Do You Want to Get Well?

John 5
Mark Buckley - August 2, 2020

Welcome. It’s good to have you here today. I’m glad to be with you. I’m Mark Buckley, one of the pastors at Living Streams—Pastor Emeritus, you could say. I’m just full of the grace of God right now. I’m going through personal trials, but still, the grace of God is sufficient to get us through whatever we need to go through.

I want to thank those of you who have been praying for my wife, Kristina. She’s been back in the hospital the last couple of weeks, fighting different lung mold and different kind of infections that have been brought about by immune suppressant drugs that she’s on to keep her from rejecting her heart. She has had a heart transplant. The heart is doing great. She’s full of energy, full of grace, even in a very difficult situation. Thank you for your prayers. 

I also want to point out that I’ve got a book here. It’s called From Darkness Into Light. It’s basically my story, my journey in the early days of my walk with Jesus. I’ve been thinking about that recently because, my story, when I tell it, it’s actually liberating. It’s actually healing for me. It’s good for me to talk about how I was brought out of darkness and into the light by the grace of God. And it’s good for you to tell your story, as well. 

Today I’m going to be giving you a message from the gospel of John. The title of this message is “Do You Want to Get Well?” Now in the 60’s, when I was wrestling with forces of darkness—the things that I write about in this book—it was a challenging time. It was a difficult time. The nation was in turmoil. The nation was conflicted about the Vietnam War and about the legitimacy of what our government was doing.

I was involved in a protest one time with 200,000 people. Over 40,000 American soldiers were killed in Vietnam. It was a big deal and it divided our country. And our country has been divided recently, as you well know. And there are powerful political pressures. There are powerful forces of darkness trying to divide us. 

We, as believers, are called to be peace makers. We, as believers, are called to be “salt and light.” That doesn’t mean that we are to preach our political perspective louder than anybody else. It means that we are to declare the lordship of Jesus. He is the head over all rule and authority. His government is the government that will never cease on the face of the earth.

Anyway, so if you want one of these books, if you’re down at Church on the Street, ask Pastor Walt Rattray. He’ll get you one. If you want to come in the Living Streams office, they’ll give you one. If you want to go to my website: markbuckleyministries.com we would be glad to send you one. I’ll sign it for you if you ask for me to do that. I also want to urge you: Tell your story! I’m promoting that book because it tells my story. But you tell your story. It’s going to help you get healthy.

Let’s look at this story in the gospel of John and then I want to give you a little background in just a moment. It says this in John 5:1:

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

What kind of a question is that? Do you want to get well? The guy’s been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. He hasn’t gone hardly anywhere unless somebody’s carrying him. But if he was going to get well, it was going to require some changes in his life. He might have to get a job. He might have a new group of friends. He would have to accept a responsibility that he hadn’t had to accept for a long time. 

And my question to you is, do you want to get well? Do you want your soul healthy? Do you want your life transformed? Do you want the power and grace of God? Or do you want to be like this guy who had an excuse for not being well?

Now, what they said here is that there was a saying, and it’s in the fourth verse that the angel would come down and stir the water. And if you were first into the water after the angel stirred the water, then you could get the miracle of healing. But if there’s a whole bunch of lame, blind and paralyzed people there, and only one of them gets the healing, it would be a mad scramble. And if you were paralyzed and you couldn’t walk, you would probably never get in there first unless you had a real fast, big, strong person rush you down there.

Here’s what I love about the gospel of John. It is so unique. This story isn’t in any other gospel. There are four gospels, as you probably know. Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels. They all have the life of Christ, the teaching of Christ, the death of Christ on the cross, and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. They all tell many of the same miracles and cover many of the same teachings. But the gospel of John is different. Every chapter is different. Every chapter in the gospel of John has teachings that Matthew, Mark and Luke didn’t cover. 

In the first chapter, it’s the Logos—the reason, the purpose, the divine order. And it’s John the Baptist saying to Jesus, “This is the Lamb of God. This is who I’m telling you about. He’s going to take away the sin of the world.” 

In the second chapter of John there’s the miracle of Cana, the wedding feast where water is turned into wine. The bottom line of that to me is the simple becomes special. And in Christ, the simple things of life can be really special. You don’t need to get drunk. You don’t need to get stoned. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and then you can celebrate each and every day. 

In the third chapter of John there’s Nicodemus coming to Jesus and wanting to know who he really was, and Jesus saying, “You’ve got to be born again.” That isn’t covered in any other gospel.

In the fourth chapter there’s the woman at the well, a woman who had been married five times and now living with her boyfriend. And Jesus says to her, “I can give you living water.” Jesus says to her, “You Samaritans aren’t quite sure who God is. The Jews know that we worship God in Spirit. Everybody who worships God must worship in Spirit and in truth.” 

And as you go through the gospel of John, there’s one unique story after another. There’s the woman caught in adultery in the eighth chapter of John and him talking about knowing the truth and the truth setting you free.

There’s the blind man who was blind from birth and at the disciples saying, “Was it this man who sinned or his parents who sinned?”

Then in the tenth chapter there’s the story of the Good Shepherd, and us knowing his voice if we’re   his sheep.

In the eleventh chapter there’s the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, and Jesus saying, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, they’re never going to die. And those who die and believe in me, they’re going to live forever.”

Every chapter has something unique. A foot washing in chapter thirteen. It’s a unique perspective. And why am I saying that? Because you’ve got a unique perspective too. You’re getting spoken to by God and you’re being called by God to do things that nobody else is being asked to do. You’ve been created for a special, unique purpose. So you have to believe in the things the Holy Spirit is saying to you.

I hope this message is going to help you believe in the one he sent, and believe in the calling that he has called you to embrace. So he’s asking now, this guy paralyzed for thirty-eight years, “Do you want to get well?”

I had a woman call me and she was in marriage turmoil. By the time she hung up, I was convinced of one thing. She didn’t want anybody to know what she was going through and she reiterated to me, “Don’t tell anybody what I’m going through.” 

I thought to myself, You’ll get healed when you’re willing to tell your story. When you no longer care about who knows, when you’re not trying to cover it up, because all of us have struggles in our marriage. Kristina and I have been married forty-seven years this month. Forty-seven years. We’ve gone to marriage counseling. We’ve gone to seminars. We’ve read books. And we still have our arguments at times. We still have our struggles at times. What I’ve learned is, if I want unity with my wife, I have to humble myself. 

And the scripture says that if we humble ourselves, he will give us grace. And grace is the power that makes life worth living. Grace is what enables us to follow Jesus and overcome this world. Grace is the special gift that we don’t deserve that God pours out into simple people like us, people who have made all kinds of mistakes and he allows us to triumph in this world. 

Jesus asks this man, “Do you want to get well?”

I had a guy come to me a number of years ago. He weighed about 400 pounds. He had been in our church for a couple of years. A really nice guy. And when he made the appointment, I wondered what he wanted to talk about. He told me his story, and his marriages. He told me the pain he was in, the trouble he was having sleeping at night, the fact that he didn’t have a job.

And I started to give him some counsel, and some encouragement, and told him to get a job. He had these different excuses and, basically, I looked at him and asked the same question that Jesus asked this man. “Do you want to get well? Do you? Do you want to get well. Because if you want to get well, you’re going to have make some changes. You’re going to have to be willing to embrace a discipline. You’re going to have to practice doing the right thing, even if you don’t feel like doing the right thing.”

Speaking of practice, my granddaughter is fifteen and a half. And as soon as she turned fifteen and a half, Ava went and got her learner’s permit from the Department of Motor Vehicles. Then she comes over to my house after her mom’s driven with her like once or twice a little bit. And she wants to take me driving. She goes, “Papa, do you want to go for a drive?”

And I’m like, “Not really. Not really at all.” But I knew that when somebody is fifteen and a half and they’re asking you to go for a drive, within six short months, when she has her license and she can go wherever she wants with all of her friends, she won’t be wanting to go places with me. So this is the time for me to say, “Yes.” 

So I say, “Yes.” And we get in the car. And it’s about 7:00 pm and it’s dusk and there aren’t a lot of cars on the road. So I say, “Just go around the neighborhood, wherever you want to go.” And then I’m gripping the seat and I’m like, “Watch out for that car there. It’s parked, I know, but don’t get too close. And make sure you know that kids could run out from behind.”

And I’m doing the whole parental thing, trying to be nice, but finally, I’ve got to break the ice so I say, “You know, it’s the first time in a long time I’ve just gone for a drive. And I haven’t even known where we’re going.” 

And she looks at me and she says, “Oh, Papa. Isn’t it relaxing to just go for a drive? I just love to go for a drive with no desintation.”

And I’m like, “That is not what I would call relaxing. This is more like putting my life in your hands.”

So what I’m about to tell you in terms of getting whole isn’t going to necessarily be relaxing. It isn’t necessarily going to be completely affirming. But it’s going to make a difference if you’re willing to go for it. Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly. You know why? If you’re going to start playing a guitar, you’re going to start poorly. If you’re going to start becoming a worship singer, you’re probably going to start poorly. But if you’re willing to get past the “poorly” aspect of it and practice what you want to do, you can get whole. You can get well. You can become competent. You can be used by God. 

The Greek word here is hygieias, which means healthy, sound, well, cured, healed. You can be healthy, well, sound, cured, healed.

We had a girl in our church way back in the 70’s when we were in California, who I had to pick up every day from her house on Sunday mornings, and carry her into the car and drive her to the services, and then drive her home after the services. Her name was Debbie Lynn Simmons. Debbie Lynn was born with cerebral palsy. She couldn’t walk. She couldn’t feed herself. She could talk but it was hard to understand her. She could not use her arms very well except to push the power button on her wheelchair as she got older and had a motorized wheelchair

Debbie had accepted Jesus and she loved the Lord. She believed that her life would really matter. So our church fasted and prayed for her to be healed. We did this for a number of Sundays, a number of weeks, for I think a couple of months. We all fasted and prayed for God to do a miracle. Well, we didn’t see the miracle, but we still loved Debbie and she still loved Jesus. Even though she wanted to be able to walk and run and sing and dance, she wanted to serve God. 

As time went on, I saw Debbie Lynn in Wales when I was teaching at a school of missions in Wales. She said to me when I saw here there, she said, “Mark, I always wanted to be a missionary and look at me now! I’m doing missions for the Lord.”

Debbie Lynn Simmons graduated from Dominican College in San Rafael, California, a Catholic university that’s not cheap, that’s not easy to get into. But she not only graduated from high school, she graduated from college because she believed that Jesus really wanted to use her and to get an education was going to further her ministry.

One year I was reading, after I had moved to Phoenix, I was reading a newsletter sent out by a ministry called Love in Action, which helped people who were coming out of the homosexual lifestyle to find the grace of God to be healed, to be transformed. And I’m reading this article in a magazine. And it was the most well balanced, well thought out, sound healthy, affirming article I think I had ever read. And I’m reading, and I get to the very bottom. There’s the byline and it says, “By Debbie Lynn Simmons.”

And I’m thinking. Wow. She has taken this most complex subject matter and made it so pure, so simple, so straight forward, so filled with grace, so filled with love for anybody that’s struggling with same sex attraction.  It was so great. And I thought to myself, We did that fasting and praying for Debbie. We asked God to do a miracle, and the miracle that he did wasn’t to make her run and walk in this world. What he did was, he gave her such a sound, clear mind and the ability to express herself, even though when she typed out that article she had to have a stick in her mouth and type it on a computer one letter at a time. She persevered because she wanted the God who had given her grace to be able to give grace to others. 

Debbie eventually got married and moved to Boston. I haven’t been in touch with her recently, but here’s a girl who could’ve just felt sorry for herself, could have been mad at God because of the disability that she had. She turned her disability into an ability—an ability to describe and to declare and to display the glory of God because he uses us even in our weakness, each and every one of us. Because we’ve got weaknesses as well.

So let’s continue on in our story. In verse 7, the invalid is speaking: 

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

This is his excuse. And you might have an excuse. You could say to me, “Well, sir, you don’t know what kind of family background I was raised in.” “Sir, you don’t know what kind of a difficult marriage situation I’ve got.” “Sir, you don’t know how I’ve been abused and used and discarded.” “Sir, you don’t know how I’ve been betrayed.” “Sir, you don’t know what it’s like to be in prison like I was in prison.” “Sir, you don’t know what it’s like to be in poverty like I’ve been in poverty.”

And you know what? You’re right. I don’t know what you’ve gone through. I don’t know what you’ve had to overcome. I don’t know, but I do know this, that if Jesus himself is speaking to you and he’s asking you a question, “Do you want to get well?” You can either hold on to your excuse or you can say, “Yes, Lord, help me. I want to get well.”

That’s what I had to say. In my book, if you read it, you’ll know that I went through some dark days in a mental institution and electric shock treatments, and depression that made me suicidal. You’ll know that I went through things that I didn’t know if I would ever get over. I only knew when people told me that there is a God who loved me, that if he was there, I asked him to help me and then I began to experience, day by day, each and every day, something that made that day worth living. Something that encouraged me to keep ongoing. Something that began to make me believe that there is a reason and a purpose beyond myself, and that something is the one who has healed my soul and who will heal your soul as well.

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 

A very simple exhortation. 

“Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 

At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

You know, Jesus didn’t make him jump through a whole bunch of hoops. He just said, “Pick it up. Go for it. You’re going to be okay. Go ahead. Pick it up. Walk.” 

I remember praying for a guy by the name of Jack Donohue one night. We were having a Bible study. This was many years ago. The older you get you have many “years ago” stories, by the way. So many years ago, we’re in a home group, we’re gathering in a circle at the end of the meeting. We had asked, “Who wants prayer?” 

Jack wanted prayer. He was in law enforcement. He needed to be physically fit and able. He had a really bad back and it was hurting him just to walk. So we gather around and we’re starting to pray. As I’m praying for him and I’m being quiet, somebody else is praying at the moment and I’m preparing to speak out loud, I see a vision in my mind. What I saw in my mind was Jack doing a karate kick. And I try to sort of get it out of my mind. I don’t know what it’s doing in my mind at a time like that. But I see it. And then I pray for him and then we say, “Amen.” And everybody leaves. And Jack walks out the door. It’s time to go home.

And then I thought, You know what? I’ve got to tell him. So I go out to the street, and I say, “Jack, Jack. Hold on one second.” I said, “You know when we were praying, I saw you do a karate kick and I just thought I would tell you. Good night. God bless.” And I went back in my house. 

Now this is as very intense man I was talking to. This is a guy, the first time I saw him at our church, he looked me in the eye and then he stuck out his hand and he said, “Hi. I’m Jack Donohue.”

I said, “Hi. I’m Mark Buckley.”

He goes, “I can tell a fraud when I see one.”

And I said, “Well, welcome to our church. You came to the right place.”

That’s how we met. He was in law enforcement. He was trained to tell if somebody was telling stories that didn’t matter. And so, anyway, long story short, the next time I saw Jack after that Bible study where we prayed, he comes up to me and he says, “Did I tell you what happened?”

I said, “What? What do you mean?”

And I had sort of forgotten. And he says, “Yeah. Remember when you came out and you told me that if I did a karate kick, that’s what you were thinking you saw in this vision? So after you went back in the house, I thought Sounds crazy but what do I have to lose?”

And he does this big karate kick. He said, “My back snapped right back into place and I have been good to go ever since.”

I’m like, “Praise God. Because I would have never thought of that myself.” I would never recommend it. I’ve never recommended that to anybody before or since. But sometimes the solution the Lord has for us is a very simple solution. In this case, “Pick up your mat and walk.”

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

The law forbids it. You are breaking one of the Ten Commandments by picking up your mat. Well, the Ten Commandments, it says, Keep holy the Lord’s day.  It doesn’t say Don’t pick up your mat. It says Don’t do any work. But they had interpreted it. They had put all these layers of interpretation on it so that people were pretty bound up and afraid to do anything that the rabbis would say, or the Pharisees or Sadducees would say was actually work.

Let me suggest something about our nation and about healing in general. The people who become too legalistic have a tendency to hinder what God really wants to do. These people were hindering what God wanted to do through Jesus. Because when Jesus tells you to do something, it’s okay with the Father. 

I was telling one of my friends in a political discussion last week. I said, “You know, in the Boston Tea Party, they destroyed thousands and thousands of dollars worth of goods that had been imported through that company and they threw them into the sea, and that was illegal. And we consider those guys heroes today.”

Anyway, that’s my last political statement.

So it says in verse 11, when this guy was challenged about doing something unlawful on the Sabbath:

“The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 

Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. This is sort of a fascinating thing to say to a guy who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. What kind of sin had he done? And Jesus is warning him. And Jesus, through him, is warning us. Some of you have been forgiven for your sin. Do not return into that muck anymore. 

I have been following Jesus now for fifty years. And you know something? I still have to resist sin every day. Every day I have to guard my mouth. Every day I have to guard my heart. Every day I have to make sure that I am obedient to the Lord and not just giving in to the flesh. I wish I could tell you that, after fifty years, you are free, that sin has no hold over you. Well it doesn’t have a hold over me, but it still is lurking. As it said in the book of Genesis about Cain, “Sin is crouching at the door and it wants to grab hold of you.”

And we’ve got to be honest about that. And the reason that I even mention it is this: That if I walk in the light as he (Jesus) is in the light, then you and I have fellowship with one another. That means we connect in the Spirit. And when we have fellowship with one another, then the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. It cleanses us. It removes the residual affect of sin and sets us free.

So don’t go back into sin or something worse could happen. Now, let me suggest this. I do’t have an opportunity to speak to the assembled Congress of the United States. But if I did, I would probably want to share some parts of this message with them that I’m sharing with you. We have been divided and I think the Lord would say to us, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

In the Revolutionary War, there were the Tories and then there was the Continental Army under George Washington. In the Civil War there was the federal troops and there were the confederate troops. And there were born again believers on both sides. And believers are not called to go to war against one another. Not called by God anyway. Maybe called by man. Maybe called by their own frustration. And in our frustration, we have a tendency to dehumanize people. To say that they’re stupid. We have a tendency to demonize people and say that the devil is working through them and they’re going to destroy the world. And before they destroy the world maybe we should destroy them. To dehumanize, to demonize, and ultimately to destroy people—those are sins. And Jesus warns us, “Don’t call your brother stupid or you’re going to be liable to judgment. Don’t tell him that he’s empty headed. Don’t be angry at your brother, because otherwise you’re going to be liable to judgment.” 

That’s not what we’re called to do. We’re called to build people, to love people, to put out the fire of division, to explain the good news of the kingdom of God, which is really what’s going to satisfy the frustration in the heart of man.

So verse 15:

The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. n his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 

So Jesus says, “My Father’s always working. He works on Sundays, he works on Saturdays.”

How does he work? Well, if you’re sick and you stay home in bed on the Sabbath day, which is Saturday by the way, chances are you’re going to be better by Sunday. Chances are you’re going to be better because God your Father is a healer. Sometimes he heals speedily, sometimes he heals slowly. Jesus said, “I don’t just do anything I want to do. I do what I see the Father doing.”

Let me tell you, what I see the Father doing, I see the Father healing people. I see the Father encouraging people. I see the Father creating an environment on this earth that is spectacular in its diversity. The sunsets are beautiful. The storm clouds are magnificent, The rain, when it occasionally falls here in the desert, is refreshing. It waters the earth. It makes things sprout and bud. Those things come from the Father. The fish in the streams and in the rivers and in the lakes. The elk and the deer and the forest. Those come from the Father. The waves that break on the beaches of San Diego and Los Angeles. Those come from hte Father. We have a good, good Father. He’s always a giver. He’s always a lover. He’s always an encourager.

Since I’m running out of time I’m going to give you one last verse and that’s verse 39:

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

So these Pharisees, they were men of the word. They would memorize scripture, study scripture, be obsessed with scripture. And the scriptures talked about Jesus. Through Moses, he said in Deuteronomy18, “There will be prophet coming and you can trust every word he says.”

Through Isaiah in Isaiah 53 he says, “The one who comes is going to be a sacrifice for us. By his stripes we will be healed. He will be bruised for our iniquity. He will be broken for our transgressions. And by his grace we’ll be made whole.”

The prophets declared the coming of the Son of Man. And now the Son of Man had come and they’re like, “No, no. We see it different than you. We think you’re trying to exalt yourself to be like God.”

Jesus says, “Come to me if you want eternal life.”

And in our day and age, Jesus said when we’d come to him, he’s going to pour out his Holy Spirit on us. We’re to seek to be full of the Holy Spirit. It’s not just the Bible. It’s not just accepting Jesus. But the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth.

I had a chance to speak to a group of pastors this last week, of some of the largest churches in Arizona. They asked me to talk about the political climate, Here’s what I did. I made a list of all the principles that are in the Bible about humbling ourselves and about honoring leaders and about being peace makers. But I also realized, they have the same Bible I do. They know exactly what those scriptures say. I can remind them of those truths,  but here’s what I really want to tell them. I’m going to tell them what I’m going to tell you as we close this message:

That even though times are dark in many ways, the kingdom of God is going to continue to expand. Even though people are troubled by Corona Virus, even though people are troubled by unemployment, never in the earth’s history has there been more food security. There are more people having access to food today than at any other time. There are more people with access to health care than at any other time. There are more people with access to transportation today than at any other time. There are more rights for women today than in any other time. More rights for minorities in more countries than at any other time. There is less slavery today than at any other time. There are fewer people dying by preventable, treatable diseases today than at any other time. 

The kingdom of God is expanding. More people are accepting Jesus today than at any other time. Even though we’re in a dark, challenging, troubling time, there is going to be an outpouring. There was an outpouring in the sixties and seventies after the tumult of the Vietnam War. There is going to be an outpouring today. And it’s going to come through you and me, those of us who have been made whole, those of us who have been made well, those of us who have embraced the grace of God that Jesus gives to everybody who calls on his name. 

Let’s pray together:

Lord Jesus, thank you for this time. Thank you for this day. This is the day that you have made. I ask Lord God, now, for those that you’re speaking to, those whose hearts have been stirred by this message, that we would yield to you. That we would not make excuses, that we would not cower in fear of a disease or political conflict, or whatever it might be, but I pray that we would be bold in proclaiming the truth that you are alive, that you have plans and purposes for all of us, and that you, as you chose to heal the invalid, have chosen to give us life. And we praise God and thank you for this life. 

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©️2020 Living Streams Church
7000 N Central Avenue ∙ Phoenix AZ 85020 ∙ 602-957-7500 ∙ https://www.livingstreams.org

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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.

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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.

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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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.