Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hi, guys. How are you?
[00:00:03] Well, we are dwindling by the week, huh?
[00:00:07] Next month, we start our new routine for the fall. So I know a lot of people have gone back to school. Did anyone start today?
[00:00:16] Yes.
[00:00:18] Yes.
[00:00:22] Well, I also started today.
[00:00:27] Yes. I'm going to seminary, and today was my first day with a group of eight of us. I think I've got a picture of us this morning. We're partnering with the school here in Cleveland called Emmaus, and we're able to host right from the campus right here. So it's awesome. And I got up this morning, and I have been feeling, like, nervous and excited about school. I have been feeling like I've been out of it. I was in college over 20 years ago. Okay. So I've been studying under my dad, but it's just a little different when you're studying under your dad. You know what I mean? You can ask the questions. You can do whatever you want with your dad. He's so helpful. So I woke up this morning, I was feeling nervous. I got up early so I could go through the.
[00:01:14] I'm tired.
[00:01:16] What's it called?
[00:01:18] Thank you. So I could go through the syllabus, and I'm going to be a really good student.
[00:01:23] And so I got the textbook. I started opening it to, like, look through it, and, guys, I was, like, interested in what's in the textbook. So I got excited. I was pumped. I, like, went upstairs to taylor, and I was like, who's the new college girl? I was, like, dancing around, and I was pumped. I got to class, and I walked in, and I was like, guys, is the, is the. Are we on yet? Or is it muted? And they're like, no, we're muted. And I'm like, first day of school. Woo.
[00:01:52] The professor's like, someone's excited. And I was like, we weren't muted so everyone could hear my excitement. And as the class went on, I started to get, like, this old feeling, like a tinge in my stomach.
[00:02:09] And at the very end of class, he had us do this assignment where you write a statement of faith. And so he was like, give us the content. He's like, okay, you got about 60 seconds. And I misunderstood. I thought we had, like, 60 seconds to finish the assignment. So I'm, like, rushing, and a statement of faith is, like, a big deal. And so I, like, I hit okay, and then it goes, and I'm like, guys, I feel really bad about that. That was very incomplete. Everyone else had, like, 40 words. Mine was, like, 19. One sentence, and they're like, the professor then comes on and he's like, if you haven't finished, you can turn this assignment in on Saturday. And I already had submit. And so this feeling hit me that I have felt most of my life. Maybe some of you can. It resonates with you. But it was this feeling of, like, not good enough, not smart enough.
[00:03:04] See, somewhere along my life, I was pretty confident in the young girl I was. But through school and through, you know, maybe asking too many questions, I got made fun of, and I was called stupid. And somewhere I just started to believe it. And so I've been working really hard these past, like, four or five years to be like, absolutely not. If you ask me. I am a theologian. Okay, can I get an amen? Your girl is a theologian. Okay.
[00:03:36] God has called me. He's called me. I'm good. I've got this. He is with me. You know what I'm saying? Like, if God's for me, who can be against me, not this textbook or assignment, and. But the feeling came, like, so overwhelming. The class was over. We all kind of talked for a few minutes, and then I was walking down with Rachel, and I was like, your girl's a theologian.
[00:03:59] I, like, started pumping myself up. I was like, I am smart and capable. We are going to crush this class.
[00:04:05] But it just got me thinking about this sermon that there are so many things in our life that God wants to restore in us, but because of bad thinking or bad structures in our life, we don't really fully get restored.
[00:04:25] So for me, the feeling of not feeling good enough comes in quite a bit. And unless I kind of dwindle that down and really dig deep to see where the heck is this coming from? Where did this belief start? Where did this. Where. How did I build this structure up to get here? So it looks different for a lot of us. So mine is not good enough or smart enough or whatever, but yours might be. You struggle with anxiety, and you at some point have just claimed it as this is how you're hardwired.
[00:04:57] This is, you know, who you are. You're a person that struggles with anxiety, and you haven't really got down to the core of what's the anxiety actually all about.
[00:05:11] When my husband and I were younger, we really struggled in our marriage, and we had two very different backgrounds of what affection looked like, what love looked like, and we brought that together in our marriage. And. And there were some broken down systems, there were some broken down beliefs, and we struggled. And a lot of that was. I blamed Jacob for everything. I thought it was a good plan.
[00:05:39] Anyone? Yeah.
[00:05:42] But at the end of the day, I had to dig deeper and say, really, what's at the root cause? Is Jacob honestly the problem in everything? Or are there fundamental beliefs that have broken us apartheid? Are there fundamental actions that have that need restored?
[00:06:01] And so for some of us, I want to think about this today as what is God trying to restore in your life? Because I believe with all my heart God is a God that restores. He brings life.
[00:06:16] He makes old, dead things new and alive. And there are some things inside of us that God is trying to restore, but we're blocking the process.
[00:06:29] And I think Mark does this incredible job of showing us this image of how God wants to restore, but he wants to restore on a deeper level. He wants to restore not just the facade or what's presenting, but he wants to restore the structure that was built. Am I making sense? Are we following?
[00:06:51] Okay, so in Mark, we get this image of Jesus and his disciples walking through a grain field. And they're talking, they're chatting, and the disciples start picking up the grain and they start eating it. And there's the group of religious people, the Pharisees, that just like somehow pop out. They're always there, always watching, and they turn to Jesus and they're like, hey, what do you guys think they're doing? It's the Sabbath day. They're being unlawful. And the Sabbath was something that God had created really from the beginning of time. Like in Genesis, we see this example that God, he did built the world in six days. And on the 7th day he rested. And so the idea of Sabbath is that you rest, you take time to really restore within yourself and spend time with God. And so the Sabbath was really intended for people to rest, to take a breath, and to get life.
[00:07:56] But what happened is, through time and through structures that were unhealthy, the Sabbath became so unreasonable that it was like wild, it became so legalistic and so like, no one really knew how you were supposed to take the Sabbath. So they put their own rules and ideas on it. And so it was like you couldn't pick up your bed, you couldn't. I think to this day in Jerusalem they have elevators that it's like the Shabbat elevator, that you, even to press a button is considered work. You were allowed to take 1999 steps, but if you take 2000, it's work. So you have to literally count your steps. It just, it got to the point that the Sabbath wasn't really rest. It was now like a slap on the wrist and people are watching you. So it was really going to be more stressful than anything. And so the Pharisees pop out and they're like, jesus, what's going on? Your own disciples are not following the Sabbath. And then Jesus does the most savage, awesome thing in this moment, and he pulls scripture up and he's like, hey, do you remember when King David and his guys were. They were hungry, and they went to the priest and they ate the food that only the priests could eat, but they were in need. And then he says this famous line. He says, if you would have understood that I desire mercy, not sacrifice, then you'd really start to get it. And then he said, you know what? By the way, you're going to find this in mark 227. He says, the Sabbath was made for man, not the man for Sabbath.
[00:09:41] They had so broken the system that now the Sabbath was like, you have to follow all these things. And so the Sabbath became the thing. Instead of this being, hey, this is a gift from God. Let it restore you.
[00:09:57] And so we're going to pick up our story in Mark, chapter three. And Jesus has said, I desire this mercy.
[00:10:05] And I think when we are thinking about God, we have to understand who he is through the life of Jesus Christ. And when Jesus is saying, I desire mercy, that has to be like a framework for our structure in life. I desire mercy and kindness in treating people better than they deserve over the legalistic views of this structure that you've built that was never even intended to be there.
[00:10:31] And so then after this moment, they go into the temple, the synagogue, and Jesus walks in, and there's a man there with a withered hand.
[00:10:43] And the story begins that the Pharisees were watching to see what Jesus would do, because Jesus had really made it known that he was healing on the Sabbath because people were more valuable to him than anything.
[00:11:03] And when I read about this man with the withered hand, the first thing that sticks out to me is if there are system and things that we have just, like, lived with, and there's problems that we want restored, then we have to put ourselves in positions to meet goddess.
[00:11:20] If you are truly looking for restoration in something, you have to put yourself in a position where God can meet you.
[00:11:28] I think so often in our life, we keep so busy that there's not even a second. I mean, what is the normal thing when you say hello to someone? How are you? Like, the number one answer is busy. Right? And so we keep ourselves so busy that when we are looking into this, what in your life needs restored.
[00:11:52] Is it anxiety? Is it you are truly struggling with anxiety, and you've just labeled yourself with a person that has anxiety and your schedule is full. And so you're just living in this and you're trying to do your breathing exercises and you're trying to do things, but really, at the end of the day, it's something deeper.
[00:12:10] I read somewhere that there's only something like truly four or five emotions, and anxiety is not one of them.
[00:12:16] Presenting factor of one of the main, and so often it's fear.
[00:12:22] Often at the root of an anxious life is you are afraid about something. You're afraid about something that's not yet happened, or you're worrying or fearful about something that's to come. And so you're living an anxious life based off of really at the root of it, fear of something.
[00:12:40] And when you take time to say, why have I built my structure on this? Where is this fear coming from? How do I get to the root of it? How do I dig it out so I can really start to get to the life that God has created for me? Because God wants to restore peace in your life. He's a God of peace.
[00:12:59] And so how do you put yourself in a position that you can be around God? You're here tonight, and this is a really good place to meet God. But what about Monday? How do you put yourself in a position that you can say to God, God, my heart is open to you.
[00:13:16] My relationship is struggling, and I need you. So I'm asking, will you guide me? And so what does your time with God look like? Can you start your day with God? Can you spend time praying instead of listening to something in your car ride? Can you position yourself? Like, sometimes I physically get on my knees in the morning, because even the act of getting on my knees, it feels like this representation of, like, God, I'm surrendering to your will in my life. Can you position yourself so that you can start to dig down and figure out what the heck structure has been built and then start asking God, how can I start to dismantle this? And can you bring some life to restore?
[00:14:08] So Jesus enters the synagogue, and they watch Jesus to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him.
[00:14:17] I thought it was so interesting because I think there's a difference between watching and seeing.
[00:14:23] I think there's a difference between, like, am I watching people in my life to accuse them, or am I seeing them to see the best in them?
[00:14:34] Sometimes the part of our broken systems is we've been really hurt. We've been traumatized in some way. Or people have made fun of us. Or our parents didn't honestly love us in the way that they should have. And so we have these broken systems. And part of it is I am now looking at life through a lens of accusation.
[00:14:58] Instead of a lens of, I see you like, I see you're honestly just trying to do the very best you can.
[00:15:06] And these Pharisees were watching Jesus to find accusation. You know, sometimes in my life, I've met people that they find it so easy to accuse God. Like, how could God do this? And when you have a simple switch of an accusation to God verse, trying to see God at work in your life. There's something so powerful that happens. If you didn't listen to Doc's sermon on Sunday. I highly recommend going back and listening to it. Because it's this idea of, what are you looking for in life? Because you know you're going to find it, right? You know what you look for? You find. I was looking for a cute pair of burial jeans.
[00:15:54] There's going to be a few of us. We might as well have a little fun. You know what I'm saying?
[00:15:57] Okay.
[00:15:59] And then Jesus did something really cool.
[00:16:02] He is in the synagogue, the Pharisees are watching him. And Jesus knows what they're thinking. He knows that they're trying to catch him. And so he calls the man with the withered hand up front, in front of everybody, says, come here.
[00:16:18] And when the man comes up there, Jesus looks at the Pharisees and he says, is it lawful to really do good on the Sabbath?
[00:16:31] Is it to do good or to do harm? To save a life or to kill?
[00:16:35] In another part where this story is in Matthew, he says, say you have a sheep and your sheep falls into a hole or a well, wouldn't you get the sheep out? How much more valuable are humans? How much more valuable is mankind?
[00:16:54] I think when we're really trying to get restoration with God. We have to believe that God thinks we are valuable.
[00:17:05] That's a hard one for me. Anybody else like you truly have to believe that God. God thinks that you are valuable, that your life is worth it, that he has you, that he loves you, that he is surrounding you. You have to believe, if I am going to get restoration in my life, that I am valuable. Because when you believe something about yourself that God says that you have value, that you have worth, you live from it. We talked about it a little bit last week, like living for love versus living from love. There's a difference in how you show up.
[00:17:45] I was thinking about this really cool story. I heard there was a missionary group that left, and they went to this part of Russia. And in the 1920s, to like, 1950s, they had built these.
[00:18:03] It was basically like prison camps. And so this church went to take the rocks from the prison camps and build a church. And so they went on this mission to go there. And it was like this awesome redemptive story. Like, these prisons were meant for something ugly, but God was going to do something so redemptive by putting a church there. And so as they were taking these stones and building this church, they found this container.
[00:18:31] And in the container was this letter.
[00:18:34] And this is true story, and it's just so cool. God is so good. Inside the container was a letter, and it was from the early 1920s that a church was in this exact location. And they were tearing down the church, and it was the stones that they were taking to build this prison camp. And so in this container was a letter from the church and said, we are a community of believers, and right now we are tearing down this church because we are forced to. To build our own prisons that we're gonna die in. But one day we are praying that God, his redemptive story, will work here and a church will be built again.
[00:19:17] And they found it while they were building this church. You see, God has a plan to restore. God has a plan to do something bigger and better than we could ever imagine. But what your heart is, how your lens looks in life, is everything, even in death. They were seeking God. And. But what I find most fascinating is they weren't even seeking God for themselves. They were seeking God for the church one day. Isn't that powerful?
[00:19:47] Like, our restoration will always include something so much bigger. You see, I believe God wants to save families because he wants to save the generation. He wants to save the kids. I believe that God wants to restore something healthier in you because of who you are going to connect with, who you're going to be around, who you're going to influence. There's always a bigger picture. And so Jesus says, come here. And the man comes here and he says, this man is valuable to me.
[00:20:23] And the Pharisees say nothing. They just watched.
[00:20:26] And I heard a pastor ask the question, why do you think Jesus pulled the man up in front of everybody? Like, he could have waited till tomorrow?
[00:20:34] He could have gone and said, hey, Peter and John, can you bring that guy to me when this is all over? Like, why did he make it so public.
[00:20:45] And I think what the beauty of this answer is is there was a structure that was wrong. The thinking of the Sabbath was so crooked that he was going to publicly use this man to show them the true structure, to show them something better.
[00:21:01] I have a sermon idea that I really am excited about digging into one day. I have to have some courage to do it. But I was thinking about.
[00:21:10] I'll give you a teaser. I was thinking about, have you ever heard of collateral damage? Maybe you have felt like collateral damage before in your life. I know I have. In certain times where there was a brokenness in something and it hurt you so bad, but it wasn't meant for you, but you got the damage of it.
[00:21:31] You know what I'm talking about?
[00:21:34] I feel like this is such a beautiful moment of collateral beauty.
[00:21:39] God uses this man to reframe the structure of how they've always thought. And as he brings him forth, he says, stretch out your hand. And the man stretches out his hand and he is healed.
[00:21:54] I've been thinking about this idea of collateral beauty, because I think that's what God wants to do. Even when ugliness has been put on us, even when our foundation is built on something we had nothing to do with, God will use it and turn it for our good. And I was thinking, every single time that has happened in my life, God has brought something so much more beautiful out in the future than I could have ever seen.
[00:22:19] I couldn't even guess what God was going to do. So the idea of collateral beauty, it just fascinates me, because I think that is what God wants to do in our lives. He wants to restore and rebuild and do something better in you than you can ever dream, hope, or imagine.
[00:22:39] When this man stretches out his hand, he's healed.
[00:22:45] And I was thinking about this idea of, like, his hand was withered, but really, the pharisees heart, those were withered.
[00:22:53] There was such a hardness, because they see this in front of everybody. They see Jesus heal the man. Now, I don't know about you, but if Jesus was to walk in and heal me, I've kind of got a funky hand.
[00:23:07] It's not withered, but it's funky. I've got, like, this whole thing going on, and eventually it's going to close. If I don't get surgery, say that my hand is, like, crazy. And Jesus walks in, and all of a sudden he heals it in front of all of you. Don't you think there's going to be some, like, holy. Did you guys see that? Like, there's going to be this moment of, I just saw a miracle.
[00:23:32] But their hearts were so hardened. It says that instead of rejoicing, instead of being in awe, instead of being like, you are the son of Goddess, they left.
[00:23:43] They met another group of people called the Herodians, and they started to plot how to kill him.
[00:23:50] Like, that's messed up, but can I be so real? I have been in the midst of something good and I have felt ugly.
[00:23:59] I've been in the midst of, like, times where I was like, okay, God is trying. I remember, like, going back to my husband and I, I giggle because I use these so much.
[00:24:12] I remember him trying, but I'd be so mad and so over it that I would ignore it totally. And I remember just giving him the cold shoulder and he'd like being kind and loving, but I was like, you were a jerk for so long, I don't care. You know what I'm saying? And so it's like these moments of like, God at work or vice versa. He wasn't always a jerk. It was me a lot, too.
[00:24:39] Is it hot in here or is it just me?
[00:24:42] It's just my jeans. Okay?
[00:24:46] But there is a reality.
[00:24:48] There is a reality that sometimes God is trying to work in your life. And there's a hardness of heart.
[00:24:56] And I just ask you tonight, what is God trying to restore?
[00:25:00] And where have you hardened your heart?
[00:25:04] I think about this story and I think about how ultimately, in this restoration process, God knew exactly what was going to happen. Like Christ knew if he restored to try to change the structure and the belief of what everyone thought, he knew that it was going to set them off. He knew that it was going to start the plot of his death. He knew that, but he took the hit.
[00:25:29] I read this story about a man named Shavarsh. I think he's armenian, can't really 100% remember, but he was a fin swimmer and so he'd swim long distances. And one morning he was working out and he was running a brisk, easy 16 miles run, you know, no big deal for us runners.
[00:25:52] Anyone run in here?
[00:25:54] Okay. Okay, let's go. You did start running. Okay. So he ran 16 miles, and on the 16th mile, him and some of the people that he was with, they heard a crash, like a bomb.
[00:26:07] And what happened is this bus had veered off the road, veered off this bridge, and it hit the water and it hit the water 80ft offshore and 30ft deep.
[00:26:23] And Shavarsh was the strongest swimmer, so he didn't even hesitate. And he jumped in and he started swimming down 30ft. He broke the window, came back up, swam down 30ft, grabbed somebody, came back up. He did this over 40 times.
[00:26:46] Something like nine people escaped out the window and he pulled up another like 37 people. So he.
[00:26:54] He tried to save as many people as he possibly could.
[00:26:59] The conditions of this water were so bad and it was just. Just a horrific accident that only 20 of the people that he pulled up actually ended up living.
[00:27:09] But what happened is his body pretty much shut down after this because of the conditions of the water. It was like a reservoir, so I think a lot of it had some sewage in it. And through the broken glass that he kept swimming, his body became sepsis. He was in the hospital for over a month and he took a massive hit by giving his life for these people. He didn't die, but he was never able to swim again.
[00:27:36] Part trauma, part just physical. His lungs, he had double pneumonia, has just scarred his lungs and he took the hit.
[00:27:46] Believe it or not, this has happened to shivarsh three times where he was in the place to save people's life. The first one happened years before where his bus driver got off the bus and I think they called him trolleys. And he got off the trolley and didn't put into park and the trolley started veering off the road and he broke the glass to save everyone that was on the bus. And then after the main incident that happened, a fire broke out and he was the first one to rush in with firefighters to help him. And he burned, like, a bunch of his body. It was like a man who was made to take the hit to save people. He just gave everything he had. And his love for humanity was insane.
[00:28:30] But when I look at Jesus Christ as a whole, I see that he took the hit for us time and time and time again.
[00:28:39] I see a God that required mercy, not sacrifice. And he took the hit so that in our misery, he could meet us with mercy.
[00:28:49] I see a God who wants to restore us, wants to rip down some of the structures and the things that have hurt us so much that he was willing to give his life for us.
[00:29:01] We have a God who loves us, who has fought for us and who has given everything.
[00:29:07] And so I just want to ask you, are you positioning yourself so that you can hear him?
[00:29:14] Are you looking for the beauty that he has around you? Or are you watching to accuse?
[00:29:22] Are you able to look through a lens that says, if I can get this right, if I can figure this out, God wants to do something bigger than just me.
[00:29:33] Your God is a God who restores, and he takes the hit for you. Let me pray.
[00:29:40] Dear healing father, you are a mighty and an awesome God, and I pray that you will work in the hearts of each and every one of us to figure out the pieces and parts that we've built up. Father, or that someone has helped build up for us so that you can restore us in the kind of way that brings life.
[00:29:59] I pray for everyone who's in this room and watching online, father, that they will know that you are a God of deep mercy. That more than anything, that is what you require. I pray that they will know that you are a God who truly loves us, and they will sense your goodness, and you can restore what you've always meant to restore in their life. In your son's name, we pray. Amen.
