September 28

Transcript

(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

So in the series that we've been doing is we were walking through the miracles, but not the miracles, looking for the man behind the miracles. John 12, 21. We want to see Jesus and only Jesus.

Father again in these moments as we break your word and we wait in expectation. Thank you for the word. Thank you for the invitation and thank you above all that we may see Jesus and only Jesus.

Forgive your servant Lord for his sins are many and he's but a broken vessel. But may you be more and may we all become less. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Now those who know me know that I like Peanuts comics, whatever you want to call them. Um, if you come into my house, you see Snoopy all over the place.

I really like them. There's a little book called The Gospel According to Peanuts. Really, really cool little book to read.

Some of you've read that book. Um and in there there's there's one of these beautiful moments where Linus and Lucy are in this conversation and Linus says to Lucy I'm going to become a doctor when I grow up. And uh, Grace, if you want to put that up here's what the conversation goes like.

It says you, a doctor, ha! That's a big laugh. You could never become a doctor. You know why? And then she gives him the answer.

Because you don't love mankind. That's why. And his answer? I love mankind.

It's just people I don't like or I can't stand. So, how are you doing with that? Loving people. Those amazing beings that God created so different and yet so similar in our messes, in our misery, in our marvelousness.

Here's the thing. If we want to thrive, if we want to become what God intended us to be in our lives, not just that light and that salt and that healing balm, but become who God really created us to be to open this world up to God's heart. The only way we can do that is when we learn to open our hearts to love people.

Not just God's people. I don't know who those are, but God's people or good people or my people. But to love people.

Those little images of clay that God created in his image. Problem is this. This love thing doesn't come naturally for us.

The natural thing is the eye problem, right? It's all about me, eyes. So, how do we change that? How do we allow these lives to be changed that it starts just loving unconditionally? I call it something like we need a second touch from God. And now you think he's crazy.

Well, let me read with you. Sorry for messing you around, Grace. Mark chapter 8, verse 22.

When they arrived at Bethsaida, the house of fish or fishing, some people brought a blind man to Jesus and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. Underline that little word, touch. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village and then spitting on the man's eyes, he laid his hands on him.

Underline that and ask, can you see anything now? Man looked around. Yes, he said, I see people, but I can't see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.

And then Jesus, there we go again, can underline this, placed his hands on the man's eyes again and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored and he could see everything clearly. Jesus sent him away saying, don't go back into the village on your way home.

So Jesus' disciples get to Bethsaida. There's this blind man and the people bring him out to Jesus and they say, will you touch him? Jesus takes him outside the village, puts his hands, spits on his eyes, puts his hands on him. What do you see? He says, well, I can kind of see, but people just look like trees.

What does Jesus do? Touches him a second time. And when he touched him that second time, he said, I can see everything clearly now. He needed that second touch.

He stopped seeing trees. He stopped seeing people. I wonder if that's not true for us, that we need that second touch to see why God sees people in all of their uniqueness, in all of their sacredness.

I think so many folks have received that first touch and they've heard this touch. When you get that second touch is when your heart starts breaking. For this world, as God's heart breaks for this world.

Why is that so important? Well, here's what I think. I think it's really important because people matter to God. David, you think that's true? I think that's true.

People matter to God. Remember once Jesus, Jesus was in this conversation again with these Pharisees and these teachers of the law and the Sadducees. You know why they're called Sadducees? They're always sad, you see.

They were Sadducees, always sad. Man, the church sometimes looks like that. Have you seen that? You walk into churches and they're all Sadducees.

There's not a smile on their faces. They can't move. They're just stuck like that.

Boy, they're still alive and well and nothing sinful though. None of those in this place. They're all onto Jesus and it's all about the 613 rules and regulations and laws.

And I love the way when Eugene Peterson speaks about this. He calls them these spiritual bullies. I love that.

Bullying people. Remember last week when we spoke about the blind man that received his sight and they got him in that synagogue and they were going at him. And when he didn't say what they wanted, they kicked him out of the synagogue because that's how you love people, right? But Jesus is so different.

And when Jesus talks to people, he shows them his love. He lives that love. And in this moment, he's talking to, there's thousands it says, thousands of people there.

And then he says these things. Remember I'm saying people matter to God. What is the price of five sparrows? Two copper coins? Yet, God does not forget a single one of them.

Matthew says not one of them will fall on the ground without Jesus, without God knowing. For seven of you, the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid.

You are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. You matter to God. People matter to God.

Now Jesus didn't just say these words. Jesus showed us how to live these words. Remember again in this world where people were seen as objects, where they were being used by the Romans, where they had to do everything according to little rules and regulations in the church, where little kids were seen as little objects that these patriarchal dads could do whatever they wanted with.

But then Jesus walks and Jesus sees a little kid and they ask about kingdom and Jesus goes down and he takes the little kid and he hugs the little kid and he says, this is how the kingdom looks like. How do you think that little kid felt? I matter. Those lepers that had to yell out, unclean, stay away, that were cast out to the fringes of society.

And Jesus walks right up to them and he puts his hands on them and he heals them. How do you think they felt? I matter to God. And I can multiply those examples.

He sits down in Jericho with this businessman who was so corrupt, little Zacchaeus. He talks to this woman who was so hurt, caught on adultery, but just seen as a thing. And he calls her.

How do you think that made her feel? How do our hearts feel? How do our hearts move? How do our hands? Do we have God's heart for people? You know what it does to people? When you show that love, when you live that love. Can I give you an example? And sorry, I'm going to just use my own life. It's the best bad examples that I have, but this is one of the most wonderful stories for me in my whole life.

So all of you know that I have back trouble and I struggle with the cerebral vacuum. I have to go to the pain clinic every four weeks and then they jab me from top to bottom and from bottom to top and it's got the right name. It's called a pain clinic.

My doctor is the most amazing man that I have met in my life. I love him with all my heart. I call him my brother.

He's Arabic. So I can say a few words and I'll always greet him. I say, Ahi means my brother.

And he calls me my brother too. But Hakim is a devout Muslim man. When I say devout, I mean that.

Hakim, when it's time to fast, he fasts. I usually go after lunch and when I come in, I go a little early so we can have a little chat and he's sitting there and he's reading his Quran. That's how he follows his faith.

He knows who I am because my neighbours do go down. They're good friends and so he knows I'm a pastor. And Hakim and I are always talking and first thing he does when I walk in, how is your mother herself after the prayer? Have you spoken to your mother? When are you going to visit your mother? And then sometimes I need to get this horrible thing called an epidural.

It scares the living daylights out of me. I'm okay with the needles. That's nothing.

When you have to sit there and you bend your back and he's got the six inch needle and he's going up there and there's a little scoliosis and you feel him moving around those things. Oh, holy Hannah. I never sweat.

I don't. But when he does that, the sweat runs off my body and Hakim knows how scared I am. And one day he prepared everything and I'm sitting there and I'm sweating.

And he walks around, puts his hand on my arm and he says, look at me, Hakim. He says, why are you scared? I said, Hakim, that's easy for you to say. I'm the guy sitting on the other side of that needle.

He says, no, no, no, you've got that all wrong. He says, you know the one who does this, who created you, don't you? And that's the same one that created me. Don't you think that the one that created you and who created me will take my hand and hold my hand so that I will not hurt you? Because he loves me and he loves you.

There was a lot of stuff running down my cheeks. It was not sweat. Because I saw the gospel of Jesus Christ in action in this world.

Because he reminded me that God loves and cares about me. You understand why I call him my brother? I pray for him every day. Where's my heart? Where's my heart? And my love knows that God has made it of his own.

Little broken vessels that have in him the gift. I think we need that second touch because sometimes we are unknowingly blind. And when we look at people in this world, we see them and they look like trees.

Sometimes it happens because of all kinds of stuff. Maybe one of the first things that happens is this horrible thing that came into this world called social media. It is so easy and those of you who are teachers and there's so many of them sitting in this place, you see that daily.

How these kids are hurt by social media because it's so easy to say bad things, do bad things on the stuff because you can do it without looking someone in the face. And all you see are trees, but you do not see the heartache and the brokenness that you are causing because of the stuff that you are saying and the stuff that you are doing because they are objects and not little images. Sometimes it's because of our arrogance.

Look at me. Look at what I've achieved. Sometimes it's because our feelings of inferiority.

Sometimes it's because of our feelings of fear. Sometimes it's because of our feelings of greed that we don't see people the way that God sees them. Here's the problem with that.

When I am so blind like that and I only see these trees, do you know what the effect of that is? Hurt, heartache, pain. They come and knock at my door hoping for a hug and some love and they go away and their hearts are weakening because sometimes I'm so spiritually blind. I think we need that second touch because here's the coolest thing of all.

Every investment I make into someone's life is an investment that lasts forever. It's a beautiful song by a man called Ray Balz and I'm going to play you a little piece of that that just explains that even better than I can do it. It's just a little one-minute piece.

Grace, if you have that, you can play that. Here, jump. And he was sorry as you can.

And he said, Ray, you may not know me now. And he said, wait. You used to teach my Sunday school when I was only eight.

Every week you would say I'm late before the class would start. And one day when you said that, Ray, I asked Jesus in my heart. Thank you for giving to me, Lord.

I need a life that was changed. And I need to thank you for giving to me, Lord. Every investment I make into the life of another person is an investment that lasts forever.

Because Jesus says in Matthew 6, do not store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, where thieves break in and steal. But store your treasures in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. How do we store up treasures in heaven? By giving exactly what you saw in that.

He's eight years old. He prayed a prayer. And Jesus changed my life forever.

Jesus, so often we will, and I'm using this chair as an image of my house and all the things that are in the house and all those things that are so often important to us. So often we will build our lives around these things. But when God puts a sign on that, and Grace, if you want to put it up, you can.

This is the sign that God puts on there. Sometimes we'll build our lives on our Ferraris like this one, and our Lamborghinis like this one, or our VW Bugs like this one. Or Doris is laughing at me.

That wasn't at you, Doris. And we'll think, this is my image. And we build our image around that.

You know what God says about that? Temperance. Sometimes we will build our lives on what we achieve and all the great things that we do and that we have. The sign that God will put on that is temperance.

And yet, isn't this where we build? Isn't this what we run for, what we want, all of us? Louise, come here, please. Elizabeth, come here, please. I won't do it to you.

Alexander, come here. You know what God says when he looks at these amazing people and they're just a small image of the rest of you? God looks at them and he says, forever. That's you.

Thank you. I love you. Thank you for coming up.

I could have had all of you up here. I wanted you all, but we can't do that. Forever.

This stuff is here today and gone tomorrow. Where do I build my life? On this. So you know by now that this is one of those churches where we do whatever we want and where we allow God's Spirit to do what we want.

Doris says God said we need to pray because the Holy Spirit said so. And we prayed. Did God ever move in this place? When I wrote this sermon 16 weeks ago, I think the Holy Spirit said it's time for us to take a little stalk in our own lives.

I'm going to give you a moment. I want you to sit there and to close your eyes for a moment. As you close your eyes, I want you to walk through your whole house and see all the amazing things that God is teaching and to give God thanks for that.

I also want you then to walk one by one past all of these things and put that sign on there that says, well, you walk outside your house. Maybe you walk to your garage or outside where your car is standing and your camper van is standing or your big boat is standing or your CD is standing. And say thank God for that.

But then just take that sign and put it on there. And remember it says, walk into your office. And thank God for the fact that you can work and for the gifts that come with it.

But as you look at that desk and all the things that are there, if you take that sign and put it down on there that says, thank you, then I want you to think of all the people in your life that are close to you, your husband, your wife, your parents, your children, your boyfriend, your girlfriends, those amazing people called grandparents, put a sign on them, please. Since for you think of those who care for you, those physicians, doctors, nurses, love you by their touch, by their grace, those teachers that guide you and help you grow. Will you put a sign on them for them? You look at your colleagues in this moment, all of them, will you put a sign on them that says? But I want you to think of someone that you really don't like, someone that you can't stand.

Sometimes we call them enemies. Take a good look and then place a sign on them, please. Sign it for them.

And lastly, will you look at yourself and see this amazing masterpiece that God has made, for that is what God calls you. The one that Jesus died for on the cross. Will you place that big sign right over your life and remember it every day? The one that says, thank you, Lord, for that second touch.

Thank you for touching our lives and changing it. Thank you for those who have invested in our lives, that have changed our lives. We thank you, Jesus, that we may follow your example, that we may live in such a way that people know that they matter.

We love you. With all that is in us, we love you. Thank you that you teach us how to love.

You are an amazing man, we praise you, Lord Jesus. Thank you that we can see you, the man behind the mirror. Amen.