WEBVTT 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:06.559 You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:09.359 podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:12.080 Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:14.160 Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.519 strengthens your faith and draws you closer to 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:21.600 Christ. Let's dive in. We're going to dive into 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:27.719 something that is hard for all of us, not just 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:32.520 myself, and that is specifically resting. but 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:37.240 resting in a way that is from religion. And you 00:00:37.240 --> 00:00:39.380 guys are gonna be like, wait, what? So the title 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:41.820 of my sermon today is From Religion to Restoration 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:44.579 in Christ. And so the big idea that we're gonna 00:00:44.579 --> 00:00:48.939 drive home this morning is the essence of Christianity 00:00:48.939 --> 00:00:52.320 is not about religion and its constraints, but 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:55.340 about a vibrant relationship with Jesus who restores, 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:58.920 brings joy, and offers life. And so let's go 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:06.750 ahead and I'm going to Read Starting in verse 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:10.409 13, we're gonna unpack quite of a big chunk here 00:01:10.409 --> 00:01:13.489 and we're gonna go all the way into chapter 3 00:01:13.489 --> 00:01:17.930 and Then we'll start unpacking it little by little 00:01:17.930 --> 00:01:21.870 So he went out again beside the sea he being 00:01:21.870 --> 00:01:25.650 Jesus and All the crowd was coming to him and 00:01:25.650 --> 00:01:28.359 he was teaching them And as he passed by, he 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:31.819 saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the 00:01:31.819 --> 00:01:34.879 tax booth. And he said to him, follow me. And 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:37.760 he rose and followed him. Who is Levi? Who does 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:41.680 he ultimately become? What do we know him as? 00:01:42.620 --> 00:01:48.719 Matthew. So Matthew was a tax collector. And 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:51.599 he's the one who wrote the book of Matthew. And 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:54.260 as he reclined at the table and is in... in his 00:01:54.260 --> 00:01:56.879 house many tax collectors and sinners were reclining 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:00.000 with Jesus and his disciples for there were many 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.980 who followed him and the scribes and the Pharisees 00:02:02.980 --> 00:02:05.120 when they saw that he was eating with sinners 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:08.740 and tax collectors he said to his disciples why 00:02:08.740 --> 00:02:12.740 does he eat with tax collectors and sinners and 00:02:12.740 --> 00:02:15.620 when Jesus heard it he said to them those who 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:18.740 are well have no need for a physician but those 00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:21.800 who are sick and I came not to call the righteous 00:02:22.379 --> 00:02:27.780 But, what's that word? Sinners. Now John's disciples 00:02:27.780 --> 00:02:31.219 and the Pharisees were fasting, and people came 00:02:31.219 --> 00:02:34.919 and said to him, why does John's disciples and 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:37.599 the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:40.080 disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:42.300 can the wedding guest fast while the bridegroom 00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:45.819 is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom, 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:49.460 they cannot fast. The days will come when the 00:02:49.460 --> 00:02:51.860 bridegroom is taken away from them. and then 00:02:51.860 --> 00:02:54.939 they will fasten that day. No one sews a piece 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:58.500 of untrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:01.759 the patch tears away from it. The new from the 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:06.680 old and a worse tear is made. And no one puts 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:09.639 new wine into old wine skins. If he does, the 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:13.300 wine will burst the skins. And the wine is destroyed 00:03:13.300 --> 00:03:16.180 and so are the skins, but the new wine is for 00:03:16.180 --> 00:03:20.819 the fresh wine skins. Once Sabbath, he was going 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:23.319 through the grain fields, and as they made their 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:26.139 way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:29.580 And the Pharisees were saying to him, look, why 00:03:29.580 --> 00:03:32.719 are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:35.599 And he said to them, have you never read what 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:40.419 David did? When he was in need and was hungry, 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:43.819 he and those who were with him, how he entered 00:03:43.819 --> 00:03:47.900 the house of God in that time, of the high priest 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:51.020 and ate the bread of the presence, which is also 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:53.639 called the showbread, which is not lawful for 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:56.520 any but the priest to eat, and also gave it to 00:03:56.520 --> 00:03:58.979 those who were with him. And he said to them, 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:01.979 the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the 00:04:01.979 --> 00:04:05.780 Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the 00:04:05.780 --> 00:04:09.120 Sabbath. And again, he entered the synagogue, 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:13.120 and a man was there with a withered hand. And 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:15.379 they watched Jesus to see whether he would heal 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:18.009 him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse 00:04:18.009 --> 00:04:20.769 him. And he said to the man with the withered 00:04:20.769 --> 00:04:24.449 hand, come here. And he said to them, is it lawful 00:04:24.449 --> 00:04:27.610 on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save 00:04:27.610 --> 00:04:31.790 a life or to kill? But they were silent. And 00:04:31.790 --> 00:04:35.069 he looked around at them with anger, grieved 00:04:35.069 --> 00:04:37.529 at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, 00:04:37.930 --> 00:04:40.569 stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and 00:04:40.569 --> 00:04:42.879 his hand was restored. And the Pharisees went 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:46.240 out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:51.500 against him on how to destroy him. So, brothers 00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:55.100 and sisters, what are we picking up on these 00:04:55.100 --> 00:04:58.199 different gospel accounts with Jesus? What do 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:00.920 you see that they connect together? Because there 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:02.759 are different things that are happening, but 00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:05.600 the same theme continues on. So what do you see 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:07.439 connecting them? What's the theme that you're 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:16.889 seeing? I don't know, Pastor Logan. Tell us. 00:05:18.629 --> 00:05:22.110 I know you guys see it. So we're just, we're 00:05:22.110 --> 00:05:25.449 looking at how the Pharisees took something that 00:05:25.449 --> 00:05:27.490 is meant to be good and they twisted it into 00:05:27.490 --> 00:05:31.550 be something that is wicked. And Jesus is going, 00:05:31.610 --> 00:05:33.990 these things that I have made for you, given 00:05:33.990 --> 00:05:37.629 for you, meant to be a blessing, you have turned 00:05:37.629 --> 00:05:42.750 into something that is not only work, but it's 00:05:42.750 --> 00:05:47.740 harmful. And so, with that being said, I'll go 00:05:47.740 --> 00:05:51.519 ahead and get this party started. So before, 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:55.160 well, I've already read, but I wanna talk about 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:57.899 something that many of us struggle with, and 00:05:57.899 --> 00:06:00.560 it's really hard to admit, and that's rest. I 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:04.680 know for a fact that so many of you guys work 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:06.839 insanely hard, and so I want to go ahead and 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:11.110 say this up front. Pastor Logan is not. Coming 00:06:11.110 --> 00:06:13.290 up here this morning and trying to berate anybody 00:06:13.290 --> 00:06:15.790 about hard work because hard work is a good thing 00:06:15.790 --> 00:06:18.750 What pastor Logan wants to put before you in 00:06:18.750 --> 00:06:22.329 in a humble way is? Remembering that rest is 00:06:22.329 --> 00:06:25.350 crucial and so we're gonna talk about that But 00:06:25.350 --> 00:06:27.930 we're not just talking about physical rest We're 00:06:27.930 --> 00:06:31.610 also talking about spiritual rest so years ago 00:06:31.610 --> 00:06:35.230 when I was in the army I noticed something super 00:06:35.230 --> 00:06:38.050 interesting about military life Also, we see 00:06:38.050 --> 00:06:39.790 this with people that have gone to jail or been 00:06:39.790 --> 00:06:44.410 in prison and I hated things about it and also 00:06:44.410 --> 00:06:47.250 there were things that when I was in it, I noticed 00:06:47.250 --> 00:06:50.350 that I thrived in it. What do you think that 00:06:50.350 --> 00:06:53.509 would be? What would things about the military 00:06:53.509 --> 00:06:58.250 that would be insanely frustrating but also insanely 00:06:58.250 --> 00:07:02.689 easy? Any thoughts? Anybody that's been in the 00:07:02.689 --> 00:07:07.009 military have any thoughts? Telling you what 00:07:07.009 --> 00:07:08.810 to do. That's exactly right. It's frustrating 00:07:08.810 --> 00:07:11.209 and it's also easy right like they make it super 00:07:11.209 --> 00:07:14.250 simple Everything is laid out for you What you're 00:07:14.250 --> 00:07:16.470 supposed to wear right what you're supposed to 00:07:16.470 --> 00:07:19.290 do what you're supposed to eat like all these 00:07:19.290 --> 00:07:21.230 things are put before you So it makes it super 00:07:21.230 --> 00:07:24.769 easy. So when you're in it You're meant it's 00:07:24.769 --> 00:07:26.810 meant to be simple. So that way you can focus 00:07:26.810 --> 00:07:29.850 on the mission at hand and it's great and at 00:07:29.850 --> 00:07:34.230 the same time it drove me crazy I Couldn't stand 00:07:34.230 --> 00:07:40.019 it. Why do you think I couldn't stand it? Yeah, 00:07:40.220 --> 00:07:42.439 it's exactly right. I was not my own person. 00:07:43.540 --> 00:07:46.040 I Had to you may be like well. Yeah, we do that 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:49.139 with jobs Yeah, but it's even more like you are 00:07:49.139 --> 00:07:52.399 stuck in this in this bubble And you can't get 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:54.860 out of it, and it's great, and it's good in certain 00:07:54.860 --> 00:07:57.220 ways and then in other ways It's very frustrating, 00:07:57.579 --> 00:08:04.389 but they take away the freedom so My schedule 00:08:04.389 --> 00:08:07.389 wasn't mine, my time wasn't mine, my life belonged 00:08:07.389 --> 00:08:09.509 to Uncle Sam, and over time I realized something. 00:08:10.290 --> 00:08:13.470 Systems can make life simple, but they can also 00:08:13.470 --> 00:08:17.029 make life exhausting. So the reason why I bring 00:08:17.029 --> 00:08:19.709 this up is because religion often works with 00:08:19.709 --> 00:08:23.269 the same exact way. Religion gives us a system 00:08:23.269 --> 00:08:26.600 that we can manage. It promises that if we follow 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:29.220 steps, we'll be okay. If we surround ourselves 00:08:29.220 --> 00:08:31.399 with the right people, if we work hard enough, 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:33.639 if we gain the approval of the right voices, 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:36.620 if we do the right things that we're told that 00:08:36.620 --> 00:08:38.840 make us good Christians, then everything will 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:41.779 work out. We'll be happy, we'll be secure, and 00:08:41.779 --> 00:08:45.840 we'll be at peace. But the problem with that 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:48.200 way of life is twofold. First, the problem is 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:52.080 what you already know. If you spent any time 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:55.570 in church, you already know this. What happens 00:08:55.570 --> 00:08:58.470 with that? What's one of the problems with that? 00:08:59.129 --> 00:09:02.429 You'll never be good enough, right? That's not 00:09:02.429 --> 00:09:05.690 the gospel. So no matter how hard you try, no 00:09:05.690 --> 00:09:07.990 matter how hard you work, no matter how disciplined 00:09:07.990 --> 00:09:09.830 you become, no matter how carefully you attempt 00:09:09.830 --> 00:09:12.610 to manage your life, religion always whispers 00:09:12.610 --> 00:09:18.529 the same thing. Try harder, do better. And that 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:21.080 leads to the second problem. When your life becomes 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:23.279 about proving your worth, it doesn't produce 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.639 peace. It actually produces exhaustion. It produces 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:29.919 dissatisfaction. It produces pressure. And ultimately, 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:35.399 if left unchecked, it leads to death. And so 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:38.320 now here's the difficult part. You already know 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.419 this. You already know these things. I'm not 00:09:41.419 --> 00:09:43.019 telling you anything new, right? You guys hear 00:09:43.019 --> 00:09:45.200 me say this week in and week out and if you've 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:47.240 walked with the Lord for any length of time You 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:49.419 already know these things. So why am I saying 00:09:49.419 --> 00:10:00.360 it again? Yeah, we we naturally fall back into 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:04.799 it You will hear me say it today and I guarantee 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:06.940 you by the time you get to your car You will 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:09.860 have already fallen back into our religious system. 00:10:12.779 --> 00:10:15.799 So we return to striving, we return to proving 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.100 ourselves, we return to working ourselves into 00:10:18.100 --> 00:10:21.360 the ground, and that's why today's passage may 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.940 step on some toes. Because today we're going 00:10:24.940 --> 00:10:28.419 to talk about rest. And if we're honest, many 00:10:28.419 --> 00:10:31.159 of us struggle deeply with it. Some of you refuse 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:33.679 to do it because it's in your blood, it's in 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:35.820 your DNA to keep working, to keep pushing, to 00:10:35.820 --> 00:10:39.500 keep producing. But I want to be clear that work 00:10:39.500 --> 00:10:42.440 is not bad. Work was something that was already 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:44.679 a gift from God. We see it before the fall in 00:10:44.679 --> 00:10:48.120 the garden. But when work becomes the thing that 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:52.500 defines us, defines your worth, when it crowds 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:54.600 out your worship and when it chokes out your 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:56.860 walk with Christ, it becomes spiritually dangerous. 00:10:56.940 --> 00:10:59.860 Now hear me, there's two types of work. There's 00:10:59.860 --> 00:11:02.220 spiritual work, which is works, and then there 00:11:02.220 --> 00:11:04.340 is physical work. And I'm talking about both, 00:11:04.340 --> 00:11:12.200 so don't get confused. So here's the irony sometimes 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:15.559 when someone calls that out we feel like they're 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:19.940 being a Pharisee Here's what I mean When someone 00:11:19.940 --> 00:11:24.320 tells you hey You should probably Take the Sabbath 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:33.740 seriously and rest What do you think about that 00:11:33.740 --> 00:11:39.820 But that's what you were taught to work on the 00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:45.240 Sabbath or not to? But when someone calls you 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:48.419 out for working on the Sabbath, in a way that's, 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:52.600 I don't mean, hear me, I understand that, let's 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:57.179 say, like with Keith, and you've got a heifer 00:11:57.179 --> 00:11:59.259 or something that needs to be managed, that's 00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:00.899 not what I'm talking about. I'm just saying when 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:04.620 you cannot stop, when you cannot take a break, 00:12:05.500 --> 00:12:09.679 when you cannot let things rest, What does that 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:12.139 say when someone says, hey, you should probably 00:12:12.139 --> 00:12:20.500 rest? You have no right to judge me, right? You're 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:22.960 being a Pharisee. You're taking that way too 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:26.659 literally. And so I want to talk about both religious 00:12:26.659 --> 00:12:29.460 rest and I want to talk about physical rest. 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:34.080 So the truth is what often drives our constant 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:39.090 striving is On its own, a form of legalism. It's 00:12:39.090 --> 00:12:41.389 the belief that everything ultimately depends 00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:45.149 on us. That should be right up here. You think 00:12:45.149 --> 00:12:49.590 that if I don't work. Nothing will get done. 00:12:51.509 --> 00:12:54.289 If I don't do this, it's not going to get done 00:12:54.289 --> 00:13:00.289 and then I'm behind. And yet. This is what we 00:13:00.289 --> 00:13:05.129 know. Constantly of ourselves, this depends on 00:13:05.129 --> 00:13:08.860 us. We know legal legalism is not the gospel 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:12.139 and yet we still run back to it But the good 00:13:12.139 --> 00:13:14.100 news is I want you to hear this this morning. 00:13:14.100 --> 00:13:16.919 Jesus did not come to polish your religious rags 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:20.220 He came to burn them. I'm gonna say it again 00:13:20.220 --> 00:13:23.000 Jesus came not to polish your religious rags, 00:13:23.019 --> 00:13:26.799 but he came to burn them So if you're not catching 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:32.259 it yet When you think of working constantly that 00:13:32.259 --> 00:13:36.080 is a form of legalism Everything depends on me. 00:13:36.179 --> 00:13:38.720 Legalism is what? Everything depends on me. My 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:41.940 religion depends on me. Me being saved depends 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:44.799 on me. So do you see how I'm dovetailing these 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:46.259 two things together so I don't want you to get 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:51.340 lost? He came to say to tired people, Jesus did, 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:54.860 rest in me. You're tired, you're burdened, you're 00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:57.279 trying to control every outcome in your life, 00:13:57.419 --> 00:14:00.539 but that is religion. That is not Christ. Christ 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:04.899 comes to bring rest and restoration. So this 00:14:04.899 --> 00:14:06.799 morning as we walk through these passages in 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:08.960 the gospel of Mark, I want you to listen carefully 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:13.279 Listen for the voice of the Savior the tender 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:15.700 voice of Jesus Christ calling us to lay down 00:14:15.700 --> 00:14:18.559 the exhausting performance of religion and Step 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:21.659 into the rest and restoration that only he can 00:14:21.659 --> 00:14:26.759 give Something of note by the way before we dive 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:30.379 in I want you to notice how Mark is building 00:14:30.379 --> 00:14:33.210 up pressure points He's building and building 00:14:33.210 --> 00:14:35.490 these points where Jesus is constantly poking 00:14:35.490 --> 00:14:39.070 at religion. Last week we saw one of those pressure 00:14:39.070 --> 00:14:42.509 points when he said he had the ability to forgive 00:14:42.509 --> 00:14:45.110 sins and now we're going to see these other four 00:14:45.110 --> 00:14:47.809 pressure points. Do you notice how Jesus every 00:14:47.809 --> 00:14:50.789 story Mark begins to ramp up the frustration 00:14:50.789 --> 00:14:54.129 of the Pharisees? Do you see that? So here we 00:14:54.129 --> 00:14:57.250 go with point number one. If you're taking notes, 00:14:57.970 --> 00:15:01.899 religion separates Jesus restores. So we see 00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:08.320 in that first passage from 13 to 17, Jesus calls 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:11.259 Levi and then he goes to Levi's house and he's 00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:16.879 surrounded by tax collectors and sinners. So 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:20.240 we see this contrast between what religion does 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:23.820 and what Jesus does. Religion separates and Jesus 00:15:23.820 --> 00:15:28.409 restores. And so in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 00:15:28.409 --> 00:15:30.950 2, Jesus calls Levi the tax collector and he 00:15:30.950 --> 00:15:33.649 sits down at the table surrounded by people that 00:15:33.649 --> 00:15:36.049 the religious world of the day wanted nothing 00:15:36.049 --> 00:15:39.649 to do with. Tax collectors, sinners, and social 00:15:39.649 --> 00:15:43.490 outcasts. And the Pharisees see it and immediately 00:15:43.490 --> 00:15:46.649 begin questioning. And they say to the disciples 00:15:46.649 --> 00:15:49.009 essentially, why is he eating with these people? 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:54.480 So to understand why that bothered them so much, 00:15:54.539 --> 00:15:56.500 you have to understand how the religious culture 00:15:56.500 --> 00:15:59.320 worked at that time. These weren't just people 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:02.200 who made bad choices. These were people who had 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:05.360 been labeled by society as unclean, unworthy, 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:09.940 and beyond redemption. And religion had a very 00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:12.740 simple solution for people like that. What do 00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:16.620 you think that is? If someone is unclean, someone 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:22.559 is unworthy, Stay away from them just like lepers 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:25.299 right we talked about the lepers two weeks ago. 00:16:25.299 --> 00:16:29.000 They were cast out of the city and Jesus yet 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:33.259 embraced and healed So they said stay away from 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:35.379 them don't associate with them keep your distance 00:16:35.379 --> 00:16:38.340 So they don't contaminate you and if we're honest 00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:41.720 that instinct still shows up today So I want 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:46.019 to tell you guys about this post that I saw And 00:16:46.019 --> 00:16:47.659 I saw it again this week, even though I wrote 00:16:47.659 --> 00:16:49.399 this last week, I saw it again this week. It 00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:53.279 says, so on social media, there's this picture 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:55.899 that comes up, and it's meant to provoke people. 00:16:57.879 --> 00:17:01.639 And it's a picture of a transgender individual 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:06.500 with bright pink hair and a very revealing shirt. 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:10.019 And so the person who shared the image asked, 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:14.670 OK, Christians, tell the truth. Would this woman 00:17:14.670 --> 00:17:22.210 be welcomed into your church? So it's meant to 00:17:22.210 --> 00:17:26.430 farm comments, right? It's meant to get people 00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:31.529 upset. And so I'll ask you, you don't have to 00:17:31.529 --> 00:17:35.250 say it out loud. If that person walked in, would 00:17:35.250 --> 00:17:40.170 they be welcomed in our church? I'll say it for 00:17:40.170 --> 00:17:42.529 you if you feel uncomfortable saying it, yes. 00:17:44.659 --> 00:17:48.220 I didn't comment on the post, and I don't even 00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:51.160 know who the person was that shared it, but my 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:53.980 immediate thought was simple. Of course they 00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:56.400 would be welcomed. Not only would they be welcomed, 00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:58.779 but I would gladly invite them to sit wherever 00:17:58.779 --> 00:18:01.440 they felt comfortable because every human being 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:03.440 is made in the image of God and deserves to be 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:05.980 treated with dignity and kindness. But don't 00:18:05.980 --> 00:18:08.819 hear something that I'm not saying that doesn't 00:18:08.819 --> 00:18:13.140 mean I would lie to them. If a conversation about 00:18:13.140 --> 00:18:15.660 identity comes up, I wouldn't pretend something 00:18:15.660 --> 00:18:19.779 is true when it isn't. And if someone came to 00:18:19.779 --> 00:18:22.579 the church wearing some revealing clothing, I 00:18:22.579 --> 00:18:24.099 would handle it the same way I would handle it 00:18:24.099 --> 00:18:26.140 with anyone else, with kindness and with respect. 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:30.859 You see, loving someone and telling them the 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:34.099 truth are not opposites. Jesus never treated 00:18:34.099 --> 00:18:36.779 them as opposites. Look at what Jesus says when 00:18:36.779 --> 00:18:39.160 the Pharisees question him. What does he say? 00:18:39.819 --> 00:18:42.420 When they say how could you be sitting there? 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:47.200 Right here amongst them. What does he say read 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:53.880 it? Healthy people don't need a doctor is Jesus 00:18:53.880 --> 00:18:58.779 saying they're righteous nope He knows they're 00:18:58.779 --> 00:19:02.920 sick he knows they're sinners and what he's saying 00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:11.589 is is they need me more than you do So He isn't 00:19:11.589 --> 00:19:15.029 saying these people are righteous. He isn't saying 00:19:15.029 --> 00:19:18.430 nothing that is wrong. He's saying this is the 00:19:18.430 --> 00:19:20.509 mission. This is why I came. These are the very 00:19:20.509 --> 00:19:23.549 people he came to seek and to save and they deserve 00:19:23.549 --> 00:19:26.690 dignity and truth just as much as anyone else 00:19:26.690 --> 00:19:30.250 whom society deems respectable. And this is where 00:19:30.250 --> 00:19:32.910 we meet the heart of Christ. I'll have this right 00:19:32.910 --> 00:19:35.049 up here. I want you to write this down. Where 00:19:35.049 --> 00:19:42.389 religion builds walls, Jesus builds tables. Where 00:19:42.389 --> 00:19:47.509 religion excludes, Jesus invites. Where religion 00:19:47.509 --> 00:19:52.190 says stay away, Jesus says come and sit. And 00:19:52.190 --> 00:19:54.450 if we're going to follow Christ, we must learn 00:19:54.450 --> 00:19:57.769 to do the same. Now I know that that can be uncomfortable. 00:19:57.890 --> 00:20:00.630 I want to tell you a quick story. Janaro, I'm 00:20:00.630 --> 00:20:03.089 going off script. I apologize. I'll try to tell 00:20:03.089 --> 00:20:08.829 it slowly. So when I was youth pastor in Mena, 00:20:08.829 --> 00:20:11.859 Arkansas, we I took them back to Tracy and I's 00:20:11.859 --> 00:20:14.160 hometown and we did what I called a missions 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:19.660 buffet. We did inner city missions. We did overseas 00:20:19.660 --> 00:20:23.799 missions at this missions training ground. And 00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:30.500 we also worked at a homeless facility. And my 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:32.720 friend who runs this homeless facility, he says 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.170 to all of them, he goes, listen. So you got to 00:20:35.170 --> 00:20:37.490 remember, so MENA is about the same size as O 00:20:37.490 --> 00:20:42.150 'Neill, all right? So we've got about 60 kids 00:20:42.150 --> 00:20:47.130 from MENA, Arkansas, now in this very suburban 00:20:47.130 --> 00:20:51.269 setting. And my buddy says to them, hey, I want 00:20:51.269 --> 00:20:55.089 you to make sure that you sit down with someone 00:20:55.089 --> 00:20:58.069 that is homeless. Not only are you going to feed 00:20:58.069 --> 00:20:59.549 them, but I want you to have a conversation. 00:20:59.609 --> 00:21:01.150 And at some point, you should share the gospel 00:21:01.150 --> 00:21:05.130 with them. Get out of your comfort zone. Now 00:21:05.130 --> 00:21:07.730 the good thing about this is kids will typically 00:21:07.730 --> 00:21:10.670 take you up on it adults would be like mmm, right? 00:21:11.390 --> 00:21:14.910 But I'll never forget after we got done We my 00:21:14.910 --> 00:21:17.849 buddy gathers them all up everybody's gone at 00:21:17.849 --> 00:21:19.769 this point. We're cleaning up. He sits them all 00:21:19.769 --> 00:21:23.809 down and And he says alright, so tell me what 00:21:23.809 --> 00:21:28.910 you learned And I'll never forget Girl raises 00:21:28.910 --> 00:21:32.049 her hand she says she very first one she says 00:21:32.049 --> 00:21:36.289 I met transgender person today I've never even 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:43.069 seen one before and she said and I was first 00:21:43.069 --> 00:21:47.849 shocked and then as I begin to hear his story 00:21:47.849 --> 00:21:52.029 I begin to find like at first she wanted to build 00:21:52.029 --> 00:21:55.950 a wall but then as she began to talk to him she 00:21:55.950 --> 00:21:58.190 sees the Holy Spirit beginning to build a table 00:21:58.190 --> 00:22:01.029 she shares the gospel the guy doesn't come to 00:22:01.029 --> 00:22:03.390 know Christ but that's not the point God was 00:22:03.390 --> 00:22:07.890 doing more in her heart in that moment and so 00:22:07.890 --> 00:22:12.289 she didn't just act like it didn't happen you 00:22:12.289 --> 00:22:15.650 know or act like that like this this person is 00:22:15.650 --> 00:22:17.529 all messed up and I can't I can't talk to them 00:22:17.529 --> 00:22:20.630 she talked to him but what ultimately ended up 00:22:20.630 --> 00:22:24.150 happening was is in her own discomfort Jesus 00:22:24.150 --> 00:22:27.160 was working in her heart And that's why Jesus 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:30.099 invites us into uncomfortable situations, because 00:22:30.099 --> 00:22:34.000 he's not only looking to save those that are 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:37.440 sick, but he's also looking to make you better, 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:44.559 trim the trees. So, one of the hardest ministries 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:47.059 Tracy and I ever were involved in was when we 00:22:47.059 --> 00:22:50.380 served as foster parents to teenage boys on a 00:22:50.380 --> 00:22:53.759 ranch for kids who could not be placed in normal 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:57.970 foster care homes. We had 10 teenage boys come 00:22:57.970 --> 00:22:59.569 through. Well, we had more than that come through 00:22:59.569 --> 00:23:04.109 the house, but at one time we had 10. And every 00:23:04.109 --> 00:23:06.529 one of them came from backgrounds that were deeply 00:23:06.529 --> 00:23:09.089 broken. Stories I could not have imagined growing 00:23:09.089 --> 00:23:11.990 up. Many of them carried emotional scars. Some 00:23:11.990 --> 00:23:15.369 carried physical scars. And most of them had 00:23:15.369 --> 00:23:17.470 never experienced what it meant for someone to 00:23:17.470 --> 00:23:21.630 love them without hesitation. They didn't know 00:23:21.630 --> 00:23:23.609 what it looked like for someone to keep showing 00:23:23.609 --> 00:23:27.259 up for them, even when they wanted to push them 00:23:27.259 --> 00:23:31.480 away. There were moments in that ministry that 00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:34.480 were incredibly, incredibly hard. We saw things 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:36.900 that were super dark, things that were spiritually 00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:41.119 heavy, and it was very exhausting. We worked 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:43.380 two weeks on and we had two weeks off, and those 00:23:43.380 --> 00:23:47.200 two weeks off felt like it went by super quick, 00:23:47.220 --> 00:23:49.900 and the two weeks on felt like they drug on. 00:23:51.420 --> 00:23:54.619 But God taught me a lot about forgiveness. God 00:23:54.619 --> 00:23:57.200 taught me a lot about showing up in discomfort 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:00.660 God taught me a lot about sitting in the midst 00:24:00.660 --> 00:24:04.700 of someone who is completely broken spiritually 00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:08.059 physically in every way and they don't understand 00:24:08.059 --> 00:24:10.480 why you continue to love them even in the midst 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:13.440 of their their own murky sin and they're trying 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:16.960 to push you away and you keep coming and coming 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:19.960 even though you want To give up the Lord's not 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:22.819 allowing you to and you begin to see them soften 00:24:24.619 --> 00:24:27.559 It was hard, but it was probably one of the most 00:24:27.559 --> 00:24:30.500 beautiful ministries experiences we've ever had. 00:24:31.799 --> 00:24:34.339 Because we also saw the love of God work in ways 00:24:34.339 --> 00:24:36.319 we never expected. We were able to share the 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:39.759 gospel with all of the boys. And some of them 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:43.019 came to faith in Christ, others did not. But 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:46.140 one young man in particular had one of the hardest 00:24:46.140 --> 00:24:49.160 stories of them all. And today he's a believer. 00:24:49.700 --> 00:24:51.799 He serves in the Air Force. He has for over 10 00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:55.410 years. He has a wife and he has children. Also, 00:24:55.490 --> 00:24:59.230 he just messaged me this past week and It was 00:24:59.230 --> 00:25:02.490 funny because he was 17. I was 24 and he would 00:25:02.490 --> 00:25:06.589 call me dad which if you saw me back then I looked 00:25:06.589 --> 00:25:10.670 about like I was 12 and I had to take him to 00:25:10.670 --> 00:25:12.029 court because he had been in trouble with the 00:25:12.029 --> 00:25:15.990 law and I'll never forget the judge going who 00:25:15.990 --> 00:25:19.509 is the parent of this young man and I'm standing 00:25:19.509 --> 00:25:23.170 right next to him and I said I am and the judge 00:25:23.170 --> 00:25:29.259 was like How old are you? But he messaged me 00:25:29.259 --> 00:25:33.619 this week and he said He said how old are you 00:25:33.619 --> 00:25:39.200 and I said 41 and he goes oof and I go Are you 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:42.680 saying I look older than 41 or younger and he 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:53.160 goes much older? So anyway, but I couldn't be 00:25:53.160 --> 00:25:55.200 more proud of who he is and what he's become, 00:25:55.319 --> 00:25:59.099 especially knowing his story. But that only happened 00:25:59.099 --> 00:26:01.759 because we were willing to step into the discomfort 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:05.579 of the mission and trust the work of God. You 00:26:05.579 --> 00:26:07.980 see, the mission of God has always required stepping 00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:10.700 towards people who are broken. Religion says, 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:13.660 stay with your kind, avoid the outcast, keep 00:26:13.660 --> 00:26:16.240 your distance so you don't become unclean. But 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:19.200 Jesus says, these are the very people I came 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:22.319 to seek and to save. And now that doesn't mean 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:24.440 we adopt the lifestyle of the world. It doesn't 00:26:24.440 --> 00:26:27.579 mean we go participate in sin just to fit in. 00:26:28.019 --> 00:26:30.460 But it does mean we sit at tables with people 00:26:30.460 --> 00:26:35.660 who need grace. We go to lunch. We invite them 00:26:35.660 --> 00:26:39.720 into our homes. We treat them with dignity. Because 00:26:39.720 --> 00:26:42.940 the mission of God has never been about protecting 00:26:42.940 --> 00:26:46.599 our comfort. It has always been about restoring 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:51.089 people. I want you to write this person's name 00:26:51.089 --> 00:26:55.650 down because you should read her book. That's 00:26:55.650 --> 00:27:00.970 why one writer, Rosaria Butterfield, who herself 00:27:00.970 --> 00:27:03.009 came to Christ out of a completely different 00:27:03.009 --> 00:27:06.250 worldview says this, I think I'll have it up 00:27:06.250 --> 00:27:09.069 here, radically ordinary hospitality seeks to 00:27:09.069 --> 00:27:12.450 make strangers neighbors and neighbors family 00:27:12.450 --> 00:27:18.480 of God. Rosaria Butterfield was a very, very 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:25.779 liberal lesbian professor in the Northeast. And 00:27:25.779 --> 00:27:31.700 she wrote an op -ed in the New York Times that 00:27:31.700 --> 00:27:34.980 a local pastor ended up reading. And her whole 00:27:34.980 --> 00:27:37.519 thing was why the world would be much better 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:41.420 off if religion didn't exist, why Christianity 00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:45.720 didn't exist. And so the pastor of this local 00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:50.359 small congregation in town invited her to dinner 00:27:50.359 --> 00:27:55.740 at his house, and he sent her an email. She deleted 00:27:55.740 --> 00:27:59.059 it after she read it. She was like, I'm not doing 00:27:59.059 --> 00:28:03.980 that. Then for whatever reason, we know it now 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:08.099 to be the Holy Spirit, she could not get the 00:28:08.099 --> 00:28:10.740 invitation and the kindness of his email out 00:28:10.740 --> 00:28:14.569 of her head for weeks. So then she found out 00:28:14.569 --> 00:28:18.650 who he was and she wrote back this really kind 00:28:18.650 --> 00:28:21.430 of nasty email back to him and then he responded 00:28:21.430 --> 00:28:23.549 once again in kindness inviting her that if she 00:28:23.549 --> 00:28:27.490 ever changed her mind The invitation always stood 00:28:27.490 --> 00:28:32.430 well she ended up coming And at that table she 00:28:32.430 --> 00:28:34.980 tried to push his buttons in every way with his 00:28:34.980 --> 00:28:37.299 wife and children sitting there and he just continued 00:28:37.299 --> 00:28:39.619 to respond in kindness continue to put scripture 00:28:39.619 --> 00:28:41.640 before her and she says that one of the things 00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:44.400 that kind of blew her away is everything that 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:49.359 he said made sense and she began to see that 00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:52.640 her worldview was beginning to break down by 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:58.339 what he's saying and he wasn't combative ultimately 00:28:58.339 --> 00:29:05.059 he leads Rosaria to the Lord she goes home this 00:29:05.059 --> 00:29:08.220 is over a span of about a year then she decides 00:29:08.220 --> 00:29:11.660 that she's like this is not godly so she gets 00:29:11.660 --> 00:29:17.799 a divorce from her wife and then Rosaria Butterfield 00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:21.480 now she's it's been a long time ago she's married 00:29:21.480 --> 00:29:25.000 has kids grandkids writes about all this stuff 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.259 but specifically about hospitality and how we 00:29:29.259 --> 00:29:33.700 are to build tables. So that's exactly what Jesus 00:29:33.700 --> 00:29:35.779 is doing in this passage. He is sitting at the 00:29:35.779 --> 00:29:39.019 table with people The religious world had already 00:29:39.019 --> 00:29:41.819 written off. Let's go to point number two religion 00:29:41.819 --> 00:29:52.420 burdens, but Jesus brings joy The next contrast 00:29:52.420 --> 00:29:56.279 we see in mark is this religion burdens, but 00:29:56.279 --> 00:29:59.579 Jesus brings joy in this passage The Pharisees 00:29:59.579 --> 00:30:01.779 noticed something different about Jesus' disciples. 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:05.000 They aren't fasting like they're supposed to, 00:30:05.059 --> 00:30:07.839 and immediately they ask, why don't your disciples 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:11.880 fast? If you don't know what fasting is, fasting 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:16.380 is a way that you deprive yourself specifically 00:30:16.380 --> 00:30:20.680 of food. You can fast different things. Some 00:30:20.680 --> 00:30:23.119 people can fast social media. Some people can 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:26.869 fast any sort of media. Some people fast Sugar 00:30:26.869 --> 00:30:28.650 some people fast just different things whatever 00:30:28.650 --> 00:30:31.410 it is that you're kind of Addicted to if you 00:30:31.410 --> 00:30:34.190 will but food specifically is what you're supposed 00:30:34.190 --> 00:30:37.890 to fast and and be just drink water and the purpose 00:30:37.890 --> 00:30:42.390 of that is not to be as one of my Former bosses 00:30:42.390 --> 00:30:47.730 said to be radical It's meant to show your dependence 00:30:47.730 --> 00:30:51.190 upon Jesus and that he is the sustainer So when 00:30:51.190 --> 00:30:54.450 you're hungry you go to him and he sustains you 00:30:54.450 --> 00:30:58.200 so they're saying Why aren't they fasting? So 00:30:58.200 --> 00:31:01.839 fasting wasn't wrong. It was deeply ingrained 00:31:01.839 --> 00:31:05.119 as a religious practice, as a way to show devotion, 00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:08.640 humility before God. But notice how Jesus responds. 00:31:08.680 --> 00:31:11.619 He doesn't argue or condemn. He points them to 00:31:11.619 --> 00:31:14.579 a new paradigm. He says, can the wedding guests 00:31:14.579 --> 00:31:17.700 fast while the bridegroom is with them? And Jesus 00:31:17.700 --> 00:31:19.660 is pointing to a truth the Pharisees cannot see. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:22.500 His arrival is like a wedding celebration. The 00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:24.779 kingdom of God is breaking into the world and 00:31:24.779 --> 00:31:28.039 his presence brings joy. This joy is not something 00:31:28.039 --> 00:31:30.960 that can be manufactured by duty, obligation, 00:31:31.420 --> 00:31:34.019 or rule following. It is a gift that flows from 00:31:34.019 --> 00:31:38.200 relationship with him. And so then he uses two 00:31:38.200 --> 00:31:42.279 more images. He talks about a patch of an old 00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:44.400 garment. He talks about new wine and old wine 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:48.339 skins. These images are about capacity and readiness. 00:31:48.809 --> 00:31:52.009 So think of it like this, new wine expands as 00:31:52.009 --> 00:31:54.710 it ferments. You can't pour it into a container 00:31:54.710 --> 00:31:59.269 that it isn't ready for. Or, if you do, it'll 00:31:59.269 --> 00:32:02.650 burst or fail to hold it. So Jesus is saying 00:32:02.650 --> 00:32:07.009 this, what he has come to do, the life, the freedom, 00:32:07.069 --> 00:32:09.490 and the joy he brings cannot be contained by 00:32:09.490 --> 00:32:13.230 the old religious structures. It cannot fit into 00:32:13.230 --> 00:32:16.349 systems that rely on external compliance or rigid 00:32:16.349 --> 00:32:20.559 duty. The new life he brings requires a new kind 00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:23.420 of openness, a new kind of vessel, a heart prepared 00:32:23.420 --> 00:32:27.579 for joy rather than for rule following. Religion 00:32:27.579 --> 00:32:30.299 tends to focus on obligation. It tells us that 00:32:30.299 --> 00:32:33.180 what we must do, what we must avoid, and how 00:32:33.180 --> 00:32:35.599 to measure our worth by compliance. But Jesus 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:38.259 flips that paradigm when he says, it's not about 00:32:38.259 --> 00:32:41.579 your performance, it's about the joy of the kingdom 00:32:41.579 --> 00:32:44.740 being present. It's about relationship with me, 00:32:44.759 --> 00:32:48.000 the bridegroom. And notice how Mark structures 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:50.460 this. Immediately after this, he moves to the 00:32:50.460 --> 00:32:54.480 next pressure point, the Sabbath conflict. The 00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:57.039 joy of the kingdom challenges every legalistic 00:32:57.039 --> 00:33:00.420 assumption the Pharisees hold. It's not about 00:33:00.420 --> 00:33:03.019 duty, it's about freedom. And that freedom is 00:33:03.019 --> 00:33:05.400 what allows people to rest, to live, and to be 00:33:05.400 --> 00:33:08.920 restored. So the invitation for us today is clear. 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:14.289 Find joy in Christ. Don't let religious obligation 00:33:14.289 --> 00:33:17.269 weigh you down. Don't let duty dictate your worth 00:33:17.269 --> 00:33:20.970 instead Step into the new life. He brings in 00:33:20.970 --> 00:33:23.710 life of freedom celebration and restoration, 00:33:23.809 --> 00:33:29.549 which is our next point religion and slaves Jesus 00:33:29.549 --> 00:33:35.109 gives rest Now that we come to the part of this 00:33:35.109 --> 00:33:38.130 passage that might ruffle some feathers, I don't 00:33:38.130 --> 00:33:42.480 think so though. I Think you'll be okay Because 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:44.460 this congregation is full of hard workers, many 00:33:44.460 --> 00:33:46.740 of you spend long days laboring on farms and 00:33:46.740 --> 00:33:49.519 ranches. Some of you work from sunup to sundown, 00:33:49.579 --> 00:33:51.660 tending cattle, planting fields, repairing equipment, 00:33:51.779 --> 00:33:54.059 running businesses, and caring for your homes 00:33:54.059 --> 00:33:57.779 and your families. And like I said earlier, work 00:33:57.779 --> 00:34:01.099 is a good thing. It is a gift from God. But we 00:34:01.099 --> 00:34:04.859 see in this passage that even something good 00:34:04.859 --> 00:34:07.319 like work can become spiritually dangerous when 00:34:07.319 --> 00:34:12.829 it begins to control us. So Jesus and his disciples 00:34:12.829 --> 00:34:15.289 are walking through grain fields on the Sabbath 00:34:15.289 --> 00:34:17.730 as they walk the disciples begin plucking heads 00:34:17.730 --> 00:34:21.550 of grain and eating them Immediately the Pharisees 00:34:21.550 --> 00:34:24.170 object to them and they count this as work. So 00:34:24.170 --> 00:34:28.429 what is happening in this passage? Why are they 00:34:28.429 --> 00:34:34.090 picking grain and eating it? Because they're 00:34:34.090 --> 00:34:37.070 hungry, right? So they're just walking through 00:34:37.070 --> 00:34:38.469 because they're hungry and they're picking these 00:34:38.469 --> 00:34:40.940 heads of grain right and they're eating it And 00:34:40.940 --> 00:34:46.039 the Pharisees go, hey, that's work. And we're 00:34:46.039 --> 00:34:47.960 all chuckling because it's like, that's insane, 00:34:48.619 --> 00:34:51.619 right? My guys are just trying to eat. And that's 00:34:51.619 --> 00:34:55.699 why Jesus actually points to David. And he's 00:34:55.699 --> 00:34:59.139 like, hey, what happened? What happens when David 00:34:59.139 --> 00:35:04.760 did something even more bad? He ate the bread 00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:07.880 that only meant for priests. And the priest gave 00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:17.820 it to him. Why? Necessity. So, Jesus pushes back 00:35:17.820 --> 00:35:19.739 and he does this by pointing to scripture. He 00:35:19.739 --> 00:35:21.300 brings up the story of David eating the show 00:35:21.300 --> 00:35:24.099 bread. And yet David and his men ate it because 00:35:24.099 --> 00:35:25.900 they were hungry and in need. So why does Jesus 00:35:25.900 --> 00:35:28.460 bring the story up? Because it shows that the 00:35:28.460 --> 00:35:33.480 heart of God's law has always taken human need 00:35:33.480 --> 00:35:36.639 into account. I'm gonna say that again. The heart 00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:39.760 of God's law has always taken human need into 00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:43.360 account. David and his men weren't rebelling 00:35:43.360 --> 00:35:46.739 against God, they were surviving. And the disciples 00:35:46.739 --> 00:35:48.760 are doing the same thing here. When Jesus makes 00:35:48.760 --> 00:35:50.719 one of the most powerful statements in the entire 00:35:50.719 --> 00:35:53.340 passage, he says, the Sabbath was made for man, 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:56.179 not man for the Sabbath, so the Son of Man is 00:35:56.179 --> 00:35:59.960 Lord even of the Sabbath. This completely flips 00:35:59.960 --> 00:36:02.539 the Pharisees' understanding of the Sabbath. 00:36:03.820 --> 00:36:08.739 Do you see what Jesus is saying? The Sabbath 00:36:08.739 --> 00:36:11.960 is meant to be good. It's not meant to be work. 00:36:12.900 --> 00:36:15.539 You're making it work. You're making it a burden. 00:36:19.219 --> 00:36:22.159 They have made this into a rule to guard, a system 00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:25.179 to enforce, but Jesus says the Sabbath was actually 00:36:25.179 --> 00:36:28.699 given as a gift. It was meant to bring restoration, 00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:33.739 rejuvenation, and yes, even enjoyment. You can 00:36:33.739 --> 00:36:36.539 write this down. Remember back to creation. God 00:36:36.539 --> 00:36:39.699 rested on the seventh day. Did Jesus, did God 00:36:39.699 --> 00:36:46.760 need rest? So why would he rest? He's enjoying 00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:50.320 his work. That's exactly right, Doug. He kicked 00:36:50.320 --> 00:36:54.420 back and he just looked and he goes, wow. That's 00:36:54.420 --> 00:37:02.010 pretty incredible, right? Now that my kids are 00:37:02.010 --> 00:37:04.050 all growing up, I make the boys go out and mow 00:37:04.050 --> 00:37:08.989 the grass. But I do love to mow grass. I love 00:37:08.989 --> 00:37:11.710 to mow grass. I'll put a podcast in or a book, 00:37:11.710 --> 00:37:14.269 and I will just go to town. And after I have 00:37:14.269 --> 00:37:17.070 weeded and I have edged and I have done all the 00:37:17.070 --> 00:37:19.170 things and blown off the sidewalk and all the 00:37:19.170 --> 00:37:22.809 stuff, you want to know what I do? I sit back 00:37:22.809 --> 00:37:26.750 and stare at it. And I'm like, yeah, that's one 00:37:26.750 --> 00:37:32.769 fine looking yard right there. Dave, my neighbor 00:37:32.769 --> 00:37:35.190 across the street, has a fantastic looking yard, 00:37:35.789 --> 00:37:39.449 but I want to be like, Dave, look at my fine 00:37:39.449 --> 00:37:43.329 mowing job, right? That's what God does here. 00:37:45.170 --> 00:37:47.650 He delights in his work, the work that's been 00:37:47.650 --> 00:37:51.250 done. The Sabbath was meant to give humanity 00:37:51.250 --> 00:37:54.769 the opportunity to do the same, to stop, to breathe, 00:37:55.030 --> 00:37:57.909 and to look at the work week and say, this is 00:37:57.909 --> 00:38:03.519 good. You can write this down. But when you never 00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:06.179 stop working, when you never pause long enough 00:38:06.179 --> 00:38:09.099 to enjoy the fruit of your labor, you're no longer 00:38:09.099 --> 00:38:12.639 working as unto the Lord. You're working as unto 00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:16.179 something else. You're working for the bills, 00:38:16.539 --> 00:38:19.659 for the government, for the business, your own 00:38:19.659 --> 00:38:23.099 sense of self -worth. And I want to speak very 00:38:23.099 --> 00:38:25.380 pastorally here because I understand the reality 00:38:25.380 --> 00:38:28.659 of the lives many of you live. There are seasons 00:38:28.659 --> 00:38:31.760 in an agricultural life. when we cannot simply 00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:35.079 stop. During calving season, which I've been 00:38:35.079 --> 00:38:39.179 learning all about, animals need attention. During 00:38:39.179 --> 00:38:41.300 planting or harvest, there are windows that can't 00:38:41.300 --> 00:38:44.380 be missed. But here's the beautiful thing about 00:38:44.380 --> 00:38:48.940 scripture. God already understands this reality. 00:38:50.519 --> 00:38:53.119 The commands about rest were given to an agricultural 00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:56.940 people. The people knew that crops had to be 00:38:56.940 --> 00:39:00.050 planted and livestock had to be cared for. And 00:39:00.050 --> 00:39:02.769 yet, even to farmers, shepherds, and laborers, 00:39:02.789 --> 00:39:07.130 he still gave the command in Exodus to rest. 00:39:09.670 --> 00:39:11.449 Now someone here might be thinking, Pastor Logan, 00:39:11.469 --> 00:39:14.429 you sound a lot like a Pharisee right now. But 00:39:14.429 --> 00:39:16.690 I want you to hear me carefully. If our instinct 00:39:16.690 --> 00:39:20.130 is to defend why we cannot rest, then we might 00:39:20.130 --> 00:39:22.630 actually be closer to the Pharisees than we think. 00:39:23.429 --> 00:39:26.170 Because at its core, religion is about control. 00:39:26.869 --> 00:39:30.030 It's about proving we are worthy. It whispers 00:39:30.030 --> 00:39:33.190 to us, there's more to do. You can't stop yet. 00:39:33.650 --> 00:39:37.309 If you rest, everything will fall apart. And 00:39:37.309 --> 00:39:40.829 when we begin to believe that, what we're really 00:39:40.829 --> 00:39:43.809 saying is everything ultimately depends on me. 00:39:45.989 --> 00:39:47.690 But Jesus says something radically different. 00:39:47.769 --> 00:39:51.110 He says the Sabbath belongs to him. He is the 00:39:51.110 --> 00:39:53.829 Lord of the Sabbath, which means rest is ultimately 00:39:53.829 --> 00:39:58.489 about trust. When we stop working, we are declaring 00:39:58.489 --> 00:40:01.750 something with our lives. We are saying, Lord, 00:40:01.969 --> 00:40:04.909 the land is yours. The animals are yours. The 00:40:04.909 --> 00:40:08.010 business is yours. The bills are yours. I'm going 00:40:08.010 --> 00:40:10.570 to lay this down today and trust that you are 00:40:10.570 --> 00:40:14.650 still holding everything together. And then I 00:40:14.650 --> 00:40:17.590 will pick it up tomorrow and get back to work. 00:40:18.530 --> 00:40:25.000 But for today, we rest. We enjoy the fruit of 00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:27.239 our labor. We spend time with our families. We 00:40:27.239 --> 00:40:30.000 worship the God who provided everything in the 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.099 first place. So one of the best modern examples 00:40:34.099 --> 00:40:36.519 of this kind of conviction comes from Truett 00:40:36.519 --> 00:40:39.599 Cathy. Do you guys know who Truett Cathy is? 00:40:40.119 --> 00:40:41.800 Chick -fil -A, he's the founder of Chick -fil 00:40:41.800 --> 00:40:46.760 -A. From the very beginning Truett Cathy has 00:40:46.760 --> 00:40:49.559 always had Chick -fil -A, which back then it 00:40:49.559 --> 00:40:51.960 wasn't called Chick -fil -A. It was always closed 00:40:51.960 --> 00:40:54.809 on Sundays. Why do you think that that is crazy? 00:40:58.329 --> 00:41:02.670 You don't think it's crazy? Well, he's been considered 00:41:02.670 --> 00:41:05.750 crazy for a long time because the number one 00:41:05.750 --> 00:41:10.829 eating out day in America is Sunday. So everyone 00:41:10.829 --> 00:41:13.690 said you will never flourish. The restaurant 00:41:13.690 --> 00:41:17.309 will never go anywhere if you are constantly 00:41:17.309 --> 00:41:21.610 closed on Sundays. But Truett Cathy had a deep 00:41:21.610 --> 00:41:25.219 conviction. I must rest on Sunday, and I must 00:41:25.219 --> 00:41:29.599 be at church. And he was very, very involved 00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:31.780 with Sunday school, even till the day he died, 00:41:31.820 --> 00:41:34.840 which he died in his 90s. He led a small group 00:41:34.840 --> 00:41:39.019 of boys of second, third graders. But his whole 00:41:39.019 --> 00:41:42.199 thing was, I have to make sure that I'm faithful. 00:41:43.280 --> 00:41:45.719 Nothing will ever flourish if I'm constantly 00:41:45.719 --> 00:41:49.519 burnt out. But one of the things Drew and Kathy 00:41:49.519 --> 00:41:53.670 said, Was rest is not the enemy of success. You 00:41:53.670 --> 00:41:56.710 can write that down Rest is not the enemy of 00:41:56.710 --> 00:42:00.409 success Sometimes it is the very thing that keeps 00:42:00.409 --> 00:42:04.090 us from destroying ourselves So I want you to 00:42:04.090 --> 00:42:06.090 hear me clearly I'm not preaching this to scold 00:42:06.090 --> 00:42:09.130 you for missing church That is the least of my 00:42:09.130 --> 00:42:12.510 concerns I'm preaching this because I have lived 00:42:12.510 --> 00:42:15.849 on the other side of not resting There was a 00:42:15.849 --> 00:42:18.369 reason in my life when I was there was a season 00:42:18.369 --> 00:42:20.650 in my life when I refused to stop and that refusal 00:42:20.650 --> 00:42:23.469 led me straight into burnout in ministry I never 00:42:23.469 --> 00:42:28.469 thought I would be back in ministry And if I'm 00:42:28.469 --> 00:42:31.469 honest my family was hoping I would not go back 00:42:31.469 --> 00:42:35.010 into ministry Because the burnout had hit my 00:42:35.010 --> 00:42:39.949 family so hard If you never stop you will ultimately 00:42:39.949 --> 00:42:43.389 drag yourself into exhaustion So I'm speaking 00:42:43.389 --> 00:42:46.150 to you Not from a place of superiority. I'm speaking 00:42:46.150 --> 00:42:48.110 to you as someone who has learned the hard way 00:42:48.110 --> 00:42:51.150 that God's command to rest is not meant to restrict 00:42:51.150 --> 00:42:55.429 us, but it's meant to protect us. So Jesus knows 00:42:55.429 --> 00:42:57.750 something about you. He knows that you have limits. 00:42:58.070 --> 00:43:00.289 He knows you were created with an expiration 00:43:00.289 --> 00:43:03.969 date. And if you keep pushing without rest, eventually 00:43:03.969 --> 00:43:06.690 your body, your mind, and your spirit, it will 00:43:06.690 --> 00:43:09.949 crash. So the invitation of Jesus in this passage 00:43:09.949 --> 00:43:13.539 is simple. Lay the burden down. Trust Him. with 00:43:13.539 --> 00:43:16.519 what you cannot control and rest in the Lord 00:43:16.519 --> 00:43:19.659 of the Sabbath. And our last point, religion 00:43:19.659 --> 00:43:26.079 kills. Jesus gives life. So one of our final 00:43:26.079 --> 00:43:28.659 points, my final point here is in this scene 00:43:28.659 --> 00:43:31.440 that I think is one of the most painful scenes 00:43:31.440 --> 00:43:36.000 in all of scripture. Jesus enters the synagogue 00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:39.639 and there's a man with a withered hand. And Luke 00:43:39.639 --> 00:43:42.739 tells us that it was his right hand. Why do you 00:43:42.739 --> 00:43:49.360 think Luke would tell us that? It's the one he 00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:53.559 used the most. Meaning, he would have depended 00:43:53.559 --> 00:43:56.920 on it for work, for providing for his family 00:43:56.920 --> 00:44:00.079 and his life. This man isn't just dealing with 00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:03.760 a minor inconvenience. His condition had affected 00:44:03.760 --> 00:44:06.500 his ability to earn a living and care for himself. 00:44:08.079 --> 00:44:11.960 So here he stands. a man who is clearly suffering 00:44:11.960 --> 00:44:17.360 and Jesus is about to heal him. But the religious 00:44:17.360 --> 00:44:19.300 leaders are watching closely not because they 00:44:19.300 --> 00:44:21.159 care about the man but because they are looking 00:44:21.159 --> 00:44:24.599 for a reason to accuse Jesus. And so to them 00:44:24.599 --> 00:44:28.159 healing on the Sabbath would count as work. So 00:44:28.159 --> 00:44:31.360 think about how twisted this moment is. This 00:44:31.360 --> 00:44:36.260 man cannot care for himself or his family. It 00:44:36.260 --> 00:44:41.440 is affecting his life in a big way. And the Pharisees 00:44:41.440 --> 00:44:45.599 would rather him continue to suffer than to be 00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:50.219 healed. That's twisted, man. That's what we call 00:44:50.219 --> 00:44:54.480 spiritual abuse, by the way. It's using the scripture 00:44:54.480 --> 00:44:58.619 in a way that is meant to harm and maim, ultimately. 00:44:59.250 --> 00:45:01.789 That's why I tell you by the way whenever you 00:45:01.789 --> 00:45:05.210 see a counselor you see a pastor or someone and 00:45:05.210 --> 00:45:08.230 they are a biblical counselor if they're a good 00:45:08.230 --> 00:45:10.510 biblical counselor if they're a good pastor They're 00:45:10.510 --> 00:45:13.769 not going to use the scriptures in order to berate 00:45:13.769 --> 00:45:16.429 you the scriptures are meant to heal. Yes, they 00:45:16.429 --> 00:45:20.710 will pierce Because it's truth But it's also 00:45:20.710 --> 00:45:26.730 meant to bring healing And so here they are the 00:45:26.730 --> 00:45:31.030 Pharisees and they're like hey Don't heal that 00:45:31.030 --> 00:45:36.889 man. Don't you do it? So he's been suffering 00:45:36.889 --> 00:45:40.309 for years and Jesus is like, oh wait a second 00:45:40.309 --> 00:45:45.030 You don't want this to happen So we have this 00:45:45.030 --> 00:45:48.309 final pressure point So a man stands in front 00:45:48.309 --> 00:45:51.050 of them has likely been suffering for years and 00:45:51.050 --> 00:45:53.190 the power of God is present to restore him and 00:45:53.190 --> 00:45:55.409 they would rather him continue suffering than 00:45:55.409 --> 00:45:58.050 see their interpretation of the rules challenge 00:45:58.400 --> 00:46:00.440 And now we have this final pressure point in 00:46:00.440 --> 00:46:02.679 the section of Mark. Jesus has shown us that 00:46:02.679 --> 00:46:05.360 religion separates, that religion burdens, and 00:46:05.360 --> 00:46:08.039 religion enslaves. And now we see something even 00:46:08.039 --> 00:46:10.900 darker, and I want you to write this down. Religion 00:46:10.900 --> 00:46:13.960 is willing to sacrifice people on the altar of 00:46:13.960 --> 00:46:18.719 its system, but Jesus will not allow that. Mark 00:46:18.719 --> 00:46:21.380 tells us that Jesus looked right at them with 00:46:21.380 --> 00:46:24.199 anger, grieved at the hardness of their heart. 00:46:25.079 --> 00:46:27.760 That's an important detail. Because we often 00:46:27.760 --> 00:46:30.800 picture Jesus as this endlessly gentle, and he 00:46:30.800 --> 00:46:34.920 is, but we also see him with a righteous anger. 00:46:35.579 --> 00:46:37.739 Why? Because the Sabbath was never meant to be 00:46:37.739 --> 00:46:42.099 a cage. It was meant to be restorative. It was 00:46:42.099 --> 00:46:44.880 meant to replenish the drained. It was meant 00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:49.059 to repair the broken. So to heal the man's withered 00:46:49.059 --> 00:46:51.119 hand on the Sabbath wasn't breaking the Sabbath, 00:46:51.199 --> 00:46:55.489 it was actually fulfilling it. Jesus tells the 00:46:55.489 --> 00:46:57.730 man, stretch out your hand and immediately it 00:46:57.730 --> 00:47:02.050 is restored. Life where things have been broken, 00:47:03.769 --> 00:47:06.489 or life where there had been brokenness, strength, 00:47:06.849 --> 00:47:09.190 where there had been weakness, restoration, where 00:47:09.190 --> 00:47:12.389 there had been suffering. But look at the shocking 00:47:12.389 --> 00:47:15.139 response of the religious leaders. Instead of 00:47:15.139 --> 00:47:17.619 rejoicing, instead of praising God, and instead 00:47:17.619 --> 00:47:20.320 of celebrating the restoration of this man, Mark 00:47:20.320 --> 00:47:22.360 tells us that they went out and immediately began 00:47:22.360 --> 00:47:25.239 plotting how to destroy Jesus. And that moment 00:47:25.239 --> 00:47:29.780 reveals something that's deeply tragic. The man's 00:47:29.780 --> 00:47:32.079 hand was shriveled, but the hearts of the Pharisees 00:47:32.079 --> 00:47:34.739 were even more shriveled. They were like the 00:47:34.739 --> 00:47:38.400 Grinch. Their hearts were two sizes too small. 00:47:39.699 --> 00:47:42.239 They had become so committed to protecting their 00:47:42.239 --> 00:47:44.219 system that they could no longer recognize the 00:47:44.219 --> 00:47:47.119 life of God was standing right in front of them. 00:47:47.519 --> 00:47:49.360 They were missing the forest for the trees, and 00:47:49.360 --> 00:47:51.360 this brings us back to something I said a couple 00:47:51.360 --> 00:47:55.039 of weeks ago. Religion, like atheism, is ultimately 00:47:55.039 --> 00:47:58.940 about advice. It tells you what you should do. 00:47:59.219 --> 00:48:02.500 Do better. Try harder. Follow the rules. But 00:48:02.500 --> 00:48:05.820 the gospel is not advice. The gospel is news. 00:48:06.269 --> 00:48:09.550 Good news about what Jesus Christ has done. He 00:48:09.550 --> 00:48:12.289 came to restore what sin has broken He came to 00:48:12.289 --> 00:48:14.550 live a life where religion that religion only 00:48:14.550 --> 00:48:17.510 religion only produces pressure He came to bring 00:48:17.510 --> 00:48:20.130 healing to people whose lives have been shriveled 00:48:20.130 --> 00:48:23.610 by guilt shame exhaustion and striving and that 00:48:23.610 --> 00:48:26.309 is the invitation placed before every one of 00:48:26.309 --> 00:48:30.789 us today Where we can continue to cling to systems 00:48:30.789 --> 00:48:33.409 that exhaust us or will we continue? To come 00:48:33.409 --> 00:48:35.590 to the one or will we come to the one that restores 00:48:35.590 --> 00:48:39.519 us? Jesus stands in the synagogue that day not 00:48:39.519 --> 00:48:41.619 just as a teacher but as the Lord of the Sabbath 00:48:41.619 --> 00:48:45.840 the one that brings true rest And where Jesus 00:48:45.840 --> 00:48:49.760 is present the result is always the same the 00:48:49.760 --> 00:48:52.780 broken things are restored Burdened people find 00:48:52.780 --> 00:48:56.659 rest and those who come to receive Those who 00:48:56.659 --> 00:48:59.400 come to him receive life So I'm gonna close with 00:48:59.400 --> 00:49:03.519 this Let me give you one final picture years 00:49:03.519 --> 00:49:06.019 ago farmers used horses for nearly everything 00:49:06.079 --> 00:49:09.280 plowing fields, pulling wagons, hauling heavy 00:49:09.280 --> 00:49:12.539 loads. A good horse was incredibly valuable. 00:49:13.760 --> 00:49:16.300 It could work long hours and pull tremendous 00:49:16.300 --> 00:49:19.739 weight. But experienced farmers knew something 00:49:19.739 --> 00:49:21.800 important about those animals. What do you think 00:49:21.800 --> 00:49:28.800 that is? Gotta rest them. So what happens if 00:49:28.800 --> 00:49:30.800 you don't rest that horse?