We've all been hurt. We all have scars. And through a relationship with Jesus Christ,
we can all overcome and we can all be healed. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
Alright, hey everybody. Welcome back to the Sanctuary. You know, God has a way of taking
things that are lowly to some and turning them into something pretty great. And it's
easy to see that it's the total opposite of how the world works. For example, the pope
has a pope mobile, the president has a presidential state car, people of wealth are known for
their expensive vehicles and taste. You know, they're the awe and spectacle of many. You
know, even growing up, I had a friend and one of his biggest goals in life was just
to own a Lexus. You know, and this goes way back in history. It's said that Julius Caesar
tried to ride in a golden chariot pulled by elephants. And it, you know, unsurprisingly
it failed, but the effort was still made. You know, it's also said that Mark Antony
had an elaborate chariot and tried to have it pulled by lions. Another plan that didn't
work out so well, but again, the effort was made. And it's well documented that even
before the time of, you know, before that time, royals and other people of wealth and
influence and importance would be carried on these extravagant leaders. You know, those
things that have like the poles and the chairs on them and all that, you see them in like
movies and stuff like Cleopatra, that sort of stuff. You know, when it came to Jesus
though, Jesus was different. Jesus is totally different. In Matthew 21 verse five, again,
that's Matthew 21 verse five, the Bible says, say to daughter Zion, see your king comes
to you gentle and riding on a donkey and on a colt, the fowl of a donkey. This was something
prophesied over 500 years earlier in Zachariah 9, 9 Zachariah chapter nine, verse nine,
the Bible says, rejoice greatly daughter Zion, shout daughter Jerusalem, see your king comes
to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey on a colt, the fowl of
the donkey, excuse me, the fowl of a donkey, a donkey, an animal widely considered stubborn
and dumb, a beast of burden, an animal viewed so unfavorably that has been used as an insult
for generations of all the animals. He came on a donkey, not a giraffe, not a bear, not
a horse, but a lowly donkey. Why? Why? For a couple of reasons. One, to fulfill prophecy.
That's pretty important right there. Two, to show his own humility at the time affirming
his messianic royalty. Now I'll propose a third thing being shown here. Notice that
he's riding on a donkey and her colt. There's no better way to lead an unbroken colt down
crowded street than to do so with its own mother next to it. Sounds very similar to
Mary throughout Jesus' life as well, doesn't it? She was there to support him through and
through from the beginning until the very end. We know this. The Bible tells us this.
Now Jesus, he could have chosen to be flashy, could have gone the other way. Now the reality
is donkeys are extremely intelligent. They're very loyal, cautious, affectionate, and very
charismatic. But that doesn't change how they're viewed. I mentioned in the past that they
were the work trucks of their day. So they were anything but flashy. They were the beat
up, all dependable pickup truck that you trust to get the job done. And God loves beat up
and broken things. How do we know this? It's throughout the Bible. We see it everywhere.
Look at Matthew chapter 9 verses 12 through 13. Matthew chapter 9 verses 12 through 13,
the Bible says, on hearing this Jesus said, it's not the healthy who need a doctor but
the sick. But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for I have
not come to call the righteous but sinners. Sinners. That's all of us. You, me, all of
us. Not only that, but you look at the people who constantly went out to Jesus. It wasn't
the wealthy and the well off people of that day. It was the broken, the sick, the lame,
the blind, the mute, the crippled, the starving, possessed people, and even leprous people.
People who were at rock bottom. You know, just as his donkey was being broken, so are
we. And that's what the devil wants. He wants us broken and he wants us turned away from
God. And I'll point out that the donkey was specially earmarked for Jesus. We know this
not only because of prophecy but even just looking at it. When looking from the top down,
you'll find a marking on donkeys. And it's more prominent on some than on others because
the way the fur and all kind of blends together. But you'll notice it has a cross on its back.
And just as the donkey was especially earmarked for Jesus, so are we. If we accept Jesus as
our Lord and Savior, when we accept him and begin to follow him, we become his. We're
earmarked, we're set aside for him. Now why is all this important? Well, to answer that,
let's go to 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 8 through 10. So 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 8 through
10, the Bible says, Therefore, I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands
without anger or disputing. I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and
propriety, adorning themselves not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive
clothes, but with good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God. Now this
scripture is talking about us needing to be modest and not flaunting ourselves. But this,
you know, and it's talking about like, you know, that outward appearance. But this also
applies in other areas of our lives as well. You know, remember in Matthew chapter 6, the
Bible tells us that our treasures are in heaven, not here on earth. So, you know, it's not
just about cars, but as a society, we've turned into absolute trash pandas. We'll buy up and
hoard just about anything, from the latest and greatest to the stuff we hold on to in
the hope that it will become a collector's item and worth a hefty price one day. You
know, I'll remind you of the idiom, he who dies with the most toys still dies. And just
as we entered this world with nothing, we leave it with nothing. None of it goes with
us. All right. When the tomb of King Tut was found, paintings, statues, thousands and thousands
of different treasures were found within. And then, of course, they found the elaborate
stone sarcophagus. And as it was open, they found a casket and then another, a total of
three amazing caskets. Each one had even more treasures within it. And of course, the final
casket, which contained the body, it was made of gold. Then, of course, the body itself
was wrapped in riches. But underneath all this stuff, what they found was still a withered,
decomposing body of the dead person that was inside. Matthew 23 verses 13 through 15, the
Bible says, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites, you shut the
door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will
you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites, you travel over land and sea to win a single convert. And when you have
succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. We see something very
similar when we look at Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 3, the Bible says, As for you, you
were dead in your transgressions and in sins, in which you used to live when you followed
the ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of air, the spirit who is now
at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying
the cravings of our flesh and following his desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were
by nature deserving of wrath. See what the word is telling us here. In these verses,
despite all the tensile and flare, the beauty and grace, it doesn't matter how wonderful
people look on the outside when they're still dead on the inside. They're in more need of
spiritual CPR than ever, but they're more caught up in what the world says instead.
So they miss the gift that Jesus has given to those who accept it. And not only do they
miss the mark, but these quote unquote influencers also lead others away from God. They're a
virus that infects everyone they touch. They're contagious. Like a lot of the media today,
a lot of those quote unquote influencers, you know, and it'll it's referred to as being
charismatic, you know, if they have charisma, but let's call it what it is. It's a virus.
Some of the most outwardly beautiful people in the world are also some of the ugliest
inside because they're spiritually dead, a literal zombie walking around because they
don't even realize that they're dead. Yet it doesn't need to be this way. It can be
and it should be different. The Japanese have a practice called Kintsugi where they take
things that are broken and repair them with silver or gold or bronze or something like
that. And rather than trying to cover something up or replace it, these things are basically
left with this beautiful scar that's a part of their history. And they do this with things
from cups to walls, anything that an owner deems is in need of that healing. It comes
from the idea that through adversity, something or someone can be made more beautiful and
that it's their history that makes them valuable. All right. So another thing in another part
of the world here. So in certain parts of London, the fencing in front of buildings
has a very distinguished, a uniform look. And it's because in World War II, much like
here in the US, certain metals were in high demand for the war effort. You know, metal
was taken up from all over the place. Stretchers were made of steel poles and metal mesh wiring.
And after the war, there were a ton of these stretchers left over. They didn't know what
to do with it at first. And someone came up with the idea and a decision was made to have
these stretchers welded together vertically, fixed onto poles, and then placed into the
concrete and used to replace the missing fencing around different buildings and homes that
was taken during the war. Matter of fact, when you look at this fencing, those little
bends in the poles that were used to make like a type of legging so that they weren't
just like flat on the ground, you can still make them out very, very easily. So when you're
looking at some of these fences, that fence that someone's looking at as they walk by
may well have been used to save someone's life. You know? So while we all have scars,
we are not without use. These scars, they're just a part of our history, a part of our
testimony. When God heals us, He's working on our insides. He's taking that corpse and
He's bringing it back to life, much like Lazarus. You know, Jesus himself was scarred when He
was put on the cross and pierced for our transgressions, yet He rose. And in the book of John, chapter
20, verse 20, the Bible says, after He said this, He showed them His hands and side. The
disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. And John goes on to tell about Thomas,
who doubted and wouldn't believe that this happened unless he could touch Jesus' wounds
himself. So in John, chapter 20, verse 27, the Bible says, then He said to Thomas, put
your finger here, see my hands, reach your hand out. I'm sorry. Reach out your hand and
put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. So after Thomas put out the challenge, Jesus
is like, ha ha, challenge accepted. So He's scarred just like us. He knows our pain because
He's felt it. And I'm here to tell you that He who made you can and will repair you. In
a second Corinthians, chapter five, verse 17, the Bible says, therefore, if anyone is
in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone. The new is here. Give your life
to Jesus and He'll give you the Holy Spirit. The old you will pass away. We are not reformed
or we are not rehabilitated. We are not reeducated when these things happen or when this happens.
What we are is recreated. And by being recreated, we start to heal. Now, some things take much
longer to heal than other things, but we do heal. Our perspective changes from the world
to the cross. We become a part of God's family and we have a new take on life. So join me
now in Revelation, chapter 21. So Revelation, chapter 21, verses three through four, three
through four, the Bible says, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, look,
God's dwelling place is now among the people and He will dwell with them. They will be
His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear
from their eye. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old
order of things has passed away. All those hurt, those aches and pains, they're all healed.
All those hurts, those aches and pains, they're all healed. Every single one. When we look
away from the world and we look to Jesus, we find what we need. He came into the world
humble. He rode a donkey into Jerusalem, humble. He took the cross for us, humble. And He'll
forever be humble. And we know this because in Hebrews chapter 13, verse eight, Hebrews
chapter 13, verse eight, the Bible says, Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever,
forever humble. And that, that is what we need to inspire to be as well. Humble. Luke
chapter 18, verses 18 through 30, the Bible tells us about Jesus speaking to a young rich
man. The man is asking, how do I inherit eternal life? He says, he's followed the commandments
throughout his life. Jesus tells him that even though he's done this, he's still lacking
something very important and goes on to tell him that what he needs to do is to sell all
of his belongings, give it all to the poor and then to follow him. He even told the man
that if he did this, he'd have treasures stored up in heaven. But the man was saddened. He's
basically defeated. You see, it's hard to give up power and prestige. It's hard to give
up proceed security. It's hard to give up what the world says is your identity. Yet
you still need to rebrand, rebrand from the world to Jesus. Here's the thing. Here's what
that man missed. Jesus isn't telling us to give up everything that we've been blessed
with. What he's telling us is we need to give up anything and everything in our lives that
has become more important than God. And to follow Jesus, you will need to give up something.
But what you give up here on earth, you'll be rewarded for in heaven. And that is eternal.
So humble yourself. You don't need the fancy stuff all the time. Stop being a trash panda.
Let go of those things that you really don't need. And if someone you know will benefit
from it, get it to them. If not, give it to a shelter or a goodwill. And along the way,
if it can point the way to Jesus, then you'll be passing along an extra blessing in the
process because you're pointing the way to God. In the process of trusting the Lord for
what you need, you'll find your scars are being filled in with his light. Even though
it may not feel like it now, you're not truly broken. What you are is changing into something
more beautiful. Trust the process. Trust Jesus.
Thank you for tuning in to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. If you'd like to know more
about our ministry, you can find us on Facebook at Be the Light Sanctuary or you can visit
our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org. Thank you so much for listening. We'll catch you
next time. God bless.