Under Pressure (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

how are you guys feeling yeah okay okay I mean how are you really feeling

right take a moment and just do an inventory of your body just move your

toes your knees wiggle your fingers slowly like circle your neck lift up your

shoulders take a deep breath notice any tension feeling any pressure anywhere are

you noticing that you're holding yourself a bit tighter more recently if so you are

not alone currently my knees have been on fire it's because my joints are

reminding me that they exist and they're doing it rather loudly that's because the

pressure our bodies experience from weather changes or work issues or

family and relationship issues to changing patterns and habits or just

from watching the news actually affects our bodies being under pressure is a real

health concern and it's a condition that distracts us and sort of keeps us stuck in

some ways so if you've been a human being for any length of time it's not a

quest question of if you'll be under pressure but when and more likely when

is it going to happen again this summer we spent eight weeks looking at nine

beatitudes that describe the good life that come with God-centered Jesus shaped

lives and while I was preaching that series I had this one question keep

going around how can I teach us to obey what Jesus was saying and that's a big

challenge because it puts us all under this all under pressure right all under

pressure to figure out what it means and how to actually obey and remember

pressure is both good and bad pressure that puts extreme pressure on like you

know whatever rocks creates diamonds but pressure that builds up within the

earth creates volcanoes some of us really work well under pressure but some of us

also break under pressure so today's sermon is entitled shape by pressure how

to obey Jesus so would you stand with me I'm gonna read from Luke chapter 8 I've

Luke 8 · chapter mention

just had the fun realization that maybe this Bible print is a little small so we

started verse 40 now when Jesus returned a crowd welcomed him for they were all

expecting him then a man named Jarius a synagogue leader came and fell at

Jesus's feet pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter a

girl of about 12 was dying as Jesus was on his way the crowds almost crushed him

and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years but

no one could heal her she came up behind him and touched the edge of his

cloak and immediately her bleeding stopped who touched me Jesus asked

when they all denied it Peter said master the crowds are pressing on you

but Jesus said someone touched me I know the power has gone out for me then the

woman seeing that she could not go unnoticed came trembling and fell at his

feet and the presence of all the people she told why she had touched him

and how she had been healed then he said to her daughter your faith has

healed you go in peace while Jesus was still speaking someone came from the

house of Jarius the synagogue leader your daughter is dead he said don't bother

the teacher anymore hearing this Jesus said to Jarius don't be afraid just

believe and she will be healed when he arrived at the house of Jarius he did

not let anyone go in with him except for Peter and John and James and the

child's mother and mother meanwhile all the people were waiting wailing and

mourning for her stop wailing Jesus said she's not dead but asleep and

they laughed at him knowing that she was dead but he took her by the hand

and told them to give her something to eat he said child get up and her spirit

returned her parents were astonished but he ordered them not to tell anyone what

had happened father we we give you this word this morning we pray that your

word comes back to us in in ways that are

formational in ways that help us see your spirits work among us open our

hearts to what you're saying allow us to enter in to your presence this morning

and just be part of the story in a way that brings us closer to you I pray in

your name Jesus amen you may be seated so I saw this modern painting located in

the archaeological site of ancient Magdala Magdala was a very large Jewish

settlement during the first century it was surrounded by towns like Sephora's

Nazareth and Capernaum and its population is estimated to be around 30,000 people

and it has one of the best preserved synagogues that probably held about

120 people it's very possible that the story we just read took place in this

region this is where Mary the disciple that Jesus cast out seven demons from was

from Mary Magdalene or Mary of Magdala as I stood on the original first century

marketplace floor this painting you can go to the next slide offered me a unique

vantage point it's the same floor that Jesus most likely walked on stood on as he

got off the boat and he preached to the kingdom about the kingdom to this people

the very floor and from this vantage point you can see this story as though

you're a mouse looking at that one area so I want to invite you to do some work

with me around this passage now when Jesus returned a crowd welcomed him for

they were all expecting him okay so Jesus was returning returning from where

where was Jesus returning from

somewhere right he was returning from somewhere in fact Luke's gospel has him

returning from a trip across the Sea of Galilee the crowd had gotten so big here

that he went across the Sea to Galilee to a region called the Gesenterans and

it was the place that we must remember where Jesus went into a cemetery saw a

man who had a legion of demons in him he cast out that limit that legion into

pigs and they all ran down the hillside right as soon as that happened the

towns folks came out and said see I can you leave here too right and so he

had to leave that region and he went back across this to the sea in the Sea

of Galilee to this very Jewish region of Galilee with an even bigger crowd now

waiting for him and this crowd you can imagine probably included people like

Mary Magdalene Jesus's mother and brothers and his disciples as well as a

large portion of that 30,000 people now who ends up putting pressure on Jesus

by asking him a question first who is the first person that asks him to come with

him Jairus right yep now Jairus was the synagogue ruler remember that picture of

the synagogue it's most likely that that is the synagogue that Jairus ruled

over that he was in charge of and Magdala is actually being more and

more being discovered that it was a very wealthy area and the synagogue held the

community and all that the Jewish community would have would have thought

and talked about and was taught this is what he was in charge of so he was a

very well respected well-known man who was responsible for the upkeep of

like the Jewish community and the scrolls and all the things that the

synagogue did okay who comes next into the scene who's the next person that

comes to Jesus the daughter's father Jairus comes and then who else comes the

woman the unnamed woman notice in that painting you can put it where you can

still see it right there it's anonymous the painter specifically makes the

people anonymous because she's anonymous right she's nameless but Jairus is not and

so in the story we have to like recognize the difference there why does Luke

tell the story this way why is that important now what type of pressure was

Jairus under a lot why his daughter is dying right his 12 year old daughter was

dying what type of pressure was the woman under she has been bleeding for 12 years

so it was a both show social pressure and it was like a physical pressure she

had been bleeding or hemorrhaging for 12 years and this meant she was

ceremonially unclean during those 12 years per Jewish law this is not only

physically debilitating but it was socially devastating Leviticus 1525 says

if a woman has a flow of blood for many days that is unrelated to her menstrual

period or if the blood continues beyond the normal period she is

ceremonially unclean any bed she lies on in any object she sits on during that

time will be unclean remember cooties if you if any of you touch these things you

will be ceremonially unclean you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in

water and you will remain unclean until evening so basically she lived in

social isolation now she had been married she was actually had to go

without normal marital relations for those whole 12 years which actually gave her

husband cause for divorce the dying child in the next part of the story is a

reminder of the child she could never have during that 12 years she existed

outside of the boundaries of the socially alive in her community and the

very fact that she intentionally went in to the crowd to touch Jesus knowing

that it would make him and the crowd around him unclean was a huge risk so can

you feel the pressure Jarius this woman and the G and Jesus were under can you

feel the pressure as it says as Jesus was on his way the crowds almost crushed

him can you feel that pressure coming in but then something amazing happened

Jesus reacts under pressure remember Jesus said just a little while before and

the summer we learned all about it the good life belongs to the powerless to

those who grieve to the afflicted to the unimportant to those who hunger and

thirst for rightness to those who show mercy and to the pure in heart Jesus

stops rushing towards the very important man's house and asked the one

question that seems to confront not only the brokenness of this woman but the

brokenness of the crowd as well who touched me notice who answered no one the

woman doesn't even notice she doesn't answer she says nothing no one fesses

up to who touched him and you think about it there is no way she is going to

fess up to intentionally making everyone she touched unclean but Jesus presses and

only then does she confess and I think it's in Matthew's gospel that it says

that she was healed after she confessed that she touched him and I

think this is what Luke is actually pulling us towards to consider she had

to acknowledge that she had been shaped under the pressure of the crowd under the

pressure of the law under the pressure of their beliefs under the pressure with

the way that they interpreted it all she was reacting from their rejection and

she had to acknowledge that was the pressure she was under this is her

pathway to healing into restoration of social position because she was

powerless Jesus gives her an invitation into his kingdom because she was

grieving all of those 12 years he comforts her because she was afflicted he

gives her back her inheritance as part of a community around her he shows her

mercy and he calls her a deeper into a right relationship with him and it

wasn't based on secrecy or shame he actually calls her out of that and

says to her daughter and in that very act here the presence of Jesus's actions

forms a new woman you can imagine that she goes from that floor to a standing

position she becomes whole based on her obedience to his call to be known as

daughter now want you to notice something else what is Jerry's doing you don't know

what were you what would you be doing if your 12 year old child was at home and

you believe that someone could heal her what would you be doing yeah I would

be making a lot of noise I'd be like excuse me come on come on come on like is

this really that important let's go you can come back right somehow in the midst

of this pressure that he was under he suddenly became powerless he had to

stand in his grieving place and he experienced that feeling of being

unimportant and so I wonder if this is part of the pressure that Jesus was

allowing to be built in him to get ready get him ready for the next step well

Jesus was still speaking someone from the house of Jerry's the synagogue leader

your daughter is dead don't bother the teacher anymore hearing this Jesus says

to Jerry's don't be afraid just believe and she will be healed as Jesus and

Jerry's get to this house another crowd presses in on them putting them putting

the pressure on Jesus and Jerry's to give up all hope meanwhile all the people

were wailing and mourning for her stop wailing Jesus said she's not dead but

asleep they laughed at him knowing that she was dead and she was she was dead

but again Jesus responds in the same way to this woman he reaches out touches her

and calls her by a new name you don't call a dead child child you speak and

you call them child and so he renames her this child who is alive and it seems

to me that the pressure Jerry's and his unnamed woman were under had the

potential to either rob them of hope and destroy their faith or shape them into

Jesus shaped beatitude people this is the calling that we've been talking about to

become the salts of the land and the light of the world so I want to put all

of our reflections together but first I want to collect some data so BJ is

gonna come up and do the matting part matting part because math is not my

strong suit just ask my husband so I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes and I'm

gonna ask you some questions and I just really want us to be honest so it's

okay if you don't raise your hand during some of these questions because we have

to be really honest I want to be really accurate about our data so as you're

closing your eyes I want you to make sure you aren't touching the person next

to you so when you raise your hand it isn't obvious I don't want you to be

like like you know everybody knows that I'm raising a hand but remember I'm

collecting this data not to pick out who you are individually but collectively as

a community what is happening in the midst so we can figure out how to

disciple you better how to offer more classes and ways to engage with God so

you're ready okay so I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand and keep it up

because BJ is going to do some counting are you regularly and regularly

means I mean four to seven times a week checking either the newspaper the radio

social media or your TV to hear current national and global news or events raise

your hand high so we can count how many people regularly are checking that

okay put your hand down do you meet with family and friends like play groups or

playing cards or playing pickleball or you belong to an exercise group or you're

in a neighborhood club or you golf or you play tennis or something like that

or you hang out with co-workers at least once a week raise your hand once a

week you hang out with either co-workers neighbors family and friends once a week

raise your hand okay have you recently donated or have planned to donate this is

the time of year when we start thinking about it you're cleaning out your

summer clothes you're cleaning out your cupboards have you recently donated are

you planning to donate any toys clothes household items or any food to any local

organizations or schools raise your hand

okay are you regularly and again by regularly I mean four to seven times a

week meeting with God through hearing his word studying or praying it's okay if

you aren't I just want a really accurate view it regularly four to seven times a

week you are hearing God's word you're studying God's word or you're

okay are you currently actively participating in a C group ID group or

other Bible study currently right now are you in Bible study C group or ID group

okay are you actively serving the outside community through the care center

furniture connection or other volunteering option we have within the

church and last are you being discipled and by

discipled I mean one-on-one or in a group with a leader is showing you how

to be like Jesus so that you can disciple others raise your hand

okay thanks okay you can open your eyes as BJ puts all that information together I

want us to look more closely at Jesus in the story of how being shaped by pressure

shows us a way to obey all that Jesus says to us and so we can live into

those Beatitudes first of all Jesus patterned his life through three

pressures or formational experiences Jesus regularly heard God speak he

allowed that relationship with his father to put pressure on his life so that

it shaped his actions and his mission so we're gonna call that upward pressure

okay just think upward pressure when Jesus heard from his father he went

and spent time with his disciples and he shared the vision of God's new kingdom

with them and he put pressure on their false beliefs in order to shape Jesus

shaped beliefs actions and missions so let's call that inward pressure inward

meaning being in with the community of faith inward with disciples other

disciples okay so upward inward when Jesus encountered those outside he

challenged the pressure of the brokenness that they were under in order to

bring restoration healing and invitation into the Jesus life so we can call that

out pressure right it's the way that we look out into the world so Jesus lived

this upward inward and outward sort of dimension as Jesus comes off the boat

from casting out demons and preaching about God's kingdom the first thing

that we notice is that Jesus is being pressured by two large crowds that

want to shape him according to their image right crowds have a way of moving

us regardless of whether we want to or not the worst thing you can do is try to

go against the crowd just try that as you're trying to get off a tram at an

international airport when you have to get to a gate and so does everybody else

and they're going in the opposite direction it's like you're using your

elbows to get out right it's hard to move against a crowd crowds also have this

swarm mentality they move because the pressure to either avoid something or to

get to something is the driving value so when you're in a crowd no one has to

tell you where you're going because you're all just going in that same

direction you're like why are we all walking in this way crowds also have a

way of because they have their own motivation and value right if you

want to get on a ride at Disney you've got to move it and you have that value

you know what you're getting in line for you know where the crowd is to get into

that line and that's what you do or you're getting out of the stadium after

a bad game and you're just like I gotta get out of here you want to be moving

with the crowd but Jesus literally stops because he's listening to someone

else other than the crowd that's an upward pressure he's been spending

regular time with his father through prayer and reading God's word and it's

out of that formation that he knows his father's voice and mission so let's look

at our data that we just collected and gonna refresh there we are okay so 64

percent of us regularly check newspapers and social media and TV for current

events so 64% of us are regularly listening to the outside and what the

outside says here's some really good news 76% of us are actually listening to God

for information that's a huge win guys that's a huge win celebrate whoo in the

first in the first service it was like really very similar numbers so that's

fantastic as a church community we are regularly hearing from God okay so when

Jesus stopped to heal this woman though and to raise this little girl back to

life he was having to the pressure of the crowd on him he had to turn that

around and put the pressure on them to consider that God was forming something

different a new kingdom community not based on religious identity around

taboos or ritual cleanliness but on a new identity into God's kingdom of faith so

the crowds excluded this bleeding woman right they did not want to have

anything to do with her and they withheld the comfort and compassion and so

that they could remain ritually clean but Jesus was willing to be seen as

unclean even though he never was in order to restore a woman back to a place of

wholeness in a community of believers and it's the same with Jarius just have

faith is an invitation into the life of Jesus not based on blood or status or

family or running that synagogue but on belief in Jesus as the Son of God so

jumping to our data how well are we being pressured and formed inwardly

by our church community as opposed to those outside so it seems like that's

very close 61% of us actually are regularly meeting with outside people

being pressured and encouraged or devalued whatever because that can happen on

the outside of lots of times 61% actively participating in a C group or

an ID group or another Bible study 64% so we are actually being formed just

a teeny bit more by what's happening within our community another good news now

as the crowds pressured Jesus to perform for them or to be the type of Messiah

they wanted him to be like to overthrow Roman rule or to rescue them from

oppression Jesus was formed so much by God's voice and his desire to call

people into the kingdom of God into this community that was Jesus shaped he took

the time to notice those on the outside that had been cut off those on the

fringe think about it the crowd was so concerned about themselves and the

pressure to agree with them made everyone laugh in the face of Jesus but

Jesus modeled this life that invited everyday people just to follow him

follow him as a disciple so that they could be empowered to go make more

disciples they were empowered to live in these spiritual communities that would

be life-giving encouraging but would also look outward at the world so how

are we doing it says 70% of us have donated outside to outside things

that's not a bad thing it's really good to pay attention to what's

happening but only 21% of us are actively serving within the church community

doing what we might say is more God-centered outreach and work it's

okay it's pretty big 48% difference and the last one is being discipled one on

one it says only 15% of us are in a relationship that actually pulls us

towards more training more equipping to be living out the Jesus life so sometimes

data is hard here because they're really actual numbers and in many cases our

formation of upward inward and outward is coming more from the crowd and the

culture than from God so if you want to learn how to obey Jesus more and to

live into his beatitudes and to live upward inward and outward all we

have to do is increase a percentage point really easy I want to make this as

easy as possible if you're coming to church once a month how do you increase

the percentage of hearing from God attend twice this month twice a month

right just increasing your attendance at church gives you more exposure to God's

word and to what's happening now maybe you are regularly listening there's a I

have this download of an app on my phone it's called Lectio 365 L E C T I O 3 6

5 and every time I'm driving to work I listen to it it's not my only thing I

do but it's the one of the ways that I can just be like okay they're gonna

read God's word to me they're gonna ask me some questions I have a time to

focus and listen maybe there's just one thing that God wants me to pay attention

it helps my drive I have to tell you that helps my commute but it's a way to

just tune in so maybe you could set a goal hey I'll download that download

that app and listen to it two times this week three times you could work up

into five times and six times it's not about perfection it's not about like

how much it's about just increasing the exposure you you have to what God's

saying that exposure to this upward dimension that Jesus lived in so also

you could increase your time with Jesus shaped community the reason why we're

having this spread is not because we sit around a table and think hmm how

could we make the church have more fun and is part of it and having a

living scarecrow contest is probably gonna be super fun right but when we're

together as a community we have ways of encouraging each other that the outside

world doesn't necessarily do if you spend time in the outside world at your

work or anywhere else there's lots of drama and discouragement and

devaluation right but being in a community where you're being shaped

by people who are asking how are you walking with God how's your prayer

life do you want me to pray with you for something do you need something how do

we encourage one another how do we play together is all part of community we

should know who's missing next to us and be able to call them right that's part

of being community so maybe it's just committing to come to the spread at

the end of the month that would that would move our our percentage points up okay

the last thing is increase your awareness of what's happening with

co-workers neighbors and those who need help who are you paying attention to

are you paying attention to the clerk that checks you out in the grocery

store maybe she or he has a story maybe you can tell that they're not

doing well a kind word an offer of prayer it's like turning everything that

you're hearing from God and you're experiencing within this community out

towards the world is that possibility so just imagine what could be possible if

we all just moved our percentage point out in one or all three of those

areas what if we just moved a little bit more up a little bit more in and a

little bit more outward I think we'd see more healings I think we'd see more

people coming to Christ prove me wrong go ahead move your points and see what

happens I think we have great potential to see more work of what's

happening in this church with us committing more to what God is saying to us

because when we're shaped by Jesus the pressure from the outside world the

pressure that's always building on us is thwarted because we're being pressured

and formed by the one who loves us and cares for us and forgives us and shows

compassion towards us and calls us into the good life of being with him on

mission with him for the kingdom and for the world amen