WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.919 a New York City subway platform with his two 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:07.700 small children when something horrifying happened. 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:10.779 A young man had a seizure. He was standing right 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:13.699 there on the edge of the track waiting for the 00:00:13.699 --> 00:00:17.399 train to come and he fell onto the tracks. People 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:19.820 screamed. The train was coming and no one moved, 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:23.420 but Wesley did. He jumped into the danger and 00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:26.359 pressed the man in between the two rails into 00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:29.429 a trench. that was there. Seconds later, the 00:00:29.429 --> 00:00:33.130 train roared overhead, missing them by inches. 00:00:33.909 --> 00:00:37.829 Later, when he was asked, Wesley said this. He 00:00:37.829 --> 00:00:40.049 was asked, why did you do what you did? And this 00:00:40.049 --> 00:00:43.429 was his response. I saw someone who was in need 00:00:43.429 --> 00:00:47.530 and I had to act. He didn't overthink it. He 00:00:47.530 --> 00:00:51.130 didn't call experts. He didn't form three committees 00:00:51.130 --> 00:00:56.899 to study it. He just entered the mess. and saved 00:00:56.899 --> 00:01:01.520 a life. So let me ask you, what would happen 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.319 if we saw emotional and spiritual pain the same 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:07.500 way? What if we stopped waiting for professionals 00:01:07.500 --> 00:01:11.560 and just started acting like Jesus? Because the 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:14.180 truth is, we all know this, but the world around 00:01:14.180 --> 00:01:17.659 us is filled with people who are sinking. Not 00:01:17.659 --> 00:01:20.359 into train tracks, but into trauma, grief, and 00:01:20.359 --> 00:01:23.480 shame. And the world doesn't need more spectators. 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:25.920 They need disciples who follow Jesus' example 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:30.439 into the mess. So here's the question. How should 00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:33.760 we respond to the hurting? Not just with intentions, 00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:37.620 but with Christ -like compassion. So obviously 00:01:37.620 --> 00:01:40.439 in this, Jesus is a great example. He's the one 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:43.980 who dove in first. Long before Wesley was diving 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:48.900 into the mess, Jesus dove into the mess. So a 00:01:48.900 --> 00:01:50.439 mess is probably a good way of describing the 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:53.620 world that we live in, right? I think that we 00:01:53.620 --> 00:01:56.620 could all agree with that. So many of the people 00:01:56.620 --> 00:02:00.219 that you and I know find themselves experiencing 00:02:00.219 --> 00:02:03.159 deep hurt. And the problem with deep hurt is 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:07.780 it dehumanizes. It silences. It isolates. I don't 00:02:07.780 --> 00:02:09.780 know if you've realized this or you've probably 00:02:09.780 --> 00:02:11.699 been on the receiving end of it at least once, 00:02:11.699 --> 00:02:14.900 but sometimes our Christian responses, though 00:02:14.900 --> 00:02:17.969 they have good intentions, Sometimes they make 00:02:17.969 --> 00:02:21.409 things worse, right? Sometimes people just say 00:02:21.409 --> 00:02:23.430 some of the craziest things that don't help at 00:02:23.430 --> 00:02:28.030 all. And we tend to stay safe instead of entering 00:02:28.030 --> 00:02:30.770 into pain. We tend to speak more than we listen. 00:02:31.330 --> 00:02:33.689 We tend to offer grace without truth or truth 00:02:33.689 --> 00:02:36.050 without grace and both of those get us into trouble. 00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:39.849 And sometimes we walk away when things start 00:02:39.849 --> 00:02:42.949 to get hard. So not only is that a failure of 00:02:42.949 --> 00:02:45.949 compassion, it's a discipleship failure. And 00:02:45.949 --> 00:02:48.009 here's the main problem that we have when that 00:02:48.009 --> 00:02:50.870 begins to happen. The people that we're around 00:02:50.870 --> 00:02:54.449 and who hear us say those things, they start 00:02:54.449 --> 00:02:57.469 to believe that God thinks about their pain the 00:02:57.469 --> 00:02:59.930 same way that we do. And they begin to believe 00:02:59.930 --> 00:03:02.680 that God responds to their pain. the same way 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:04.439 that we do. Let me give you an example of that 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:06.719 from Scripture. If you have your Bible there, 00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:08.500 I'm going to give you a bunch of verses today, 00:03:08.539 --> 00:03:11.939 but this one's in Job chapter 2. Job chapter 00:03:11.939 --> 00:03:13.819 2, and I'm going to give you another verse here 00:03:13.819 --> 00:03:16.419 in Job in just a second, but this is Job chapter 00:03:16.419 --> 00:03:20.460 2 verse 13. So Job's already had all kinds of 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:23.360 horrible things happen to him, and to say that 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:26.580 he was in deep pains and understatement. So he's 00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:30.530 at the point where his friends show up. And this 00:03:30.530 --> 00:03:34.389 is Job chapter two verse 13. So they show up 00:03:34.389 --> 00:03:37.169 and 13 says this they sat on the ground with 00:03:37.169 --> 00:03:40.569 him for seven days. No one said a word. Now we've 00:03:40.569 --> 00:03:43.409 talked about this fairly recently but I think 00:03:43.409 --> 00:03:46.710 that's a pretty good response. So I think when 00:03:46.710 --> 00:03:48.610 you have friends who are in deep pain I think 00:03:48.610 --> 00:03:51.530 that's acceptable just for you to show up and 00:03:51.530 --> 00:03:55.389 say nothing. Rick Warren says that people in 00:03:55.389 --> 00:03:58.349 deep pain they don't need Bible verses they don't 00:03:58.349 --> 00:04:00.699 need Anything like that what they need is for 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:03.259 you to show up and shut up and Job's friends 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:05.460 get it right for a little bit They do just that 00:04:05.460 --> 00:04:07.620 they show up they sit on the ground with him 00:04:07.620 --> 00:04:10.400 for seven days and no one says a word But then 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:14.099 they open their mouth And you know how it goes. 00:04:14.099 --> 00:04:17.060 They made it nothing but worse instead of listening 00:04:17.060 --> 00:04:21.980 they judged and instead of comforting They tried 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:26.639 to explain Their theology was nice and neat and 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:29.300 tidy But their hearts were very distant and then 00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:31.500 if you are still in the book of Job turn back 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:35.160 toward the end of it Job chapter 42 verse 7 and 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:38.100 this is what God has to say to the friends So 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:41.040 they did a pretty good job for a while They just 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:43.180 showed up didn't say anything But then they opened 00:04:43.180 --> 00:04:46.019 their mouth and and it just wasn't good and this 00:04:46.019 --> 00:04:49.120 is what God thinks about their response So it's 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:52.079 42 verse 7 and God's speaking to them to the 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:54.600 friends of Job You have not spoken the truth 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:58.560 about me as my servant Job has. So he's basically 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:00.560 challenging them and said, hey, you've completely 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.620 misrepresented me and you've said some things 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:06.819 about me that simply aren't true and you've caused 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:09.620 Job to believe some things or at least give him 00:05:09.620 --> 00:05:11.839 the idea about some things that just simply aren't 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:14.379 true. So here's some things that I think we can 00:05:14.379 --> 00:05:17.279 all agree on. Hurting people don't need platitudes. 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:22.360 Right? Hurting people don't need platitudes. 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:25.800 What they do need is presence. What they do need 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:30.439 is empathy, not explanations. Hurting people 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:36.439 need companions, not critics. Heisen Center was 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:39.959 one of the buildings on Mount Vernon's campus 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:43.300 that I spent a whole lot of time in, and of the 00:05:43.300 --> 00:05:46.139 time that I spent in there, I spent most of the 00:05:46.139 --> 00:05:50.540 time with two professors. I either had Dr. David 00:05:50.540 --> 00:05:54.240 Q .B. who taught all of the church history classes 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:58.079 and a lot of the theology classes. And Dr. Qubey 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.220 was one of those professors that he couldn't 00:06:00.220 --> 00:06:02.319 find a book that was written well enough for 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:05.779 him, so he wrote all of his own books. Like every 00:06:05.779 --> 00:06:07.600 last book that I had for one of his classes, 00:06:07.699 --> 00:06:10.639 he wrote the book himself. So he was that kind 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:13.279 of guy. The other guy I had in Heissen Center 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:15.540 quite often was a guy by the name of Rick Riding. 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:18.579 And he was one of my favorite professors because 00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:21.240 Rick Riding was just like completely the opposite 00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:24.920 end of the spectrum. So like sometimes at one 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:27.399 point he gave us a final exam. This was our final 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:30.360 test in this class. And somebody was pretty broken 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:33.839 and he said, well, This class has been how to 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:37.100 help people, so you're gonna do that and that's 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:39.439 your test. So he takes off his glasses and sits 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:41.779 in the back of the room and lets us minister 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:44.519 to somebody in the class. I absolutely loved 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:47.379 every class that I had with Rick Writing. And 00:06:47.379 --> 00:06:50.259 Rick Writing, he would like read us little books 00:06:50.259 --> 00:06:53.000 sometimes. He would have like story hour with 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:56.259 Dr. Writing. And there always was a reason that 00:06:56.259 --> 00:06:58.759 he chose that book, but one of the books that 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:01.850 he would read large portions of to us. And one 00:07:01.850 --> 00:07:04.329 of the classes was the wounded healer by a guy 00:07:04.329 --> 00:07:07.550 by the name of Henry Nowen. And in this particular 00:07:07.550 --> 00:07:11.449 class on this day, he loved Dietrich Bonhoeffer 00:07:11.449 --> 00:07:16.199 and he loved, he loved Henry Nowen. So he was 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:18.540 reading some from Henry Nowen and he would read 00:07:18.540 --> 00:07:20.740 us like half a chapter a day. It's how we'd start 00:07:20.740 --> 00:07:23.139 our class together. So he's reading from the 00:07:23.139 --> 00:07:25.000 Wounded Healer and there's part of the book of 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:27.600 the Wounded Healer that says this, who can take 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:33.279 away suffering without entering into it? He's 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:36.240 talking about helping hurting people and what 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:38.379 we do when the people around us are wounded and 00:07:38.379 --> 00:07:42.019 how we can care for them. And one of the friends 00:07:42.019 --> 00:07:47.319 in my class He's kind of this entire thing rubs 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:49.379 him the wrong way and he's not quite sure what 00:07:49.379 --> 00:07:52.319 to do with all of this and and he's kind of more 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:56.259 of a fundamentalist so he he raises his hand 00:07:56.259 --> 00:08:01.139 and he He says with all due respect. I Think 00:08:01.139 --> 00:08:04.160 what people really need is they need to hear 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:10.500 the word of God That's what he said would really 00:08:10.500 --> 00:08:13.699 transform somebody's life In doctor writing, 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:16.180 he was just one of these guys that he was really 00:08:16.180 --> 00:08:18.579 great at asking you questions and like you would 00:08:18.579 --> 00:08:20.259 ask him a question, he would come back with a 00:08:20.259 --> 00:08:22.560 question and really would make you think. So 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.459 he kind of nods for a second and folds his arms 00:08:25.459 --> 00:08:28.339 and he says to my friend, he says, have you ever 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:30.519 sat with somebody who just learned that their 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:37.429 cancer was terminal? And the answer was no. And 00:08:37.429 --> 00:08:39.730 then he went on, he said, or have you ever sat 00:08:39.730 --> 00:08:42.649 with a man whose wife no longer recognizes him 00:08:42.649 --> 00:08:50.090 because of dementia? And he said, no. And then 00:08:50.090 --> 00:08:52.330 Dr. Ridings said, well, what would you say to 00:08:52.330 --> 00:08:55.529 them? What would you say to people in those kind 00:08:55.529 --> 00:08:58.610 of situations? And my friend said, I'd remind 00:08:58.610 --> 00:09:01.210 them of God's promises. I would begin by reading 00:09:01.210 --> 00:09:05.730 scripture to them. Then dr. Writing in a way 00:09:05.730 --> 00:09:07.929 that only he would say he said and if they took 00:09:07.929 --> 00:09:10.549 their Bible and threw it across the room at you 00:09:10.549 --> 00:09:13.429 And they shouted at you. Where was your God? 00:09:15.090 --> 00:09:21.210 What would you say then? And my friend said I'd 00:09:21.210 --> 00:09:25.710 still preach the truth to them And dr. Writing 00:09:25.710 --> 00:09:28.230 in a way that only he could do takes off his 00:09:28.230 --> 00:09:32.029 glasses Sets them down on the lectern and he 00:09:32.029 --> 00:09:36.700 said young man If words were enough, God would 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:41.600 have sent a cassette tape. Now that'll tell you 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:46.379 how old I am. And he walked out of the room. 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:50.860 The room felt absolutely silent. And that morning 00:09:50.860 --> 00:09:54.039 the word was preached, just not the way that 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:59.720 my friend was expecting. So what do you do when 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:04.679 presence, not preaching, is what's needed? What 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:07.259 if our responses could reflect the very heart 00:10:07.259 --> 00:10:11.799 of Jesus? Because obviously I mean we're Jesus 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:15.899 people we follow him But sometimes our response 00:10:15.899 --> 00:10:19.440 to to the hurting people around us to the brokenness 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:22.539 around us is very different than his response 00:10:22.539 --> 00:10:25.980 John 1 14 says this the word became flesh and 00:10:25.980 --> 00:10:29.659 dwelled among us the Greek word that's used there 00:10:29.659 --> 00:10:33.009 Literally means that he pitched his tent Some 00:10:33.009 --> 00:10:35.490 translations say that he moved into our neighborhood. 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:38.850 That's what he did So the word became flesh and 00:10:38.850 --> 00:10:41.529 pitched his tent with us is the word became flesh 00:10:41.529 --> 00:10:44.450 and moved into our neighborhood Jesus didn't 00:10:44.450 --> 00:10:47.850 shout truth from a distance. He embodied it up 00:10:47.850 --> 00:10:51.870 close God's response to pain wasn't a message. 00:10:51.870 --> 00:10:55.500 It was a life Jesus embraced limits he cried 00:10:55.500 --> 00:10:58.179 real tears, he sat with the grieving, he touched 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:01.379 the untouchable, he entered our pain, and that's 00:11:01.379 --> 00:11:03.500 to become our model. When we talk about how we 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:05.779 help hurting people, that's our model, that's 00:11:05.779 --> 00:11:09.440 what we do. To follow Jesus is to enter in. It's 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.919 not to avoid the pain of others, but to enter 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:15.419 in. So I wanna give you six insights that we 00:11:15.419 --> 00:11:17.820 can see in the life of Christ. Jesus' perfect 00:11:17.820 --> 00:11:21.799 theology. and he models this well for us and 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:24.360 how to help hurting people. The first one is 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:27.860 we must leave glory. Everyone say that. I think 00:11:27.860 --> 00:11:30.519 it's even on the screen, right? We must leave 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:33.019 glory. Philippians chapter two, verses six and 00:11:33.019 --> 00:11:35.960 seven says that it's talking about Jesus. It 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:38.259 says, Jesus, who being in the very nature, God 00:11:38.259 --> 00:11:40.080 did not consider equality with God something 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:43.580 to be used for his own advantage. Rather, he 00:11:43.580 --> 00:11:47.090 made himself nothing by taking on the very nature 00:11:47.090 --> 00:11:49.929 of a servant being made in human likeness. What 00:11:49.929 --> 00:11:52.669 does that all mean? That Jesus didn't cling to 00:11:52.669 --> 00:11:55.629 his status, that he stepped down from all of 00:11:55.629 --> 00:11:58.629 that. And if we're going to help hurting people, 00:11:58.929 --> 00:12:02.889 so what must we? Healing begins with humility 00:12:02.889 --> 00:12:07.970 and proximity. So this week I was thinking about 00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:10.769 that truth and I was reminded of the passage 00:12:10.769 --> 00:12:13.090 in James chapter five and we've talked about 00:12:13.090 --> 00:12:15.230 this verse several times. It's verses 14 and 00:12:15.230 --> 00:12:18.580 15. So here's the gist of it that if we if we 00:12:18.580 --> 00:12:22.139 need healing that we should call the elders together 00:12:22.139 --> 00:12:24.659 they should pray over us and that the prayer 00:12:24.659 --> 00:12:26.539 of faith will anoint us with oil and the prayer 00:12:26.539 --> 00:12:28.580 of faith will make us whole. Right. It's James 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:31.799 chapter five. You know that verse and we believe 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:37.120 in that in the Church of Nazarene. We believe 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.159 in that. So if there's a physical need that we 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:42.759 should call the elders together that they'll 00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:44.740 pray over us they'll anoint with oil and the 00:12:44.740 --> 00:12:46.620 prayer of faith will make you whole. We still 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:50.139 believe that. But here's the thing that I was 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:52.539 thinking about this week. That entire model, 00:12:52.700 --> 00:12:56.139 that entire approach is not distant ministry. 00:12:57.500 --> 00:12:59.980 So that entire thing means that we're in relationship 00:12:59.980 --> 00:13:03.019 with people, that we know who the elders are, 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:06.019 that we reach out to them, that we're in community 00:13:06.019 --> 00:13:08.700 with them, that we call on them, that they pray 00:13:08.700 --> 00:13:12.330 over us. Literally they... You can't do this 00:13:12.330 --> 00:13:14.929 by proximity The the fact is that you have to 00:13:14.929 --> 00:13:17.269 have a face -to -face conversation with them 00:13:17.269 --> 00:13:19.870 and say hey Would you pray with me about this 00:13:19.870 --> 00:13:22.190 and they pray with you in that moment? It's not 00:13:22.190 --> 00:13:24.809 it's not like would you pray with me about this 00:13:24.809 --> 00:13:27.009 and we never actually pray or we tell people 00:13:27.009 --> 00:13:29.070 hey I'll pray with you about that, but we don't 00:13:29.070 --> 00:13:30.730 really ever have the intention of praying with 00:13:30.730 --> 00:13:32.889 them It's that they come to us and ask for prayer 00:13:32.889 --> 00:13:35.529 we pray immediately on the spot that we pray 00:13:35.529 --> 00:13:38.029 over them That it's impossible to anoint with 00:13:38.029 --> 00:13:41.539 oil if you're not there I mean, I don't mean 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:43.379 to overstate the obvious, but if you're going 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:45.220 to anoint somebody with oil, if you're going 00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:48.039 to put oil on your hand and you're going to anoint 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:50.299 them with oil, that means that they're there. 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.399 That you're in close proximity to them. You can't 00:13:54.399 --> 00:14:00.100 do a Hail Mary with anointing oil. If somebody's 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:01.779 going to be anointed, they have to be there in 00:14:01.779 --> 00:14:06.220 close proximity. If we're going to allow them 00:14:06.220 --> 00:14:08.460 to hear our prayer over them, it also means that 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:10.519 we're in enough of a relationship with them that 00:14:10.519 --> 00:14:13.639 we know what's going on in their life and that 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:15.620 we know the specific details that we're agreeing 00:14:15.620 --> 00:14:17.980 with them about in prayer. Here's the point to 00:14:17.980 --> 00:14:22.440 all of that. You can't do any of that without 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:27.620 being in close proximity. It speaks to relationship. 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:31.450 It speaks to intimacy. To pray over someone, 00:14:31.529 --> 00:14:34.110 you have to know their wounds. Sometimes healing 00:14:34.110 --> 00:14:36.649 begins when somebody dares to stay long enough 00:14:36.649 --> 00:14:41.450 to touch what everyone else has avoided. It was 00:14:41.450 --> 00:14:45.389 a hot Sunday. There were many of them that were 00:14:45.389 --> 00:14:49.490 hot Sundays because the sanctuary in this assignment 00:14:49.490 --> 00:14:52.409 did not have air conditioning. So I pastored 00:14:52.409 --> 00:14:55.190 in a place that the offices had air conditioning, 00:14:55.649 --> 00:14:59.220 but no other part of the building did. So days 00:14:59.220 --> 00:15:01.679 like today if it was I don't know how hot it 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:03.659 is outside right now. It's probably in the 70s 00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:07.460 right probably mid 70s So on days like today 00:15:07.460 --> 00:15:10.620 when it was mid 70s outside with the humidity 00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:13.620 it would have been like 95 degrees in the sanctuary 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:17.700 and It was one of those days So I would tell 00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:19.460 people all the time. I'd be like, hey, I want 00:15:19.460 --> 00:15:21.340 you to come to church. We had evening services, 00:15:21.500 --> 00:15:23.080 too. And I would tell them all the time, I just 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:25.360 want you to come. So I mean, I don't want you 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.360 to come in like a bikini. I mean, I don't want 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:30.139 that. But if you need to come in shorts and a 00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:32.440 t -shirt, I'm absolutely OK with it. I just want 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:34.500 you to come. And it's going to be hot. It's going 00:15:34.500 --> 00:15:36.879 to be miserable. So it was one of those kind 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:39.679 of nights. And I had just finished preaching 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:42.899 the evening service. And it was hot. I mean, 00:15:42.899 --> 00:15:45.019 I wish I could have worn shorts and t -shirts. 00:15:45.019 --> 00:15:48.340 I would have done it myself, but just hot I'm 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:50.899 dripping with sweat and just had finished up 00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:54.159 preaching So the mornings it'd be like 95 in 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:56.639 the sanctuary But when the Sun would beat down 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.179 on the roof, it would be well over a hundred 00:15:59.179 --> 00:16:02.299 degrees every Sunday night in the summer and 00:16:02.299 --> 00:16:06.899 just miserable So the windows are open and that's 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:09.240 not doing much to help anything and I finish 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:12.509 up preaching and my phone rings I was I was pastoring, 00:16:12.570 --> 00:16:15.889 but I was also kind of the fill -in hospice chaplain 00:16:15.889 --> 00:16:19.730 for the county hospice. And the hospice director 00:16:19.730 --> 00:16:23.909 also was a nurse. And she, because we were pretty 00:16:23.909 --> 00:16:26.649 low on staff anyways, but she was out working 00:16:26.649 --> 00:16:29.429 with somebody that night and she said, hey, this 00:16:29.429 --> 00:16:32.870 woman who, and she starts to try to explain to 00:16:32.870 --> 00:16:35.129 me how there's this very loose connection to 00:16:35.129 --> 00:16:37.309 the church. I think what she was really trying 00:16:37.309 --> 00:16:39.710 to say is that maybe at one point, She might 00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:41.970 have pulled through the church parking lot. I 00:16:41.970 --> 00:16:43.830 think that was about the only connection we had. 00:16:44.409 --> 00:16:46.250 But she's like, there's this loose connection. 00:16:46.730 --> 00:16:48.590 And I'm like, it doesn't even make sense. But 00:16:48.590 --> 00:16:50.929 the point of all of it was that she needed somebody 00:16:50.929 --> 00:16:53.570 to come to Bennington Glen, one of the skilled 00:16:53.570 --> 00:16:56.149 care facilities just on the outskirts of town, 00:16:56.690 --> 00:16:58.509 and spend some time with this lady who wasn't 00:16:58.509 --> 00:17:03.519 going to survive the night. So I said, give me 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:04.839 a little bit of time. It'll take me a little 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:07.720 bit to get over there, but I'll head out that 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:09.019 way and spend a little bit of time with this 00:17:09.019 --> 00:17:11.799 lady. I've never met her. I don't know her. And 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:13.500 one of my board members was standing there. His 00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:17.920 name was John. And I said to John, I said, you're 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:21.220 coming with me. He's like, me? I'm like, yeah. 00:17:21.900 --> 00:17:24.420 Yeah, you are. You're coming with me. And he 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:26.759 said, I'd love to do that. Thanks for asking. 00:17:27.949 --> 00:17:30.549 So I said do you need some time to go get cleaned 00:17:30.549 --> 00:17:32.549 up? I know that it's hot and he said no no I 00:17:32.549 --> 00:17:35.410 should be good and we can just jump in the car 00:17:35.410 --> 00:17:38.529 so we make our way out to Bennington Glen and 00:17:38.529 --> 00:17:42.009 when we get there the hospice nurse and hospice 00:17:42.009 --> 00:17:45.250 director They're standing there talking to me, 00:17:45.309 --> 00:17:47.750 and I said hey Tell me a little bit about what's 00:17:47.750 --> 00:17:50.230 going on. I don't know this lady. I said where's 00:17:50.230 --> 00:17:54.089 her family at and They said that she only has 00:17:54.089 --> 00:17:57.210 two surviving relatives And I said, OK, that's 00:17:57.210 --> 00:17:59.490 fine. Where are they? And she said, they've made 00:17:59.490 --> 00:18:06.690 the choice not to come. OK. Do they know what's 00:18:06.690 --> 00:18:10.369 happening? Yes, we've been clear with them. They've 00:18:10.369 --> 00:18:13.130 just made the choice not to come. I said, OK. 00:18:14.289 --> 00:18:16.650 So John and I make our way into the room. And 00:18:16.650 --> 00:18:18.470 we don't know this lady. John doesn't know the 00:18:18.470 --> 00:18:21.069 lady. I don't know the lady. But for about the 00:18:21.069 --> 00:18:25.869 next six, seven hours, I watched as John laughed 00:18:25.869 --> 00:18:30.789 with her Cried with her Would get washcloths 00:18:30.789 --> 00:18:32.950 put cold water on them put them on her forehead 00:18:32.950 --> 00:18:35.529 And we just did everything that we could just 00:18:35.529 --> 00:18:38.529 to make her last few hours on earth comfortable 00:18:38.529 --> 00:18:44.069 and When it was her time? To leave earth She 00:18:44.069 --> 00:18:47.490 didn't have to do it alone You know my friend 00:18:47.490 --> 00:18:52.250 that day in class wasn't entirely wrong Scripture 00:18:52.250 --> 00:18:56.299 does bring life amen mean scripture does bring 00:18:56.299 --> 00:18:59.539 life so I don't want to I don't want to devalue 00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:01.759 the place of scripture scripture is important 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:05.259 to us but the word didn't remain ink on a page 00:19:05.259 --> 00:19:07.779 the word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood 00:19:07.779 --> 00:19:10.500 the word became flesh and showed up at Bennington 00:19:10.500 --> 00:19:13.160 Glen the word became flesh and laughed with and 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:16.319 cried with and put cold rags on your head that's 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:20.160 what the word did So for us to help hurting people, 00:19:20.579 --> 00:19:23.200 we have to do the same thing. We have to leave 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:25.460 glory, leave the things that make us comfortable, 00:19:25.779 --> 00:19:27.980 and we have to put ourselves in situations that 00:19:27.980 --> 00:19:32.640 make us uncomfortable. Number two. We have to 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:36.259 become little Matthew chapter 18 verses 3 & 4 00:19:36.259 --> 00:19:38.640 The phrase I want you to listen for is this unless 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:42.240 you become like little children So Jesus is speaking 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.119 and this is what he says and he said truly I 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:47.000 tell you Unless you change and become like little 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:49.319 children, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:52.140 Therefore over who want whoever takes this lowly 00:19:52.140 --> 00:19:54.819 position of this child is the greatest in the 00:19:54.819 --> 00:19:57.480 kingdom of heaven So here's the point all of 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:01.000 that. We're not heroes We're just humble servants 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:06.380 So, I'm just going to move on. I got stuck in 00:20:06.380 --> 00:20:10.160 the filter. We're not heroes. We're just humble 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:13.720 servants. True help starts not with answers, 00:20:14.660 --> 00:20:19.339 but with presence. So, you know, children just 00:20:19.339 --> 00:20:25.240 say the simplest things. And it's a blast watching 00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:27.440 children because they're not interested in who 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:30.440 gets the credit for things. They just do what 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:33.250 they need to do. Number three we have to enter 00:20:33.250 --> 00:20:36.410 the darkness. So you already know this right, 00:20:36.430 --> 00:20:39.250 but Jesus is not scared of the dark. Did you 00:20:39.250 --> 00:20:42.869 know that? Jesus isn't scared of the dark. So 00:20:42.869 --> 00:20:45.210 we have to enter the darkness John 1 14 the word 00:20:45.210 --> 00:20:47.890 became flesh and made his dwelling among us Pitched 00:20:47.890 --> 00:20:49.869 his tent among us moved into our neighborhood. 00:20:50.049 --> 00:20:53.069 Here's the rest of the verse We've seen his glory 00:20:53.069 --> 00:20:55.490 the glory of the one and only son who came from 00:20:55.490 --> 00:20:59.859 the father full of grace and truth Jesus entered 00:20:59.859 --> 00:21:03.200 the dark places Jesus entered the shadows and 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:06.019 he brings light because he's not afraid of the 00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:12.319 dark and We have to choose presence over avoidance 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:15.660 and Sometimes that means that we just have to 00:21:15.660 --> 00:21:17.700 say Lord help me with the things that caused 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:21.259 me to be afraid of the dark And help me to allow 00:21:21.259 --> 00:21:24.099 my light to shine there even even in those difficult 00:21:24.099 --> 00:21:28.400 places number four we must bear grace and truth. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:32.380 John 1 14 again talks about this, that we've 00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:34.619 seen his glory, the glory of the one and only 00:21:34.619 --> 00:21:37.480 son who came from the father full of grace and 00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:40.700 truth. So I know that we've talked about grace 00:21:40.700 --> 00:21:43.259 and truth quite a bit, but I want to kind of 00:21:43.259 --> 00:21:45.019 reframe it and just give you a little bit of 00:21:45.019 --> 00:21:47.299 a different perspective today. Today I want you 00:21:47.299 --> 00:21:50.759 to think about grace as that which embraces. 00:21:51.380 --> 00:21:53.819 So grace embraces, it almost kind of rhymes, 00:21:54.019 --> 00:21:59.430 right? Grace embraces and truth sets free So 00:21:59.430 --> 00:22:04.049 grace does what? Embraces truth sets free hurting 00:22:04.049 --> 00:22:07.150 people need both of those right they need the 00:22:07.150 --> 00:22:09.990 embrace and They need the truth that sets them 00:22:09.990 --> 00:22:13.190 free And if we're gonna help hurting people we 00:22:13.190 --> 00:22:15.430 need to be quick to give both of those grace 00:22:15.430 --> 00:22:19.309 and truth number five We must not abandon John 00:22:19.309 --> 00:22:23.920 14 8 It says a bunch of other stuff, but the 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:25.880 part that I want you to catch in John 14 8 says 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:28.299 this, Jesus is making a promise to us, and here's 00:22:28.299 --> 00:22:31.460 the promise, I will not leave you as orphans. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:37.220 That's a really good thought. Jesus promises 00:22:37.220 --> 00:22:40.519 he will not leave us as orphans. So here's the 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:42.839 point to all of that. Not only did Jesus move 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:44.660 into the neighborhood, not only did he pitch 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:49.519 his tent with us, he stayed. He stayed until 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:53.059 the need was taken care of, and we must do the 00:22:53.059 --> 00:22:56.660 same. We need to stay. When we find people who 00:22:56.660 --> 00:23:00.700 are hurting, we need to not just run away the 00:23:00.700 --> 00:23:02.579 first time it gets difficult, but we need to 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:05.480 stay. Number six, we need to not lose perspective. 00:23:05.579 --> 00:23:09.799 Romans chapter 12 verse two says that we're transformed 00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:14.670 by the renewing of our mind. Pain is heavy. Progress 00:23:14.670 --> 00:23:18.430 is slow. There's a paper that Joel put up. He 00:23:18.430 --> 00:23:21.869 heard me say something a while back. And it's 00:23:21.869 --> 00:23:25.230 just a good thing for us to remember. It was 00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:27.410 actually from a pastor talking to a youth pastor. 00:23:27.470 --> 00:23:30.089 He was talking about the way things work in the 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:31.650 church and the way things work in the kingdom. 00:23:31.829 --> 00:23:33.950 And here's the thing that he would tell us, all 00:23:33.950 --> 00:23:36.509 of his staff. But he would say this, you have 00:23:36.509 --> 00:23:41.369 to remember that small is big and slow is fast. 00:23:43.110 --> 00:23:46.109 So when we're talking about just the pain and 00:23:46.109 --> 00:23:48.230 the brokenness of the world around us pain is 00:23:48.230 --> 00:23:51.410 heavy and progress is slow I'm not telling you 00:23:51.410 --> 00:23:53.569 anything. You don't already know and the thing 00:23:53.569 --> 00:23:57.650 that is Refreshing to us is that we're not expected 00:23:57.650 --> 00:24:00.369 to be the healer We're just the vessel the world 00:24:00.369 --> 00:24:02.869 says fix the problem. Jesus says just be faithful. 00:24:02.930 --> 00:24:06.769 Let me heal it So here's the good news. Here's 00:24:06.769 --> 00:24:11.059 the gospel you're not alone in this work The 00:24:11.059 --> 00:24:13.559 same spirit who empowered Jesus now empowers 00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:16.799 you and his strength is made perfect in weakness 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:21.920 and His love still casts out fear and when we 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:25.799 respond like Christ healing happens Dignity is 00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:30.500 restored Hope is rekindled The image of God begins 00:24:30.500 --> 00:24:33.519 to shine again You don't have to be perfect. 00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:38.180 Just present not a fixer Just faithful. So here's 00:24:38.180 --> 00:24:43.470 the invitation today Not just to feel compassion 00:24:43.470 --> 00:24:47.490 but to act upon it. So these prayer stations 00:24:47.490 --> 00:24:49.930 in a minute you'll have the opportunity to respond 00:24:49.930 --> 00:24:52.450 and this will help you lead you through some 00:24:52.450 --> 00:24:55.049 of those same questions. But here are the questions 00:24:55.049 --> 00:24:57.150 that I want you to think about with me. Will 00:24:57.150 --> 00:25:01.470 you leave glory? Will you become little? Will 00:25:01.470 --> 00:25:05.269 you enter the darkness? Will you bear both grace 00:25:05.269 --> 00:25:10.559 and truth? Will you stay? Will you keep perspective. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:15.039 You may not be a counselor, but you can be a 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:18.140 companion. You may not be a therapist, but you 00:25:18.140 --> 00:25:22.539 can show up and you can love. And if you're hurting, 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:24.980 especially if you're hurting by wounds that are 00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:27.220 caused by the church, I want you to hear this. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:33.500 God has not abandoned you. He sees you. He draws 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:38.750 near. He heals. So my challenge for us today 00:25:38.750 --> 00:25:42.130 is this let's walk like Jesus. Let's love like 00:25:42.130 --> 00:25:47.430 Jesus Let's stay like Jesus So in a moment when 00:25:47.430 --> 00:25:49.329 we're done with the prayer stations I'm gonna 00:25:49.329 --> 00:25:51.589 go ahead and give you the benediction now, but 00:25:51.589 --> 00:25:54.230 I'll give it to you in reverse order But so here's 00:25:54.230 --> 00:25:57.309 the benediction when we're done with these things 00:25:57.309 --> 00:26:02.569 So now go not with all the answers but with his 00:26:02.569 --> 00:26:03.589 presence