About 100 years ago, scientists ran an unusual
experiment. They gathered participants for this
study and had them wear special goggles that
flipped their vision upside down. Maybe in high
school you wore drunk goggles a couple weeks
before prom because the police wanted to teach
you what it was like to drive impaired. This
was kind of like that. They put these upside
down goggles on these people. And so when they
first put them on, as you can imagine, everything
was disorienting. When they walked, it was crazy.
When they tried to pick up a fork to eat food,
they couldn't quite find their mouth with the
fork if they found the fork. It was all very
disorienting. Walking across the room felt impossible.
And the reason is, is because the brain couldn't
process what it was seeing and how it was seeing
it. But something strange happened after a few
days of these participants wearing the goggles.
You could probably imagine their brains adapted.
And so after a few days, they eventually learned
how to walk. They learned how to eat and function
normally. I even saw some pictures and videos
of these participants learning how to ride a
bike with these goggles on. And some of you are
probably thinking, I can't ride a bike without
goggles on, much less with my vision impaired.
But they learned their brains adapted to this
new way of seeing things with their vision upside
down. See, when they finally removed the goggles,
though, something else surprising happened. The
real world, the world that was normal, the world
that was natural, that was real, felt upside
down because their brains had adapted to this
new way of seeing things. And we know that sometimes
when we spend so long adapting, to a certain
way of things. We spend so long in one set of
circumstances. We spend so long in one place
and one time and one setting and one circumstance.
And what happens in our life is we become adapted
to the wrong orientation. We become adapted to
what is upside down. In a lot of ways, that's
what happens spiritually. We live in a world
that trains us to value certain things. The world
around us tells us that status matters. It tells
us that recognition matters, that comfort matters,
that success matters, that security matters.
And that's what's normal. That's what's real.
And so we have adapted our world, our view of
our world to that. And after living in that system
long enough, it feels normal. But when we listen
carefully to Jesus, when we watch the way Jesus
lived, when we listen to how he taught, we see
that Jesus teaches something surprising. And
that is that the values of his kingdom are completely
different than this world. They're so different
that they almost feel upside down. They feel
unnatural. They can feel kind of disorienting.
Maybe that's why when someone becomes a Christian,
when they start following Jesus, they feel like
their life is kind of upside down, like things
aren't as they're supposed to be. And they wonder,
why am I struggling? Why do I not have the status?
Why do I not feel as secure? And it's because
the way of Jesus is not normal. It is unnatural.
It is upside down. See, last week we talked about
the costly way of following Jesus. You know,
Jesus calls his followers to deny themselves.
He calls them to take up their cross, to give
up the securities of this life. He tells us that
following him isn't casual. It's not something
that's going to be convenient. It's not going
to be something that is secure. It's not going
to be safe. It's going to cost us. And later
in that same chapter, we see some people, they
want to follow Jesus, but they only want to follow
him if it doesn't disrupt their priorities. If
you were here last week, you remember there was
the man that wanted to go bury his father. He
wanted to go settle things, right? And then you
had the one who he wanted to go home and tell
everybody goodbye. And you had these different
examples of people that wanted their way first
and then they would follow the way of Jesus.
But Jesus says, none of that can come before
me. You have to follow me first. Your priority
has to first be the kingdom of God. It cannot
be second. It cannot be third. It cannot be first
and a half. It has to be first. As Ricky Bobby
would say, if it's not first, it is last. Following
Jesus has to be. First, Jesus makes it clear
that discipleship, being an apprentice of Jesus,
requires total commitment. It requires everything
in us. It requires everything about us. It requires
all of our time. It requires all of our energy.
It requires all of our focus. It requires every
dollar we have, every house we have, every mile
on our car. Being an apprentice, a disciple of
Jesus requires all of us. And I think that should
be pretty easy to give considering he gave all
of himself. But it raises a natural question
for us. What does that life actually look like?
What does the life of a disciple actually look
like? Because we live in a world where it is
really hard to consider the idea of giving up
security, right? We live in a world that it makes
it really hard to give up the idea of having
this sound future. It makes it hard to not want
the success, to not want the status, to not want
the things that we have. But what Jesus calls
us to is to say, all that I have, Lord, is yours.
And everything that I am, Lord, is yours. But
what does that look like? Well, if we truly follow
Jesus, even when it costs us, it should shape
the way we live. In Luke chapter 10, we start
to see the answer of what that looks like. And
what we see is that life in the kingdom of God,
it operates by a completely different set of
values. It is not operating on the same values
of this world. It's funny, this morning we were
talking, I was talking with Claudia about the
difference between Apple and Android. When you
get an iPhone, it is a lot different than an
Android. Your iPhone does not operate on the
same operating system as an Android and vice
versa. And that's what it's like when you live
in the kingdom of God, you are operating on an
entirely new system. So let's look at Luke chapter
10 together, starting in verses 25, and we'll
read through 37 together. If it's underlined,
I'd like for you to read it with me if you feel
comfortable doing so. And behold, a lawyer stood
up to put him to the test, him being Jesus, saying,
Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
He said to him, What is written in the law? How
do you read it? And he answered, You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your strength and
with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.
And he said to him, You have answered correctly.
Do this and you will live. But he, desiring to
justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my
neighbor? And Jesus replied, A man was going
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among
robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed,
leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest
was going down that road, and when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side. So likewise a
Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan,
as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when
he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him
and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.
Then he set him on his own animal and brought
him to an inn and took care of him. And the next
day he took out two denarii and gave them to
the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him, and
whatever more you spend, I will repay you when
I come back. Which of these three do you think
proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among
the robbers? He said, The one who showed him
mercy. And Jesus said to him, You go and do likewise.
You see, the story begins with a lawyer asking
Jesus a question about eternal life. And he was
trying to trap Jesus. He wanted to get Jesus
in trouble. And so he asked him, what do I have
to do? What does it take to have eternal life?
Eventually, the conversation turns to the command
to love your neighbor, which caused the lawyer
to ask, well, who is my neighbor? Because I live
next door to some people that I don't know that
I like. too much. I live next door to some people
that play their music a little too loud. I live
next door to some people that make my house smell
bad because they like to smoke weed all night.
I live next door to some people that park in
my grass and tear up my lawn. I live next door
to some people that don't have the same religious
beliefs as I do, that don't see the world the
same way that I do, that don't love my country
the same way that I do, that don't believe the
same things that I do. So Lord, who is my neighbor?
In other words, Where do the boundaries of my
responsibility end? Who do I have to love? Who
do I have to show kindness to and show compassion
to? And Jesus answers with this story. He says
there was a man, he was traveling from Jerusalem
to Jericho, and on his journey, he was attacked,
he was robbed, he was left for dead. And as he's
lying there in his probably a pool of blood,
beat up, almost dead, a priest walks on by. A
Levite walks on by. And what Jesus is saying
there is these religious men, these followers
of God, they walk on by. Both people who should
know the law. Both people who should love their
neighbor. But they pass by on the other side
of the road. And then Jesus introduces the most
unlikely hero imaginable in this story, a Samaritan.
Somebody that... would not have been a friend
of this Jewish man. Somebody that doesn't follow
the way of God as the Jews follow the way of
God. This is somebody that the Jews would look
at as a villain in every sense of the word. But
guess what the villain does? He stops. He is
the one who stops. This man who is seen as religiously
corrupt and socially despised is the one who
stops. Let's read about the Samaritan again.
Do you notice what happens? This Samaritan sees
the man, and he doesn't just see the man, but
he feels compassion. for this man. He sees him,
and unlike those who pass by before, he doesn't
just walk on by. He walks toward him. He goes
to this man in distress. He sacrifices his time.
He sacrifices his resources. He gives up his
comfort, all for a total stranger. This is not
convenient. This isn't assumed kindness. This
is costly and unexpected love. Because the kingdom
of God turns expectations upside down. The people
who should have helped didn't. And the person
that nobody expected, the person that nobody
would have given the credit for, he stops and
becomes the example of loving my neighbor. And
then Jesus asks a very powerful question. Which
of these proved? to be a neighbor. Which of these?
Was it the priest? Was it the Levite? Was it
these religious men who knew the way, that knew
the law, that knew what the commands were, that
are the ones who are supposed to follow and worship
and serve God? No. And the lawyer has to answer
this question. He has to be the one to say, it
was the one who showed him mercy. It's funny,
he couldn't even bring himself to say it was
the Samaritan. Can I give you a really controversial
way to put this? This would be like the Republican
having to say it was the Democrat. And vice versa.
This is like the Democrat saying it was the Republican.
Do you know what I mean by that? This shouldn't
be controversial. It means the person I disagree
with, the person that I despise, the person that
I'm on the other side of the aisle with, they're
the one who did the good thing. Because truth
be told, people on every side of every aisle
can do the good thing. And so what Jesus says
is which one of these proved to be the neighbor?
And the man couldn't even bring himself to say
the Samaritan. He just says the one who showed
him mercy. And what Jesus says then is go and
do likewise. In other words, forget what side
you are on. Forget who you like. Forget who you
dislike. And just love people. Just show mercy.
Just do good. Just love your neighbor. even when
you disagree with them. And immediately after
the Good Samaritan story, Luke records another
moment that shows how different Jesus' values
are. I want us to look at Luke chapter 10, verses
38 through 42. Now as they went on their way,
Jesus entered a village, and a woman named Martha
welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister
called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened
to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with
much serving. And she went up to him and she
said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has
left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help
me. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha,
you are anxious and troubled about many things,
but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the
good portion, which will not be taken away from
her. Martha is busy serving while Mary is just
sitting around listening to Jesus' teachings.
How dare Mary? Martha's working hard to care
for Jesus to make sure that him and his guests,
that they have what they need. Mary, however,
she's just sitting at Jesus' feet listening to
his teachings. Martha becomes frustrated. She
asks Jesus to tell Mary to help. But Jesus gently
corrects her. Martha, Martha. And he says, Mary
has chosen the good portion. You see, the world
celebrates busyness. The world celebrates productivity,
sometimes even in ministry. It's a, what are
you doing? What have you done for me lately?
What have you done to show that you're doing
what you're supposed to be doing? What kind of
hours are you putting in at work? What kind of
accomplishments have you made? What kind of promotions
have you got? Are you doing enough? And the world
celebrates that. It encourages that. But what
Jesus reminds us is, is that the most important
thing is being with him. In the kingdom of God,
relationship with Christ matters more than impressive
activity. And that is not to say that service
is bad. That is not to say that we just sit around
listening to sermons all day. That is not to
say that we just sit at home and we just contemplate
and we just think about what Jesus wants us to
know. That's not what he's saying. But what he's
saying is do not put productivity over relationship
with Jesus. Service is good. But the relationship
with Jesus has to be our anchor. And then later
in Luke 13, we see Jesus heal a woman who she's
been suffering for 18 years. And a problem that
we've seen before pops up again. Do you know
what the problem is? Jesus healed this woman.
But the problem isn't that he healed her, although
I'm sure the religious leaders didn't like that.
The problem is that Jesus healed her on the Sabbath.
Again, Jesus is going against the religious tradition.
He's going against the grain. He's not following
their ordinances for what you do and don't do
on the Sabbath. And so the religious leaders,
they're again more concerned about rule breaking
than they are about the well -being of this woman
who's been suffering. And Jesus exposes the problem.
I want you to look at what Jesus says in Luke
chapter 13, verses 15 through 16. Then the Lord
answered him, you hypocrites. Let's read that
one again. Then the Lord answered him, you hypocrites.
Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his
ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it
away to water it? And ought not this woman, a
daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for 18
years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath
day? They show compassion to their animals on
the Sabbath. They're willing to make sure that
their animals don't go hungry or that they don't
go thirsty. They're willing to make sure that
their animals have what they need. But heaven
forbid the Son of God heal a woman of her infirmities
on the Sabbath. We care so much about these certain
things. But what Jesus says is that in the kingdom
of God, we value caring for people. over honoring
man's systems. Can you think of some people that
need to be cared for? That because of the priorities
we have set, they go uncared for. Because of
the things that we've convinced ourselves are
our priorities, these people go uncared for.
There's people in our community that need...
care, that need love, that need compassion, that
need to be showed mercy. There are people in
this room that need that, but we are so concerned
with what we've got going on or what we think
is important that we just leave them be to continue
to suffer because that's not the priority right
now. I think I've told you the story. I was driving
the kids to school one day and I was driving
back and I thought I had enough gas to make it
to Ingalls to get gas because, you know, the
fuel points, you got to use those, right? So
I thought if I can make it to Ingalls, gas will
be so much cheaper. So I'm driving down the road
and guess what happens on the highway? This dum
-dum runs out of gas. So I get out and of course
I don't have a gas can. So I get out, I go to
the gas station. Long story short, a guy helps
me. I don't know the guy from Adam. He just offers
to help me. He goes home, gets his gas can, comes
back. I mean, I paid for the gas. I did my part,
right? But he lets me use his gas can. He drives
me back to my truck. And while we're talking,
I was like, man, I just really appreciate it.
Most people wouldn't stop and help somebody like
me. And I was like, honestly, I wouldn't have
stopped. And he said, you know, I'm just a real
believer that you can never be too busy to help
people. Come to find out, this man is a preacher
here in town. So if you're wondering about a
church to go to, that might be your guy. I'm
not telling you his name or where he's a preacher.
But I thought that was a really good point because
guess what? He had something to get to. He had
a meeting to get to, and he was late to that
meeting because he needed to help me because
you can never be too busy to help people. You
can't. In the kingdom of God, We care more about
people than we do honoring our systems. And then
in Luke 14, we see Jesus. He's attending this
dinner where something catches his attention.
He notices the way that people are being seated
at a feast. Let's read Luke 14 verses 7 through
11 together. Now he told a parable to those who
were invited. When he noticed how they chose
the places of honor, saying to them, When you
are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do
not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone
more distinguished than you be invited by him.
And he who invited you both will come and say
to you, Give your place to this person. and then
you will begin with shame to take the lowest
place. But when you are invited, go and sit in
the lowest place, so that when your host comes,
he may say to you, Friend, move up higher. Then
you will be honored in the presence of all who
sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts
himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself
will be exalted. Jesus tells them, Instead of
trying to sit in the most honorable place, choose
the lowest place. Instead of trying to make yourself
feel like you are better than, put yourself in
the place of the least. Why? Because in God's
kingdom, the path upward starts downward. You
have to lower yourself. We used to sing this
song at camp all the time. Humble yourself in
the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up.
But we live in a society that says you need to
be the best. It was funny, on the first day of
Easton's T -ball practice, he walked up to his
coach. He said, hi, my name's Easton, and I'm
the best baseball player ever. If I was the coach,
you'd be batting ninth. We tell ourselves we've
got to be the best. We tell ourselves we've got
to have the most. We've got to have the nicest.
We've got to look the best. We've got to sound
the best. We've got to feel like we are the highest.
We've got to be in positions of acclaim. We've
got to be notable. We've got to have all of this
status. We tell ourselves this and that's what
the world tells us. That is what Satan has been
telling us from the beginning. The first lie
he told was, if you eat this, you'll be like
God. In other words, if you do this, you can
be as high as the creator of the universe. And
we tell ourselves that, and that is a lie that
leads to destruction. When you sit up high, you
will fall. But if you lower yourself, you will
be exalted. The kingdom of God starts downward.
Those who exalt themselves will be humbled. And
those who humble themselves, they'll be exalted.
The world tells us to climb higher. It tells
us to chase. It tells us to go after. It tells
us to try to achieve. And I'm not saying achievement
is bad. I'm just saying it cannot be your measuring
stick. The promotions, whatever. The bank account,
whatever. The status, whatever. It does not matter.
You have to be humble. Then Jesus gives another
surprising command in Luke 14, verses 12 through
14. He also said to the man who had invited him,
when you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite
your friends or your brothers or your relatives
or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you
in return and you be repaid. But when you give
a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame,
the blind, and you will be blessed because they
cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the
resurrection of the just. Don't invite your friends.
Don't invite your relatives. Don't invite the
rich. Don't invite the powerful. Don't invite
the people that are like you, the people that
are in your same social status. Don't invite
those people. Invite the poor, the hurt, the
needy. You know, I referred, I told you that
the gospel of Luke is sometimes referred to as
the social justice gospel. And I also said that
that shouldn't be a controversial phrase. It's
just about being just to those who need it. This
is it. It's this upside down way of viewing life.
It's inviting the needy to the table. And do
you know why all of this matters? Because this
is what Jesus has done. I mean, this is the gospel.
If I could sum it up, the kingdom of God practices
unfair generosity, and that's underlined. Will
you say that with me? The kingdom of God practices
unfair generosity. Did we deserve the generosity
of Jesus to give his life for us? No. Did we
deserve... the unfair generosity of Jesus to
come down from heaven to live and squalor among
sinful men like us? No. Do we deserve the grace,
the mercy, the compassion, the forgiveness that
Jesus offers us? No. It is unfair. fair generosity.
And that's what the kingdom of God is. It is
this upside down kingdom. It does not care about
status. It does not care about power. It does
not care about security. It does not care about
what the world tells us matters. It only cares
about loving those who need love the most. And
guess what? We need love more than anybody. We
need forgiveness more than anybody because we
are filthy rags. We are broken people. We. are
the poor. We're the needy. We're the broken.
We're the ones who need this unfair generosity
of Jesus. You see, when you step back and you
look at Luke 10 through 14, you start to see
a pattern of this upside down kingdom. Or as
people would say about a place that I'm from
in Mississippi, and maybe they say it about this
hillbilly mountain country, it's backwards. It's
a... It's stuck in a time that doesn't exist
anymore. You know, we talk about the good old
days where everybody cared for their neighbor
and where everybody loved everybody and everybody
took care of everybody. I remember hearing stories
about the great blizzard of 93. I love hearing
these stories. And I was like, man, I bet there
was a lot of people that went without and that
died and, you know, had a lot of issues. And
someone was telling me, no, this community stepped
up. And people were taking their tractors around
town to make sure people had firewood and to
make sure people had what they need and to get
people to safety. And it made me think about
after Hurricane Katrina when my entire hometown
was decimated and people from all over the country
came to help our hometown, to help all of these
people that didn't deserve their help, that didn't
know them from Adam, to help these people that
had just been, their community was destroyed.
They did not have to help them, but they did
because that's what it means to help your neighbor,
to love your neighbor. And that's what the kingdom
of God is. It's this backwards. It's this stuck
in a time that doesn't exist anymore, period.
See, the world values status, but Jesus values
humility. The world protects its time and its
comfort, but Jesus calls us to a sacrificial
love. The world seeks recognition, but Jesus,
he honors and recognizes quiet service. The world
gives when it benefits us, but Jesus calls us
to give when it costs us. And we have to realize
something very important. The reason following
Jesus is costly, the reason it is hard, the reason
it's not easy, the reason it is something that
Jesus says is a narrow, way. The reason following
Jesus is costly is because his kingdom operates
by completely different values than this world.
It's on a different operating system. It's an
upside down worldview. You see, when Christ's
followers operate like this, it disrupts the
way of the world. This is why the world doesn't
like it because it changes everything and it
messes up their flow. It messes up their system.
When Christ's followers operate like this, it
disrupts everything that the world has going.
I often refer to how the early church in the
book of Acts, they were able to completely flip
Rome on its head, not because they got in positions
of power, but because they lived a life that
was so humble, was so meager that the world looked
at them and said, how are they so happy when
everything around them stinks? How are they able
to have joy when they are literally being hunted
and murdered? Everything around them says your
life is not safe and it is not fair. They were
able to change an entire nation, a powerful dynasty,
because they simply lived the Jesus way. And
I ask you, if we lived like the Good Samaritan,
if we invited people to our feasts like Jesus
tells us to, if we would sit in the places...
of lowliness instead of trying to find places
of honor, if we would heal and take care of people
when it... cost us or when it disrupted our systems,
if we would live like Jesus, if we would live
a life that says everything I have, Lord, is
yours. It is not mine. Everything that I am is
yours, Lord. I am not my own. I live in a way
that is completely different than this world.
I live the upside down way of Jesus. If we lived
like that, if this church lived like that, could
we change the world? Yes. Let me ask that again.
If we live like that, could we change the world?
So why don't we? Why? Why are we content to just
sit here? And we have a personal Jesus and we
have the Jesus that helps us, but not the Jesus
that compels us to go and do. I read a quote
the other day, or I heard it in a sermon. It
said, we as a church, we've gotten so content
with the come and see that we forget about the
go and do. Jesus is calling us to go live a life
that looks different, that looks different from
this world, that looks like something that when
people see us, they say there's something wrong
with that guy. Or better yet, they say, what
happened? Where'd Wyatt go? I don't recognize
that guy. Where'd Curtis go? I don't recognize
that guy. Where'd Claudia go? I don't recognize
her. Where'd Kay go? I don't recognize her. They
call us, Jesus has called us to live a life that
is unrecognizable from this world that disrupts
man's systems. Because that's what Jesus did.
That's what the church did. And that's what we
have been called to do. We've been called to
live in this gospel -centered, upside -down kingdom
because the upside -down kingdom that we live
in begins with the upside -down grace of God.
I heard it in a song once. When's the last time
you heard a story about a hero dying for the
villain? Jesus died for people that did not deserve
his life. He died for people. that would willingly
put him on a cross, that would willingly cheer
for him being beaten, that were okay with him
being murdered. He died for those people. And
I don't know about you, but I know for a fact
that I am undeserving of his grace. I'm undeserving
of his mercy. Because I sin every day. I do things
every day. that drive the nails deeper in his
hands. I do things every day that I know bring
a frown to the face of God. Yet, because of his
upside -down grace, he died for me, and he promised
a home for me. And you know what's really cool
about that home? I may be living in humility
here. I may not have all the nicest things, I
may never be wealthy. In fact, I know for a fact
I'll never be wealthy. I may never have the comfortable
retirement. I may never have the nicest house.
I may never have the nicest cars. I may never
have the most secure life. And it may lead to
my death one day, and I'm okay with that. Do
you know why? For the same reason Stephen was
okay with his death in the book of Acts. Because
when that day comes, I will be able to look to
heaven. And I will see that it was all worth
it. Because there's a life waiting for me where
everything that I had ever wanted, everything
that I went without in this world, all the status
that at one point I probably thought I wanted,
all of those things, I'll have those. Because
God loved me enough that when I was still a sinner,
he gave his life for me. So it is not too much
for me to ask myself, can I give my all for him?
Can I look different in this world for him? Because
it is not my own life. These things I have are
not my own things. That's what the world wants
me to think. But what Jesus says is if you'll
sacrifice it now, you'll be blessed 20 times
over in the future. And that's not prosperity
gospel. That is the kingdom on display. So let
me ask you, which kingdom? Who do you serve?
Who do you live for? Are you living for the kingdom
of God that looks differently or are you living
for the kingdom of yourself? And let me ask this,
are we living for the kingdom of God or are we
living for the church of Christ? Are we living
for the kingdom of God? Are we living for the
town of Blairsville? Are we living for the kingdom
of God? Are we living for America? Are we living
for the kingdom of God? Or am I living for the
kingdom of Donovan? Are you living for the kingdom
of yourself? Who do we serve? And that's a question
we all individually have to ask. That's a question
that we as a church family have to ask. What
are we doing? Who are we doing it for? What way
are we living in? For those of us, for those
of you that are not already walking with Christ,
you haven't started this journey. You haven't
given your life to him. You haven't turned it
over for Jesus to take hold of your life. The
invitation is not merely for us to admire Jesus's
teachings. It's not merely to admire him as a
good healer, as a miracle worker, as a prophet.
It is to submit your life to him as the savior
of the world, as the redeemer. And for those
of us, who have given our lives to Christ, but
maybe have not been living in the way of Jesus.
I want to ask you, are we living by the values
of Jesus' kingdom, or have we adopted the values
of the world around us? Can I tell you, I think
I know the answer. And I think you know it too.
Can I ask you, could we please change? Could
we please start living like Jesus? Start looking
upside down. Can we start operating on a new
system? You know why the world hasn't changed
for the better? Because the church stopped doing
its job. Do you know why my family may not be
where it needs to be? Because I stopped doing
my job. Do you know why the world still is suffering?
Because the church stopped doing its job. I want
to be like the preacher across town. He says,
I'm not too busy to stop and help this complete
stranger. So what if I'm late for church? So
what if I'm late for work? So what if I'm late
to the practice? So what if I'm late for school?
I want to be like... the person that says, so
what if I don't have the nicest things I gave
to that nonprofit? And now because I gave to
them, they're able to help hundreds of kids.
So what if I don't have the most comfortable
house? I can say that I live the life that served
the poor and that served the needy. So what if
I don't have what the world says is success?
I lived for the kingdom of God. I walked in the
Jesus way, in a way that was costly. So church,
I'm asking us, whether you have started walking
with Jesus or maybe you started walking with
him and you slowed down a little bit and you
need to catch up, wherever you're at, whatever
you need, I want you to take this with you. And
this is the invitation. If you honestly feel...
Like you need prayer, like you need support,
like you need comfort, or you're ready to give
your life to Jesus. As I say it often, the water
is ready. I don't actually know if the water's
ready, but I promise we can get it ready, okay?
And if not, there's a creek somewhere we can
figure it out. But I want to leave you with this.
When we live the way of Jesus, the Jesus way,
the world gets a glimpse of the kingdom of God.
Have you ever seen something that was so amazing
that you just wanted to keep seeing it? For me,
it was the movie Free Willy. I'll watch that
movie any day of the week. I love that movie.
I saw it when I was a little kid. It was the
coolest thing in the world. And guess what? I
can't get enough of it. When the world sees what
Jesus' kingdom really looks like, I promise they
won't be able to get enough of it. They'll talk
about it. They'll want to be a part of it. But
it starts with us living in that way. So this
morning, wherever you're at, the invitation is
yours. Please come now as we stand and as we
sing.