didn’t want to revel in my shame very long. So, before too long, I had to move on to another strategy. Had to move on to what I’m going to call self-justification. Convincing myself that what I was doing wasn’t wrong. I think for most of us this strategy begins with the very same question that greased the wheels to for sin to enter the world in the first place. “Did God really say? Did he really say that that was wrong?” And I would start to ask myself, “Could this really be wrong? I don’t know. It doesn’t seem to be hurting anyone. It doesn’t seem to be unhealthy. Everything seems to be find. What could be wrong with this?”

For those of us who stick in this strategy, we start to convince ourselves of that, and eventually maybe it’s not good enough. Maybe we need to move past, “Did God really say” and we start saying, “Does God really even have the authority to say…” Right? “Does God even have any moral authority or claim over my life?” Or “Does God even exist at all?” 

If we’re honest with ourselves, we’re doing this why? Because we’re managing our shame. We’re tired of feeling ashamed and feeling like someone gets to tell that what we’re doing is wrong. So we start to convince ourselves that it’s not. This is very dangerous because this is perhaps the most effective of these strategies of shame management. Because with this strategy you can turn down the volume on your shame. And I think you can effectively mute it. Once you figure out you can mute it with one sin and the following shame, you realize you can do that to any sin and the shame that comes.

Then, at some point in time in the process, you’ll start to buttress up your opinions and your beliefs that, no, this isn’t wrong, by gathering other people around you that you can convince no, that’s not wrong. And help you convince yourself that, no, this isn’t wrong. And eventually you’ll have a little community, a little bubble of men and women who are just yes men and yes women. Eventually that can grow into a philosophy, a theology, into an ideology, even into a religion of people who are simply saying, “You do you. Do whatever makes you happy, as long as it feels good.”

I would ask you to pause just for a second right there, because I think there are some people here who are like me, who are already hearing this and starting to take it and use it to do strategy number three, self-righteousness. I think we’re hearing this and thinking, “Yeah, that’s what that person does. I don’t do that. Yeah, that’s what that group of people, that’s where that ideology, that’s where that thought process came from. And I don’t do that.” And I don’t think that’s the most fruitful use of this classification. I think the most fruitful us of this information is for us to look and say, “Am I doing this? Have I been convincing myself that, no, this isn’t wrong because it helps me dampen the volume on my shame.”

Again, for me, this strategy didn’t work for too long because I couldn’t convince myself that God was saying that what I was falling into was okay. It was clear to me in verses like the one we just read that God was saying, “No, this is wrong.” Then I wasn’t willing to abandon Jesus, to walk away from him, to throw out his word in my journey to mute my shame. So I had to move on to a new strategy that I will call self-righteousness. Really self-righteousness is just a sub-strategy under hiding.

There are so many different ways to hide, but some of us literally will go into this little corner and we’ll hide in that corner where “No one can see me, where no one can find me. I stopped going to church because I feel so bad about what I’m doing and I don’t want to talk to anybody and I don’t want anybody to know what I’m doing.” 

Some people stop having friends, they stop engaging. Some people just really stay very quiet so that no one can see their shame. I couldn’t do that for very long, because I’m way too extroverted for that. So I needed to find another strategy, another way of getting out into the open where I could hide. I realized that I had these very convenient personality traits that were true of me, that I could hide behind in front of everybody else. Yeah, I was someone who really usually does follow the rules. I was someone who really did have a relationship with Jesus. I was someone who really was plugging into church and into   youth group. I could hide behind those things and a little bit of vulnerability, a little bit of transparency, and no one would ever know. No one would ever suspect. No one would ever ask me if there was anything below the surface. 

Growing up I was a really bad liar. So I knew that if I was going to get away with anything with my parents, I had to hide any suspicion from them. Because the moment they asked me a question, I was either going to accidentally straight up just going to tell them truth before I had the opportunity to decide to lie; or I was going to muster up the courage to lie and they were going to see right through it immediately. 

So, the result of that, of me revelling in really what was my favorite, probably still is my favorite strategy of shame management, is that I hid my shame and my sin so much that, even though it started at nine years old, I was fourteen years old and almost on the other side of it before either of my parents — who are good parents, who cared about these things, who talked about these things with me — before either of them ever asked me directly, “Have you ever looked at pornography?” And the answer that I was honestly able to give my mom when she asked me that question was, “Yes, I have. But I’m not really doing it anymore.” I hid it so well. I even hid it when I was finding freedom from it.

This is the strategy that is so deadly because it grows and festers when we keep it in the darkness. Right? This is the strategy that leads to headlines: Pastor. Clergyman. Politician. Celebrity. Secret affair. Secret substance abuse. Money laundering. Insert the blank. Right?

As I’ve been prepping for this message I’ve been thinking, I doubt that those men and women start off thinking My life is going to be a scam. That’s where I’m going. I think they start off as kids who have something they really want to hide and they can just never figure out how to bring it out. And in that process, you begin to kind of split into two different people. There’s this public person, this person that everyone else sees that is righteous, that is better, that is successful, that is honest. And then there’s this other person that carries all the shame in private. This person grows and grows and grows the more this person looks better and better and better. 

At some point in time, I just couldn’t deal with the fact that I felt so two-faced. I felt there were two different human beings growing inside of me. And one of them was so disgusting and the other one just felt like such a lie, even there was some truth to him. So I started going to my youth pastors, to David Stockton, to Mike Phifer, and I said, “This is what’s happening in secret.” And they gave me a lot of really good, practical advise. We could give a whole message on practical advice, trying to get over this, trying to conquer it, trying to access the freedom that Jesus is offering you. 

But the best advice that they both gave me was “Repent. Go from this place of feeling the weight of your sin and shame to Jesus and lay it down at his feet and acknowledge how wrong this is, and repent and let him restore you and make you clean. Begin the years long process of allowing him to renew your mind, to transform you by the renewal of your mind, rather than being conformed to the patterns of the world.”

That’s what I did and that’s where I landed. That Jesus really transformed me to the place where I felt comfortable with my own mind and heart. Where Jesus didn’t just manage my shame. The moment I stopped managing my shame, I let him manage my sin and cast it away from me, and slowly heal and renew me to the point where none of that baggage that I was so terrified was going to follow me the rest of my life, none of that baggage really followed me into my marriage.

One of my primary love languages is words of affirmation. My wife knows this about me. Her primary love language is gifts. This last Valentine’s Day, we were kind of between jobs and spaces and really between life, and we didn’t know what to do. She wanted to give me a good gift. So she sat down to make a gift and she ended up making the best gift she’s ever given me. She sat down for an hour or two and wrote down like a hundred and one or even more really kind things to me on little pieces of paper that she hole-punched and tied together with a ribbon and gave it to me. It looked like something your kids might take home from Sunday school today. 

She thought I was going to open it up and tear through it read everything she wrote. But instead, I decided that I was going to savor it and just flip it every so often to the next page and read it. Last week, when I was starting to get ready to prep for this message, I flipped the page on my nightstand and I saw a page that said, “I trust you fully.” There’s no one in this world who knows my heart better than my wife, outside of the Lord. 

And this is words written from a woman who’s had her own struggle with insecurity. Words written to a husband who, at nine years old, couldn’t walk in public without feeling the shame of his brokenness and the weight of adultery in my heart. And this is on the tail end of a year spending time in brothels and red light districts and befriending prostitutes, when all the work that the Lord had done was really put to the est. And she looks at me and she says, “I trust you fully.” And she writes it down. 

Because the hope that Jesus has for you this morning — as you stop managing your shame and you let him manage your sin — it’s not just hope. I mean, hope is a beautiful and a great thing. But it’s not just  hope it’s tangible. Right? It’s a real thing that you actually have access to. 

I don’t just hope that I’m going to have a bowl of ice cream tonight. I know that there’s ice cream in my freezer. And I’m going to go home and I’m going to eat the ice cream. And I expect it, and I’m excited for it, and I have evidence of it. 

In the same way, we don’t just hope for what the Lord can do with us. Expect it. Know that it’s there, sitting in the fridge, waiting for you. Jesus can take you and heal you. It comes through repentance. 

David’s going to come up and wrap us up as we just do some business with the Lord along these lines.

DAVID:

Thanks, Alec. One of the things we wanted to make sure we did as we were going through this stuff, and especially the intensity of it, is we figure out how to move from a classroom to a hospital as a church. So we wanted to make sure there wasn’t just like a message that kind of had some good thoughts and we could all think a little better, but that we’d leave room for the Spirit of God to do the next part. Let this stuff work into our heart and actually maybe bring some transformation. 

So that’s what we’re going to do now. I didn’t do a lot of sermon prep this Sunday, obviously. But I did a lot of prayer prep. I’m going to read some things that I feel like the Spirit was saying about today. Some of these might connect with you. If they do, then you can trust it’s for you, and you and the Lord can talk about that and figure out where to go from there.

We have this number that we’ll put up and we’ll put it up at the end of the service, too. If you want to text anonymously, or you can put your name, whatever, and get in contact with a pastor that can help you navigate some of what you might be going through. A safe space for all of that, so that will pop up at the end of the service and you can text that number. We’ll also close and have some people up here that would love to pray for you. If you can muster the courage to come and do that, it would be wonderful. You’ll leave feeling lighter, I’ll tell you that much. 

But we also know that some of those things are hard. So I just want to share some things that the Lord was saying and see if these land.

I really felt as I was praying that the Lord was saying that, because of this message and because of some of the people hearing this message today, they were going to understand the dangers of lust and they were not ever going to fall prey to addiction to porn or anything else because of this message. I was very excited about that. Because by God’s grace that’s been my story. 

Early on, for whatever reason, I felt like the Lord helped me build the walls. So anytime something was like, Woosh, I’ve just good wall reflex. Walls up. I feel like the Lord’s wanting to do that for some people here. So, young people, please hear this message and trust the Lord. Trust the Lord. 

Then I felt like there was a message for some people who are overcome with lust. You don’t think you could ever get free. Maybe you’ve even tried and you’re still stuck. I felt like there were some people that the Lord was actually wanting to give one of those miracles, one of those supernatural manifestations of his Spirit, that come from time to time and completely set you free instantaneously. 

If you feel some of that stirring in your heart, whether you’re online or here, he really does want to set you free. He really can set you free. Brand new neuro-pathways and everything, the whole package. And if you feel the Lord stirring that in you, I would respond. If he’s knocking in that way, I would open the door and let him come in. Get some prayer.

Then there’s some who have gotten really good at all of those shame management strategies, sin management strategies, and today, though, you’ve been found out. Pride would keep you from doing this. Deception would keep you from doing this. Some of you, the intensity of it is very different than a nine to fourteen year old and the ramifications that that would bring. Because you are married. You do have a family. You are older and the stakes seem too big. And though that might be true, Jesus is telling you, he’s telling you he can set you free. That’s why you’re here hearing this message. It’s not so you can go further away, or feel more condemned or ashamed. It’s because he really does have a plan purchased by his blood and empowered by his Spirit to get you to a place of wholeness and freedom. 

I didn’t say this last service, but I felt like the Lord told me while I was sitting there. Some of you need to do this because, if you can do this now, your kids won’t have to deal with this like you’ve had to deal with it. You can break this in your family. But you can’t do it alone and you can’t do it with hiding. You’ve got to tell somebody.

Then, the last one is the person whose heart is bitterly, bitterly broken, not because of their own lust, but because of a loved one or maybe a spouse’s lust. And even hearing this today is like drinking a whole glass of bitterness. You have your own shame, not because of your lust, but because of the person you’re connected to’s lust. I fell like what Jesus wanted me to tell you was it’s not always going to be this way. That he really is going to come back and he’s going to do away with the sinful nature forevermore. It might seem very far away, but it’s not. 

Also, he wants you to know that you’re not supposed to carry this alone either. You kind of feel like you carrying it is honoring the person or something like that, but actually you’re hiding your shame too. It’s super-scary but he wants you tell someone. Now tell someone that you can trust, and even try and tell someone that you think the loved one can trust. But you’re not supposed to carry this alone. It’s too heavy. But it is time for you to invite someone in to walk with you, because you need to be able to discern. 

I’m going to say this and please, please be very careful with this. Please email me before you do anything crazy. Because, in the Scriptures, there are caveats in the marriage relationship that can help in times of real, real pain and agony. I mean, the Bible says at times there is an okay reality of divorce with sexual immorality. Now, again, I’m saying don’t unpack that on your own. We have people that would really love to help you, that have been through this, that can help you with that discernment. But you have some really good options that you might not be aware of that are totally in line with the scriptures. 

Now, again, nobody get divorced between now and next Sunday. Next Sunday that’s what we’re talking about. Please come back next Sunday, because we’re going to have some ladies speak to us in a way that’s going to be really, really powerful and beautiful. And it’s going to allow the Spirit of God to come in way more fully than right now because of the work that will be done next week. 

That’s ultimately what all this is. Jesus is trying to get some of the junk out so more fullness of the Spirit can come in.

And so we’re going to have a little time of prayer. I’ve said these things. If one of those lands or one of those struck your heart, this is your time to be silent before the Lord or confess to the Lord or cry out to the Lord. But we do want to make sure we don’t move on too fast from this. 

They’re going to start playing a song and all of that a, and that’s fine, but this is for you and the Lord. 

Father, we do just ask that you’ll be with us in this moment, that your Spirit would be so close and so present and so powerful that it would overcome our fears, our pride, our confusion and we’d receive what you have for us this morning.  

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The Law of the Spirit

Series: The Sermon on the Mount
May 16, 2021 - David Stockton

We’re in Matthew 5 if you want to grab a Bible and turn there.  We’ve been trying to understand the way of Jesus. We’ve been trying to get a vision for the righteousness of God. In particular, we’ve been sitting on the side of a hill with Jesus as he give us the Sermon on the Mount, as he is inviting his followers to know and understand what it would look like, what it would feel like, what it would taste like, smell like if they followed his way. So we’ve been trying to learn.

We were doing great until we got to Matthew 5:17 through 20. If you‘ve been with us the last four weeks, you understand why I say that. Because we were just supposed to do one week with Matthew 5:17-20, but this is our fourth week with it. Because it’s such deep waters. I think it’s so important for understanding and unlocking the rest of the Sermon on the Mount.

Basically, he talks about the law here. In some ways Jesus is so much more than a rabbi. He’s so much more than a teacher. But in another way, he really is helping his disciples understand ethics. Ethics is basically when you have a decision to make, which way are you supposed to go, what are you supposed to do.

I had two young guys call me this week for advise. At first I was like, “Yeah, man. I’ve got young guys calling me for advice. Maybe they think I know some things.” Then I realized it’s probably just that I’m older and I know them. And they’re like, “He’s the only old guy I know. Maybe I should call him.”

The first one was calling me because he had an ethical dilemma. His dilemma was that he’s a musician and musicians had a really rough year last year. So he was wanting to gather some of the other musicians he’s known and done tours with, all together for kind of like a retreat or conference where they get together and pray and encourage each other, and listen to the Lord and worship. And they kind of set their sites on what’s forward out of this retreat. He was really inspired by the Lord to do this. So he, of his own volition, was looking for places to do it. He found this one place that he could afford and it seemed to good. He went and visited it and he felt like the Lord was saying this is it, this is so good.

But then, he found out that what the denomination of the place was, and some of their stances on cultural issues today, as well as some of their practices, he was kind of having some questions. It didn’t quite line up with exactly the way he believed. He thought — and it’s not anything horrific or anything — it’s just some little issues.

So he called me to say, “I don’t know what to do. I feel like the Spirit’s saying ‘go,’ but then, when I think about some of the rules and regulations that I know are in the scriptures, and some of what these guys say, we kind of vary. We differ a little bit on some things.”

And I was like, “I’m so glad you called me this week, because, basically, what I’m teaching this Sunday is ‘to the pure all things are pure.’ And ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’” And I said, “I’m excited you called. Because I know you know the word of God and you want to apply the word of God, and you submit to the word of God, and you’re inviting community into your life to help you process all of this. But I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, if the Spirit says, ‘Go’ — go!”

And he was like, “What?” Because he thought for sure I was going to tell him, “Yes, you should be more careful. Yes, this isn’t going to line up perfectly, so you shouldn’t do it.” And he was surprised that I was able to tell him, “No, man. We understand that the Law is good, but there is a higher law that we live by — the Law of the Spirit. And we’ve got to graduate into that if we’re really going to see this world changed.

So another guy called me the next day. He was saying, “I just got invited — I’ve been hanging out with this guy and I’ve been trying to find a way to continue to get to know him and share Christ with him. He just invited me over to his house for Ramadan dinner.” He was like, “I really thought that was great and I feel like this is what I’ve been praying for, an opportunity to go and meet his family. Yet, I’m like, ‘What do I do?’”

“I’m so glad you called me, young man. To the pure, all things are pure. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Yes, I understand. You are right. There are things we need to navigate. There are things we need to understand. Absolutely. And if the Spirit is saying, ‘Don’t do it,’ You shouldn’t do it. 

But if you have the Law, and you’ve processed the Law and you’re saying, “Okay, I understand that. That’s good. I’m affirming that. I’m inviting community around me to help me process this so I’m not just doing my own thing. And through all that process, the Spirit is saying, ‘Go,’ go, man! Go! You have the Spirit of God. We’re called to be salt and light. And salt and light needs to get out of the walls of the church and get into society. That’s where it’s the most effective and the most powerful.

And he’s way more prone to legalism, like I am. Like, he loves good legalism. “Give me some rules, man. Yeah. I love it. It feels so good here with all these rules. It’s nice. Yeah. Check them off.” So it was really hard for him to process what I was saying. And because some of you might know the danger of what I’m saying, as well, if people want to abuse the freedom that Christ has given us.

And there are people these days, you know — those are kind of some light and fluffy ethical issues where there isn’t major ramifications. But then we have others. Racism. Sexuality. These are ethical issues that we’re navigating right now. It’s funny, because I’ve been processing a little bit. I don’t know if you know Ibram X. Kendi and some of the anti-racism ideology that he’s putting out there, that is actually making its way not into headlines, but actually making its way into schools around the country, and also Arizona. So it’s something that I’ve been, like, “Okay, I really need to know what’s going on here.”

It’s so interesting, because at first, what Ibram X. Kendi says, is basically it’s not enough to be not a racist, you have to be anti-racist. There are only two camps. You’re either a racist or an anti-racist. Please track with me here. Send me emails if you need clarification. I’m not trying to make some massive point here. I’m trying to help use this as an illustration of why we need the word of God and we need the Spirit of God. 

But his idea sounds kind of similar to what Jesus would say, honestly, that “You’ve heard it said that you shouldn’t be a racist. But I say to you you need to be anti-racist. You actually need to be proactive and make sure racism doesn’t happen.” And I think that is kind of actually what Jesus does say in the Sermon on the Mount. “You’ve heard it said, ‘Don’t commit murder. But I say you shouldn’t be angry with your brother.” Jesus kind of takes it to this next place. So you have that. But the sad and scary thing is, the very next step for Ibram X. Kendi, and really the ideology that’s being accepted worldwide goes to this place:

The only remedy to racist discrimination is anti-racist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. And the only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.

Which is absolute crap and horrible evil. It’s the exact opposite of what the entire civil rights movement was trying to put forward. It’s so against the way of Jesus. But you see the subtitles  in the ethical issues that we’re dealing with today. And the importance that we know the way of Jesus, that we understand the Law of God, but also we are led by the Spirit. 

Again, there’s way more conversation to have over this. I’m happy to have those conversations. I had one last week. I actually love it. I love processing this stuff, because we’ve got a lot to learn these days. But we also have to be able to figure out how to navigate these extremely challenging and difficult ethical issues that we go through, whether they’re in the grand scheme of society and culture or whether they’re inside our own hearts and our own souls, or maybe in our own marriages and families. 

So that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to understand the way of Jesus. And what he does in Matthew 5:17, is he says this:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 

He’s affirming the Law of God and how good it is. The rules.

Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

So here he’s saying, “I’ve not come to abolish all the rules, regulations, the Law, all of those things.” The covenant God made with Moses. The 613 mitzvot that have been passed down through  Judaism. The Judeo-Christian ethic, as we would understand it. Not coming to get rid of those things. Those things are good and helpful and right. Scriptures are good and helpful and right. “I haven’t come to abolish them. I’ve come to fulfill them.”

And what he means by fulfill them,  the word fulfill there, means “I’ve come to complete. I’ve come to fulfill it so that next thing can come.” And that’s where we have old covenant and new covenant. We have Old Testament and New Testament. Jesus fulfilled something in order to usher in something new. A new covenant.  A new relationship that we have with God. 

And that’s what we’ve been trying to do over the last four weeks. And I admit, I haven’t done that great. But honestly, I’m learning this along with you. But I feel like each week we’ve gotten a little more piece of the puzzle, a little more clarity. Like we’re trying to turn a corner. We’ve really been kind of diving into the scriptures and how important they are for us, especially insight of all the craziness around. But we’ve got to turn this corner to not just be relying on the laws of God, but relying on the Spirit of God. Not just living according to the Law, but living according to the Spirit. And that’s what we’re trying to get into.

So to reaffirm what we’ve said. There’s three things we’ve talked about:

1. The Law is good for training us in righteousness. 

2 Timothy 3:16 says:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

That’s how I got that super clever point out of that.

2. The Law is good for showing us we are unrighteous. 

Now that doesn’t sound like a good thing, but it is important. You need to know when you’re getting it wrong so that you don’t keep getting it wrong. And this comes from Galatians 3:

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”

So basically the Law is good in helping us know that we are unrighteous. And this is where it’s a little interesting. If I were to murder someone and then say, “You know what I’m going to do? I’m just going to do so many lawful things. I’m going to drive the speed limit. I’m going to pay my traffic picture fine thing. I’m going to pay my taxes.” Whatever. I’m trying to think of more laws. 

But the more laws we fulfill, it doesn’t take away the guilt from the law that we did. I can’t go into a courtroom and go, “Yes, I murdered him in cold blood. However, I drove the speed limit my whole life. So that should at least take away what I did here.” 

It’s not the way it works. We need the law. We need the guidelines. We need the structure to help us know when we’re in and we’re out. And that’s a thing that God gave us. And it’s a good thing. It doesn’t feel good. It feels horrible when we find ourselves outside. But at least it wakes us up to the reality of where we’re at. So the law is good in that way.

Another way we talked about last week:

3. The Law is good at being a strict tutor holding us until maturity comes.

Galatians 3 in the Message says this:

Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for. But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise.

So what he’s saying is that the Law was this tutor that was kind of trying to keep us together. We said the Law was like a mom (on Mother’s Day. You know, you’ve got to use moms there.) So it’s like a mom holding you together. You’ve got all these rules and laws to keep you from sitting on the couch you’re not supposed to sit on. (Again. Last week.) Until the day you have enough maturity, common sense and self-control that the mom can say, “All right. Go.” And you’re good. She trusts you. You’ve got this. And that’s what the Law was doing.

Yet, for some reason, sometimes Christians just want to stay there. It would be like this. You guys have seen those big eagle nests. Bald eagle nests in northern Arizona or somewhere else. Way in the tops of those trees, giant eagle nests with these branches kind of woven together somehow by these eagles. And they actually have sticks that are pointing in at the top to make sure that the eagles don’t fall out. 

So the Law is like this eagle’s nest. It’s there to keep us from falling out. It’s there to keep us from going in the wrong way, or from danger, all of these things. But when the eagle grows up and is not a little baby anymore and it’s got these wings, it’s got these talons, it would be so weird, lame and dumb if the eagle was just like, “This is it, man. I’m just staying right here. Yes. Check me out. I’m going to be the best eagle nest person there ever has been.” 

It’s honestly what it looks like when Christians try and get really good at church. When all they want to do is be good at church, it’s annoying and weird sometimes. Some of the stuff they come up with, you’re just like, “What are you doing, man?” It’s like a different language or whatever.

But they’re really good at church. They’re really good at the eagle’s nest. That’s what the Pharisees were. They were these puffed up little eagles saying, "Check me out I know all the laws so well. I can go around in circles in this eagle’s nest all day long, going, ‘Look at me. Look at me. Look at me.’” 

And Jesus comes and says, “When are you going to learn to fly? When are you going to understand this was an old covenant that was just here until the new covenant could come where the Spirit now is the wind beneath your wings.” 

This is what we’re trying to do. This is what you and I have to get to. The eagle’s nest is not bad. It’s actually wonderful. Especially for new believers. Especially if you’re not sure what to do. Especially when times of shaking happen. I think it’s okay. Fly back to the eagle’s nest and sit in there a little bit.

And that’s what we’ve done. The winds have gotten crazy around our society. So we as a church have said, “Hey, let’s get back to the scriptures. Let’s really make sure we’re good on what God wants and requires. Let’s really understand how God has worked in times past. Let’s really understand this.” But that’s only the start. 

My prayer has shifted. I don’t want our church to be only good at the Law. I want us to know God’s ways. I want us to know God’s word, definitely. But I want our church to be filled with the Spirit way more, and walking in the Spirit, and learning to live by the Spirit. What the world needs is eagles that fly, not eagles stuck in a nest. So we’ve got to make this shift to living by the Spirit. So that’s what we’re going to try and teach today.

First of all, we’ve got to understand the connection. The Law was good for training us in righteousness, but it was powerless to help us become righteous. But living by the Spirit, when the Spirit comes, he not only leads us in righteousness, but he empowers us to be righteous. It’s a big shift that happens.

2 Corinthians 3:7 says it this way:

Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 

What’s better? An eagle in a nest or an eagle flying around. Yeah, flying. 

If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

This is Paul understanding there’s something new that’s come. He’s trying to help his readers understand there’s something new that’s come. Living by the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit. It’s the graduation from the Law. It’s what’s going to bring life. It’s what’s going to bring righteousness. It’s what’s going to bring salt and light in the world, which is what we’re trying to do.

Secondly the Law was good for showing us our unrighteousness. But watch what happens here in Romans 8. The Spirit actually accomplishes righteousness in us. Romans 8:1-4, which, by the way, Romans 8 is the most single important understanding of this. Romans 8, you should memorize it. I should memorize it. I don’t have it memorized. I should memorize it and then tell you to memorize. That would be better.

It’s so good. You know they tell you, like, if you could have one book on a desert island and that’s all you could have. I mean, if you could get the Bible, great. If they’re like, “No, it’s too big.” Get Romans. If you can’t get Romans, get Romans 8, okay? That’s basically what I’m trying to say.    

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 

What about when I acted out in my homosexuality before I came to Jesus? Can I be free from condemnation. Yes! In Christ Jesus, you can! No doubt about it.

What about when I really, really hurt those people in that way? What about when I really let my wife down? What about when I left my kids? Whatever it might be. Whatever it might be. Once you’re in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. What that means is God does not have any anger toward you. God is not disappointed in you. God has completely forgotten all about it. Your sins and iniquity he remembers no more. There’s no condemnation. You are justified in Christ Jesus. It’s just as if you’ve never sinned at all.

What about my sexuality and what was done to me or what I did to somebody? No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And he goes on:

because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

And this is where something begins to change when the Spirit comes. All of a sudden he starts to write his will on the table of your heart. Another way to say it is he starts putting desires in your heart that are beautiful. He starts putting desires in your heart that are true righteousness — not the lesser or the counterfeit righteousness, but the greater righteousness. The kind of righteousness that doesn’t just make you righteous, but it actually rights the wrongs in the world, which we’re going to be talking about in the next six weeks. 

It’s a fascinating thing that God comes and begins to do that work in us so that now, when we walk in this world, we’re walking in a different way. It’s a different flavor coming out. It’s salty. It’s light-y. It’s righteousness. 

Then, the last thing, the Law was good at being a temporary tutor for us, but the Spirit brings something brand new. The Spirit brings freedom forever. Now, 2 Corinthians 3: 

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

And then, even more risky than that, Titus 1:15 teaches:  

To the pure, all things are pure…

Now, this I don’t want my daughters to read. They are not allowed to read this verse until they’re like 80. Because as soon as they get a hold of this verse — they’re not in here, are they? Yeah. Make sure they’re not in here. No, I’m just kidding. As soon as they get a hold of this verse, they could throw this at me no matter what I say. “To the pure all things are pure, Dad. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. What are you talking about? We’re not going back into that legalism.”

This is not safe. But this is the truth. If you ask me this, God made a mistake here by giving people this kind of freedom. But it’s what God wants to do. To the point where Paul had to write this verse in the Bible:

Because of this freedom … because to the pure all things are pure … because we can do whatever we want and we’re forgiven, we’re cleansed, there’s no condemnation no matter what. Why don’t we just go sin, then? We get the pleasures of this world and the forgiveness of God. He literally was like, “I know what I’m saying is leading you to this, but it’s antinomianism.” 

It’s this idea where people say, “Okay, if God’s going to do all that, why don’t I just get both?” And Paul’s like, “You can You can. If that’s what you want to do with the gift that God has given you, you can.” 

So should we sin that grace may abound? But his next line is, “God forbid.” Why would you do that? Why would you do that with the love of God? Why would you do that with the gift of God?

It’s the same thing that Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, as she says, “Hey, there’s no more accusers. There’s no one here to condemn me.” And Jesus could have said, “Except me.” Right? Like, “I’m the one without sin, and yeah, what you did was wrong. So let’s talk about that.” 

He said, “Go your way and sin no more.” Like, “There is no condemnation for you, even from me, who has the right to condemn you. But go your way and be free. Use your freedom to do righteousness. Use your freedom to help others. Use your freedom to honor God. Use your freedom in those ways.”

And Paul has to caution. There’s so much freedom that we have. He says, “Don’t use your freedom to cause your brothers to struggle, or your sisters to stumble, who might be struggling with the very thing you’re saying, ‘Hey, look, I’m free. I can do this.” But if it causes others to stumble, you’re not using your freedom properly.

So Paul has to do some teachings on how to properly use your freedom. Because you’re that free in Christ Jesus.

Another verse:

All things are lawful, but not everything is profitable.

He’s trying to teach people on the other side of their freedom, “to the pure all things are pure,” now, just don’t abuse it though. Because it’s that ridiculous what God has given you. It’s that good of news that Jesus ushered in in this new covenant. Now where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is absolute freedom. And to the pure all things are pure.

Now you know why I don’t want my daughters to know about that. Because I’m the eagle’s nest. I’m like, “Heh, heh. Come on. Get in my nest. Get in the nest here, little eagles.” And then my oldest daughter’s like, “What are those people doing over there?” I’m like, “They’re not doing anything! Why do you have to have these wings? You don’t have wings!”

But that’s a bad dad. That’s a liar. And Jesus is too good to do that to us. He wants us to be free, so free. He wants us to fly. And so we’ve got to learn to walk into living by the Spirit. And there are cautions, for sure. And there’s the importance of the Law of God. 

That’s why, when those guys asked me about their ethical dilemmas, I know they know God’s word. And I know they submit to it. That’s why they’re asking me. I know they understand that they need other people to help them process things. That’s why they were asking me. And because of all those things, I was able to say, “Go, be free. Go free and be bold. The gates of hell cannot stand against you.” So we’ve got to learn to live into this. I want to give you a couple of examples about what this looks like. 

First of all, the way the Spirit works in our life is kind of like an electric bike. I wrote an email about this this week. I write a weekly email every week. If you want to get it, then just email me and I’ll get you on the list and you’ll get a weekly email from me right in your Inbox all the time. You could just delete it. I don’t care. But I try and write them. Sometimes they’re good. Sometimes they’re less good. 

But I was writing about it this time because this is helping me understand this. My wife and I went to Coronado Island on spring break. It was just the two of us. We wanted to go kind of bike around the island. So we went to this place where you could rent electric bikes. They gave us this map. It was kind of like all of these cool places you could see on the island. So it was like, “Oh, that would be great.” But it was pretty far. So we were like, “I don’t know.” And we were only budgeted for an hour of money. So then it was like, “Okay, I don’t know how we’re going to do this. Maybe we should just not do as much.” 

But then, when we got on those electric bikes, we had never done it. We didn’t know how awesome those things were. One pedal is worth like a hundred pedals because you’re hooked up to the power. I didn’t figure out that there were different levels. My wife was on high and I was on economy. I was just like working to try to keep up with her. I was like, “What is up with this lady.” But then I switched it and it was not bad.

It’s not the bike doing all the work for you. It’s that there is really a union. Your effort and energy, which is so pitiful and weak and couldn’t get the job done, connected with the full power of that battery. We cruised that entire island. We got back with time to spare and then went over to another place and got lost. (It was weird.)  We could have had so little if we just had us. But connected to that it was like we got this much fuller experience. 

The Spirit comes into our lives. The new covenant is God dwells inside of us and our five loaves and two fish can now feed five thousand. We can be the little be that just has a little bit to offer and say, “Well, Jesus, I’m putting it in your hands.” He’s like, “Well, stick with me, kid, and watch.” Boom! 

And, honestly, that happens every single Sunday morning as I get up here. And all I have is just something real little. And last week I had maybe one loaf of stale bread. And what was so funny is a bunch of people told me that the Lord really spoke to them last week. And I was like, “Heh, heh. Electric bike.”

Or think about the disciples. These guys don’t know what’s going on. They’ve been with Jesus. And now they’re walking by a guy at the temple who can’t walk, that they’ve seen their whole lives maybe. And there’s just this little bit of stirring in their souls. A little of compassion. A little bit of consideration that was different, maybe, than other days. And they guy is saying, “Can you give me some money?” He’s like, ‘Silver and gold have I none, but I’m going to give you what I do have. And it’s small and it’s puny, but it’s connected to the living God.” The next thing you know, that guy is dancing around in the church, causing a whole ruckus. 

And it looks like my mom, like I said last week, was on her death bed, cancer was wracking her brain. She knows the end is coming. She knows she’s losing everything. She knows she’s leaving us and that breaks her heart. With all the full weight of all of that, she had perfect peace. She had that peace that passes understanding. It made no sense as I was talking with her. Because the Spirit of God was there. And her little bit of faith, her little bit of courage, her little bit of strength, coupled with the Spirit of God was enough to give her perfect peace in such a challenging situation.

And for me, as a young man, I remember I was reading 1 Samuel 14 about Jonathan and his armor bearer, and how they went and fought against the Philistines. And what happened was, Jonathan was saying to his armor bearer, his buddy, he’s like, “Hey, all the Israelites are hiding in caves because they’re so scared of the Philistines.” But he’s like, “There’s something in me. This is not right. We are the children of God. This is not right.” So he says to him, “Let’s go over to the Philistine camp where they’re all camped out on that cliff. Let’s go show ourselves to them.” Which was like the whole of their plan, which is not a lot. 

But then, his next line is, “And we’ll see what the Lord might do.” So they did. And the Lord basically not only helped them to conquer that, but all the noise of that battle caused all of the Israelite arm to come out of the caves and to drive off the Philistines. I just thought, Man, let’s see what the Lord can do! 

So I was graduating college and this was kind of stirring in me. The Spirit was just like Boom, boom! I’ve got to see what the Lord can do. What can I do? I’ve got to see what the Lord can do. And I ended up coming up with this idea of going to Ireland. So I talked three friends into going with me. We bought a ticket and we were going to Ireland and we were coming back three months later. The whole plan, except for we wanted to see what the Lord might do.

I have so many stories to tell, but within three days we had a place to live, we had jobs, and we had our names sent out to basically all of the high schools and, kind of like Young Life Ministries, high school ministries of Northern Ireland, literally every two days we would get on a bus and I’d say, “Can you take us to this Bali-whatever, you know, Balihooli, Bali-whatever…” and they would take us to those places and we would share with the high schoolers that were there after school or in school. Sometimes we’d be doing the assembly so there’d be like two thousand high schoolers. And me and my friends would be like, “Hey, we don’t know what we’re doing here.” And we’d share the word with them. Tell them about Jesus.

I just remember at the end of that time, going, “Wow. Man, the Lord can do a lot with a little.” We really got to see what the Lord could do. 

And what is fascinating is that that gave me the courage when my wife — I married a crazy lady — and Brittany Stockton, who was in Belize last week — and any time she comes back from Belize, I’m like, “Yes! She didn’t stay!” You know? Like, “She came back to me! All right! It’s awesome.” Because of the way her heart is and all of that.

Yet, she felt like the Lord was saying we should go to Belize for a year. This was a while ago. And I was like, “Why?” And she said, “Let’s just see what the Lord can do.” And I was like, “Oh, don’t say that!” Big time stuff. 

So we do. We had a one-year-old daughter and we moved to this tiny little village that didn’t have running water. We just wanted to see what the Lord could do. And part of our idea was we’d get to see someone from Belize who was raised up to oversee the churches. Because, as it was, the only time there was church was when a missionary came to town.

Sure enough, long story short, everybody knows a little something about this, the guy who preached four weeks ago, his name is Kenny Welch, and he’s been leading two churches there for a long time now. We got to see what the Lord could do. Not because we had anything great. Because the Spirit was moving. We were living by the Spirit.Now, don’t think I’m saying living by the Spirit means you’ve got to go to another country. Not at all. That’s not what I’m saying. But you’ve got to go do what the Lord’s asking you to do. 

One other time that was helpful for us trying to figure out how to live by the Spirit, we were going back to Dangriga, which is the next town down, next village down in Belize. I was going to be there for two days. We needed to find a place to live and what ministry connection we were going to do, because we didn’t know anyone in the town. And my wife and I got down on our knees and we got a pen and paper out. We were like, “Okay, Lord, we’re just going to sit here and we’re going to write down anything your Spirit brings to mind.”

So we each wrote down a few things. A couple of them in particular, my wife had this picture of this house. There was like a veranda upstairs and there was a young boy kind of staring out like he was looking at the sea. Then I wrote the name down “Raul,” which is funny because we were going to central  America. But I was like, it was Raul or something like that. 

Lo and behold, I get to Dangriga. I’m there and there were only like a couple of minutes left. We had like a half hour before we had to go back. We hadn’t really found a place to live. And I saw a truck with a ladder in the back. This is how desperate it had gotten. I said, “Let’s go talk to that guy.” I said, “Do you know any places that are available for rent?” Because you can’t just Google that in Dangriga. He gave us the name of this lady. 

So we talked to this lady. And we went over there and there was this house. And I didn’t even think of it. But I took a picture of the house and I sent it to Brittany. And she was like, “That is the house that I saw!” And one of the nephews of one of the guys with us was standing upstairs on the veranda and he was looking out at the sea. She was like, “That’s it!” And I was like, “awesome.” 

But this is me. That was more expensive than the other house that we were kind of thinking about. And I was like, “I don’t know.” But then, one of the guys we were with had a dream that night that something horrible happened to my family in the other house. And I was like, “All right. Where are we signing up?” But this is how the Spirit needs to work with me. I need extra credit type stuff to get me there. 

Then the name Raul was so interesting because we were trying to figure out this ministry connection. We were driving in and we saw all these people broke down and we stopped to help them. They didn’t need help. But I remember this guy was wearing this shirt that said “Kids Connect for Jesus.” I thought That’s a weird shirt. 

Then we drive into town. We met with this pastor and he was like, “Man, I think you guys should work with Kids Connect for Jesus. They seem like a ministry you could connect with. I’m like, “Oh, okay.”

Then I had an ear infection. I was like, “Could we just stop at a doctor’s office real quick because I’d love to get some drops or something.” So we go to the place that those guys knew and it was too crowded. The guy’s like, “Hey, we’ve got too many people so we’re not going to see you today. But if you go down the street there’s another guy.” So we go down the street. Little house, podunk thing. But there’s a guy in there, he’s a doctor and he’s actually from India. And his name is Dr. Raul. When I saw Raul, I was like, “Raul? What? No way!”

And as we walked into the office, literally, we almost crashed into this lady as we were walking in. She had a big shirt that said, “Kids Connect for Jesus.” And we ended up connecting with Kids Connect for Jesus and doing ministry with them. It was like, Wow! This is living by the Spirit. 

Now, again, that sounds all magical and mystical. But it was very natural. It was very simple. It was stuff that we were dealing with and God was leading us and guiding us. It didn’t mean that we didn’t have the structure and all of the goodness of the Law and the scriptures and all those things. Like I said, the whole “See what the Lord might do,” that came out of the scriptures. The Spirit loves to use the scriptures to guide us. But at the end of the day, we can’t negate or forget about the Spirit and just live out of the scriptures, because in that there is death. But when the Spirit comes, there’s life.

I have so many more stories to tell. And I know many of you have stories of how the Lord has led you and guided you. And it’s my job as the pastor, a teacher, whatever I am in this place, to help us understand and see what Jesus is really trying to do.

Again, it would be so much easier for us to just buckle down into some legalism. Especially me. I love it. But it would be so much less than what God really wants to do. And, ultimately, it wouldn’t create the salt and the light that this world desperately needs. You are free in Christ, in ways that you would never actually believe if you could. Well continue trying to live into this freedom that he has given us and keep trying to learn how to do it. 

A couple of guys that are smart — C.S. Lewis writes it this way. He says:

Our faith is not a matter of our hearing what Christ said long ago and “trying to carry it out.” Rather, “The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to ‘inject’ his kind of life and thought, his zoe [life], into you; beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin.”

And Dallas Willard says it this way:

“Now, what we can do by our unassisted strength is. try small. What we can do acting with mechanical, electrical, or atomic power is much greater. Often what can be accomplished is so great that it is hard to believe or imagine without some experience of it. But what we can do with these means is still very small compared to what we could do acting in union with God himself, who created and ultimately controls all other forces.”

Let’s pray:

Lord, I pray for each person in this room that is facing an ethical dilemma — whether it be within their own soul or household or in our society — whether it be a friend of their who has just confessed some really heavy things— whether it be a daughter or a son who has decided they are homosexual or identifying in some other way outside of what you prescribe — whether it’s some sort of anger issue or someone has wronged them or offended them and they just want their version of justice — or whether it’s just a decision about what to do and where to go — I thank you that your Spirit has come. And I pray your Spirit would lead them and guide them and empower them to walk in your ways, and they would be able to see what the Lord can do, and they would trust you and they would surrender to you, they would have courage to step out in whatever you do say and speak to them. I pray all this in your name, Jesus. Amen.

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Unless otherwise marked, scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica.

Scripture marked MSG is from The Message (MSG). Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H Peterson

When Jesus Shows Up

David Stockton
Series: Church Around the Table

We’ve been going through Church Around the Table. We’ve been trying to define what the Church is. There are a lot of different thoughts — whether the Church is good or bad—that the Church is is based on people’s definition of the word. 

In the book of Ephesians, Paul is laying out what he thinks the Church is. He was saying it at a time when the Church looked nothing like it looks today. It was a fledgling movement that was basically about to be snuffed out by Roman persecution. There was not much to it. But he was talking about it as being this Body, this Bride, and this family that is going to fill to world in every place with the fullness of who God is. And everyone would laugh at him, for the most part. But, sure enough, here we are a couple thousand years later, and the Church is a powerful entity.

We also define the Church both as an organization and as an organism. The organization of the church is like Living Streams—or whatever church you grew up in. It’s an organization that is supposed to be a good house, a fruitful environment for the organism, which is the Church, which is you and I—the people that Jesus died for, the people who are following Jesus, the people filled with his Spirit. Living Streams is just an organization that will come and go as the sands and winds of time change. But the organism will continue to go on. My job is to be a leader of an organization. What I try to do is make sure that this place is a really good house for the organism of the Church. 

So we’ve spent some time defining that. You can go back and look at some of those things. The organization has had good seasons and bad seasons, no doubt about it. But the organism has continued to grow into this beautiful thing that is the fullness of God in every part of this world. It is the single, most dominant force for good the world has ever seen. Any true historian would say that it is just amazing what these people have done in this world. We’re going to talk a little more about that.

We’re trying to get this concept Around the Table to help us understand that Church is not something that happens for an hour on Sunday mornings. Church can happen there, but what Christians are supposed to do happens outside of these walls and outside of this Sunday morning context, for the most part. This is just supposed to help us, encourage us, teach us, equip us, so that we can go be the Church outside. So that’s where we’re trying to get people’s minds to think about your own home. Or when you’re having a little lunch break at work. Church can happen around the table. 

For me, one of my first real, powerful church experiences was around food stamps, with a friend of mine who was loving on me and caring for me, but he was living on food stamps. We talked about Church happening in a 15-passenger van. For Jesus and Peter, Church first happened when Peter had a boat, and Jesus came and hung out in his boat for a day. Peter left feeling really dirty. And Jesus said, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of that.”

We’ve been spending the last two weeks talking about the Church that was happening around the table at the Last Supper. Are you with me there? We looked at Matthew, Mark and Luke’s account. Those are three of the four gospel accounts. They really focused on that moment when Jesus was having his last meal with his disciples. When he was trying to give them that final message, that final teaching that would stick in their minds. What he says to them is, “I’m giving you my body and blood.” And he hadn’t gone to the cross yet, so they were thinking in that moment about all the times that Jesus had cared for them, served them, saved them, and healed them the last three years of walking with him. That Jesus, who they now realized is a lot more than just a man. He’s their teacher, he’s their rabbi, he’s their Lord and Savior. He’s actually served them and given of himself for three years. 

He’s saying, “You guys know, this is my body. This is my blood. I am giving it for you. have given it for you.” He was also alluding to the moment on the next day when he would physically offer his body and blood as a sacrifice for their sin and the rest of the world. 

So when they finally remembered that moment of Jesus’ teaching around the table, and then they knew of the crucifixion, the message was so powerful in their lives that they completely devoted the rest of their lives to that, even to the point of being martyrs for that cause. What Jesus was trying to teach them was, “Just as I have given body and blood for you, I want you to now go and give body and blood for others.” It’s a heavy thing. 

So Church is not a picnic. Church is not a little club. Church is not easy. It’s the hardest thing you will ever do, if you you really want to follow Christ. The covenant he made with those disciples was, “Just as I have given body and blood for you, I want you to now go and give your body and blood for others.” It’s intense. It’s heavy. Another way to put it is, “Just as I have loved you, I want you to go love others.” It’s a very, very high, hard calling. And last week we talked about how he empowers with his Spirit to do that.

The next week we looked at John and saw how he also talks about the Last Supper, that Church Around and Table moment, but he never mentions the body and blood. Not to contradict them, but he wants to focus on a different thing. He said when they first walked into that room, Jesus shocked them by taking off his outer clothes, wrapping a towel around him, getting the basin that was there by the door, and he started to wash his disciples’ feet—which was something that a lowly servant was supposed to do. 

He washes their feet and he does this very cleansing, very kind, very humble way of caring for them; and it was so important that John, 60 years after Jesus rose from the dead, writes that as his account of the final message of Jesus Christ. And Jesus said, after he did that, said, “Now I want you guys to go and do as I have one unto you.”

We talked about another way that Church is supposed to be going on. When we go into this world, to seek to cleanse the world. To seek to wash the world—refresh the world—instead of condemn the world. That’s the call of what Church Around the Table is supposed to be. Giving body and blood and seeking to wash and cleanse and renew people around us. 

That’s what Church is. Church happens when we do those things. No matter where you are in this world. No matter what frame of mind you’re in. Whatever. 

I want to illustrate how this happened after Jesus left. Jesus sends this message. He establishes these things, and then we have the book of Acts. Now Jesus is gone. The followers of Jesus, who have made this covenant with Jesus, are now practicing this. We see in Acts 2:42 (MSG):

41-42 That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

43-45 Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.

46-47 They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

This is now Jesus’ teaching imparted to his people. Jesus is now gone and this is an account of what took place just a few months later. They were now practicing the way of Jesus. Those who learned this lesson, those who were imparted this lesson, those who got to watch Jesus do it for three years, and then it all culminated on the cross—they now started to walk it. I love these people. I love Jesus for sure. But I love these people because they were doing it without Jesus there in person. How he was there with the Holy Spirit. But these people were like you and me. They didn’t have a clue what they were supposed to do, but they had some teachings from Jesus and then they had the power of the Holy Spirit.

I love looking at the book of Acts. It’s like, “Okay. Okay. I can get into this.” It’s also challenging because they got to see some really cool things happen. But their practice was in the temple and then house to house. That’s what we’re trying to get into our minds. It’s good for us to gather together, encourage one another, and celebrate what the Lord has done. But it’s also important for us to think about Jesus showing up outside of this place: in our homes, our workplaces, Life Groups, and things like that.

Acts 5:41-42 (NIV)

41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. ‘

They had just received a rebuke and a flogging from the Sanhedrin.

42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

Here are some accounts from the early book of Acts and what was taking place. The time frame was probably about 60 a.d. when this was going on. But I want to borrow some Roman historians’ words about the Church. We’re going to go extra-biblical here. This is not in the library of Scripture. But these are some Roman historians that were writing around 100 a.d. and around 350 a.d. They were describing these followers of Christ and what they were like. They obviously don’t think that they are right. They don’t like them, necessarily. And there is persecution, so there are some heavy things. But I want you to just understand that these people were practicing this way in such a profound way, that the Roman historians were taking note of it, as well.

Here’s a Roman official named Pliney writing to another Roman official named Trajan around 100 a.d. He says,

Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, the stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy surely deserved to be punished. There were others possessed of the same folly, but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for them to be transferred Rome.

And here’s what they were guilty of, according to Pliny:

They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food—but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden public associations. Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition.

There’s a lot to take in right there. But around 100 a.d. this Roman official was talking about these Christians, and how they kept getting together before dawn. They would get up before dawn and they would sing some sort of hymn to this Jesus, as if he was a God. And they would have this time together and then they would continue it on from house to house. They would have this fellowship. They would care for one another. They would do all these things.

Then you go further on and there’s this Emperor Julian around 360 a.d. He says this:

Atheism…

The Christians were considered atheists because they didn’t believe in the polytheistic gods of the Romans and Greeks. It’s kind of weird, right? Because they only worshiped one God they were atheists—because they didn’t believe in all the gods.

Atheism has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor, but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them.

So three hundred years later, after Jesus was gone, this is the testimony of a Roman emperor, writing about these Christians who had become a huge problem for them; because they were doing things like rendering service to strangers and caring for the burial of the dead. They were caring for their own poor and also for the Romans’ poor. They were giving body and blood. They were washing people’s feet—not just their own—but those around them.

What history teaches us is around 316 a.d. is when Constantine became emperor, and he basically took away the ban from being a Christian. It wasn’t illegal to be Christian anymore. It was a big move. What was illegal, and what Paul talked about as being this beautiful thing, but it was just this fledgling, persecuted movement in the Roman Empire had now become something that the Roman Empire said, “Ok, what you’re doing is actually so good, we can’t deny the beauty of it, so it’s no longer illegal.

And this was in 360, so there was a lot of debate about what to do about it. So in 390, Christianity became the religion of the Roman empire. And Rome has a very different story from that point on.

The power of this movement. The power of the people of God, filled with the Spirit of God, giving body and blood, washing one another—actually caused the Roman Empire to be completely turned upside down. That’s the Roman Empire. We’re just dealing with America. There is just so much beauty and power if we can get this right. If we can be who Jesus has called us to be and wants to empower us to be.

The second thing that I think we need to notice, as we read these same Scriptures, and we think about Church Around the Table, is that true church happens when we give body and blood; and we wash one another and wash the people in this world; but Church also happens when the life of Jesus shows up. So that Acts 2:42, remember that whole phrase that talked about how they devoted themselves to the apostles’ doctrine, the breaking of bread, fellowship and prayer—it says that they were caring for one another in a really beautiful way. And it says that all of these signs and wonders started showing up all over. It was just as if, when Jesus was alive and Jesus would show up, healings would happen, miracles would happen, wonders would happen. They just followed everywhere Jesus went; because the life of Jesus was being manifest into the world. 

Now, what was a shock, and something that the book of Acts writers were marveling about— that Jesus is not here in body, but the life of Jesus kept showing cup in the same way. The manifest presence of God kept popping up. They’re having a little time together, all of a sudden somebody comes in that is sick, or can’t see or whatever. The next thing you know they’re leaving and they feel better or they can see. The life of Jesus. Those things kept popping up. 

The disciples were harkening back, thinking about when Jesus first came on the scene. He had just been baptized by John the Baptist. He had just spent time in the wilderness. And now he’s coming back full of the Spirit and ready to do his ministry. He starts out going to synagogues and reading a verse from Isaiah that says (Luke 4:18, 19):

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
        to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And then he sits down and everyone’s looking at him. Jesus says, “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” It was a big moment, where Jesus is like, “Watch out. It’s on.” And, sure enough, as he goes out from that place, some would reject him, some would come to him. And those who came to him with any kind of illness would be healed. The life of Jesus was showing up. The promise of Jesus, followed by the life of Jesus.

And we talked about John the Baptist in Luke 7. He believes Jesus is the Messiah. But now he’s in prison and he’s about to lose his head. And, like any of us, he’s like, “Hey, Jesus. I think one of those things you mentioned was ‘setting the captives free.’ But I’m still here.” So he sends some of his friends to say, “Hey, Jesus, are you the one? Or is there another one who might set me free. Because I’m not free. I’m sitting right here.”

And Jesus responded to him and said (Luke 7:22):

“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”

Jesus said, “John, look at the fruit that’s on the tree and then tell me whether the tree is real or not.” What he was saying was, “Yes, this is it.” And it’s a hard thing for John to hear and process when it doesn’t happen—to trust God in those moments. Jesus is saying you can judge the tree by the fruit. The life is showing up everywhere. The kingdom of heaven is breaking into our world, and we’re seeing the evidence of it all around.

What was so amazing was, again, he was there with the same guys that he had the Last Supper with. In Mark 16, he says to them:

15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 

Now plug your ears if you don’t want to have Jesus mess with your life. 

17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Jesus is saying, “Look, I told you it would happen. It happened. John was wondering, I reminded him it’s happening. And now I’m going to go away and, guess what? It’s going to keep happening.”

And the disciples were like, “Well, how’s it going to happen if you’re not here?”

And Jesus was like, “Those who believe in me, those who are following my way, those who continue to do the things that I taught you to do—as you do them…”

…the life of Christ will show up. The manifest presence of Jesus will show up. And when it does, things like this will happen. Sick people will get healed. You’ll speak in new tongues. You’ll cast demons out of people so they can be free. Something about snakes and poison and whatever.

So here we are. We got to see Jesus promise that. We got to see it show up in the book of Acts. But this is 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. Where’s the life of Jesus? And you in your relationship with God and your journey, maybe you’re saying, “Jesus and all this is crazy stuff!”

I totally understand how you can think that. So you have a decision to make. Are you going to step into this family? Are you going to start following the way of Jesus, hoping and believing that the life of Christ will show up? And you’re sitting around a bunch of people who are saying, “Yeah, he shows up.”

Some of you are saying, “I’ve been following Jesus for a while but I haven’t seen a lot in my life. Maybe I’ve seen it in others, or I’ve heard other people talk about it. But they’re kind of crazy, so I don’t know if they’re telling the truth. Is it for me too?” And the message is, “Yes. It is.”

And then there are a lot of people in this room who, if you really sat them down and asked them, “Has the life of Christ shown up?” They would look you in the eyes and say, “Yes.” And some would say lots of stories and some would maybe just tell you a couple. But Church happens when the life of Jesus shows up. It follows the believers.

In Mark 16, Jesus said, “Now it’s your turn to go and do these things.” The apostles experienced it. For us at Living Streams, here in this one small representation of the family, we’ve been able to see the life of Jesus show up. I actually asked Pastor Kurt, who loves to pray for people to be healed, to start cataloguing, you know, like they did in the book of Acts—start listing them. This date, this time, this is what happened and this is how we followed up to make sure they weren’t just having a moment. But like, a week later, a month later, we checked in and, sure enough, there it is.

We had a guy, I just heard, that had a problem with his shoulder. He had surgery and then he had done something and re-hurt it. He was so bummed out. Then in one of our church services, just a few weeks ago, he was singing and thinking about how much his shoulder hurt. He felt like the Lord told him to lift his hands in worship. And as he did, he said his arm kind of got warm, and got healed up. Then he was like, “No, that can’t be right.” But the pain has been gone for over three weeks now. I don’t know what that does for you or what that doesn’t for you. 

Kurt started pulling out all these stories. I was like, “Holy Moly, there are a lot of stories.” But some of them are hard to verify. And then some of them, a month later, are like, "I don’t know why, but the pain is back.” I don’t know what to do with all of those things. 

What I can do—I can offer to you as one person, just like the gospel writers did, my account of what Jesus has done and how his life has shown up to me. 

First of all, when I was about fourteen years old, I didn’t know any of this stuff. I didn’t really care about this stuff. I just wanted to play basketball. I was at a retreat with friends. Kurt was actually one of the guys that was leading the retreat. I was there because there were some friends and there was a gym and you could play basketball. At one point they were having a time—and I didn’t understand what was going on—at one point one of my friends was saying “yes” to one of the things the pastor was saying about being baptized in the Spirit of God.

Again, I was not paying attention. I didn’t know what was going on. I just knew that at one point there was a circle of everybody and they were all putting their hands on him in the middle and praying for him. Because I was his friend, I thought I should probably do something. I was putting my hand on them and all I could think about was my hand. I was like, “This is weird. Does that person think I’m weird? Is this weird? I don’t know this person that well, but I can’t reach the guy.” All I was thinking about was my hand. That was the full extent of what was happening for me and my fourteen-year-old brain. 

But I could hear people start to speak in tongues. I didn’t know they were speaking in tongues. They weren’t speaking English and I thought, “Okay. People do that—maybe.” I’m not joking. I have no reason to make this up. But, as this fourteen-year-old, in this very weak moment of trying to love on my friend and say, “Hey, yeah, I care about him,” I started to speak in tongues just a little bit. I started to speak in a language that wasn’t familiar and it was short. It wasn’t long. 

I went right back to being just as self-centered and crappy of a teenager as I could be. Again, I had no framework for it all. I just thought, “Well, that was weird. Was I just mimicking them?” That was it. I literally did not think about it again until I was eighteen years old and I was in a little Bible study school and they were teaching on baptism of the Holy Spirit, they were teaching on the gifts of the Spirit and they were talking from the Scriptures about this thing called “tongues.” And I was like, “Whoa. Wait a sec.” 

And it was funny, because at that point—you’re going to crack up—but at that point I was trying to figure out if tongues was right or wrong. I was trying to figure out if it was a good thing or a bad thing. But I had a problem, because I didn’t know anything and it happened. And the only thing I could think was just that God, in his mercy, was basically just kind of pouring out his Spirit and there was this little splash that came over to this dumb little kid. 

God knew the story. God knew what was going to happen and, in his mercy, he was like, “Watch this.” And he let a little splash over on this kid. So now I’m having to learn about something that had already happened in this moment of Church that was taking place where we were trying to care for this guy and love him. The life of Jesus showed up. And I didn’t even know it until years later.

And then you continue on and he talks about speaking in new tongues. I was with my wife and my one-year-old daughter and we were totally diving into all that the Lord had for us. We felt that he wanted us to go to Belize, to this village that we knew about, and just love on these people. Go give body and blood and to wash their feet. We were there, doing it as best we can, not really sure what we were supposed to do. 

One morning, early, I heard this guy yelling from the little dirt road that was next to our house. “Hey, Pastor David!” I looked up and it was just getting light. He said, “You’re needed in the other part of the village.”

So I got dressed and went down there. He had a bike for me. We rode bikes to the other side of the village. I walked upstairs, still trying to get my eyes to stay open. There was an older guy who was reading Scriptures about demon possession and those type of verses. There was a lady and her daughter sitting on a couch, crying. They looked like they had been through a lot. I just sat there and watched this happen. And then he prayed for them. Then we walked down the stairs. 

He looked at me and said, “Do you have any experience in this type of thing?”

And I was like, “Like getting up early? No, I don’t. Honestly. I don’t. You can see on my face, no, I don’t have a lot of experience in it.” But I knew what he was referring to. I just kind of smiled and was like, “I don’t know.”

We walked over and there was a young man, probably about twenty-one, and he was with two friends who were sitting on the ground. He was sitting on a chair and was writhing up and down and making some moans. We walked over there. Obviously, he was looking to me to do something. I didn’t know exactly what to do. I mean, I knew some Bible verses and so I actually grabbed his hand. I knew his name, so I said, “I’m here. I want to try to help.” 

I grabbed his hand. I was nervous, because in the Bible sometimes, you know, demon-possessed people are strong. Then he started squeezing, but it didn’t end up being that strong. It was strong, but it was just normal strong.

I got right next to his ear. All I could think to do was to say, “You’ve got to call on the name of Jesus. Jesus is the only one who has authority. Jesus is the only one that can save. You’ve got to call on the name of Jesus.”

At first, he was just kind of writhing, so I was just going up and down with him a little bit. At one point, it seemed like he was trying to speak, but he was choking up. We just kept trying. It was about eight or ten minutes of repeating this. At some point, he started saying, “Jesus, help me. Jesus, help me. Jesus, save me. Jesus, save me.”

Then he just went limp. Again, I don’t know what to do at this moment, but he’s limp and his eyes are closed. I had this thought, “Ask him what he sees.” 

So I said, “What do you see?” 

He said, “One of them left.”

I was like, Oh, no. What do you mean one of them left? And at this point, I just said, “Well, how many are there?”

And he said, “There’s one more.”

And I was like, “Okay, that’s not too bad.”

I don’t know! I don’t know what to think. So, I said, “All right. Let’s call on the name of Jesus.”

As soon as he tried to call on the name of Jesus, he started writhing again. We went through the whole process again and he went limp again. I said, “What do you see?” (It worked last time!) “What do you see?”

And I’m not joking. I’m not trying to make this sound better. He said, “A man in white told me to go to the church.”

I don’t know anything about the man in white. But I was like, “We’re going with him. We’re going with him. He’s talking about church. He’s in white. Sounds all right. Let’s do this.”

So we got him up and we walked him down to the church. Right as we were about to get him into the church, we were like, “This is cool.” In some ways, I’m like, “This is amazing.”

We got him to the church and we were trying to get him into the church. He started screaming and kind of pulling back. I don’t know if this is spiritual or not, but both of us lowered our shoulders and just smashed him into the church. But he was in the church now and he was okay. So I don’t know if that’s part of what the Bible teaches, but it just felt right at the moment. So he was in there. And there’s more story to tell about things that the Lord spoke to him. 

We actually went to town. We came back and he was in a different place. He left the church and it was all happening again. They had garlic and crosses all over him. We had to get the toff of him. There’s more to it.

But I’n offering to you that, for this guy this was a significant moment where he experienced some freedom from something that was freaking him out. But for this guy, it was also significant. It was like the life of Jesus was showing up. And here, in another moment, where either Jesus was or wasn’t—Jesus was. 

I could tell you more stories about healings and about how the Lord has shown up and those things. We are kind of out of time. But we’re going to keep sharing these things. If you want to hear more stories, talk to Kurt or talk to me if that is something you’d like to hear more about. If you have stories to tell, share those stories in your Life Groups or in other moments, if you can.

The life of Jesus is the fuel that we run on. If Jesus stopped showing up, we really don’t have anything. We just have a social club. But Jesus is showing up. He’s showing up Sundays. He’s showing up outside of this place. That’s the call. That’s the hope. That’s the prayer that we have.

Let’s close in prayer. Bow your heads and take a moment to allow Jesus’ Spirit to speak to your heart, to quiet your heart.

Jesus, we’re hungry for your life to show up. We know you rose from the dead. I pray for those who haven’t ever experienced your life connecting with their life.  I pray that today, Lord, they would ask and you would answer, and they would become part of your family and experience your great salvation. Thank you that you pour out your Spirit, Lord. Fill us anew. In this week, as we’re going through our lives, I pray that you would awaken us to moments when you’re wanting to impart some special gift; and we would be obedient, courageous and faithful, and leave the rest in your hands. 

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©️2019 Living Streams Church

7000 N Central Avenue ∙ Phoenix AZ 85020 ∙ 602-957-7500 ∙ https://www.livingstreams.org

Scripture is taken from Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked MSG is from The Message, Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

Jesus' Table

David Stockton
Series: Church Around the Table

Last week we introduced the idea of Church Around the Table. I’m supposed to get to the book of Acts. I’m supposed to start talking to you about the table and all these things, but I just can’t. Last week I just started looking at Jesus’ life and I was like, “Man, we’ve to go back and really get this Church thing figured out.” 

We spent the last couple of months in the book of Ephesians, trying to get Paul’s inspired vision of the Church, as it was in the first century when it was really just an underground, persecuted, not-going-to-make-it type thing. Yet he had a grand vision. And if he could see the Church today around the world, I’m sure Paul would just be dancing some sort of jig, or whatever they did back then.

It’s really been amazing what the Church is. We talked about how the Church is not the organizations that call themselves church. Living Streams Church is not the Church. Living Streams is an organization that, hopefully, is a good house for the organism of the Church. Jesus is the head of the organism—which is the people who are actually following and practicing the way of Christ; people who are living in the light of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection; people who have seen that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection actually left a way for us through this confusing, consequential maze we call life. And they’re doing their best to walk in this thing. That is what the Church is. That’s all it is. 

Living Streams is hopefully just like—okay, you’re following the way—we’re one of those tables that has orange slices and a little bit of Gatorade, and we’re just here. And you’re following the way, and we’re like, “All right. Come on, man! Go man, go man!” That’s all that Living Streams is, just a little table by the side of the way, trying to help people get a little further down. And maybe if you need to rest a while, that’s fine. But then, eventually we’re going to be like, “You’ve got to stop resting, man. Get back on the way, get down the road!” That’s all this is. It’s just supposed to be a help. 

The organization has been helpful at times, and at times it’s been absolutely horrible to the organism of the Church. But Jesus died for the organism. He died for the people. He calls that his Bride. Living Streams is not his Bride. It’s just an organization. Are we getting that? I’ve said that a lot, so if you’re not getting it, it’s just not going to work at this point.

Church is not what Christians do, as far as the Sunday morning Living Streams context. Church is just supposed to help Christians do what they’re supposed to do. And it can happen in here. And it does happen in here. The reason you’re here is not because Living Streams does something to you. But when you’re here, the house of Living Streams is a good place to find the Spirit of God. And heaven and earth does feel a little bit closer together here, hopefully. And Church can happen here.

But then Church is supposed to happen outside of these walls—very importantly. Jesus said he would rather us leave the ninety-nine and go after the one. That’s a priority. So really, Church should happen outside these walls more so than inside these walls. That’s what we’re trying to get to. 

Jesus lived that way perfectly. Last week we talked about how Jesus had Church in a dirty man’s boat. He was there, sharing with the crowd in Peter’s boat—it was just Simon at that point. And Simon, at the end of Jesus’ talk with the people, said, “You’ve got to get away from me because I’m a dirty man.” 

And Jesus looked at him and said, “Hey, if you will follow my path, I will take you from being a dirty fisherman and make you into something beautiful that will actually catch men.”

And, sure enough, we got to watch that story unfold. Three years later, Peter was sitting in a room around a table with Jesus. And Jesus was basically saying the same thing to him. He’s telling him what Church is really about. And he hands out to all of the disciples there, and he says, “This is the new covenant. This is all it’s ever been about. This is the economy of heaven. This is the only thing that really matters. This is what you were made for. And he breaks some bread and he passes it around and he says, “This is my body given for you.”

The disciples could probably understand what that meant, even without the cross. They had been with Jesus for three years and watched him break off parts of his life for their own sake, and for the sake of so many others. So that actually could have worked even without what happened the next day. 

And then he took the cup and he said, “This wine is a sign of the new covenant. This is forgiveness for you.”

And he hands it out to them and, basically says, “I’m being poured for you. I’m being broken and given to you. I’m being poured out for you.”

The message in that moment was definitely what we have done with it, it’s a picture of what Jesus did on the cross. But that was just the final example. That was the most important example. But Jesus had been breaking off his body and handing it to them and others. Jesus had been pouring out his blood in forgiveness all through his ministry already. Are you with me there?

So when Jesus is doing this to his disciples, he’s once again teaching them a lesson. And they’re going to get that lesson once they see him die and rise from the dead. All of a sudden, these dense disciples will be like, “Oh!” So they still didn’t quite get it. But the lesson Jesus was giving was, “I want you to go now and do for the world what I have done for you.” 

Which means, “I want you to give them your body and your blood, just as I have given body and blood to you. This covenant that I’m making with you. This Church that I am birthing for you.”

Every time you go into this world and break off a piece of your life sacrificially, and you pour out a part of your life sacrificially, that’s when Church happens. That’s what Church is. 

Last week I told you guys about the guy with food stamps, who was just caring for me, loving on me, so interested in my life. And then one time I watched him pay for groceries with food stamps. He thought it was kind of an embarrassing thing, but, honestly, for me it showed a deep love. Because he had bought me stuff. He had taken me places. He had done things, and yet he was providing for his family on food stamps. What I felt was, “Man. He really loves me.” And he opened for me the love of Christ. He loved me in the way that Christ had loved him—sacrificially. He was breaking off body and blood for me. It compelled me to want to follow Jesus. 

Then I talked to you about the guy in the fifteen-passenger van, “stealing” the boat and all of that. And we went on and we both basically said, “You know, Jesus did this.”

We talked about Jan Tyranowski, how Pope John Paul remembers this apartment of this tailor named Jan Tyranowski that he used to go to. And he said that he “opened up his life to us and showed us the love of Christ.” And it compelled this guy to become pope. It’s a big deal.

That’s what we’re talking about—defining Church. I was like, “Okay. Good, we got Church defined, now let’s go to the table.” But we can’t go there yet. We’ve got to talk about Jesus some more.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John are these four preserved accounts of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. We call them the gospels. There are four of them. Matthew, Mark and Luke all have this Last Supper story. They all four have the Last Supper story, but Matthew, Mark and Luke focus on the “body and blood” moment.

But John, who also talks about the Last Supper in John in John 13, never once mentions the body and blood. It could be that John wrote later, so he’s like, “Well, it’s already in the other three accounts, so I don’t need to reiterate it.” But John focuses on a different element of what took place in that Last Supper—that first real moment of Church Around a Table—that so compelled there. So I want to go there and look at what John’s perspective is.

We all know that John is a little “out there.” John would have been an awesome hippy. John is a little more spiritually inclined. John is laying on Jesus’ bosom and he actually tells people about it. He feels. He’s emotional. He’s driven that way. When you read his gospel and then his other writings, he’s just kind of wired that way. It’s beautiful and wonderful. He adds so much to it. This is who he is. 

John 13:

1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal…

Having all the power and authority in heaven and in earth. Just think about it. Let’s say you have all the power. Last night at the ASU game they showed on the JumboTron there was a sun shot with a solar flare hitting down on the desert. And—poof—out comes Sparky, this little devil guy. And he’s walking over Phoenix, and there’s a big haboob behind him. He’s got all this power and his pitchfork. And I don’t know what happened after that. They just lost.

But picture yourself being endowed with all the power. You’ve seen it in the movies. The bad guy is like, “Arghhhhhh!” getting all the power, and then he does something stupid and dies. 

But he’s got all the power. This is no joke. This is real God, real power, and all authority. All power has been put in his hands. And look what he does with it. Who knows John 13? Who knows what’s going to happen? Okay. For just a second, stop knowing what’s going to happen. Let this be the first time you’ve ever heard this. I know it’s hard, but try.

He’s got all the power.

…he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

This is what he did with all the power in all the universe. He got down on his hands and knees and he washed the disciples’ feet. This is Jesus. This is God. This is why the Jews can’t believe it and the Greeks think it’s foolishness. Do you get that? What kind of God is this? 

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing… 

“Just shut your mouth,” is basically what he’s saying.

…but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, [Peter]

Uh-oh. What was the first interaction between Jesus and Simon? “I’m a dirty man!” And now, Jesus is saying, “You’re a clean man, Peter. You’re a clean man. You’ve been washed. Yeah, your feet stink a little bit, but your whole body is clean, Peter. You know that now. You know that.” Oh, what an amazing day that would be if we could actually believe we are clean!

…And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 

That’s basically the question he’s been asking since the very beginning. And he’s never once gotten a very good answer. And now this is his last chance, his last night with them. He says, “Do you understand what I’ve done for you?”

13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

This is Church. This is new covenant. This is the same story as the giving of body and blood, but the way John says it is, you need to go and wash people. You need to wash people’s feet. That’s what the Church really is supposed to do. We’re supposed to go into this world and find all these people who are filthy and dirty from walking in this world, and we’re supposed to wash their feet with the love and forgiveness of Christ. We’re supposed to invite people into our homes so they can sit at our tables and so we can wash their feet. 

We just had Life Groups launch this week. Thirty-something groups, over three hundred and sixty people all getting together in homes outside this context. Hallelujah! How many of you washed their feet? I’m just kidding. I’m not trying to put a guilt trip on you. Like, “If you knew Jesus, the first thing, as soon as they walk in your door —bam—whip off the clothes, get down on the knee, ‘May I see your feet, ma’am? Sir?’ Wash them. Wipe them with a towel." Don’t do that! That’s weird.

Jesus knew these guys really well. It’s all guys in the room and he spent three years, so… maybe someday…but don’t be like, “Oh, the message. Let’s just do it.” No. Don’t do it. Okay? Don’t do it. Don’t do it.

But you can wash them in other ways. Right? And I think you guys probably did. You loved on each other. You leaned into each other. You listened to their stories and you pronounced blessing and encouragement. You allowed raw authenticity, relentless encouragement, and biblical counsel, in the hopes of genuine friendship forming. 

That’s what we’re going for. We’re teaching on Church Around the Table and we’re practicing Church Around the Table, all at the same time. When we practice the way of Jesus, it changes us. We’ll talk more about that in a minute.

But do you see how beautiful this is? Do you see how amazing this is? To sum it up, Jesus says, “Give body and blood for the sake of others.” That’s what you’re supposed to do as the Church. Give love to others the same way that Christ loved you. 

Yes! It’s so beautiful! Have you ever done that? Loved somebody to the same degree that Christ has loved you? I don’t know. 

Seek to wash and cleanse others instead of condemning others because that’s what Jesus did.  Those who are willing to admit they were unclean. The way Mother Theresa says it is, “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” Or, what I would say is, “Washed, rinsed, cleansed by the words that come out of your mouth and the love that comes out of your heart.” 

This is why it’s so beautiful. This is why the Christian Church is what it is today. Because the movement is legit. Because they are the most “woke” people walking around this world. Now, we get it wrong from time to time. We add to it. We get a little squirrly. We start throwing in all kinds of other stuff, no doubt. But this beauty is undeniable—that the God of the universe, the One who created it all and we jacked it all up—he comes and lives a perfect, clean life, sinless in every way—tempted in every way, but sinless in every way. 

And then he is—at this moment when he is endowed with all of the power—he is fully God, but he has never cheated by using any of those powers. Yet in this moment he is so aware of exactly what this moment is. And what he chooses to do with all the power, all the righteousness—self-righteousness that is actually true for him—he gets down underneath his disciples and he washes their dirty feet. Hallelujah!

In so doing, John said that after that he said, “Now blessed are you if you go and do the same thing.”

So my question to us is, when is the last time you washed someone’s feet? And I’m not just talking about shoes and socks and stuff. That’s what Church Around the Table is. It’s just these moments where we wash people’s feet. 

Last Sunday, I was talking about body and blood. It sounds weird, but I learned a lot from that message. I don’t know any of this stuff. I’m learning it the same time as you guys. Maybe just a little ahead. But I was just so convicted and compelled by Jesus’ message and all of that, and I was thinking, "Body and blood. Body and blood. Giving body and blood.” 

I knew that John 13 was going this other direction with it and I was stirring on all of that. I went home and was studying more. I was thinking, “I just did the message. I don’t have to study anymore.” And I was like, “Yes, I do!” So I was chewing on it and studying and going, “Lord, what are you saying? I need to get a little further in.”

It was my birthday. I just really felt like I wanted to wash my family’s feet. I wanted to. And don’t think we’re like a spiritual household. We’re not that great at Bible studies. We’re just now trying to get in this routine on Sunday night where we sing a couple of songs and pray a little bit. My kids hate it most of the time. And we hate them most of the time because of it. So don’t get this picture.

But this was a good moment, where, for my birthday I told them I wanted to wash their feet. And my wife was like, “Okay. We’ll see how this goes.” Because she’s right. And my girls were like, “Whaaa?” You know? (Our boys were actually with their siblings at this time.) 

I sat them down. I didn’t take my clothes off. I got a bowl of warm water and I got a towel. And I sat them down and washed their feet. They were a little bit giggly, but they held it together pretty well. I was trying to tell them about what Jesus did and how I just want to love them in the same way. I think they were able to receive some of that. 

Then my wife was like, “It’s your birthday. We want to wash your feet.” So they all decided that they wanted to wash my feet. I felt washed and cared for and appreciated. It was a moment where I was just trying to practice something, not really having much expectation. But there was a bit of a moment, and I think we kind of had Church Around the Table. Church around a bowl of warm water in this moment. It was precious and I was so thankful for it.

Then this morning, we were downstairs and I had three kids with me. I live in a weird situation. A couple of nephews and a foster boy were with me. We were downstairs and the whole team was praying and worshiping, getting ready for this. And my mind was on a thousand things. We’ve got a Belize Men’s Retreat barbecue afterwards. So I was stressing about that, my message, just everything in mind. And I felt like the Lord was like, “Right now.”

So I got up and I walked behind the boys that were just sitting there. They were being good, but they were like, “These people are always singing all the time.” I don’t know what they were thinking. That’s what I’m thinking they were thinking. 

I go behind them and I put my hands on the shoulders of the first one. He tensed up like, “What’s happening?” And I just prayed a prayer of blessing in his ear. Then I went to the next one and prayed. I don’t know what it meant to them at all. But I felt like I was being filled with the love of God for them as I was trying to love them. Does that make sense?

It was like I was practicing the way of Jesus and I was being filled with the Spirit of Jesus. That might sound really weird to you, but those of you who know what I’m talking about—it’s not weird. It’s very natural. It’s actually beautiful.

There’s this love that God is wanting us to do. We’re supposed to love our spouse the same way that Christ loved us. Husbands are to love your wives the same way Christ love you and laid his life down for you. There’s the same imagery. This is what cultivated and motivated the First Church experience. 

Paul was like, “You should forgive one another. Why? Because God in Christ Jesus has forgiven you.” This was the crux of their operation. It was their mission and vision statement. We’re supposed to love the way Christ loved us.

All I can think is, “That’s impossible.” Not because my wife is hard She’s awesome. But because I’m bad at stuff. So at the same time, I’ve been compelled by the beauty of this vision and so overwhelmed, going, “How am I going to live into this thing?”

I could think of a thousand times I got it wrong and I had to work really hard to give you two really good examples. And then there’s the rest of today, you know? And tomorrow, and all of that.

I want us to just know that Jesus understands that. He taught them and pointed them in this direction. But then, if you go into John 14, 15, 16 and 17, you find how. We don’t have time to go through all of it. But in John 14, I just want to read one verse to you. This is Jesus’ plan for how. For how you could love others in the way that he loved you, including, if you notice, Jesus washed all of his disciples’ feet. All twelve of them. 

You get what I’m saying? He washed Judas’ feet, knowing that the devil was already in him to betray him. He got down on his knees, with all the power, and he picked up Judas’ feet and he rubbed those feet, he cleansed those feet, and he probably prayed, “Father, if there’s any other way, let him know your love.” And he washed his feet. 

Loving your kids, loving your wife, loving your friends, loving your coworkers, loving your enemies—loving those who have absolutely betrayed you—is this heavy, awesome, beautiful call. How is it possible? John 14:15

In your Life Groups, if you want to unpack the main points of 14, 15, 16 and 17, of how Jesus said, “This is how it’s going to work out.” You can do that. But to sum it up:

15 “If you love me, keep my commands.

And what are his commands? That you will love others in the same way that he has loved you. Bam. Done. Too heavy. Too beautiful. If you will do this…

 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate [or helper] to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you …

Helping you to see the vision

…and will be in you… 

Helping you walk in the way of that vision. That’s it. There are no other tricks. You don’t have to climb a mountain, stare at your belly button, or anything else. You just have to take your step in the way, in the direction of the commands of God in your life—and Jesus will ask the Father and he will give you a helper—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive  him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him for he lives with you. He’s the one giving you the compelling. He’s the one giving you the conviction. He’s the one who’s opening your mind to see this way. Then he will be in you to empower you to walk in it.

In Acts 1, Jesus rises from the dead. He’s sitting with the disciples. John was the only one that was at the cross. The rest of them were out of there. Forget it. Jesus’ thing didn’t work. He’s dead. And now, they’re all out fishing again—fishing for fish. And Jesus comes up on the shore and he has a little time with them.

In Acts 1, he’s with them and he says, “I’m going to leave like I told you I would. But this time I’m not coming back. But I want you to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father. For when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be empowered to be my witnesses. You will be empowered to walk in the way and everyone else will watch you walk in the way and think, ‘Huh. I need to learn Jesus’ way. I need to know about Jesus.’”

It’s the Spirit that empowers us toward this beautiful end. And like I just explained to you—How practical is it? I was not feeling it. I’m a little tired. My mind’s all a blur of things. I feel like the Lord’s saying, “Right now. Wash someone’s feet. Give some body and blood.”

I’m like, “Man, these are all church people. Well, those three dudes right behind me. I don’t know what’s going on with this.” So I just walked back, and like I said, I stepped into the commands of the Lord. I said, “Okay, I’ll try. And I’m going to fail.” But then, as I was doing it, I was being filled with love that didn’t come from my own tank. It came from somewhere else. And I was able to pray these genuine prayers. I really was praying these prayers. I wanted to see these things happen for these three boys. And I got filled with Jesus in that little moment, and maybe they got a little splash. I don’t know. I’ll ask them later. They’ll probably say, “I don't know what you’re talking about.” But it’s just a little way it works out. When you lean in, the Spirit empowers you. 

We’ve got a lot more to come in the next few weeks, at 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30. But right now we’re going to spend a little time waiting on the Father to give the Holy Spirit—waiting on the promise of the Father. We’re going to have the ushers come forward to pass out the bread and the cup. We’ll once again have this time of teaching ourselves in the way that Jesus taught his disciples—once again remembering and being compelled by the love of Christ, who gave body and blood for us, who just spit in his face, who so often have chosen sin instead of his way. 

As you get this piece of bread and this cup, just hold on to it. We’ll all take it together in the end. This is definitely that time when we’re going to try and get filled with the Spirit of God for the task that we have in front of us. Be thinking, have you received the Spirit of God or not? If you have received the Spirit of God, how full is your tank? How full is your tank? Would you like him to fill you again? Fill you afresh? Are you willing to make room? To surrender things that are blocking the filling of the Spirit? Communion is a good time to confess those things and do that transaction with the Lord. Give up your sin and your junk for his Spirit and his power.

I have a couple more things to mention. I really want to talk to people in the room that maybe don’t know where they are at with Christ. I had a friend come to church recently. He is someone that has a real critical mind. He’s sharp. He’s actually super smart and still kind. He came to church and, I knew that he’s not a follower of Jesus. He has, at times, been against things like that. So I asked him afterwards. I said, “How was it?”

This is what he said. And this is for you that are at Living Streams, and loving people well, to encourage you. But this is also where maybe some of you are at. 

He said:

“I found myself wondering about how I could replicate, develop or steal what seems like super powers that you believers have. There is an obvious depth and value that I’m missing out on, so it made me want to figure out how to hack that in myself.” 

I loved the honesty. This guy’s mind is brilliant. He’s not pretending. He’s saying, “I see something.” And what he sees is the Spirit of God empower us and compelling us toward each other. He’s saying, “Yeah. I’m missing that.”

I don’t know if he’s willing to surrender to Christ and make that move, but I thought it was pretty beautiful that he could recognize that. But some of you are in this room and you can say the same thing, if you’re honest. And this is your moment. It’s never going to be easier than right now to receive Jesus in this room, in this moment. It will only get harder. I just want to encourage you to receive Jesus. 

We’re all going to take communion now. We’re all going to partake together. Those of us who know Jesus, we’re just once again saying, “Jesus, more of you in our lives.” But if you’re someone who has never made that decision, this is a great place to start. If you’re someone who doesn’t want anything to do with Jesus, please don’t take this. There’s some verses about that. It doesn’t go well. But if you’re someone who is saying, “Yes, I’m ready to receive Jesus for the first time,” then you are more than welcome to partake with us. 

Let’s pray:

Jesus, we thank you for your body that you gave so freely to us. We receive it now and ask for more of you in our lives.

Let’s take the bread.

And Jesus, we thank you that you wash us and cleanse us by your blood—that perfect blood that was sacrificed for us. We ask that you would cleanse us once again, Lord.

Let’s take the cup.

Amen.

---

©️2019 Living Streams Church

7000 N Central Avenue ∙ Phoenix AZ 85020 ∙ 602-957-7500 ∙ https://www.livingstreams.org

Scripture is taken from Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Church Around the Table

David Stockton
Series: Church Around the Table

Good morning, everybody. Thanks for talking to each other. Thanks to all the introverts for not leaving right away. I know it feels. 

We’re kicking off a new sermon series. Life Groups are kicking off this week. We’ve got over 300 people that are going to be hanging out a whole bunch in smaller group situations, in homes, around tables with snacks, and the word of God—partaking in raw authenticity, relentless encouragement, biblical counsel, and, hopefully, some genuine friendship—in a very crazy, disconnected, more connected than ever online world that we’re living in. I’m really excited about it. 

So, thanks to everyone who said, “Ok, we’ll give it a shot.” And thanks to all the people who are leading and inviting people into your home or wherever you’re going to meet. And more to come on that. It’s going to be great.

Yes, we are going to be going to three services, starting September 29. Your fault, not my fault, just so you know. I was doing just fine with two services. This is no problem. But then you guys just kept coming and doing all this stuff and bringing friends. It’s wonderful. We’re so excited. The Lord’s definitely leading us. It’s been our hope for years now. We really do believe that there is more room in the family here. We’ve got enough food in the cupboards and goodness coming out on the table. 

There are some more people that need to be here with us. Hopefully not necessarily people that are already going to other churches. There’s room for them there. But people who aren’t going to church. We’re really going to start diving into that a little bit. We spent time in Ephesians figuring out the vision for the Church. And now we’re going to figure out a little more of how we can practically walk this out in our Twenty-First Century world. 

Some of you are just killing it. Some of you are so awesome at this. Some of you are a little newer to the game. And some of you need to get back in the game, because you’ve been taking a break and it’s been like twelve years now. Breaks over, my friend. Get back in the game.

We did establish that this Sunday morning church concept is not what Christians do. This is just supposed to be a help for Christians to do what they’re supposed to do. Living Streams is an organization that does not have Jesus at the head of it. It’s true. We do our best to make sure the head of Living Streams, which is our elder board, is in line with the head of Jesus Christ. But, at the end of the day, it’s still kind of filtering through a board of elders and some pastors. We don’t get it right all the time. We’re an organization. We’re trying to create a house in our city. The organism of the Church, which is the real Church, is what Jesus died for. Jesus didn’t die for Living Streams. He died for the people who are his Church, that just so happen in this season of their life to be going to the organization of Living Streams.

Are we clear on this? We have to get this straight. We have taught people for too long the wrong way. Not on purpose, I don’t think. But we’re focused on a building. We’re focused on an organization. We’re focused on this church or that. The Church is the people of God who are trying to follow in the way of Jesus and he’s the head of them.

The Church, in that regard, the organism is the single most dominant force for good the world has ever seen—any time, any age, any place. No doubt about it. No on in their right mind can contest that.

We, as the leaders of the organization of Living Streams, we say, “Lord, what can we do? What are we lacking? How can we steer? How can we get better at housing this beautiful Bride, Body, Temple that you formed. That you died on the cross for, rose again for, gave your Spirit to? What can we do?” And that’s when we came up with this concept that we’re lacking in the church what’s supposed to happen outside of the church. That’s a very confusing phrase—especially when we’re dividing that word up. 

Basically, we’re lacking in the church what’s supposed to happen outside of our Sunday morning context. The Lord is wanting to raise a standard. He’s wanting to challenge us. He’s wanting to spur us on.  As he looks as assesses our church family, as it is, he’s saying, “You’re doing great in a lot of ways. But there’s one thing you lack.” Kind of like in the letters to the churches in Revelation. “I see all these good things, but there’s one thing you lack. You lack in the church that which is supposed to happen outside of the church.”

And so that’s our big push. Let’s go open our homes. Let’s do Life Groups. That’s a program, but it’s more than that. We’ve got to take a step back from that. When we see the book of Acts—and we’re going to dive into that the next two months—we’re going to try to get a picture of what this looked like in the book of Acts, and what this looked like in Church history. But I want us to take a step back, because I want us to get to the real core of what’s behind all of this. 

We’ve got to back to Jesus, right? We’ve got to go back to the life of Jesus. So we’re going to go to Luke 4 and we’re going to learn the way of Jesus once again. Many of you are familiar with this, you know all about it. But it’s always good for us to go back and remember the way that Jesus lived.

Before I do that, I just want to set a little tone. I wrote a poem this week. I’m not reading this poem because I think it’s so good, or whatever. I’m reading this poem that I wrote (which is a little embarrassing) because I just want you to get a little bit of a feel as to where this message is coming out of, as the Lord took me through a process of trying to teach me something that I could share with you. And so, here it is:

Is there a way through this consequential maze
So full of dangers, toils and snares
Physically drained and dying
Spiritual asleep and unaware

Is there a way through this relentless desert
So dry and cracked and parched
Physically wasting away
Emotionally dry and desensitized
Mentally weary in well doing
Spiritually hopeful but helpless

Is there a way through this oppressive society
So polluted and popular and poisonous
My body is to be worshipped
My desires are worthy of indulgence
My ideas are more valuable than yours
God loves me more than truth and justice

Is there a way? I don’t know.
Some days I am sure
Some days I can’t tell
Some days I just lie down, hopeless for a while

But today? Today I see Jesus
I see the trail His life, death and resurrection left behind

Today I choose to follow His way
So hard and rewarding and hard
Physically touching others’ wounds with tenderness
Emotionally pouring out sacrificial praise
Mentally being transformed by His words
Spiritually fighting to stay awake with anticipation

And that was the question that came to my heart as I wrestled with my own “stuff.” As I wrestled with stuff in my family. As I sat in a hospital room next to a drug addict that’s a good friend of mine and has been for a while. This is about his sixth or seventh time he’s been in the hospital with his life on the line. And I asked him, “Hey. Do you have any hope?” And he said, “Well, I don’t really know if now is the time to talk about that.” I was like, “I don’t know if you’ll have another chance to talk about it. I don’t know if there’s any better time in your entire life to talk about whether you have hope or not.” And then I just left it because he wanted to talk about something else. And he knows exactly what I would say.

Is there a way through this consequential maze that we call life and living? Jesus is someone who says there is. And Jesus is someone who says, “Actually, there’s only one way.” And Jesus is someone who says that he is the only way. 

In Luke 4, we’ll pick up there and we’ll get the start of this, where Jesus is coming on the scene. He’s just been baptized by John the Baptist. He’s living in a Roman-dominated, oppressive world, with an impoverished people, confused and beating each other up with religiosity. He’s been out in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil, which I’m sure was intense. And then he goes back home. He shows up to church in the synagogue on the Sabbath. He’s sitting there in church, and this is where we pick up in Luke 4:14

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. 

Jesus went to church, by the way.

He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,

19 

     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Basically, Jesus is saying, “If any of you are asking if there’s a way  through the consequential maze of life, is there any chance that we can find freedom, good news, healing, favor, is there any chance at all that we might find that?”—Jesus said, “Well, I’m here to pave a way for that. The Scripture that you just heard today is fulfilled. I am now going to set a path before you. I’m going to chop through the jungle. I’m going to show you the way to all of those things.”

And immediately the people in his own home town said, “Pshh. Jesus. This guy’s crazy. I remember when he was a little kid. He fell over there and hurt his knee. I remember when he was over there and he got sick.” Whatever. They remember him growing up. And now he’s standing there saying he is the way. He’s going to pave the way to freedom, healing and life, goodness. And then he said to those people right after that, “And just like many prophets were not received in their own home town, I know you guys will not receive me. So I will go to other places and I will show them the way. Because you will not receive it.”

They got so mad they pushed him to the edge of the cliff and they were going to push him off to kill him. And then he walked right through them, the Bible says. He paved a way even through them. 

And then in Chapter 5, at that point he goes out to this place called Capernaum and he preaches to them and he says, “Bring to me anyone that is in those situations.” They bring them to him and he heals them and sets them free. He gives them hope. He tells them about God’s favor for them. It’s a wonderful thing.

Then, just after that, he calls some disciples to him. He goes out to the sea one day near Capernaum. There are these fishermen there. He says, “Hey, can I borrow your boat?” And they were like, “Whatever.” So he gets in the boat and they go out a little bit and he starts teaching the people. He’s giving them words of life. He’s teaching them what the Scriptures are really trying to say—who God is and what God requires. And the people are stirred and then, all of a sudden, the guy who is the boat, this guy named Simon Peter is there. He looks up after Jesus says what he has to say. Simon says, “Depart from me for I’m wicked. You don’t want to be around me, Jesus. You’ve got to go find someone else’s boat. This is a dirty boat.”

 And Jesus says, “If you follow me, if you get on this path that I’m carving, if you stick close with me, you’re going to be saying some real different things.”

And then we have the story of Peter beginning, and the other disciples as they followed in that path, they found all those things that Jesus had promised. And even more importantly, they began to be people who can pass those things on. 

Then, later on, it’s interesting, turn to Luke 7. There’s this moment where John the Baptist, the guy who was Jesus’ cousin, the guy who baptized Jesus, the guy who was kind of a forerunner for Jesus—he actually said that he was the guy who was supposed to prepare the way for the One who was coming that actually show us the way, that can make a way where there is no way. 

In verse 18:

18 John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”

“Are you the one that’s going to show us the way that can make a way where there is no way? Because at one point I kind of thought that, but now…” If you know John’s situation, he’s in prison and he’s about to lose his head because he was talking to the political leaders at that time, saying, “What you’re doing is not pleasing to God.” 

So John’s been in prison for a while and he’s wondering if Jesus cares. And it’s starting to make him wonder if Jesus really is the way. 

21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 22 So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 23 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

He basically says to him, “All of the things that were promised in the beginning are still showing up today as I’m carving this path and people are following this path, they’re receiving these things—this path of life, the path of the just that shines ever brighter to the perfect day.” And he’s saying, “John, I know you’re on this path and I want to say ‘blessed is anyone who does not falter or stumble or get off the path because I didn’t do what they thought I should do.’ I’m the one paving the way. You’re the one following, John. Follow me and you will see all of these things come to pass.”

And then he continues to pave that way. We read at the Scriptures. We have the stories. We have four different accounts in this Bible of all that Jesus did, all that he stirred up with his words and his power, with his love, and with his death and resurrection.

Many of us in this room have said, “Okay. All right Jesus. There are lots of people telling me they know the way, but they’re all dead and they stayed dead. But Jesus, you’re the one that said you knew the way, died and then conquered death. I think I’m going your way.”

And we’ve been following this way, for whatever reason. We’ve been going down this path and we’ve been able to experience some freedom, some healing, some favor, some grace, some of the things that Jesus has promised. 

I’ve asked Pastor Kurt to start categorizing and cataloging all of the signs that we’re seeing in our midst right here in our church. He just sent me an email. There are so many wondrous things happening. People actually getting physically healed at the Men’s Retreat, in our Sunday morning services, other places. If you’re like me and you’re like, “Oh, you’re just saying these things. I need to talk to the person it happened to.” Feel free. I’m sure they would be happy to tell you. Come talk to me. Come talk to Kurt. Kurt - stand up and do a little circle.

I’m not joking. I’m as skeptical as anybody. Come talk to us. We’ll take you to the people that have actually experienced healing and you can determine whether you think they’re true or not. We’re not trying to make something up or trying to exaggerate. I mean it’s true. We are experiencing this stuff. Two Sundays ago, you guys saw. We had a bunch of people get baptized up here. And right before that we had all these people raise their hands to say, “I need to follow Jesus.” And they are experiencing life. 

Again, that’s why somehow we’ve got to get together so we can hear each other’s stories. The reason most of the people are in this room is because they can say, “Absolutely, without a doubt. Jesus in my life—different.” No doubt about it. Whether it’s some supernatural, miraculous thing, or it’s more deep, spiritual work—or both. That’s what this is all about. This is not built on some sort of idea or some guru. This is built on tangible, practical, signs and wonders of the Spirit of God showing up. That Jesus is not dead in a grave somewhere. He is alive and on the move. Maybe, just maybe, we’re getting to see true revival happening right here. We’re going to talk more about that. 

But John the Baptist—“Stick with the program, don’t fall on account of me.” Jesus is telling him he is the way. Jesus is basically trying to teach him that, “I am paving the way. I know the way. I’m going to go the full distance. If you can follow my way, though it’s hard—rewarding and hard—you will get to see the life of God. The life God intended. You will get to taste the kingdom of heaven even in this life, prior to the next.”

This is the word and promise of Jesus Christ that has been spreading throughout the world. And then there’s this culmination which brings us to Church Around the Table. There was this culmination at the end of Jesus’ life. As he had gathered his followers.—and there were about 120 at one point and now there were only twelve that had committed their lives to following the way of Jesus. Because it’s hard. 

And there were only twelve left in this upper room, as Jesus calls them to have a little time of church around table, a little time of fellowship around a table, a little time of raw authenticity, relentless encouragement, biblical counsel, and genuine friendship around a table. Jesus, when he is spending his last night on earth, decides to make a powerful statement for all of us. The most valuable thing you can do is church around the table.

Jesus gathers his people together. There are twelve of them there plus Jesus. One of them is not going to work out so well. And he’s there having a meal with them. He said, “I have so longed to share this meal with you. This has been the day, the moment that I have been planning and hoping for this entire ministry life that I’ve had, these last three years. This really is the culmination. This is a precious, important moment. I don’t want you to miss this. 

And he broke bread, and he said, “This is my body which I am giving to you.” And they didn’t understand the full ramification of what that meant in that moment. They just thought, “Yeah. Jesus is for us. He’s with us. He loves us. He’s given so much to us.” 

But Jesus was speaking of more than that. He’s actually saying his body was going to be pierced and broken on a cross so that they could be set free from the wrath of God. And they received this. And Jesus said, “Do this often, in remembrance of me. Whenever you eat, remember me. Remember that your fellowship is not just with each other, but I am there as well. And just as I gave myself to you, I want you to give yourself to one another. I want you to find people that you will give yourself to in a sacrificial way—just as I found you and gave myself to you.”

And then he said, “This is my blood which is going to be poured out to cover you.” And we understand that it’s his blood, that sacrifice that actually covers our sins because he was sinless and we aren’t. But, still, the impartation is there. He gathers these people together and says, “I will give all of me to you—my body and my blood, poured out for you. And I want you to go and do the same. To gather some people around your table and love them so much so that you could say with all honesty, ‘This body is for you. Anything you need, I will give you. This blood that flows through my veins—I will pour it out for you so that you could know the love of the Father.’” 

This is discipleship. This is the call of the Church. This is the call of you. That’s why you can’t have hundreds of them. That’s why it’s a joke for me to think I’m pastoring all of you guys. Here is my body. It’s like three people would get it and the rest of you would be starving to death. Here is my blood. I want to give you everything. Most of you would just be broke and miserable. Because I don’t have that much. But I have enough for a few. And guess what? You have enough for a few, as well. You have enough for a few.

What I love about Jesus’ life is that, Jesus, when he came to world, knowing all of the problems in the world, all of the poor, all of the injustice, all of the rape, murder, all of the lying, stealing…Jesus knew about all of that. And you know what he did to solve all of those problems? He gathered some people around him and loved them with everything in him, and then asked them to go do the same thing.

What kind of strategy is that? It’s Jesus’. It’s God’s strategy. I will not give my body and blood for Living Streams Church, this organization. Sometimes it feels like it. But there are some people in my life that I’ll give everything for, and I’m supposed to. The more I give to them, the more the Lord pours right back into me. 

I want us to understand. It’s not just Church around the table, Church around the communion table, Church around whatever table. For me, in my life, it’s been a little different from that. It’s been Church around food stamps. It’s been Church in a 15-passenger van. It’s been Church in different ways like that. Church in my own home with foster boys or a friend of mine that needed a year to get stable. 

For Jesus it was Church in a boat. Remember? He was with Peter and he was doing his sermon, but Jesus was like, “Bam. Ha ha. Got you. You just heard the message. Now you’re saying you’re dirty. You’re getting the message. Come on. Let’s do this thing.” 

And that guy that was so dirty, that wanted nothing to do with Jesus, but just had a little Church time in the boat with him, was at the table with him on his last night. And that guy right there got the message so well that, after Jesus died on the cross, he went and lived as Jesus. When you read the stories about Peter after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it’s really hard to tell the difference sometimes. Is this a story about Jesus—or a story about Peter?

And then, in the end, Peter decided that Jesus is so worthy, I don’t want to die the same way he did. Because he was crucified as well, but he decided that he wanted to do it upside down, as he gave his body and his blood for Jesus and the ones that he was called to love.

I’m sorry if you came to church this morning for a little “pick up.” I really am. It’s my birthday, though, so you have to deal with it. You get away with so much more on your birthday. You’re like, birthday card. Oh, I’m sorry I was a jerk to you. BIrthday card! You know? You’ve got one day to do it all. 

But Church in a boat. You know, Jesus had Church in all kinds of places. Church on the side of a hill. Church in a garden. Church here, Church there. Jesus had Church everywhere. For me, when I said Church around the food stamps, I remember this guy, Jason Biel. I was seventeen years old, my senior year of high school, and he was twenty years old and had a wife and a kid.  Seemed a little quick to me. I just thought he was fun. And he cared so much about me. I don’t know why. He just really wanted to make sure I knew he Jesus was, knew that I knew the love of Jesus, felt the love of Jesus, knew that God had a plan for my life, knew that there was this path that, if I would walk on it, it would be hard and rewarding and hard, and knew that, if I walked on these other paths it would be like, meh, and then death—vanity.

I remember one time we were in line. He would just hang out with me. He’d pick me up and take me around. He’d set up all these adventures we’d go on. Then one time we were in a grocery store. I remember he had his kid, and he was buying some weird stuff like baby stuff. I had never seen it before. I was seventeen years old. Then, all of a sudden, he started to act a little strange as he’s in the little ticket line. I was standing behind him and then, he kind of pulled some stuff out and he handed it across, and he was kind of looking down.

My dad was a doctor. I had never seen food stamps. But when he did it, I wouldn’t have known what it was, except for the kind of feeling he was having. I thought, “Oh, those are food stamps. Oh, he must feel like I think less of him because he’s on food stamps.” But it was the exact opposite. I thought, “Here’s a guy that’s doing everything he can to take care of his family, but yet he still has time for me, to care about my life, to teach me guitar, to take me on all these weekend adventures with some Christian deal, to just pray for me and care for me and ask me all these questions about my life and what I’m going to do.” He showed me a path and made me want to know Jesus.

Later on, I remember I had just graduated high school and I had some plans for my life. I thought I was pretty cool. And this guy said, “Hey, you’ve got nothing to do this week (because I talked to your parents). I have to go to Mexico with this group of high schoolers and make sure they’re doing okay. But ultimately, I have to go steal a boat that my brother left at a gas station down there, because this guy won’t give him the boat back.”

And I was like, “I’m in. I don’t know what you said before ‘steal a boat’ but I’m in.”

This guy was a pastor and this was his job as a pastor that week, I guess. I didn’t know you could do that as a pastor. We’re driving down and he’s telling me all about Jesus, telling me all this good stuff, teaching me all of these things. We stayed the night probably a mile away from this gas station where they had to leave the boat because the trailer broke. And he’s like, “Okay, well someone needs to stay awake the whole night. I’ll take the first the shift, then my brother.”

I was eighteen and they were older. They were going to cover it. I woke up one time and everyone was asleep. And there were cars driving by and we’re deep in Mexico. I’m just like, “We’re going to die!”

And then the next morning, right before the sun came up, we went over and got this whole boat and trailer onto a flatbed trailer. We would jack it and then push it until the jack fell over. Jack it, push it. It was the most ridiculous, dumb thing in the world. But I remember, as soon as we got that on the thing, he was like, “Get in!”

Boom. We took off running. Then, as we were driving out, the owner of the station was driving in and he was like, “Whoa!” And we were out of there. And he was telling me a little more about Jesus and he was praying for me. And I thought, “Okay. Church in a 15-passenger van down in Mexico. This is legit.”

I thought, “You know what? I’m interested in who Jesus is and what he does with a person’s life.” And it was shortly after that when Jesus came to me himself and said, “Do you want to do  what you have in mind for your life or do you want to see what I have planned?” And it was over. I’ve been very interested in his plans ever since. And so much has shown up in my life, there’s no other way to explain it, except Jesus.

Then there’s this other story about a guy named Jan Tyranowski. We’ll finish with this. Pope John Paul II. He was Pope, by the way. He tells a story about a moment in his life when he had Church in the apartment of a shoemaker, of a tailor. I just love this quote so much. This is the call. We’re supposed to have Church around our table, no doubt, but we’re supposed to have Church everywhere we go. This is just supposed to be a little pep talk, you know? A little encouragement. And even this, you know? Create a little space here. Some people in this room are barely hanging on right now. And you could just come and wrap your arms around them. 

This is what John Paul II said about his Church in the tailor’s apartment. This guy, Jan Tyranowski. And I’m praying that every single person at Living Streams will change their name to Jan at some point. I want this so badly for us because this is Jesus.

He was one of those unknown saints, hidden among the others like a marvelous light at the bottom of life, at a depth where night usually reigns…In his words, in his spirituality and in the example of a life given to God alone, he represented a new world that I did not yet know. I saw the beauty of a soul opened up by grace.

This is Jesus’ dream for your life, that there would be people, maybe just ten or eleven, that would say these words. They’d say, “I know who that is. That’s George. That’s Sarah. When I hear that quote my mind immediately goes to…this person.” Because that’s what Jesus has been for us. 

What I wrote down is:

I think we all need to find a Christian luminary and learn. Then we need to become a Christian luminary and share our lives and, ultimately, focus on someone who is not a Christian, until they become a Christian luminary. That was the way of Jesus. That’s the way Jesus taught us to do Church.

Let’s pray. We’ll take a moment now and be quiet before the Lord. We really do believe that Jesus is alive and that his Spirit moves among his people—that, if two or more are gathered in his name, his presence is there. We believe the Bible teaches that God loves to speak to people, whether they know him or not, whether they got it right this morning or not. So we just want to stop for a moment and see what God might say to us. It can be something about the message, or it could be something totally different.

Jesus, I don’t know exactly how you did it, but you were able to take those fishermen and make them into fishers of men. Lord, they were able to follow in your path and bring healing—true healing, and freedom—true freedom and love to people. Lord, I just ask that, first, everyone in this room would know that this is something that you want to do with them. That you are faithful. You are the Author and Perfecter of our faith. That you’ve taken it upon yourself to be that for every person that would follow you. And you’ve given us your Spirit, that, if we choose to follow you, we actually can receive your Spirit as a guide, as a strength, as a comfort. Jesus, I pray that anyone in this room that does not have your Spirit living inside of them, that today they would ask and you would give. And they would know that this is not something you want them to do in their own strength and wisdom, but something you want to partner with them for. 

If you haven’t received the Spirit of God, if you haven’t said, “Jesus, I want you to be the Lord of my life,” I just encourage you, in this moment, to say those words out loud. God is listening and he is ready if you’re ready.

Jesus, I do pray that you would teach us your ways, that you would keep us from getting distracted or side-tracked by the stuff in our own hearts and minds, let alone in our world, that your voice would always come through loud and clear. We thank you that you are our teacher, you are our guide, Jesus. I pray that we would fix our eyes on you and we would follow your path. We pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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7000 N Central Avenue ∙ Phoenix AZ 85020 ∙ 602-957-7500 ∙ https://www.livingstreams.org

Scripture is taken from Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.