Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hey, let's. Let's take a second and just pray over our partners and brothers and sisters in Columbia. Join me, Church. Jesus, we thank you so much for just the absolute gift it is that we get to walk with our brothers and sisters in faith as they. As they seek to see your kingdom advance there in Columbia. Lord, it is so cool for us to see just the unique aspects of this culture and the way it opens doors for gospel ministry in ways that honestly seem strange to us in our context. Like, lord, we thank you for that. We pray your blessing, your protection over our brothers and sisters over this ministry. Holy Spirit, move in power. And God, I pray that you would give us eyes here in the US, here in Missouri, here in St. Louis, give us eyes to see our own context, the way our brothers and sisters do, to consider the neighbors and loved ones and co workers around us who need you. And Lord, Holy Spirit, we ask that you would guide us toward opportunities to join you in the mission. God, we love you, we trust you and pray these things in your name. Amen.
[00:01:04] Good morning, church.
[00:01:07] What a joy to be together today. Amen.
[00:01:10] We are starting a new little series today in Matthew, still called Jesus versus Religion. And let me take a second to tell you why, why we're doing this series, why we're calling it. This takes us into the next section of Matthew, and in our text today, we're actually making a major transition narratively in the story. We're moving into what is called the Passion Week. This is what we call the last week of Jesus, earthly life and ministry. All four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, devote a huge portion of their book to these seven days this last week leading up to Jesus crucifixion and resurrection. In fact, Matthew 21 through 28. Right? So that big a chunk of the book all take place in seven days. And think about how fast we've kind of sprinted through Jesus life for most of the book.
[00:02:08] These next seven chapters all take place in these days leading up to Jesus death and resurrection. And so we'll be in this series, Jesus versus Religion, all through Lent and up to Holy Week, just in case you're curious. I'm sorry to tell you this, but this series won't actually take us through the actual Passion narrative in time for Easter. Sorry, that will take us until, like, July or August. But, guys, listen, that's the light at the end of the tunnel. We will finish Matthew this year. Like, that's. It's gonna happen. It's gonna happen. But no, no, no. Lent heading into Easter is actually gonna get us through, like the first two days of the Passion Week. What we're gonna see here is these first couple days when Jesus gets to Jerusalem. And we're calling the series Jesus Ver Religion because in these first few days in Jerusalem, most of what Matthew records is Jesus's public confrontations with the religious leaders in Jerusalem. This whole section of text really is Jesus's public confrontation with the Judaism of his day. Right? And I think that's really strange if you think about it for a moment. Religion as a concept, religion is supposed to help connect us to God. Like, that's why we do it. That's why we have it as humans. And yet in Jesus's day, the religious establishment of Jerusalem, the temple, first century Judaism, was actually hindering folk from connecting with God. In fact, their religion was giving them such an inaccurate expectation of the Messiah that they missed Jesus. The Messiah showed up, God hung out with them, and because of the lens their religious practice handed them to understand this ministry and this Messiah, they completely and totally missed him. I think this is why this is such a potentially beneficial series for us today. We live in a time, we live in a cultural moment when trust in organized religion is incredibly low, right? I mean, generally speaking, religious leaders are no longer, like, they're not really in the news unless for a bad reason, Right. It's usually some terrible controversy. Pastors aren't really respected for their position by most Americans, and churches aren't seen as safe and welcoming places by many in our society today. On top of this, even we within, like conservative evangelical Christianity, like, we devalue the benefits of organized religion. How often do you hear phrases like, well, I don't really practice religion, I'm not really religious, I have a relationship with God, right? Or, listen, I connect with God just as well as the wood in the woods as I do in church. And I'm not saying that I get. There's a sentiment behind those things that is important, right? That our religious practice is grounded in the personal work of Jesus and our connection to him. But I think oftentimes we can subtly and I think accidentally devalue the concept of organized gathered religion, even true biblical religion. I think seeing Jesus's very legitimate critiques of the organized religion of his day, as well as his thoughts on the role of religion in the kingdom of God, I really think it's going to be incredibly helpful for us as we consider our own relationship with religious practice. I think this will be challenging. I think it'll be encouraging, but that's where we're going to be for the next several weeks. Today we're in Matthew chapter 20. So if you want to go ahead and turn there, that's we're going to be. If you don't have a Bible with you today, we have house Bibles around the room. Just look underneath the chairs in front of you. They are around. And if you're here today and you don't own a physical copy of God's word, know that that's really important to us. We would look love for you to just snag a Bible and take it home or talk to one of our pastors and we'll get you 1. Matthew 20 is where we are going to be today. We're going to start with Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem. This sets the stage for this epic confrontation with the religion of Jerusalem. And what we're going to see today in this text is as simple as this. My main point is this today, guys, because Jesus is Messiah, you can trust Christ.
[00:06:31] That's it. Because of who he is, because of what he's done for us. Beloved, you can trust Christ. You can trust him. I think this is a really great place to start in a series like this in America in 2025. Our thoughts on institutions, much less organized religious institutions, are not exactly defined by trust. Amen.
[00:06:57] So how can you possibly trust Jesus? If Christianity is based in Christ and Christianity has all the problems of organized religion, then why should you operate from a place of trust? How can you operate from a place of trust? Even if you want to, how do you get over the hump to trust?
[00:07:20] Well, pray with me, church, and we'll jump into this text and we'll see what God says to us. Jesus, we thank you for this morning.
[00:07:27] Lord, we need you to be our discipler today. I ask Holy Spirit that you would illuminate the text to us. As we take time to consider this story, consider this narrative. Pray, Lord, that you would just be with us today. Preach to us what our hearts need, Challenge us, convict us, remind us. Let each of us leave here today with our hearts spoken to by you, Lord.
[00:07:51] We need you for this, Jesus.
[00:07:54] So we pray it in your name. Amen. Okay, Matthew chapter 20. We're going to start in verse 29.
[00:08:02] And we read this.
[00:08:05] As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him, him being Jesus. There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, lord, have mercy on us, Son of David. The crowd demanded that they keep quiet, but they cried out all the more Lord, have mercy on us, son of David.
[00:08:28] And Jesus stopped and called them and said, what do you want me to do for you, Lord? They said to him, open. Our eyes moved with compassion. Jesus touched their eyes immediately. They could see and they followed him.
[00:08:44] So our story picks up at the very end of Jesus's journey to Jerusalem. He has made it to Jericho. Now it's about 125 miles from Capernaum to Jerusalem, from Jesus's home base in Galilee to the temple where he's headed. And Jesus has been walking there on that journey. Now he's close. He's about 15 miles out. Imagine walking from the arch grounds to the main campus of Mizzou. That's about the same distance. That's the journey Jesus has made with his followers. Jericho would have been the last real stop before he got to Jerusalem. And this is like a weird side note, but I actually think it's a little interesting and kind of geeky and also it can help, help keep us from some open loops in our head. But.
[00:09:32] So Jericho was kind of a strange city. There were actually two places right next to each other, both called Jericho in Jesus day. And he would have passed through both of them. There was old Jericho, which was built up on top of the ruin left from the Babylonian invasion 600 years prior. Babylon destroyed Jericho as it existed in the southern kingdom of Judah, left it a crumbling ruin and eventually people rebuilt a village over the top of those ruins. But then during the reign of Herod the Great, right before Jesus was born, and when he was a little kid, Herod rebuilt new Jericho right next to old Jericho. And they didn't get rid of old Jericho. So there was Jericho and Jericho right next to each other. And in general they were considered one community, but they were actually two separate communities with their own wall and there's a little road in between them. And so you would have had to pass through both to get to Jerusalem. Why do I mention that? Well, because for whatever reason, Matthew says this story happens as Jesus was leaving Jericho. But Luke and Mark say it happens as he was arriving at Jericho. And the is because there's a teeny tiny little road in between the two Jericho, and that's where this story took place. And so just so you're not in your Bible reading plan in a month going. Now hold on just a second. I'm confident that I heard Pastor Sam say this story happened as Jesus was leaving Jericho. And Luke says happens when he got there, that's why a dumb little thing, but that's the image we have right, this little road between the two Jericho's, they're walking along it and here we are introduced to, to an incredibly familiar scene.
[00:11:07] I think this is interesting for us. This scene is something we've seen before in Matthew. We're introduced to these two blind men. Now Mark, in his telling of this actually lets us know that one of them is named Bartimaeus. Perhaps he was well known in his community or something like that. But Matthew leaves it mysterious. There are two blind men and when they hear that Jesus is getting ready to pass by, they start crying out to him. They start yelling through the crowds. And remember the scene, right? Jesus has built up a massive following at this point. There is a large crowd of people kind of meandering around him as he walks and travels and teaches as he goes. And these two men start yelling through the crowd and they're yelling, lord have mercy on us, son of David. Now you likely don't remember this because it's been a hot minute, but this echoes a very similar story in Matthew 9. In Matthew 9, when Jesus is traveling, two blind men call out to him and they say, have mercy on us, son of David. Matthew really wants you to see the similarity between these two stories in Jesus's ministry because there's a specific contrast he's making that's really important. So let's look at the scene and let's see what this kind of draws out here. Now, first thing you have to remember as we talk about this is that blindness wasn't actually held for the first century Jews. It wasn't held in a mental category as something that was open to miraculous healing. Now that sounds like a weird sentence, but stick with me for a second. You have to remember, in the first century in Palestine, before modern medicine, the idea of supernatural faith healers was a little more common than you might assume it was, right. But because there were no recorded healings of blindness in the Old Testament, it began to be believed that that specific ailment was directly given as a punishment by God and then it could not be healed even by faith healers. What's interesting about that is that even though blindness healing was kind of off the table for first century Jewish faith healers, it's actually Jesus's most common category of miraculous healing between the four gospels. It's the thing Jesus did most often for people in need. The reason for that I think is connected to the other piece of the story that's so important.
[00:13:33] Look what these men say to Jesus. They say, lord have mercy on us. Son of David. Son of David was specifically a messianic title.
[00:13:47] It's like saying Messiah, Lord have mercy on us. Look at us. These men are claiming Jesus as Messiah and they're asking him to heal them out of the atheist authority of that role as Messiah. Jesus is no ordinary teacher or healer or rabbi. He is something new. He's something more. He's the son of David. And so they cry out to him for mercy. And Jesus gives it.
[00:14:15] In spite of the crowd's attempts to silence them, they cry all the louder. And Jesus cuts through the noise and cuts through the crowds and gives these men his special and full attention. He is with them and he heals them.
[00:14:34] It's beautiful. I mean, except for the part where he touched their eyes, which is. That's kind of gross actually. But, but, but he healed them. He's with them.
[00:14:43] I think there's a reason that Matthew emphasizes this story and emphasizes it right now. See, back in Matthew 9, when Jesus slowed down and was present and healed two blind men, he did it privately. He took them aside and he actually warned them, don't tell anyone I did this.
[00:15:00] Don't spread this idea that I'm the Messiah. But here, in the midst of this massive throng of people, Jesus doesn't just heal them. He heals them publicly and openly. He fully accepts the title they speak to him with. There is no warning to be quiet because Jesus is Messiah. He is the Son of David, he is their king, and he is living that way openly. And our king, beloved, who has spent two chapters of Matthew warning of his coming suffering, warning of his coming betrayal, of the way that he will be brutally, unjustly killed. Our king does not use his power and his authority to save himself or to seek his own well being. No, here he chooses to use his divinity to love and serve those who have been captive, cast aside and forgotten.
[00:15:55] Jesus, our king, beloved, bends his deity toward us.
[00:16:01] It's nuts.
[00:16:03] And it's the perfect segue into this really well known story. Read on with me. Chapter 21, starting in verse one, when they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethpage of the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples telling them, go into the village ahead of you and once at once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say the Lord needs them and he will send them at once. And this took place so that what was spoken to the prophet might be fulfilled. Tell daughter Zion, see your king is coming to you gentle and Mounted on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
[00:16:40] Now we're getting into this well worn Palm Sunday story. If you have spent any time in church around Easter, you've heard this one before.
[00:16:50] A few hours later, after this healing moment with these men in Jericho, as they make their final approach to Jerusalem, Jesus sends his disciples to get a donkey for him. Now, weirdly, there's actually debate amongst theologians about this scene in scholars. Some of the wording here leaves it kind of strange or not. Not fully clear as to whether Jesus has prearranged with a friend to have this donkey ready and available, or whether this is like a supernatural event that he just, you know, sets up to the donkey. That's really weird to me because honestly, it actually doesn't matter even slightly for this story. What matters, outside of just geeking out on theology and that stuff being fun and interesting, what matters is that what we see in this is that Jesus is setting up a scene on purpose. Jesus has intentionality here. He is planning to enter Jerusalem on a donkey, and that has meaning and purpose behind it. Matthew tells us that at least part of the purpose here is fulfillment of prophecy. And here he references Isaiah 60:2 and Zechariah 9. Both of these are kingly prophecies, if you go back and read them. Isaiah 62 was widely accepted and understood by Jewish theologians as a messianic prophecy. God was promising Israel that he would not leave them abandoned in their exile, but would return as their king and restore them from their destruction. Zechariah 9 is similar imagery, but interestingly, it wasn't actually understood in Jesus's day as a messianic prophecy. It was understood as being connected to Israel's earthly king, that God would rise up a new anointed king and send them to free and honor Israel. But Matthew wants you to think of both of these ideas of God's kingly authority and also the anointed kings that he has placed over Israel throughout her history. Both ideas, because at the end of the day, if you study through the Old Testament, what you'll find is that God is Israel's king, right? That was his design for Israel. But God also anointed and raised up humans to lead his people. And so God slash those kings will come in power and restore Israel. And what Matthew wants you to see here is that both of these ideas are fulfilled in Christ because he is God and he is the king that God has anointed. He's both of those things, both ideas. The coming Messiah, the Reigning of God are fulfilled in Christ. Note also that a king on a donkey is funny, but it's also a sign of peace.
[00:19:30] Conquering king enters a conquered city on his war horse. You can read about that in several narratives. In the Old Testament, when the conquering king shows up on his war horse, it's not a pleasant scene. There is blood and guts and carnage in the ancient Near East. Kings, generally speaking, didn't ride donkeys, period.
[00:19:51] But Jewish kings were known sometimes to enter cities that they already controlled on a donkey when they were entering in a time of peace. See, Jesus is making a statement here because a conquering king showing up to fight, shows up with his army, shows up on his war horse, shows up with his armor. But a king who already controls a city in a time of peace has no need to be prepared for battle. And so he can ride in on a donkey chilling out if he wants to.
[00:20:21] Christ is making a statement.
[00:20:24] I am Messiah and king. I have no need to conquer Rome.
[00:20:32] I already control Jerusalem. It's already mine. And I am bringing peace, not war.
[00:20:39] But regardless of how Jesus set up the scene, it's obvious here that he's intentionally setting up a scene. He wants his followers to know that his kingdom is not of this world and his victory will not look like the victories of earth. Read on with me in verse 6.
[00:20:57] So the disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, and they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road. Others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. And the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted, hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven. And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, who is this? And the crowds, they were saying, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.
[00:21:30] And this is the famous scene, right? If you grew up in church, this is the Sunday when they gave you palm fronds, which is great. If you had brothers, you could just pull all the leaves off and just whip them. It was great.
[00:21:43] This is the scene. A lot of us know Jesus entering into Jerusalem on the donkey. People shouting, praising, waving palm fronds, laying down their cloaks, the whole deal. As people gather around them and lay down their coats and wave the fronds, they cheer and they're shouting, hosanna. Hosanna to the Son of David. Now hosanna is a strange word. It's was used honestly as like a shorthand in first century Judaism, just for praise. Kind of like the way we use the word hallelujah. You could just throw it into a song and it's. It's praise now, right? But it literally means, lord, save us, Lord, save us. It was connected to their desire for a Messiah to come and free them. Lord, save us. And so as they shout hosanna in the highest, most folk shouting that are using it as this just catch all word that just means praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Look at this. This is awesome. Most of them are just stoked that they're seeing the prophet, the prophet Jesus, right? So they're shouting praise God. But Jesus close followers who have seen his ministry, who have heard his teaching are shouting, son of David, Messiah, save us. Save us. You are here. It is time. Save us. There's a stark difference between the crowds close to Jesus who followed him, who are walking behind him, and the crowds in Jerusalem already who are meeting the excitement and jumping in.
[00:23:11] They're just there for Passover and they're stoked that they got to see a famous prophet they've heard about. But the folks following Jesus like they believe he is the Messiah, they're ready to see him kick some butt. And it all comes back to you hear people going, who is this? Who is it? What's the deal? What's all the excitement? What's all the energy? Who is this Jesus? What's he even doing in Jerusalem? What's he up to? And as we see, even those who have an answer beyond, oh, he's the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee, even those people who are crying out, messiah, save us, they don't really know the answer to that question, who is Jesus? What is he up to? Those who are asking for the Messiah to save them, in spite of all of Jesus's teaching, in spite of his theatrical setup with the donkey, in spite of what he's been plainly saying for chapters now, they still don't get it.
[00:24:06] They don't really get it. They want the Messiah to save them right now in the way they want. They want him to unite the spiritual leadership of Jerusalem. They want him to bring Israel together, to overthrow Rome, to restore Israel as a nation again. God's chosen people on God's chosen land. But here's the problem, guys. That's Sinai.
[00:24:31] That's the Old Covenant. That's God's agreement with Moses.
[00:24:36] God is here to do something new.
[00:24:39] Not that the Old Covenant is bad or wrong. Or even cast aside, but that God is doing something new. This king has come in power, in victory, but he has also come in peace.
[00:24:53] He will not play the games of this world. No armies, no overthrowing Rome, no worldly structures, no this king has come to Jerusalem to suffer and die.
[00:25:04] And we leave the story right there for today.
[00:25:08] This completely strange contradiction of scenes. This, this scene that is the only real moment in all of Jesus earthly ministry where people treated him the way they should have.
[00:25:21] One of the strangest things about Jesus's ministry is that God himself entered into human existence and he spent his time loving and serving and caring for people. And during the entire like 3 of his ministry, the only people who acknowledged him as Messiah were the demons.
[00:25:40] The people just were looking at him going, give me stuff, give me stuff, give me stuff, give me stuff.
[00:25:44] And in this moment, this short little moment for just a few seconds, Jesus is treated as he ought to have been treated the entire time.
[00:25:54] Praised as king, praised as Messiah. But even in this, even in this, they're missing what's really going on.
[00:26:05] They want an earthly king. They just want an earthly king who's on their side, right? They want another David, another Caesar, another Herod, but just one that's a good guy, right?
[00:26:17] Someone who will beat up all the baddies and give them their place to live and be and have honor in the world again. And Jesus has no interest in this.
[00:26:28] He's a lowly and humble king, King of peace, riding on a donkey. The Judaism of Jesus Day gave him the wrong lens. It basically went like this. This was the standard belief of most Pharisaical Judaism in the first century. Kind of went like this. If we are good enough, if we follow the law well enough, if we can be holy enough, then God will see that. He'll see that we're repentant and we're coming back to the covenant. And he'll do what he did in Jud and Kings, he'll forgive us and he'll send us a warrior leader to free us. He'll restore his covenant with us that he made at Sinai again. And then we will be a people again and we'll be powerful again. But this lens was insufficient and it blocked them from seeing Jesus because Jesus wasn't and isn't an earthly king. He doesn't play games with earthly power because he doesn't need it. He doesn't need to overthrow Rome, he doesn't need Israel to be the best country in the world. He doesn't need the Sadducees. And Pharisees to agree with each other and hug because he's here for the curse of sin to be destroyed.
[00:27:43] He's here because sin was never his design for his people and it disgusts him.
[00:27:49] He's here because he wants his creation and his people to be free from the horrors of the curse that has held them ever since the garden. He's here to fix reality. He's here to save you and me. So rather than kick the doors in on his war horse, he rides a donkey. Rather than kill Caesar, he dies by Caesar's hand. Rather than protect himself, he loves and serves two blind men on the side of the road.
[00:28:17] Everything Jesus does in this opening of the Passion Week is a challenge to Judaism as it was practiced in his day.
[00:28:26] Now, guys, it's really important to hear something here. Religion is not bad. It isn't. Religion is a good thing. Religion that is pure religion, that is centered on Christ, it helps people connect to God. It helps advance the kingdom. It's overwhelmingly good.
[00:28:45] But religion is not Christ.
[00:28:47] Religion is not Jesus. It is not perfect, and it is subject to the same corruption and curse as the rest of this world.
[00:28:56] In Jesus's day, religion had been bent toward the hopes, desires and methods of this world.
[00:29:02] God's people wanted to use the methods of this world to get what they wanted. And so Jesus takes that and turns it on his head.
[00:29:09] He redirects religious practice away from earthly power and toward himself and toward loving and serving those in need. Guys, I know in a space like this, many of us struggle to trust God.
[00:29:26] We struggle to be all in on our faith. Many of us keep one foot here and one foot out in the world, right? Like, we like our church. We're not crazy about it or anything, right? Like, we're not like one of those wackos. We, like, love our church, love our people, but, like, we're not like that weird about it, you know?
[00:29:46] Beloved, you can trust Jesus.
[00:29:51] You can trust Christ to really meet your needs, your real needs.
[00:29:57] I know that many of us in this room are deeply wounded by the curse.
[00:30:03] Beloved, every time you gather with brothers and sisters, whether it's here on a Sunday morning, whether it's in gospel community, in someone's living room, whether it's over coffee, when you are sitting together with brothers and sisters in Christ, you are seeing people who have been affected by the curse.
[00:30:19] Sickness, broken relationship, loneliness, lost hopes and dreams. Many of us have been betrayed. Many of us feel abandoned. Many of you have had really deep hurts even within the church. Maybe previous churches or maybe this one.
[00:30:37] Maybe leaders or pastors. Maybe me.
[00:30:41] Maybe folk who have left our fellowship in ways that hurt you.
[00:30:45] Maybe folk who have. Who seem to have no idea what they've done or why it matters so much to you, or why it weighs so much on your heart. Beloved, there are millions of reasons why you might walk into this space or even wander upon this sermon on YouTube and have every reason to mistrust the church. To mistrust me as a pastor, and behind all of that, to mistrust the claims of Christ.
[00:31:12] I get it. I do. I know that trust is slow to build and instantly lost, right?
[00:31:22] Takes steady deposits of integrity over weeks, months, years. And then one thing blows all of that.
[00:31:32] I know many of us feel like we've been burned one too many times, and so we've built walls around our hearts and we have no intention of lowering them again.
[00:31:42] If that is you today, beloved, any of that speaks to the wounds in your own heart. Please let me say to you, you can trust Christ.
[00:31:54] You can.
[00:31:56] He's for you.
[00:31:58] He is for you in spite of what hurt has been put on you. He is for you in spite of that wounded part of your heart.
[00:32:08] And in all the ways that that wounded part of your heart may shout to you right now and tell you otherwise, beloved, you can trust Jesus because our king is not like the kings of this world. He is not proud. He is not arrogant. He does not lord it over. He is not violent. He is humble, lowly, serving, present, patient.
[00:32:32] He's not far off and distant. No, he slows down and he cuts through the noise and the crowds to be with you.
[00:32:42] Think about that church, the God who holds the universe together.
[00:32:48] Yahweh, the Creator, the sustainer, the. The very same God who at this moment is guiding the stars along their cosmic tracks. Stars like Uy Scumi. I Googled this.
[00:33:04] A star that could eat 5 billion suns and not fill rolls along its cosmic journey thousands of light years away from here.
[00:33:15] Because God is guiding it, keeping it, rolling it along, sustaining it.
[00:33:22] That God, who's doing that right now, steps down into the mess of your life.
[00:33:30] He cares for you when you feel lost, when you feel helpless, when you feel hurt. He hears your voice cry, son of David, have mercy on me. He's in the mess of our pain. He is with you. He is for you, beloved.
[00:33:50] Some of you guys know this, that Kim and I are foster parents. It's genuinely one of the deepest joys in my entire life in ministry. I pray almost every day. Not every day. I Pray almost every day that God would raise up more foster parents here at ifc. It is amazing ministry. I love getting to do it, but it is a huge burden.
[00:34:10] It's really heavy. I love all my kids with the depths of my heart, but a couple of them have burdens and needs that are unique to their hard position in life.
[00:34:22] Just a few days ago, I had a really Holy Spirit fueled moment. I was working on my computer writing this sermon, actually, and I heard this vague conflict rising up in the background. And listen, you have to understand, like, I have four kids in a small house, so there's always vaguely a conflict rising up in the background somewhere, right? But this particular time, I heard this conflict getting louder, and it culminated in one of my kids getting sent to his room for a timeout. And as I as. As I heard that kid being carried to their room for a timeout with kicking and screaming and moaning and gnashing of teeth, I listen, you have to know something. I'm a terrible parent. And. And that's just what it is. Like, I try my best, but I'm a mess of selfishness and grouchiness. Like, it just lives in this constant stew in my heart. I try, but I struggle with my flesh as much as anybody. And normally when one of my kids disrespects my wife like that and refuses to listen and refuses to engage in correction, I get super mad and I just drop the punishment hammer, right? You're grounded from this and that. In that moment, as I hear this conflict escalating by the grace of God, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me about as clearly as I ever have.
[00:35:39] And he just said, hey, this is not. This is not the moment for that.
[00:35:45] I knew this was more than a fight over a lost toy or a mistreat or whatever it was. I don't remember at this point.
[00:35:52] This kid needed presence. And so I stopped working close my computer. I go in, I tap Kim out, say, hey, I'm gonna sit with him during his time out.
[00:36:01] So I crawled into his bed and I held him. And here's the scene I walk into. So I'm cry, talking about this. Sorry. He's hiding under his blanket, and he's just sobbing, crying, yelling, really upset, inconsolable. And so I grab him and I hug him and I just say, hey, bud, you're good. I love you, you're okay, you're okay. And at first it's just anger, rage, inconsolable.
[00:36:28] And then there's a moment where a switch flips and from under his blanket, right? Like, he's not looking at me. I just hear this kid say, why did my other mom leave me alone?
[00:36:41] And you just know at that point, oh, okay, this is not about a conflict, right? This is not about a kid being in trouble. This is something deeper.
[00:36:53] So I reach under his blanket and I grab him and I squeeze him, and I'm rubbing his shoulders and just telling him I love him. And we sit there for probably 20 minutes, sobbing, crying. And eventually it moves from why did my mom leave me alone? To why I prayed to Jesus for superpowers so I could take care of myself, and he didn't give them to me.
[00:37:18] Why would he do that to me?
[00:37:21] And that moves to why don't I get to live with the people I want to live with, people that I remember, who I miss, who I want to live?
[00:37:30] And I'll tell you guys, like, God didn't give me superpowers either, so I couldn't fix it.
[00:37:37] I'm just sitting there with him for a long time, rubbing his back, telling him he's loved.
[00:37:45] And slowly, over 20, 25 minutes, he calms down, his breathing slows down. He stops crying. He even gets to a point where he can apologize to mom for disrespecting her, right?
[00:37:59] But we just kind of slowly get there to a place of peace and a place of calming down.
[00:38:07] And all I could do in that entire time couldn't fix it, couldn't make it right. But I could just tell him that I was with him and tell him that I loved him.
[00:38:17] Guys, I just. Man, what a gift to be God's tool of grounding him and regulating that child in that moment.
[00:38:26] And please know, guys, like, I don't share this to toot my own horn. I struggle with parenting. I miss these moments more often than I catch them. But in that specific moment, the Holy Spirit knew what this child needed and intervened for him through me.
[00:38:43] And as we kind of calmed down and went on with our night, I just couldn't help but think of how God loves you and me.
[00:38:51] My foster kiddos carry burdens that children shouldn't have to carry.
[00:38:55] That's the reality of this curse and broken world. They have hurts that only exist because of the curse.
[00:39:04] And, beloved, how true is that of all of us, how this world beats us up.
[00:39:12] And listen, many of you in this room are very strong, and you've figured out how to stand up and how to survive and how to move on.
[00:39:21] And many of us, even though that's true, if we're willing to be honest, we can see how those scars are still there.
[00:39:32] Even though we figured out how to stuff those hurts down, how to move past them, how to be strong and to live in this world, we still bear the wounds this world has given us, how this world has beat us up. Beloved, but you must know Jesus is in the pain with you.
[00:39:51] He is in that hard with you. He is in the mess with you and he loves you.
[00:39:58] Even though the world may hurt you now and even though those hurts may not go away in the moment, you can trust Jesus.
[00:40:08] You can trust Christ because He has and he will fix what is broken in this world and what is broken in you.
[00:40:17] He already won the victory on the cross. He defeated death, sin and the curse. And one day he will return and destroy the final vestiges of sin and the curse. And you and I will be drawn with him into a perfect eternity.
[00:40:31] And in heaven, those scars, the wounds of this world, will not hurt you or draw you down into pain and isolation. Rather, they will exist as testimonies of the goodness of God in your life.
[00:40:45] So how do you do this?
[00:40:48] How can you live in this hurt and broken world and take steps toward trusting Christ? How do you join in with blind Bart and cry out to the Son of David to have mercy upon you?
[00:41:01] Well, guys, if you're in this space and you're not yet a Christian, you do this by calling out to him.
[00:41:06] Because Christ will see you. He will slow down, he will be with you. He will take on the guilt and weight of your sin. He will forgive you and restore you and give you His Spirit. You can do that today if you call to Him.
[00:41:20] But if you're already in Christ, you still must choose continually to trust Jesus.
[00:41:27] Just like I don't tell my kids I love them once and move on with my life. Your relationship with Jesus is just that. It's a relationship. You grow in your trust of Christ by spending time with Him.
[00:41:39] Jesus said it this way in John 15. You must abide in me, remain in me, like the branch connected to a vine. And you do that by spending time with Christ.
[00:41:51] I think this best happens through a couple ways, like just really practical, to kind of land us out today. If you want to grow in your trust of Christ, three things.
[00:42:02] Engage in corporate worship, engage in prayer, and engage in time in your Bible.
[00:42:07] When we gather together, when we are in this space, when we're in gospel community, this spirit of God works through the worship, the preaching of the Word and the people to draw you closer to Jesus. These are moments of corporate discipleship where we're drawn together. We're reminded that our faith, our faith is personal, but it is not private that we share it together.
[00:42:30] And when you learn how to come to God more often in prayer, speak your real heart to him, to share with him what's going on in your heart in any given moment, not just in spiritual moments.
[00:42:41] You learn to share your real heart with God. You learn to actually be honest with him instead of keeping walls up and only engaging him in times when you can put in your these and thou's and it seems spiritual.
[00:42:54] And when you spend time in His Word, you get to hear his good heart for you.
[00:43:00] You hear him speaking to you and encouraging you and reminding you.
[00:43:05] I don't know if you guys remember this, but at the beginning of the year we did this Bible engagement survey. You guys remember that?
[00:43:11] You guys, it was, it was really helpful and we got some really interesting data from that. About almost half our church responded to the survey. And here's what we saw.
[00:43:21] 58% of our church engages their Bible four or more times per week. That's amazing. That's actually well above the national average. That's really cool.
[00:43:30] But at the same time, 10% of our church engages their Bible one or less times per week.
[00:43:37] 58% of our church prefers to engage the Bible through a devotional or reading plan. That's exciting. Part of why we're going to look at making those things available to you guys. But I think this is the big one.
[00:43:48] 95% of our church self reported wanting to grow or take next steps in their biblical engagement regardless of where they were. Majority of us said, I want to take a step deeper in this. And the reason for that is real simple, guys. You can't get enough Bible.
[00:44:04] It's how God speaks to you. It's how we learn and grow in our faith. If you want to trust Christ more, if you're that person who's going, man, that was real beautiful. I loved you. Tell him that story about your kid and it was cool. And yeah, I know Jesus loves me, but honestly, in the real just mess of my life, I just kind of forget about it and I just draw back into myself and that stuff. It doesn't come to my mind in those moments. If you are that person and you want to grow in your trust of Christ, like this is how you do it.
[00:44:31] Show up and participate with your church family. Pray little prayers throughout your day. God, I am so stressed at work right now. God, I don't want to Handle this God. This is frustrating. Little one second breath prayers and engage your word. That's where you hear from God. Those things will grow you in trust of Jesus because Jesus is trustworthy.
[00:44:55] And so when you spend time with him, he'll prove Himself trustworthy. One of the most concrete, immediate ways you can grow in your trust of Jesus and take next steps in your faith is when you engage His Word because that's where you'll hear his heart for you and for the world. We can do this church. We can take real next steps. We can grow together. Emmanuel Band if you want to come back up because God is good, Jesus is good, and he has good in mind for us.
[00:45:29] We can seek him together. We can grow in him together. Together as brothers and sisters, we can approach Jesus like two blind men on the road to Jericho. And we can cry out, lord, have mercy on us, son of David. It is worth noting as we land out today that that line isn't just like striking and cutting today.
[00:45:50] For the last 2,000 years, Christians have held on to that line from these two people. It's often called simply the Jesus prayer. Christians have prayed it as part of their spiritual disciplines, literally, for a long, stinking time. Jesus Christ, son of David, have mercy on me, for I am a sinner.
[00:46:10] It's a true prayer. It's always true. That draws us to trust. It's prayer that becomes part of the rhythm, daily rhythm for many believers, reminding themselves who Christ is and connecting themselves to him. Jesus Christ, son of David, have mercy on me for I am sinner.
[00:46:28] This is true of all of us.
[00:46:32] We're broken by this world.
[00:46:34] We need the intervention of Jesus.
[00:46:38] But we can trust Him.
[00:46:41] We can trust him to intervene when we seek Him. He responds, beloved, let's take a minute to come to him now.
[00:46:50] I want to invite you guys to take a second to connect with Christ. You can do that by getting yourself into a posture of prayer. If you can do that in your seat, that's awesome. If you want to get on your knees, if you want to come forward and pray at the altar, if you want to grab one of our pastors, those are all appropriate things to do. But I want you to figure out the way that you can slow down to be present with Christ for a moment.
[00:47:13] Maybe take this as your invitation to be real and honest and confessional with Him. For the first time in a long time.
[00:47:22] Tell Christ the real wounds in your heart, the real doubts, the real walls you put up between yourself and Him.
[00:47:30] Come to him for mercy and see how he responds to you. We'll take a minute to do work with Christ and we'll continue with communion. Just a minute.
