Outsiders Welcome - Evan Wickham

[00:00:00] Welcome to Sermon of the Moment. This is the show where we find some of the best

[00:00:05] Sermons out there and share them with all of you to encourage you and equip

[00:00:10] you to walk with Jesus. Today in the show we have a message from Evan Wickham

[00:00:14] called Outciders Welcome. And as I listened to Evan preach this to Park Hill Church

[00:00:19] in San Diego, I was really struck by how much the heart of Jesus came out in

[00:00:24] the message. Evan preaches about how Jesus' love for the loss leads him to reach

[00:00:29] out to the people on the outskirts of society and how we as followers of Christ are called

[00:00:34] to follow in his footsteps. I hope you're blessed, I know I was. And with that I'm

[00:00:40] turning it over to Evan. So we live in a culture where it's natural and normal

[00:00:46] to think of ourselves as either inside or outside a group. So we're in this part

[00:00:51] of the city or that part of the city like Golden State Warriors, LA Lakers,

[00:00:56] like which yeah immediately emotions just began to rise in the room. Like we're

[00:01:01] either in this or that political group, we identify with a certain theological tribe

[00:01:06] which naturally means we're not in that other tribe or whatever. Even at a very

[00:01:11] young age kids do this right? I mean unless lunch tables are assigned at school,

[00:01:18] the tribalism is super evident early on. I'm sure many kids and adults have

[00:01:23] felt the pain of being outside a group. These memories like shape us and scar us

[00:01:28] and stick with us for the rest of our lives. In elementary school for me it was

[00:01:33] picking teams for dodgeball, it was the worst. Like if I hadn't, if I wasn't picked

[00:01:39] in the first few rounds my stomach would start to turn and my palms would sweat

[00:01:42] and then if I was left to the end I'd just want to magically vanish. And then

[00:01:47] in junior high for me it was the surf scene like all summer long every Saturday

[00:01:51] during the school year. If I could just get out in the water and prove myself

[00:01:55] in front of everyone then I'd belong, I'd get that belonging. But I can never

[00:02:00] quite get there. I was never quite in as evidenced by the way the guys, really

[00:02:04] good friends would routinely steal my surfboard and either bury it in the sand

[00:02:09] or hide it in a random outhouse. Great great friends though. Or leave it or they

[00:02:15] leave it out in the open sea past hunting to beach pier just leaving it. They're

[00:02:19] super great friends though. The sort of inside outside thing happens in a way

[00:02:24] more serious situations though like way more serious than the surf scene. It

[00:02:28] happens at the international level. Like in India for the longest time there was

[00:02:34] this caste system and the category of untouchables or deletes. And that

[00:02:42] tradition still persists even though in the 50s, 1950s technically India's

[00:02:45] constitution illegalized this caste system but the tradition is super violent

[00:02:53] still. In fact in March of 2016 only two years ago a 22 year old delete man who's

[00:02:58] the untouchable class he was hacked to death in the open street in broad daylight

[00:03:04] by three relatives of his higher class 19 year old bride. So I bring this up

[00:03:10] to help us wrap our brains around this story. This story here, Matthew 8, there's

[00:03:17] a lot happening here and one of the main points is that Jesus is welcoming

[00:03:23] the untouchables. He's welcoming the outsiders and it's explosive. Remember this

[00:03:31] chapter doesn't just come to us out of thin air. No chapter in the Bible just

[00:03:35] comes to you out of thin air always ask what's around it so like the whole

[00:03:38] story of the Bible has been building to this Jesus guy, this kingdom and

[00:03:43] with Jesus's arrival on earth the kingdom of heaven Matthew wants us to know

[00:03:48] it's here. The kingdom that Jesus came to bring that God wanted to set up all

[00:03:53] along it's at hand Jesus is the answer to our deep longings. Jesus steps into

[00:03:58] the human story as the king of God's kingdom. He's the source of the only

[00:04:03] piece that lasts the only healing that sticks. And so at the beginning of

[00:04:09] Matthew we're introduced to who this Jesus guy is and where he's from. If you

[00:04:14] remember back in February we started Matthew and Matthew starts out with a

[00:04:19] very not that interesting on the surface a genealogy like so-so, so-and-so had

[00:04:25] soons and begat so-and-so and he fathered so-and-so and it's like why would you

[00:04:28] start? It's a horrible attention getter but actually it was an extremely

[00:04:34] powerful attention getter to that culture that really the most important

[00:04:38] thing about you was your come from. And so Matthew's saying this is where

[00:04:42] Jesus came from and then when you get to chapter five like we did on Easter

[00:04:46] we started chapter five. Jesus starts teaching us how this kingdom he's

[00:04:50] bringing is going to work and it's called the sermon on the mount. Believe it or

[00:04:54] not we spent 14 weeks in the sermon on the mount since Easter until last

[00:04:58] Sunday it was 14 weeks is my favorite moment my favorite 14-week span in the

[00:05:04] history of park culture so far which is not that long but now in chapter eight

[00:05:08] the scene shifts. So it's not this teaching moment it's this doing moment.

[00:05:14] Jesus couches all of his teachings in what the actions lived out actually

[00:05:20] look like once those teachings start moving through the world. So Jesus doesn't

[00:05:24] just tell us anymore now he's showing us what his kingdom looks like in

[00:05:29] chapters eight and nine Jesus is going to show us what kind of kingdom this will be

[00:05:33] what kind of king rules this kingdom and who's gonna be in it. Jesus is defining

[00:05:40] what the kingdom is and who it's made of okay so with that intro let's dive

[00:05:45] in Matthew communicates at least three large themes here here's the road map

[00:05:50] we're gonna see number one the kingdom is coming for outsiders we're gonna

[00:05:55] spend the most time on that one. The kingdom's coming for outsiders powerfully

[00:06:00] good news and two the kingdom's coming by grace through faith huge we can't

[00:06:06] miss that and then finally this king who's in charge of this kingdom he's

[00:06:11] bearing our burdens it's how this whole thing is possible through our burden

[00:06:17] bearing king okay so first let's dive in the kingdom's coming for outsiders

[00:06:23] so there are three different healings in this story Jesus heals first a man with

[00:06:30] leprosy and then he heals a Roman centurion's servant and then he heals

[00:06:36] Peter's mother-in-law there's something all three of these people haven't

[00:06:40] common they were all thought of as people on the margins people that were

[00:06:45] pushed to the edges of power all three of them they're outsiders so the first

[00:06:51] outsider Jesus heals as a man with leprosy let's read verses one through four when

[00:06:56] Jesus came down from the mountainside large crowds followed him a man with

[00:07:00] leprosy came and knelt before him and said Lord if you're willing you can make

[00:07:05] me clean Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man I am willing he said be

[00:07:12] clean immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy Jesus said to him see that

[00:07:17] you don't tell anyone but go show yourself to the priests and offer the gift

[00:07:20] Moses commanded as a testimony to them okay what a point out how brilliant Matthew

[00:07:25] is many Bible nerds have pointed this out in the past Matthew is intentionally

[00:07:32] mapping the story of Jesus over the familiar story of Moses he's mapping them

[00:07:38] on each other if we were first century Jewish readers of Matthew we would have

[00:07:42] actually picked this up instinctively it's like someone saying just like

[00:07:47] Frodo went up Mount Doom or whatever we all immediately go to Peter Jackson's

[00:07:50] movie or if you're a literature buff you go to the book which is way better and

[00:07:53] if so if you are first century Jews you would have picked up oh my gosh Jesus

[00:07:59] goes up a mountain so that's like Moses going up on Mount Sinai Jesus went

[00:08:05] up a mountain to teach and get teachings to the people Moses went up a mountain

[00:08:10] to get teachings from God for the people that's interesting and then chapter 8

[00:08:15] begins and now we see Jesus coming down from the mountain they're like oh my

[00:08:18] gosh Moses came down from a mountain and he threw two tablets out of a bunch of

[00:08:23] people and they died what's about to happen now Jesus comes down from the

[00:08:28] mountain and it's different there's a twist Jesus doesn't come down with

[00:08:33] tablets Jesus comes down empty handed he is the law in person he doesn't come

[00:08:41] down with these written stones that he's about to crack on the ground and no

[00:08:44] he comes down as the law okay what what's he gonna do as the law well the first

[00:08:49] thing he does with his empty hands is he reaches them out and touches with

[00:08:54] compassion the people nobody wanted to touch powerful what Matthew was doing

[00:08:59] here with the story okay so first this man this man with leprosy gets touched

[00:09:04] and cleansed Jesus is this what this teaches us Jesus welcomes the physically

[00:09:10] excluded Matthew wants us to hear this leprosy was and still is a horrible

[00:09:18] human skin disease we did some work with American leprosy mission a few years

[00:09:24] back and American leprosy mission based in South Carolina amazing organization

[00:09:29] there's thousands of documented cases of leprosy in America right now millions

[00:09:35] all across the world this disease is still wreaking havoc on human flesh so it's

[00:09:41] horrible disease according to Leviticus and the Old Testament they had like a

[00:09:46] code of how to deal with leprosy and leprosy made a person richly unclean and

[00:09:52] even they were considered to be under a curse this excluded them from normal

[00:09:56] life and normal worship people with leprosy were actually commanded to not

[00:10:00] wash their hair ever so that people would see how different they are and as

[00:10:06] they walk through the streets they were supposed to shout out I'm unclean shout it

[00:10:10] out so that everyone could avoid them so of all people in Israel people with

[00:10:15] leprosy were probably the most marginalized a person with leprosy had zero

[00:10:19] place in this in this societal structure they had no lot that they had to live

[00:10:24] away from other people's homes this disease was horrible it carried it actually

[00:10:28] carried this horror it's hard to think of a modern analogy to this like

[00:10:34] think maybe the Ebola scare of like five years ago remember like news stories

[00:10:40] of people with hazmat suits and nobody wanted to go to the airport something

[00:10:44] like that or maybe it's there's an aspect it's like bedbugs I mean Sandin I

[00:10:49] love visiting New York City but whenever we do there always seems to be news of

[00:10:52] a bed bug outbreak somewhere in that city and it changes everything about our

[00:10:56] trip and you go to a little theater in East Village and there's people wrapping

[00:11:03] theater seats in Saran rap and it's just like I I don't know how to move I

[00:11:08] don't know where to go and everyone kind of puts their luggage on in hotel

[00:11:11] bathtubs instead of on the carpet and people don't know how to engage with one

[00:11:15] another and that's it's like am I gonna touch you am I gonna get you something

[00:11:18] so in this passage is kind of like that our man with leprosy comes to Jesus but

[00:11:24] Jesus doesn't wrap his hand in Saran rap he reaches it out and touches him

[00:11:30] Jesus doesn't shout healing from a distance he touches him in fact the author

[00:11:36] has a double verb he stretches out his hand and touches him to emphasize

[00:11:43] that Jesus is doing it different Jesus is more compassionate than you or I

[00:11:47] could begin to contrive ourselves to be this is what Matthew's saying and and

[00:11:52] Jesus wants us to follow him in that just super challenging Jesus is purity

[00:11:57] overpowers our pollution every time so here's what this means very very

[00:12:05] practical moment if you are here in this room and part of your story is that

[00:12:12] something about your physical bodily experience of life has kept you from

[00:12:17] belonging if you felt like an outsider maybe it's a disability or an illness

[00:12:27] or weight related or skin related or something that was done to you by someone in

[00:12:35] your body and you feel like damaged goods whatever it is Matthew is screaming

[00:12:44] at us Jesus is willing to reach out to you and touch you and bring you cleansing

[00:12:51] and welcome you into the center of what Jesus is doing in the world now as you are

[00:12:56] this is so powerful and I hope we hear that from from the spirit today but

[00:13:02] Jesus doesn't just welcome the physically excluded the next person he goes to is

[00:13:08] someone that was racially excluded and Jesus welcomes this person Jesus welcomes

[00:13:14] the racially excluded let's read verse five and onward when Jesus entered

[00:13:19] cappernum a Centurion non Jew came to him asking for help Lord he said my

[00:13:25] servant lies at home paralyzed suffering terribly Jesus said to him shall I

[00:13:29] come and heal him this Centurion replied Lord I don't deserve to have you come

[00:13:34] under my roof just say the word and my servant will be healed for I myself a

[00:13:38] man under authority with soldiers under me I tell this one go and he goes and

[00:13:41] that one come and he comes I say to my servant do this and he does it when

[00:13:46] Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those following him truly I tell you

[00:13:51] I haven't found anyone in Israel with such faith I say to you that many will

[00:13:56] come from the east and the west and will take their places at the feast with

[00:13:59] Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven but the sons or subjects of

[00:14:04] the kingdom the people we think are in will be thrown outside into the darkness

[00:14:09] where they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth then Jesus said to the Centurion

[00:14:13] go let it be done just as you believed it would and the servant was healed at

[00:14:18] that moment okay in this story a Roman Centurion comes to Jesus and asks

[00:14:23] Jesus to heal his servant and this Centurion is aware of the culture he

[00:14:27] realizes a Jewish Messiah guy cannot come into a Gentile house that's

[00:14:32] against the law of the custom so he simply says Jesus say the word just say

[00:14:37] the word from a distance and it'll be done and Jesus it says he's not he's

[00:14:41] amazed but he's not just amazed he's more than that he actually says this

[00:14:47] outsider is actually doing it better than any of the insiders Jesus points

[00:14:54] that out this Centurion this Roman Gentile is supposedly the least likely

[00:15:00] person to have faith not only that but this Roman soldier was totally the enemy

[00:15:04] by all the measurements Jews had at that time he was the symbol of oppression

[00:15:09] for the Jews this Centurion was part of the others he was the them who enslaved

[00:15:16] and taxed Israel and more than that some of his bosses famously murdered Jews

[00:15:22] and profane the temple so it's safe to say the general sense for Jewish people

[00:15:27] was that these Romans are the others who are against our national and religious

[00:15:34] and economic interests so the Romans were these enemies they were the white

[00:15:41] privileged in the American South to the African Americans in the early 20th

[00:15:45] century they were like the Germans or the Japanese to the Polish or Jewish

[00:15:51] people in World War II this Centurion was the hardcore Republican to the die

[00:15:56] hard Democrat or vice versa and to the total shock of the disciples Jesus

[00:16:01] helps the Centurion and blesses his great faith you don't even need the

[00:16:07] background info on what's going on here to get how shocking it is look at

[00:16:10] verse 11 and 12 on the screen Jesus says I tell you many will come from the

[00:16:16] east and west that's outside and recline at the table with Abraham Isaac and Jacob

[00:16:22] while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness Jesus is

[00:16:29] clearly saying many who we think are outsiders many from the east and the

[00:16:36] west from the far left or the far right so to speak they will actually be

[00:16:42] insiders at the King's table on the last day and in the same breath many who

[00:16:48] we think of as happy middle sons of the kingdom will actually be outside the

[00:16:53] kingdom as we unpack the rest of Matthew it seems like story after story it's

[00:16:59] like the sons don't believe in Jesus and the outsiders do this recurring

[00:17:06] theme that shake and everybody up and get never on their toes so we have

[00:17:11] Jesus helping someone who's physically excluded the leprous man and someone

[00:17:15] who's racially excluded this enemy and in the third healing story Jesus

[00:17:21] welcomes the sexually excluded in terms of gender when Jesus came into Peter's

[00:17:25] house here it is he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever he

[00:17:31] touched her hand and the fever left her and she got up and began to wait on him

[00:17:37] okay this is the third outsider Jewish women were insanely underprivileged

[00:17:44] and just think just think of today and think of the ways women do not do not

[00:17:49] receive equal pay and all of those conversations that are incredibly essential

[00:17:53] necessary multiply it by I don't know how many I don't want to judge but many

[00:17:57] more and you've got this situation where women legally cannot represent

[00:18:01] themselves one-to-one with men even still today in in some Arabic cultures I

[00:18:08] visited Saudi Arabia about six years ago and women it's illegal for a woman to

[00:18:12] drive and we're walking down the street with our tour guides who are American

[00:18:17] women that were stationed in this oil company in Saudi Arabia and they

[00:18:20] weren't they wouldn't it wouldn't walk alongside us in public it's cultural but

[00:18:26] it represents an ethic and an ethos that goes way back and it's rooted in

[00:18:32] cultures like this one Judaism wasn't explicitly anti-women they had high

[00:18:39] honor for women in their literature if you read the Old Testament you come across

[00:18:42] really highly honored women but men were far more honored across the board

[00:18:48] remember Matthew's narrative here is all about Jesus healing and welcoming

[00:18:51] those who are excluded in some way from society and in all three of these

[00:18:56] stories the physically excluded the racially excluded the sexually excluded in

[00:19:03] all three of these stories Jesus heals them he doesn't go to sick

[00:19:09] Pharisees and heal them he doesn't go to scribes religious leaders Jewish men

[00:19:16] the pastors the seminary professors the people with Bible degrees or the

[00:19:22] pro-life activists he heals the people on the margin and he welcomes them from

[00:19:32] the outside in there's so much we could say about that there's so many

[00:19:39] implications for that what does this mean for us Park El Chiroot San Diego 2018

[00:19:43] first of all a story like this definitely reveals something about who our

[00:19:49] goddess God is compassionate and only he has the authority to do this stuff

[00:19:54] God is compassionate and he's the one with authority and it also reveals that

[00:19:59] God gets a kick out of diversity God delights in diversity as I mentioned in

[00:20:07] the beginning this is about Jesus defining who's in and out of this kingdom

[00:20:11] he's bringing he's telling us the kingdom will be made up of people who don't

[00:20:14] look like us or work like us or even act like us and at that final heavenly

[00:20:19] banquet there'll be this massive table and so many different faces around

[00:20:23] this table and most of these faces will be very different from ours and God

[00:20:28] delights in this I want to say this I believe based on the trajectory of

[00:20:34] Matthew and the scriptures in the Holy Spirit's work at Pentecost the future

[00:20:38] belongs to the diverse spectrum of people who embrace the power of the

[00:20:44] spirit all over the world the future belongs to this diverse global body of

[00:20:49] Christ did you know already the average quote unquote average Christian in the

[00:20:54] world is not male but female not white but brown or black more likely in the

[00:21:02] third world than in the first world and by an overwhelming margin globally

[00:21:07] Pentecostal love that overwhelmingly so it's like this while we debate each other

[00:21:14] on Facebook with competing CS Lewis quotes and listen to cold play over lattes

[00:21:18] the average Christian girl in the world today is a Holy Spirit obsessed 22-year

[00:21:24] old black or brown girl who hasn't been to a passion conference she hasn't

[00:21:28] read the latest Christian best seller or even the last thousand best sellers

[00:21:31] she hasn't read your blog or mine and she's walking boldly in the power of the

[00:21:36] spirit believing with all her heart that Jesus dot on the cross to save her

[00:21:38] entire world as she knows it this is the spirits trajectory a lot of the

[00:21:47] things that get us lost in debates and lost in division the spirits moved on

[00:21:51] from that with his first act as king coming down the mountain Jesus is showing

[00:21:57] us here that God delights in this he delights in diversity and this is a huge

[00:22:02] encouragement for us in three ways first it reminds us that we too were once

[00:22:08] outside the love of Christ we too are outside Jesus came to us when we're

[00:22:15] needy Jesus came to you when you needed him contrary to popular opinion the

[00:22:20] church isn't made up of people who have it figured out the church is made

[00:22:25] up of people who confess that we actually don't have it figured out that's

[00:22:29] that's a marker who we are Jesus didn't call us because we were more worthy than

[00:22:34] other people but because we recognized our unworthiness do you know what this

[00:22:38] means it means that to stay in Christ to be in the king's kingdom we don't

[00:22:45] need to become something we're not we simply acknowledge who we were without

[00:22:50] Jesus as we run to him that's who we are none of us deserve a seat at this table

[00:22:56] but the good news of the gospel is that we have a king who heals and

[00:23:02] welcomes those who we would think don't belong it's the greatest news ever

[00:23:08] for us so a second reason this story of diversity and God delighting in this

[00:23:13] multifaceted family is it shows us that the family of God's welcoming it's

[00:23:18] welcoming to all right away if you're not a Christian maybe the

[00:23:22] statement surprises you in this room maybe you're considering Christianity

[00:23:27] maybe you're not maybe you're like I don't even know why I'm here I'm right on

[00:23:30] the edge it's interesting how many people I meet that come to Parkville church

[00:23:36] saying yeah I just am here because it's like my last shot I'm giving the church

[00:23:41] I'm like wow awesome me too in a very real sense like I so love the church I

[00:23:50] so believe in what God is doing through the church that I can't I can't leave

[00:23:54] I believe there's no there's no Christianity apart from the church I love her but

[00:23:59] I fully understand that that ethos that feeling so maybe this comes to you as a

[00:24:05] surprise the family God's welcoming to all people maybe thought of

[00:24:09] Christians as people who judge others and who exclude people maybe you're

[00:24:12] right about some of us though maybe that's right maybe that's accurate but

[00:24:16] listen do you realize that this is Jesus this is the Savior we follow this do

[00:24:23] you realize we as a church exist to follow this insanely inclusive

[00:24:29] savior through whom is the only route to inclusion which is the paradox of

[00:24:39] him and we follow him even though we do it imperfectly if you're here and

[00:24:48] you're not a Christian please do not base your decision to follow or not to

[00:24:53] follow Jesus on popular portrayals of Christians base it on this Jesus this

[00:25:01] Jesus that we're unpacking today he's so unbelievably good another reason this

[00:25:05] is so encouraging finally if we feel small if you're here and you're just like

[00:25:09] grasping for significance you don't know what your next move is you literally

[00:25:13] feel pushed down the totem pole of your career or whatever if you feel small

[00:25:19] or insignificant we need to remember it is specifically through those who feel

[00:25:24] small that God loves to show his power all the time if you're reading the Bible

[00:25:31] with us as a church this year this is no surprise to you constantly all the way

[00:25:35] through the scriptures God repeatedly uses the most unlikely people to

[00:25:39] accomplish his purpose I'm just gonna throw just some of them a fraction of

[00:25:42] them on the screen he called the moon worshipper Abraham from the small land of

[00:25:46] earth you know that Abraham the moon worshipper he chose Jacob the younger

[00:25:49] brother not he saw the older he used Joseph the youngest of Jacob's sons he

[00:25:54] called Moses as a spokesman when he couldn't speak he picks the Israelites who

[00:25:58] were stubborn and rebellious he saves prostitute Rahab because she hid some

[00:26:03] spies he calls Gideon from the weakest clan and fills him with power he

[00:26:09] annoys David as king when he was the youngest and a shepherd he chose eight

[00:26:13] year old Josiah to be king he chose fishermen to be his followers he makes

[00:26:19] Peter a key church leader even though he denied Jesus the head of the church

[00:26:23] he chooses Paul the Christian killer to be a lead church planner and he has

[00:26:28] his son Jesus born in a manger run around homeless and eventually executed

[00:26:34] by the state for treason God loves to work his mighty power through the people

[00:26:39] we least expect so that his name gets the glory this is how he works all the

[00:26:46] time but there's there's actually a challenge it's a difficult part of this for

[00:26:51] us let's be honest sometimes when we read Bible stories like this we're like yeah

[00:26:57] leprosy was bad in those days we've and let's get the cultural background and

[00:27:01] our eyes just glaze over but let's bring this home because it's always nice to

[00:27:08] talk about love until you have to love someone it's nice talking about

[00:27:14] forgiveness until you have to forgive someone and talking about inclusivity feels

[00:27:22] awesome until you have to include someone we have to ask ourselves what would

[00:27:29] our reaction be if someone like this walk through our door and into our lives is

[00:27:36] a question worth asking who would we exclude and be honest with ourselves about

[00:27:43] that who would we push away would it be someone who has a certain skin color

[00:27:49] would it be someone who doesn't have a certain legal national status would it

[00:27:55] be someone who was a certain sex gender or has a certain sexual orientation

[00:28:01] who would we exclude from our lives maybe it's someone in your own family you've

[00:28:06] been pushing away for so long you don't even realize you're pushing them away

[00:28:08] anymore the good news of the kingdom of heaven is that Jesus is coming to heal

[00:28:16] like the christmas Carol says to bid sad divisions cease and we as citizens of

[00:28:26] his kingdom on earth advance signs of coming attractions we're supposed to be

[00:28:30] on the front end of this healing unifying work that's what the church is we

[00:28:35] need to know how to appropriately respond to racial tension how not to be

[00:28:39] silent about the things that hurt people on the margins we have to have to go

[00:28:45] into that place as a church if the church won't who will if if if the people

[00:28:49] holding the gospel of Jesus don't well what's gonna fill the void the gospel

[00:28:54] speaks to these things we need to know how to appropriately respond to the

[00:28:57] sexual tensions which are very much alive today identity questions that

[00:29:02] revolve around gender and sexuality these aren't just issues out there the moment

[00:29:07] we look at this room and say oh those are issues outside of these beautiful

[00:29:11] walls that's the moment we lose in fact this is part of the reason this is at

[00:29:18] the heart of the reason why and September the leaders at Parkhill Church and

[00:29:22] and the volunteer leadership are going to be invited to attend Preston

[00:29:26] Sprinkles faith sexuality and gender forum in the fall he's he's an

[00:29:32] incredible scholar involving a multiplicity of voices in this research that he

[00:29:36] does equipping churches and how to step into the awkward and how to be

[00:29:41] there when there's hurt and how to speak through talk through these issues

[00:29:45] they're already being talked through everywhere else so he he's gonna lead us in a

[00:29:50] discussion and it involves multiple churches for the purpose of appropriately

[00:29:55] responding to the huge sexual tensions in our city not just in our city in our

[00:30:00] church and in many of our families even and Jesus is calling his church to be on

[00:30:07] the leading edge of this welcoming unifying work involving people from across

[00:30:12] the spectrum calling them to surrender to Jesus as the one and only king you

[00:30:19] don't get into this kingdom without the king everybody wants the kingdom the

[00:30:23] kingdom's awesome divisions gone it's super includes that's amazing inclusivity

[00:30:28] and everyone's together it's diverse but the only way this kingdom exists is

[00:30:34] through our burden bearing king and submission to his authority alone and it all

[00:30:41] centers on Jesus fully inclusive and fully exclusive it's both so are you

[00:30:49] under 18 here are you going to high school in the fall back from summer this is

[00:30:56] super relevant for you who do you intentionally sit next to when there's not

[00:31:02] assigned seats like who do you include in sports who do you ignore these are the

[00:31:08] questions citizens of heaven ask while living on earth because when you show

[00:31:13] someone the love of Jesus you're showing them what Jesus is actually like the

[00:31:18] entire message of Jesus here is that he's breaking down the walls of separation

[00:31:22] it's specifically for the outsiders that he comes it's specifically the

[00:31:26] untouchables that he wants to touch that's our Jesus so I just told you

[00:31:32] the whole first point of this sermon the other two points are the conclusion the

[00:31:38] first point that I told you it would take most of the time it was that the kingdom

[00:31:42] is coming for outsiders second thing the kingdom is coming by grace through

[00:31:48] faith and I've alluded to this already the kingdom is offered to all but only

[00:31:55] through one the kingdom is offered to everyone but only through the only king of

[00:32:02] the kingdom and it's it's both in other words only Jesus can heal and he will

[00:32:09] heal and welcome everyone who has faith in him in the story of the man with

[00:32:13] leprosy what does the man with leprosy do this is important you cannot read this

[00:32:17] story without noting this the man comes kneels before him and calls him what Lord

[00:32:24] Jesus responds to faith if you're willing see hear that if you're willing

[00:32:30] there's respect there it's not like if you can can you even I don't know I have my

[00:32:36] deconstructionist doubts or whatever no he's like if you are willing you'd be

[00:32:42] clean you can make me and the same thing with the Roman soldier in verse six he asked

[00:32:47] for help saying Lord my servant is dying and he acknowledges Jesus authority

[00:32:53] and and what does he say no Jesus you're so powerful and so in charge just say

[00:33:00] the word from miles away and Jesus responds wow I've never seen faith like this

[00:33:07] in the insiders well done I bless you I heal your servant Jesus responds to

[00:33:15] faith I want us to hear that Jesus responds to faith I love how one author puts

[00:33:21] it he says this if you want God's grace all you need is need so the healing of

[00:33:31] Peter's mother-in-law is unique notice in the story of Peter's mother-in-law

[00:33:34] getting healed she she doesn't say anything she's catatonic she can't ask

[00:33:38] she can't pray she does Jesus just comes to her just as it never happens in

[00:33:44] the gospels by the way it's the only time that happens in the entire four

[00:33:46] gospels where Jesus just heals someone who didn't express faith they didn't

[00:33:51] pray they didn't ask for anything there's nothing that brings it on Jesus just

[00:33:55] heals her beautiful moment telling us his grace is abounding it's spilling over

[00:34:01] his being he desires to work but but he responds to faith because what does

[00:34:06] Peter's mother-in-law do after she's healed it says she immediately gets up

[00:34:11] and begins to serve Jesus so the fruit of faith was there faith means

[00:34:17] acknowledging both our unworthiness and the worthiness of Jesus if I don't

[00:34:22] acknowledge the desperate nature of my situation then I don't need faith I

[00:34:26] don't need grace because I got this right so faith acknowledges my need and at

[00:34:32] the same time it recognizes Jesus power love and authority Jesus has the

[00:34:36] ability and the desire to heal and to bring us into his new family faith means

[00:34:41] calling out to Jesus not just at the beginning of your life not just on some

[00:34:46] day you walked forward at a harvest crusade or some some moment you prayed a

[00:34:50] prayer that's not saving faith in its entirety no no faith means calling out

[00:34:56] to Jesus throughout your life with Jesus like we should be daily like the man

[00:35:00] with leprosy saying Lord today July 10th whatever day that's is in two days

[00:35:05] July 10th today today Lord if you're willing I respect you I believe in your

[00:35:13] authority make me clean maybe sometimes it's Lord I believe but help my

[00:35:17] unbelief either way it's this pointer towards his ability and this faith in him

[00:35:23] in his authority so we know it's by grace we're saved through faith it's not our

[00:35:29] don't doing it's a gift of God and finally this this story we're gonna come to the

[00:35:34] table on this note we're gonna come to the table and eat and drink from the

[00:35:38] bread and the cup on this this passage climaxes with this powerful moment of

[00:35:44] reflection on Jesus our burden bearing King the King bears our burdens this is how

[00:35:53] all the cleansing and welcoming and including and healing is even possible so

[00:35:57] let's read the text verse 1617 when evening came many who were demon possessed

[00:36:03] were brought to him and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the

[00:36:08] sick this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah quote he

[00:36:13] took up our infirmities and bore our diseases this section of Matthew 8 it

[00:36:19] climaxes with a quote from an ancient prophet out of Isaiah 53 and this is the

[00:36:26] only time in the gospels Isaiah 53 is quoted it's a cornerstone but it's

[00:36:31] only quoted once in the gospels why does he quote it here why does he quote it

[00:36:36] here in a healing passage I feel like Jesus suffering for us is more of a

[00:36:41] cross prophecy isn't it but Matthew puts it here in a healing passage I think

[00:36:51] Matthew's trying to tell us and I'm not the only one that thinks this that

[00:36:56] Jesus through his life of suffering somehow takes upon himself not just our

[00:37:01] sins but our sickness and our pains and our diseases and he bears them in

[00:37:08] himself somehow Jesus doesn't just wipe away all our suffering and our

[00:37:13] sickness he doesn't just wipe it away and wave his magic wand and make it make

[00:37:18] it go away he absorbs them into himself and experiences them somehow does

[00:37:24] that mean Jesus got sick I personally think yes I personally think

[00:37:30] Jesus experienced the full human experience for and with all of us in ways

[00:37:39] that we will never know obviously because we don't have a time machine but he took

[00:37:43] everything that is evil and wrong in the world and put his healing hand on it

[00:37:47] and it entered his hand and went through his entire person so many times we can

[00:37:52] look at this story and just see oh Jesus welcomes the outsiders Jesus has

[00:37:56] compassion and Jesus has authority but we miss that he's suffering Jesus is

[00:38:02] suffering with us that's what makes all this possible that's what makes it all

[00:38:05] makes sense without that he's a distant detached God who just waves a magic

[00:38:10] wand that's not our king the gospel promises that God will make everything

[00:38:17] right again your suffering and mine he will make earth like heaven but this

[00:38:23] comes at a cost it came at the cost of God's son Jesus we enter this kingdom

[00:38:31] with the right relationship with God through faith which leads to all things

[00:38:37] being healed physically healed and spiritually healed but the way we enter this

[00:38:42] kingdom is through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus my mentor

[00:38:49] Gary Bashir is once told the story of Donald Gray Barnhouse he's this

[00:38:54] he's this old pastor from the 50s Barnhouse lost his wife to cancer when

[00:38:59] she was in her 30s and when they're walking to the funeral his daughter looked

[00:39:03] up at him and said daddy if Jesus died for our sins why do we still die and at

[00:39:11] that moment a huge truck roared past them on the street and Barnhouse turned

[00:39:16] to his daughter and asked tell me sweetheart would you rather be run over by that

[00:39:21] truck or by its shadow by the shadow she replied because the shadow can't hurt

[00:39:29] you and Barnhouse nodded and said did you know baby that the the truck of death

[00:39:35] ran over the Lord Jesus in order that only its shadow might run over us your

[00:39:41] mother has not been overrun by death but by the shadow of death and that is

[00:39:46] nothing to fear the way God chose to make things right the way he chose to

[00:39:54] make things right wasn't simply to wave them away there wasn't just a brush

[00:40:01] them aside or forgetfully dismiss them instead he sent a man from Nazareth to

[00:40:10] live a mission that ended by being run over by the truck of our violence and

[00:40:16] death it was placed on Jesus and as he was led to the cross where he would

[00:40:21] pay for everything with his very life he absorbed it and this passage of

[00:40:26] healings makes it clear that he didn't just do this on the cross he did

[00:40:29] through his whole life as he healed people he took upon them what what do you

[00:40:33] think happens when you touch a man with leprosy you risk taking it upon you this

[00:40:39] is Jesus this is our king this is his whole life and I know many of you are

[00:40:46] struggling with sickness here and you wonder why why if I'm a Christian if I'm

[00:40:52] a love child of a good good father like I sing then why does this still plague

[00:40:58] me why does he seem to answer some prayers in stories and not the ones I pray

[00:41:03] every single night I hope this person doesn't mind not gonna name him but I

[00:41:09] spoke with an individual here last Sunday about this very question this person

[00:41:14] is dealing with chronic pain that's keeping them from their joys deep

[00:41:21] questions I was asked after the gathering like how do I even posture myself

[00:41:26] before a God and how do I think of his activity in my life in the midst of all

[00:41:30] this in what sense does he hear me and I think if this isn't the place to

[00:41:36] hash that out in honesty and transparency then we have no place that's what

[00:41:40] this is for and listen there's no easy answer to this every single model we

[00:41:45] construct in our heads hits a wall there's no easy answer to this what we can

[00:41:53] say is that although Jesus came to set up his kingdom and to get the

[00:42:01] party started and show us what it would look like Jesus hasn't brought this

[00:42:08] kingdom to its fullness yet we still live in a world full of darkness which is

[00:42:13] why we can pray sometimes for healing and someone is healed and lives another

[00:42:17] 15 years or we can pray for healing and they die because we're in between the

[00:42:22] two comings the king came and he will come again and because of this two

[00:42:26] comings these two advance we call them because of those two arrivals we're caught

[00:42:32] in the middle of this battle I mentioned Gary my mentor he he phrases it

[00:42:37] this way the spiritual battle that has been raging since the fall it upticked

[00:42:43] when Christ died not because Satan got more power or because Satan thinks he

[00:42:48] can win but because he thinks he can lose he thinks he's lost so think of World War

[00:42:52] 2 you've seen saving private Ryan maybe that movie opens with D day the

[00:42:59] bloodiest part of World War 2 so many people sacrifice their lives but guess what

[00:43:03] happened on D day from that moment on Hitler had no chance statistically

[00:43:07] militaristically and like there was no chance for Hitler to win after he lost

[00:43:11] Normandy Beach but from D day to actual war is over a day it was 11 months of

[00:43:19] the bloodiest fighting of all of the war the cross was D day Satan has no

[00:43:26] chance of taking any more ground Jesus will win the gates of hell will not

[00:43:31] prevail against the church but the bloodiest most horrific painful fighting is

[00:43:39] going on today a defeated foe is a bitter one and so we're between these two

[00:43:47] comings the kingdom of God is here but it's not here both of those statements are

[00:43:52] true this is the tension Christians in the church age live in this is why you

[00:43:56] can pray sometimes and it works and sometimes it doesn't quote unquote work we're

[00:44:02] part of something so intensely spiritual and physical and meshed together in our

[00:44:09] king pay of the way forward into victory and through his healing power we see

[00:44:13] signs of coming attractions and as the church unifies around the gospel and

[00:44:17] fights outsiders in we see coming attractions and as we love one other well

[00:44:21] and actually treat our homes as ground zero HQ for where this unifying work takes

[00:44:26] place we see advanced signs of coming attractions of heaven says who we are

[00:44:30] what we do as a church so we have hope and comfort because we know all of

[00:44:34] these sicknesses are the shadow of death the truck hit Jesus willingly he took it

[00:44:41] so now just the shadow of the truck which is still hard because David wrote

[00:44:46] about it though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no

[00:44:51] evil for you are with me the one who owns death who owned it in his own flesh

[00:44:59] we're gonna come to the table and celebrate that very act of Jesus right now

[00:45:03] heavenly Father

[00:45:06] your kingdom is here and it's coming we're on the edge of our seats we want to see

[00:45:13] you move we want to see you break in we want to see the spirit breakdown walls

[00:45:17] between people that are divided we want to see a church that rises up in Christ

[00:45:21] and offers the healing presence of Jesus unlike any other human institution fill

[00:45:29] us with your spirit now as we come to your table we eat and we drink to you

[00:45:33] Savior of our souls thank you for calling us into your kingdom when we did not

[00:45:39] deserve when we were far when we were dead you made us alive with Christ can

[00:45:45] we stand together

[00:45:50] wow so good thanks for listening to sermon of the moment on the Good Lion

[00:45:54] Podcast Network we hope this message encouraged you and to find more great

[00:45:58] content check out our website goodlion.io if you want to hear more from Pastor

[00:46:04] Evan check out Parkhill Church the website is parkhillsd.church the message

[00:46:12] is there fantastic you will absolutely be blessed if you check them out thanks

[00:46:17] for listening may the love of Jesus go with you