Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Hey. You know, I, just had a privilege to attend our, international convention for our larger Foursquare family. Came back from Colorado. And, you know, the thing is that I forget how cool the Mainland can be and Colorado in particular. I just said, no. I'll be fine. I just need a sweatshirt, and I'll be good to go. But, it wasn't that good sometimes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:22]:
But, but it was great to be there, with the family of God, people from all over the world. But, you know, every place has its own kind of a culture. Right? Everything has its own style at times. And sometimes you see that, at the convention. I I I'll see the brothers and sisters, sometimes the coming from Africa, and you can tell just by the the way they were dressed. You know, I mean traditional, kind of formal African wear. And then some of them, you see the real super skinny jeans, black t shirt bunch as well, the the kind of the new mod shirt. Right? So you see them all the different styles.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:59]:
But, you know, I've also noticed that just around the world, there's different kind of, laws. There's different things that govern us. I I, I was painfully aware of this when I landed in Singapore that there you guys probably know this, that chewing gum is banned in Singapore, upon penalty of caning. Right? And, and I don't know if you guys know, but I chew gum all the time, especially when I fly, especially, you know, this helps my, ears to to not pop and all those kind of things. But that was introduced in 1992, and it's still enforced and the fines can be pretty heavy. I don't know if you know this, but in Switzerland, in, after 10:00, you're not allowed to flush the toilet. This is not an archaic, kind of, off the book. I mean, it's still on the book but not enforced.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:52]:
It's still enforced depending on the building because some tenants report that, that they've been warned, right, about about this. It's a sound issue. It's a it's a sound disturbance thing. But in California, in our own kind of neck of the woods, right, it's just right across the ocean, in last year or two years ago, California banned skunk spray as a self defense tool. And, what they said is that, to be honest, it's a public, environmental nuisance concern. And so, you know, the thing is I I look at this as sometimes some of these laws seem kinda pointless or, do you really need a law for that? But but we're all governed at times depending on where you live and where your what your background, you know. We're covered by different kind of directives. We're covered by different kind of ideas.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:41]:
We're covered by different kinds of thoughts. But and we come into Christ that Jesus is one that says that we come under a new authority. We come under a new leadership structure. We come under a spiritual authority. And Jesus gave his disciples, commands that he called at times, his word, at times the father's will, at times it's called even a new commandment, which we'll be looking at tonight. You know, what we're gonna be reading this evening is found in John chapter 13. And if you're familiar, John 13 is a, it's it's the night of his crucifixion, hours away from it. And in that midst of kind of a compressed time that he has, Jesus wants to make sure that his disciples know the most weighty final instructions.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:35]:
He's he's told them that he's going to be leaving them, and it's in the midst of that that he says, don't let your hearts be troubled. He says, you believe in God, believe also in me. And he and and they were troubled. And and you and I, if we were in the same circumstance, we would be troubled as well. Why is that? Because this is not what they signed up for. When when they followed Jesus, they thought literally Jesus was gonna overthrow the Romans, somehow establish his kingdom, which will be a spiritual and physical kingdom. And now Jesus is saying to them, sorry guys, but I'm gonna check out. In fact, they're gonna kill me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:12]:
He didn't understand the whole thing, and so it disturbed them. And, you know, unfortunately, in the midst of those things that that when there's this confusion and fear and and and we don't understand Jesus everything you're saying, Jesus speaks to them and he gives them a new commandment. And we're gonna look at that, this evening. And it's, again, it's found in, 133435. And we're gonna read that out loud together. Would you be kind enough? Let's stand in reverence for God, reverence for His word. And And it says it like this. Let's read together, shall we? Ready? Begin.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:51]:
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. Now love one another can seem simple enough. A child can memorize it, but most of us know from experience that it doesn't mean that it's easy. And one of the things he says is that this is a new commandment. Right? And so we're gonna take a look at what does that mean when he says a new commandment. Because it's not that nobody has ever said it before.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:29]:
Moses said, some of the same words. He said in Deuteronomy six five that to love the Lord your God with with all your heart, with all your soul, all your strength. He says in in Leviticus 19, do not seek revenge or bear grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. He he said these words. These words have been said, but it's a new command. And sometimes, there's different reasons why it's new, but we need to follow the law to love because it's the greatest law that's there. So before you're seated, do me a favor. Just turn to your neighbor who says we can all learn to love better.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:10]:
And then you can have a seat. Now so it's not a it's not a suggestion, but he says, I don't give you a new suggestion. He says, I give you a new command. But you know the thing is that, why is it a a new command? Why and part of it is this is a mark of discipleship. Right? And and this isn't what he's talking about is not like you guys remember the old WWJD bracelets? Right? And what does that stand for? What would Jesus do? Right? And it and it was helpful. It was meant to kind of spur people on to love and good deeds, but I I know that sometimes it would be, when I remember in those days that that sometimes it would be like, well, what would Jesus do? Right? And you kind of do it, like, it's like, you know, half half heartedly. But it was almost like the the law to to tell you what was right, and you ought to do right. Right? But sometimes we didn't do it the right spirit.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:05]:
Right? It it it's not saying this isn't saying copy Jesus. How many of us that if you ever got a copy or an imitation of something, you would go like, wow, this is so valuable. Right? Normally, what do we think? If somebody says, I got you an imitation citizen watch, and I I gave it to you. Would you be happy? Right? I have, my kids were looking through the closet, and my daughter said, dad, what are you doing with a Rolex? I said, didn't you notice that it was with a z spelled? No. I was kidding. But, like, but it was. It was a it was a knockoff imitation that I bought for fun when I was in China, in Beijing. You know, that that Rolex that cost like $20 and, worked for about three months.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:54]:
But, it's not usually, it's something that seems to be less valuable. But he's not talking about a a poor imitation, but what he's talking about is a little bit more like what Thomas A Kempis said in his classic work, The Imitation of Christ. And you probably haven't read it. And I'll be honest, I haven't read it. I've read portions of it. And, but what is he talking about in imitation of Christ? It's it's not saying, you know, pretend to be Jesus. It's not saying just copy his behavior. It's really more along the lines of letting Christ transform us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:31]:
And that there might be certain practices that we do. There might be certain things that we do, spiritual disciplines that can help us. But when Jesus says a new command, it comes from the Greek word kainos. And and there's several different meanings. Right? It's in let me explain them, and you see them. It's in your notes. The first one is to bring into to to bring into existence for or being in existence for a relatively short time. So it's new, or they say this unused.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:00]:
Let's say the word unused. You guys have anything that you've ever bought brand new, still unused, still in the cellophane package, still in its, kind of a wrapping, still in the original box. It doesn't matter if you have it or not. Why? Because it's unused. You know, the other day, I was talking to some folks at church on Sunday, and and they were asking about jiu jitsu ministry and and all these kind of things. And and they were asking about, like, do we do self defense in that that in the jiu jitsu ministry? And I said, yeah. That's that's part of it. And then we we're talking about some of the things, and I said, for instance, do you have any pepper spray? Because a lot of times people have pepper spray, but they don't know how to do it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:47]:
And he says, yeah. I do. I have it. It's at home. Guess where? In the original package. So what are we gonna do? If we're in that case, in that situation where you actually needed to do it, what are you gonna say? Wait. Wait. Wait.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:00]:
Wait. Time out. Time out. Because I gotta open my package. You see, sometimes unused or unopened or or unembraced, it almost means the same thing as as not having. Right? And so sometimes it's new because something has been unused previously in the past. The other thing it says there is to being not previously present. So it's unknown or strange, or remarkable.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:30]:
In other words, you know, it's so different from my experience that it's difficult to conceive. When Jesus gives a new command, sometimes it's an unused situation. Sometimes it's the fact that it's so different from how we've lived. It's so different from how we think that sometimes we create an arm's distance to it. And then the other thing it says is that something that's recent in contrast to something that's old. Right? So it's just a new thing. Now, who is Jesus talking about to for this command? Who's who's the who's the directive of of as a disciple, as a follower of Jesus, who are we to love? And given the context of this verse, I think it's pretty clear that actually Jesus is talking about disciples, followers of Jesus, caring for one another, caring for the family of God. Love one another within the body of Christ.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:32]:
And why is that? Why do I say that? Because some of us will say this, but haven't we been taught that we're supposed to love everybody? Yeah, we are. We're supposed to love everyone. Jesus was asked once that he he was talking about this aspect about, haven't you heard love your neighbor, right, and hate your enemy? So we are called to actually love our enemies. He says, but I tell you that love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your father in heaven. But that can be challenging. Right? Loving how many of you guys have ever had a challenge to love your enemies? Right? And to even to pray for them depending except some of us we pray the prayer, Lord get them. Right? That's not really the kind of prayer that Jesus was talking about. But but in the midst of this, that yes, there are times that we're called to love our enemies.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:25]:
But when Jesus was asked, who's the neighbor? He did say, the point is not who's my neighbor? It's that, are you being neighborly? Right? That he tells the elaborate story of the good Samaritan. And the point is, it's not just because it goes from the other side of the tracks, that if we have love in our heart, if we have that spirit to be that good neighbor, then it doesn't matter who it is. There is an element of that, right, doesn't matter who it is. There is an there is an element of that. Right? There is an element of that. But I I like what d, d a Carson says. He's a theologian, professor. I like some I like a lot of his work.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:07]:
And he says this, It's not so much that Christians are to love the world less. You know when he's saying the focus is on the disciples, it's that they are loved to love they are to love one another more. Better put, he says, their love for each other ought to be a reflection of their new status and experience as the children of God, reflecting the mutual love of the father and the son and imitating the love that has been shown them. He says, The call to love the world is often the love of compassion, of patience, of forbearing. Right? Sharing your story, how you found Jesus. Right? That kind of a thing. That's that's often the love that's supposed to be to the world. But he says this or empathy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:55]:
He says, because we recognize all true Christians that they can never be more than mere beggars telling others where there is bread. That's what he says. Now, but the other part of it is we sense the context, right? If they've been nervous, if they are fearful, if they don't know what's happening, in the midst of that, Jesus is saying, be careful to love one another because love will be this kind of love that you're called to do will be a marker that all people will see that you're my followers. Right? And so he he goes on and he says that, you know, that I think that love, for many of us, it's a reasonable, understandable thing that we have, But sometimes we might find the power to do it absent. Right? That you might say that, yes, theoretically, I understand that we all ought to love everybody. Everybody needs love. You guys agree with that? You see, all of us agree with it, but sometimes we have a hard time doing it. And and because there's qualifiers.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:02]:
Right? Oh, it'd be easy to love this person if they didn't do this. Right? If they hadn't done that. Right? We we have these situations. And it's not that's just not unbelievers. Right? That's to believers as well. Right? Sometimes that happens in families. Right? Sometimes that happens in marriages. And and so we understand that this implies loving one another.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:24]:
It doesn't say explicitly, but I think it implies that it means that we also don't just love along the old ways. Right? Because sometimes there is an old way that many of us have had, the way that we love. Who do we love? The people who what? Love us, right? I mean, it is easy to love someone who loves you. It is not so easy to love someone who has wished you harm. Right? It's not so easy to love someone who's hurt you. It's not as easy to do these things. If you're walking down the street, somebody smiles and waves at you, what do you do? Well, hopefully you wave back. Right? Smile and wave back.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:04]:
Right? It's the, you know, it's the polite thing to do at the minimum. Right? But but sometimes we we can make a new friend. Right? Sometimes it's just nice to pass off a blessing. But what happens if that person is walking down the street and then you get one of these? You guys are what is what is the tendency? I don't know about you guys, but sometimes it's like, man, I go and get I wanna get your back. Right? I wanna I wanna do it, like, and just this much harder. Right? And that's the old way. And he's saying, I think some of the old ways. Hey, I love you this much.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:41]:
I love you if you perform. I love you, right? All these kinds of things. But I think Jesus is inviting us a new way that when His presence is manifested. Right? And and because he says this, it's not about how hard you have to prove your love for God by loving one another. How are we supposed to love? As Jesus has loved us. In other words, you're not called to love people the best love that you can. He's saying you're supposed to love with the love Jesus has given you. Does that make sense? Right? And sometimes, I don't know about you, but I need the presence of God in my life so that I'll do that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:24]:
You know, yesterday, I I came back last night, kinda late last night, and, it was a busy it's a busy weekend. You know, still had other things going on. Still had other things already scheduled. But on the way back, coming back from the convention, flying from Denver, when we were sitting in the the chair, I saw this gentleman, having a conversation. He talked about he had been to Israel. He he gone to The Holy Land, gone and, taken tours into Egypt. And and so I I just kinda guess that this guy might be part of had been at the convention. And, I end up sitting next to him on the plane, but I was just frantically trying to finish, to be honest, this message that we're giving tonight, yesterday, because I knew I had a short time today.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:11]:
And, and so I I I didn't really kinda engage in conversation because I needed to get certain things done. But when we landed, when I had already done a a lot of the stuff, right, I just kinda make mention. I said, hey, you know, I'm sorry I couldn't help overhearing, but that it sounds like you've been to, you know, The Holy Land. Are you a pastor by any chance? He goes, yes, I am. And then I said, oh, were you at the convention? And he said, oh, yeah. I was. I said, were you there? Right? And so we kinda go in and talk about people that we both know. Right? Talked about New Hope Oahu, Pastor Wayne, where we came out of.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:44]:
Talked about that he had been that there were these, kind of training practicums that, Pastor Wayne, our, my senior pastor that of the church that we came out of, I said I to be honest, I was there at the same time. You know, we had this thing. We just, talked about other people that we had known. And and that while we're talking and the plane is, you know, the plane has landed, we've stopped, that that you know, just how the the the aisles get filled. Right? And so everything's crowded. He's standing. I'm still seated, but we're having this conversation. And then all of a sudden, this this lady behind us, right behind him, to be honest, stands up and she says, instead of talking about the church so much, would you focus about, like, the line that's in front of you? And then all of a sudden, I I just said, hey, don't worry.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:34]:
Dad's not talking my ear off. And, I just assumed this was the daughter because, you know, like, how many of us have been in that place, you know, like, where my kids have been? I've resembled that that they're just kinda waiting for dad to finish this conversation in Costco. Right? It's like, dad, can we go? Right? That kind of a thing. I just assumed it was that. And then as she kept on kinda repeating that line, what do you guys you have we have to talk about the church. Just focus on what you're doing. And it's like, then when I realized, to be honest, when I realized that she wasn't his daughter, she was just a lady that didn't like what we were talking about. You know what my first reaction was? If you don't like it, you don't have to listen.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:20]:
Right? We're not talking to you. Anyway. Right? Because how many of us have ever heard conversations that you didn't appreciate? Right? Are you what do you do? Do you butt in and tell them I don't really agree with you? That's their private conversation. Yes. It's happening in a public space, but that's that's what it takes to live in a community. Right? In fact, yesterday, when I was on the the next leg coming home, I heard a conversation right behind me. I didn't agree. I didn't butt into it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:49]:
Right? So I was ready to kinda just, to be honest, power up, put the lady in her space. But you know, Ken, the retired guy, the pastor, he was so gracious. And he he literally said, excuse me, but, you know, there's so many people in front of us. None of us can move. I'm not sure what you want me to do. And she says, I just want you to focus that on the line and and and and not talk, and like, I have places to go. And and and so then he continued to be gracious, and he was like, would you like to go ahead of me? He he said and and she's no. No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:27]:
I don't wanna go ahead of you. And then his wife said the exact same thing. Would you would you like to go ahead of me? And and and she said, no. No. I'm not one of those. And it's like, the thing is that, you know, because I saw his graciousness, I just dialed down. Right? Because the thing is that there is a time and place to be honest, there's been a time and place where you have to stand strong and and don't let the world intimidate to control what you say, what you believe, what you think you can talk about, because this is what the world agrees. I think there's a time and place to do that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:05]:
And I probably would have done it if Ken wasn't so gracious. But because he was, you know what I did? It was easy for me to be gracious. Right? You see, when you have the presence of God in your life, it's like that. Things that you wouldn't normally be able to handle. Things that you would normally wanna just kinda let loose. You know, when I say that, I I I don't really I I say it in a nice way, but I say it in a straight way. Right? And and so I I've been in that kind of situation where I've I've been confronted before. And and so when the presence of god is in your life, then he says this, all you have to do is just pass on what you've been given.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:49]:
Right? See, to love like Jesus has loved us, it's saying the power is not with you. The power is with him. Right? And when his power is present in your life, you have a capacity to do it. Right? So how are we to love? How are we to love? It's more than words. Right? The first Corinthians tells us that that if all I do is is say nice words, that's that's like I'm a clong a a clinging symbol or a noisy gong. Right? It talks about the fact that if all I have is nice words, then he says, then it's empty. In fact, it says it like this, that before the same evening before, just a few moments before, it says, Jesus showed what he meant when he talked about love. I I think he says it not I think, but he says it like this in the same chapter in verse 13.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:52]:
He says, in verse sorry. In verse 12, he says, when he had finished washing his their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. And he asked them, do you understand what I have done for you? He asked them. He says, You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet. I've set for you an example. Let's say the word example. Example.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:23]:
That you should do as I have done for you. When Jesus first began to wash the disciples' feet, what was the reaction? The initial reaction was just kinda recoil. Right? It's like, this is like inappropriate. This is something that's wrong. Why is that? Because the the the role of washing, someone's feet was something that a servant or a child would do, and and, it's like walking around out in Waianae. It's dry and dusty. Right? How many of you guys know too that when you have animals and and they poop and it gets dry and hot and sunny, you know what also gets mixed in the dust? Yeah. All of that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:59]:
Right? So it's kind of a it was a filthy thing. And and and so when Jesus gets down to wash them, not just Peter, but all of them, saying, wait wait, this doesn't make sense. They recalled Jesus persisted. Right? He said, if I don't wash you, then what? And in that sense, I think it was a symbolic thing, right, of being cleansed. They had already been cleansed, it says, of the word that he had spoken before them. But how many of us know that sometimes you still need a fresh cleansing? You might be forgiven, but you still need a fresh cleansing. You still need a fresh renewal. And this is what he is doing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:36]:
And he says it like this. He says, It's because you ought to do as I have done for you. Right? It's not about being served, it's about serving. Right? Nothing is too great for you to do and nothing is too small for you to do. Right? Nothing is beneath you. You see, when He's telling the disciples, He says, I want you to learn how to love, not in a way of a position down to people, but would you lower yourself and be willing to serve people? And so this is the call. How do we love? I think one of those is to serve one another. And if you've been around long enough that you understand, like so you've probably heard some of the stories we tell about in Myanmar, and you see all the kids' pictures on the wall.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:30]:
And it's not all the kids. Right? It's it's a bunch it's a portion of the 700 or so kids that we have in our Esther Project program in in Myanmar. And and so often, we hear amazing stories of of Christian men and women, sometimes pastors, sometimes just people who love God, that would have taken children off the street into their home, in a home that might be smaller than this room, entire home that you could have a couple with their own family bring in like another eight, ten, 12 kids. And when you ask them, Why do you do it? When you can barely survive, when they can barely survive on their own, why do they do it? And so often the answer is, I think Jesus wants us to do it. Right? And so they want to love the ones at times, these children, Right? They want to be able to share the gospel. They want to be able to do that. You know, the thing is that that sometimes this this aspect of loving and sometimes loving people who who cannot give you anything in return It's it's such a vivid example of of the love of Christ. A number of years ago when we were doing ministry in China, we were doing working with underground churches and doing training in in that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:02]:
But but we would actually have two kind of, arms of our ministry when we were doing missions in China, and some of that was working with orphans and, in an orphanage of children with, a debilitating disease called brittle bone disease. It's I forget osteo something. I I forget what the, the technical name is, the medical name. But it was run by some friends, Keith and Cheryl. And we would often send teams, and they would go and they would help work with the kids, they'd be doing construction and all of these things. And Keith was a construction guy in, back in Ohio and had been a truck driver, had done a number of different things, but somehow, in their desire to serve Jesus, they felt called to go to China. And in that process, they met up with some folks who had this children that were part of an orphanage that were being mistreated. Because, in the the orphanages in China at that time, and I think to be honest, it's still the same, it is kind of like run like the Lord of the Flies.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:11]:
I mean, the strongest survive. It's it's it's not a pretty sight. And so when you have children, who have chronic medical conditions, they often literally do not live. And so he felt a compassion from Jesus that just said, we have to do something. They adopted a child, that was one I mean, she had she was not disabled, but two of them were. And brought them into their home. They had run into a wealthy businessman in China, wasn't a believer, but like a man of peace as it it says, when you go into a strange city, a man with influence, and if he welcomes you, makes a way, he says, then then partner with this person. Right? And so, he was able to get them a little compound with some old houses that which they turned into an orphanage and and turned into a kind of a recovery rehab room, built a therapy pool, all of these things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:18]:
And we did all those things along with them. But you know one of the things that Keith had said was that when he would go in and around Longfang, which is the city that we would go to, it's a small city in Chinese terms. It's only 2,000,000, but it's it's right outside Beijing. So, you know, comparatively I understand. But he said that people would literally ask him, Why do you take care of these children? We are Chinese and we don't even do it. And all he would say is, because I think Jesus wants to. And and so he would he would do that. And we had seen people come to Christ as a result.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:05]:
You know why? Because this kind of love is not natural. It's supernatural. It's not normal. It's you could say abnormal, but maybe we could say supernormal. Right? They were disposable children to the people around them. But to God, they were precious. So sometimes we serve one another. And whatever it means.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:32]:
Now, the thing is that, you know, we understand that when you serve someone sacrificially, when you serve someone in a way that, that costs you something, it's not to say that we enable people. Right? That we bail someone out and we keep bailing them out and then they just become like all of a sudden you have you can't survive because right? That's not what he's saying. He's not saying enable, but we come along and we serve one another. That's what he talks about. And the second thing I think we find in the scriptures is we bear one another's burdens. We bear one another's burdens. It says that, I think it's I have it there. It says okay.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:15]:
We do have it in Galatians six two. It says this. It says, carry each other's burdens. And in this way, what? You will fulfill the law of Christ. What does he say? I give you a new command. Love one another. And and Paul says, when you do this, you fulfill that command to love. How? You just bear one another's burdens.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:42]:
What does that mean? It it I mean, it it it could mean, you know, like what they do in grief share where people have have lost a loved one, and and they're stuck in that grief. And and the group comes together, and they they bear one another's burden. Sometimes it's hearing the same story. It's sometimes just processing the loss together. Sometimes it's just, I'm kinda saying that you're not alone. And and so we see that. We see that, right? Sometimes it's not that it's such a supernatural thing, in a sense of like, Oh, it's an amazing thing. I just sat and I listened.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:18]:
But you bore somebody else's burden. And sometimes it might be something like cooking and cleaning, you know, when we've seen people go through seasons that are difficult, that one of the first things that I'm so proud of this church is that, man, people rally around, Right? They bring food to the door. They'll they'll they'll ask, is there anything we can can I pick up the kids? Can I can I, drive them wherever they need to go? And sometimes it looks like something common, but, you know, like let's say it was like this. If if, however you feel about him, but if Elon Musk or or Prince Charles or King Charles of England or the new pope were to do, let's say, the cleaning in your house, cleaning is not a supernatural kind of activity, isn't it? It's just something that we all have to do. But what makes it so remarkable? It would be the person who's doing it and that they're doing it for you. And so sometimes we would expect family to do it. We would expect close friends to do it. But when the body of Christ revolves and comes alongside, sometimes you have to be careful if you are the recipient, if somebody wants to serve you like this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:46]:
I would just say this, Don't rob someone of their ability to want to love you with the love that Jesus has loved them. Because you rob them of the blessing, and you make it harder on yourself. And so, sometimes you just need to be willing to be loved. Can you do me a favor? Turn to your neighbor who says, You need to be willing to be loved. Right? Sometimes we keep people at an arm's distance by saying, it's okay. Oh, no. No. It's alright.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:18]:
No problem. No problem. Right? Sometimes you just add up. We all gotta humble out a little bit and just say, you know what? It would be a blessing. You know, like the food pantry thing. I know that there's families in our church that they would be blessed. They would it would be a benefit to them if they somehow receive food. But I know that some of them don't go.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:41]:
You know why? Because they're a little embarrassed. I understand. I I might be in the same situation. But you know what? We do this primarily first for the body of Christ. We do it for the church family first. Why? Because Jesus said, hey. Let's love our family. But if this is a blessing to you, would you make use of these things? Right? Because that's what it's for.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:10]:
We will serve our community. We we joyfully serve the community as well, but we also don't wanna ignore the people that's right around us. Right? And so this is part of it. So we serve one another. We bear one another's burdens. And then the last one is and this is not last and exhaustive, but but we practice forgiving love. Right? We also have to practice forgiving love. Last week, we talked about Peter who denied the Lord three times.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:43]:
And what Jesus comes up to him and forgives him, right? That who who Jesus Peter who thought he was unforgivable, Jesus forgives him, how many times? Three times. Right? He denied him three times. He forgave him three times. Now, and why why is it Jesus forgiven? Because it wasn't a big deal of what he did? Oh, it's like so we can, Oh, it was nothing which you did Peter. No, Jesus doesn't say that. He doesn't diminish what you did. He just, he did it precisely because it was a big thing, I think. Right? Sometimes he forgave because it was such a a big break.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:28]:
Sometimes we see big examples of forgiveness and it sounds amazing to us. And I just was reminded. I remember there was a family nine years ago out on the West Side that, a young boy got killed by a girl who'd been drinking and, struck the car behind and and ended up killing the the son. I don't know if some of you might remember. But, the parents, in the court time when she was being sentenced a few years later, said that they to her that we forgive you. Yeah. And we we want you to be accountable for your actions, but we want you to know that we hold no will ill will towards you, that we forgive you. And I remember reading this author, a well known Bible teacher, that she had seen something similar in the news in her town.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:32]:
And she thought, Oh my gosh, this is so crazy. How can people If I lost a child, and those of us with children, you can easily imagine how you would feel if you lost a child, to be able to forgive. And she said to God, she said, God, I I don't know how to do that. It's like, I don't that would be impossible for me to do. And then she said, in that moment, she felt the Lord say, The reason why you think it's impossible to do is because you think you're the parent in that story. You're the driver. In other words, what is he saying? I have forgiven you for crazy, amazing things. So would you just go with the forgiveness I give you? Would you give that to other people? I don't know about you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:32]:
I'm not forgiven for the little mistakes that I've made. I'm forgiven for my sin. I'm forgiven for my rebellion. I'm forgiven for my selfishness. I'm forgiven for all the selfishness. I'm forgiven for all the excesses and and and, to be honest, things that I should have been gone to jail for. Right? But Jesus forgave me, And all He's saying, is He saying, do you have to drop the courage and strength? No. He's saying, just give what you've been given.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:01]:
Let's read what it says, Ephesians four thirty two. Ready? Let's read. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Right? So what he's saying? He's saying, As I have loved you, so love one another. As I have forgiven you, so forgive one another. Now, I know for some people, they, I I heard the story and you might have heard a story like it where the couple and and to be honest, I I one somebody told me that this really happened to them, is that they had a couple that were coming in and they were fighting and, you know, just trying to work it out. When when they're gonna get divorced or whatever it is. And so, you know, the pastor started to talk to him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:50]:
He's like, you just have to love the way that you've been loved. And he says, that's too much, pastor. We can't do that. And he says, well, can you can you love with compassion? Can you love with a sense just serve one another? I I don't know if I can do that. It's like because there's so many wrongs that have happened in the past. He says, well, there's the other one that if you can't do those, then why don't you start with love your enemies. Right? And, just love love your spouse like like it was your enemy. Pray for them.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:19]:
And and and to be honest, you know, the reality is sometimes we find reasons why we think we get an immunity, we get a pass why we don't love. Right? There's certain people in our lives. We would love them if, right, we would love them if they showed a better attitude. We would love them better attitude. We would love them if that they were repentant for what they've done. We would love them if but that's not what it says. Yeah. Jesus says, forgive as you've been forgiven.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:52]:
How do you do that? How do you do that? If you've ever felt overwhelmed how to love somebody, how to forgive somebody, how to bear somebody's burden, how to be compassionate, how to serve someone. I think how you do it is like what we would say if anybody wanted to start an exercise program. Right? It's the same thing. Right? You know, when, I've seen people and they just first go back to the gym, and you know what my first words are? Take it easy. Take it easy. Don't don't knock yourself out because just doing if you haven't exercised in a long time, what? Just push ups will make you sore. Right? Or if you've been running, sometimes I see runners, and I'm not a real runner, not like Aaron, like, you know, the drummer. Right? Like, he's a marathon he's like a Boston Marathon Runner.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:47]:
He's not just a runner. Right? He's like a he's a full runner. And I'm sure Aaron has seen many times that people says, Aaron, how do you how do you start to run? And and maybe they come in with, like, a, you know, a $200 shoes, and they they have the nice running clothes, but they when they start running, they run all out for a few blocks until they then they run out of breath. Right? And what do you tell people like that? The first thing is take it easy. Slow down. Right? Why? Because the whole point is just keep on moving. Do it for you. Don't turn to your neighbor and just say, keep on moving.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:21]:
What does that mean? In other words, don't stop. If you wanna know how to love like that, don't go so hard that you run so hard that you you're out of breath and you can't do it. Like, my friend used to do when I used to run I used to run. I don't really run anymore. But when I used to run, my friend said this. He said, if you cannot talk while we're running, you're running too fast. I said, we might as well start walking then. So, but, but here's the reason.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:52]:
Because when you're when you run too fast, you're in an anaerobic state. In other words, you're not operating, out of an oxygenated and aerobic state, you're running in an anaerobic state. So it's like, of course, you run out of energy. Of course, you run out of breath. Of course, you're running too fast. But if you instead slow it down, just keep moving, and then what do you do? Well, the next time you can maybe try and pick up the pace a little bit. Right? Maybe you can extend the amount that you're going. Maybe you can and you just do it a little bit further, then all of a sudden what you'll find is that your capacities will increase over time.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:31]:
Right? It doesn't matter what you've done. It works the same swimming. It doesn't matter what the thing that you're thinking of. But in other words, that when you sometimes when we try to love people who maybe have hurt us, maybe at times it's not so easy to love. Sometimes, you just wanna do everything and you can't do it, and then you say, I'm never gonna do that again. Why? Because your output overmatched your input. But, you see, if you slow it down and we give what Jesus gives us, right, how do I forgive? Just what I've been forgiven. Just just remembering how much Jesus has forgiven me, saying.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:18]:
How do I serve somebody? How I've been served, but how the Lord served me, that's how I can serve someone else. How how compassionate someone has been to bear my burden in the midst of it, he says that's all I'm asked to do. Then all of a sudden, then I think that we're not just running on our strength, we're running on his strength. Right? We're not just loving in our strength, we're loving with His strength. And so how do we do that? You gotta keep yourselves in the love of God. You gotta keep yourselves in the love of God. If you're not standing in the love of God, if you're standing in the religious spirit, you're standing in a sense of I do things right, I'm a man of character, then you know what? Those things are those things bad? No. They're not bad to be a man of character.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:10]:
Not but the thing is, you're doing it in your strength, right? You're doing it because of how good you are. But that's not what he's saying. He's saying, Give what you've been given. I love what Jude one twenty says. Shall we read that together? This is what he says. Ready? Let's read. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. You can only give what you've received.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:50]:
And if you have never received, then you'll never be able to give. The only thing I can pour out of this cup is what? What was poured in the cup. Right? If my cup is empty, I have nothing to give. How full is your cup? How much forgiveness have you received? How have you been served? Right? How has someone buried your burden? You know, one of the privileges I had when I was on the trip was, one of my really good friends moved to Denver A Few Months ago. And, Christopher I have a picture. Some of you might remember Christopher. He'd been a part of our church for over ten years. It's part of my small group.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:49]:
If you've if you interacted with us first by going to the website, seeing our web page or, you know, seeing our our website, then you can thank Christopher for that. If you received a mailer at Easter or watched a YouTube kind of a commercial, I mean, you can thank it's it's really because of this guy. He still does that kind of stuff for us and, you know, but Christopher is a is an interesting guy. He kind of has a prophetic kind of a gifting. And when I say that, I don't mean a person who can tell the future, but what I mean is he can speak the truth even when it's hard. Right? And he'll do it with a sense of conviction. And he's just been a great grad and a great friend and a great partner in the ministry. And so we're sad that that he God called him to the mainland, you know, during the pandemic and needed to have work and we understand how all that works.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:51]:
But when he was still in Hawaii, a few years ago, we were talking and I just can't remember how the subject came out and I think we were talking about what's something that, you know, is true about you that you couldn't tell just by looking at you? And and I think we were talking about something like that, and, and he said, I donated a kidney to to somebody once. And I go, wait. What? Because, yeah, I I gave away my kidney. I only have one kidney. I said, are you serious? And and he said, yeah. Yeah. And I said, was it like a your family member? He goes, no. Like one of your, like, your best friends? And he said, no.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:35]:
Not really. It was just a guy at church. And he told me the story. He told me the story of this this guy, Pierre, that had come to Christ a few years prior, had been a tremendous athlete, but and you couldn't tell by looking at him. And when he was four years old, he he came out this real rare form of kidney cancer and lost one kidney at four years old. But he was a kind of outstanding athlete. Like, he won awards that can, guys like, Lattner and and some other, like, big name basketball players this that they won while he was they won while they were in college. But when he was in college, when he was kind of getting ready to try to train to go to the next level, he lost his other kidney.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:26]:
And so he had been on dialysis, and obviously in that point, his whole aspiring career went down the tubes. Then a few layers after that, he came to Jesus. And they were just at the end of service and praying for this guy Pierre because they were praying for a miracle because of his his situation. And dialysis was hard, and he was just trusting that God you might have something more. And so Christopher just said, I'll give you my kidney. And I don't know if anybody can imagine being in that situation, you kind of wonder, it's like, what's the easy thing to say? But it's not that easy, right? And it wasn't. He had to get tested, right? And you know, if you're not giving to a, family member, the odds that you will match can be like one in a hundred thousand, you know, or higher, right? And and the thing is, he was an exact match for this guy. And so a few months later, he's sitting on the Operating table, going on, being wheeled in, and he gives a kidney, and the guy recovers and gets better.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:54]:
The thing I forgot to tell was he had already, Pierre had already received a kidney transplant in the past, and it failed. But twenty eight years later, he's still on the cover of, Kidney Foundation magazine telling this story. I remembered this just kinda as we were hanging out yesterday, or I'm sorry, the day before. And they just talked about it. They said, you remember that thing? He goes, yeah. Of course. Right? I said, What made you do that, really? What made you do that? And he just said, You know how much Jesus has done for me? How much Jesus has done for me? I just said, God, whatever you want to do, how much you've forgiven me, how much grace you've had in my life, how kind and how good you've been to me, would you give me me the capacity to be a vehicle for that? And you know what it turned out? If you gave a kid. Today, Pierre, not just still happily married, he has several children, that they're doing well, none of that would have been possible apart from my friend Christopher who didn't say, I'm gonna love like the world says, Hey, I'll pray for you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:28]:
Now I don't wanna belittle that in the sense that, say, you know, we shouldn't pray for people, and of course we ought to. But he was convinced it needed something more. Because love is not a feeling. Love is an action. Right? Love is a verb. And so, I think He served. I think He he bore His burden. He might not have forgiven Him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:56]:
He didn't have anything to forgive, But He responded with that call to action. Because this kind of love is radical at times, costly at times. And to be honest, in our church family, I've seen people take people off the street in their home. In our church, I've seen people give a vehicle away for a family that's in need. Right? In our church, I've seen people make a way for people to have a career track because they were stuck in life. In our church, I've seen people come along and care for kids because someone was sick. And You know what? You guys have been amazing. But I just say this, that like Paul said to the Thessalonians church, As much as you've been, can we still excel more? What does that mean? Try harder? No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:56]:
Realize the depth of God's grace. Stand in it. Receive it. And you know what you'll find? It'll be easier to love. It'll be easier to extend grace. Why? Because you know what it's like to receive. Does that make sense? Jesus didn't say be right. Jesus didn't say be religious.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:24]:
Jesus said love the way I have loved you. So I am just going to ask you guys this before we close in prayer. Who do you need to love more like Christ this week? Some of you might go home to them. Some of you might have them in your small group. Some of you might see that person, you know, and you go to the other side of the room, right? Is there somebody that God is calling you? You know what? I want you to love love this week. Is there some place where you've withheld love because maybe you've been hurt? Right? Is there a place where you've withheld love because the person hasn't admitted their fault in the whole thing? There's an appropriate reaction for that. The Bible calls that repent. Change your heart.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:26]:
Change your attitude. Change your direction. And how can you more actively love today? How can you more actively love? Is it by knowing how much more you're loved? By keeping yourself in the love of God? Because there's always more than words. Amen? Let's bow our heads, and we'll pray. Lord Jesus, I thank You that when You call us to love, there's never a time that we love more than You. Lord, You've always gone first. You've been the first to forgive. You've been the first to go to the cross.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:17]:
Lord, You're the first to resurrect. Lord, you're the first one that said that when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And Lord, that we experience grace and mercy at the foot of the cross, Lord, at the throne of grace. And some of you, if you've been dry spiritually, and God seems distant from you, have you received His forgiveness? Have you sought his presence? See, sometimes it starts by just keeping yourself in the love of God first. When he says love doesn't keep score, love is patient, love is kind, it's filled with with grace and mercy. It's it's yes, it's there's truth in it, but But He says that kind of love never fails. So when Jesus said the three things that remain, faith, hope, and love, that's why He says the greatest of these is love. Father, would You speak to us today? And if You're in a place where, maybe where I need to be is, I just need to avail myself to Him, Lord, I know I can love more.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:49]:
If you're in that place that there's a challenge that you sense God loving asking you to love, we're not asking you to run the marathon figuratively. Right? We're just asking you to take a step. Take a point of action. Maybe there's someone you can forgive today. Maybe there's someone you can encourage today. Maybe there's someone you've been withholding love from today that you just take a step. If You don't know if You have that power, would You do me a favor, Lord? Would You just extend your hands out to God? And Father, we extend our hands because we just say this: Lord, we know we are like the cup. The only way we have something to pour out is if you pour something in first.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:34]:
God, would you show me how much you love me? God, would you show me how much you've forgiven me? God, would you show me how much you've served me? God, would you show me how much you've borne my burdens? Because I'm thankful that you're not asking me to do something that I've never seen, that I've never received. But You're saying, God, would You show me how much You've done? That I might have the power to do it. Lord, not my will, not my way, but Yours be done. God, and I'm willing to be part of that process. In Jesus' name, we pray, Lord. Spirit of God, would you just empower my friends? Lord, enable my friends. Open our eyes, God, that we might see who we would love. Lord, for some of us, it's going to be when we go home.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:00:32]:
Lord, for some of us, it's going to be a person at work. Father, for some of us, it's going to be that person that's our neighbor. But, Lord, would you just quicken our heart? Yes. Because we just wanna love like you love. In Jesus' name we pray. God's people say, amen? Amen. Hey. Thanks, guys.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:00:56]:
God bless you. Have a great rest of the weekend.