The Jesus Way: Finding the Way of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke | Donovan Rillion | The Upside-Down Way

About 100 years ago, scientists ran an unusual

experiment. They gathered participants for this

study and had them wear special goggles that

flipped their vision upside down. Maybe in high

school you wore drunk goggles a couple weeks

before prom because the police wanted to teach

you what it was like to drive impaired. This

was kind of like that. They put these upside

down goggles on these people. And so when they

first put them on, as you can imagine, everything

was disorienting. When they walked, it was crazy.

When they tried to pick up a fork to eat food,

they couldn't quite find their mouth with the

fork if they found the fork. It was all very

disorienting. Walking across the room felt impossible.

And the reason is, is because the brain couldn't

process what it was seeing and how it was seeing

it. But something strange happened after a few

days of these participants wearing the goggles.

You could probably imagine their brains adapted.

And so after a few days, they eventually learned

how to walk. They learned how to eat and function

normally. I even saw some pictures and videos

of these participants learning how to ride a

bike with these goggles on. And some of you are

probably thinking, I can't ride a bike without

goggles on, much less with my vision impaired.

But they learned their brains adapted to this

new way of seeing things with their vision upside

down. See, when they finally removed the goggles,

though, something else surprising happened. The

real world, the world that was normal, the world

that was natural, that was real, felt upside

down because their brains had adapted to this

new way of seeing things. And we know that sometimes

when we spend so long adapting, to a certain

way of things. We spend so long in one set of

circumstances. We spend so long in one place

and one time and one setting and one circumstance.

And what happens in our life is we become adapted

to the wrong orientation. We become adapted to

what is upside down. In a lot of ways, that's

what happens spiritually. We live in a world

that trains us to value certain things. The world

around us tells us that status matters. It tells

us that recognition matters, that comfort matters,

that success matters, that security matters.

And that's what's normal. That's what's real.

And so we have adapted our world, our view of

our world to that. And after living in that system

long enough, it feels normal. But when we listen

carefully to Jesus, when we watch the way Jesus

lived, when we listen to how he taught, we see

that Jesus teaches something surprising. And

that is that the values of his kingdom are completely

different than this world. They're so different

that they almost feel upside down. They feel

unnatural. They can feel kind of disorienting.

Maybe that's why when someone becomes a Christian,

when they start following Jesus, they feel like

their life is kind of upside down, like things

aren't as they're supposed to be. And they wonder,

why am I struggling? Why do I not have the status?

Why do I not feel as secure? And it's because

the way of Jesus is not normal. It is unnatural.

It is upside down. See, last week we talked about

the costly way of following Jesus. You know,

Jesus calls his followers to deny themselves.

He calls them to take up their cross, to give

up the securities of this life. He tells us that

following him isn't casual. It's not something

that's going to be convenient. It's not going

to be something that is secure. It's not going

to be safe. It's going to cost us. And later

in that same chapter, we see some people, they

want to follow Jesus, but they only want to follow

him if it doesn't disrupt their priorities. If

you were here last week, you remember there was

the man that wanted to go bury his father. He

wanted to go settle things, right? And then you

had the one who he wanted to go home and tell

everybody goodbye. And you had these different

examples of people that wanted their way first

and then they would follow the way of Jesus.

But Jesus says, none of that can come before

me. You have to follow me first. Your priority

has to first be the kingdom of God. It cannot

be second. It cannot be third. It cannot be first

and a half. It has to be first. As Ricky Bobby

would say, if it's not first, it is last. Following

Jesus has to be. First, Jesus makes it clear

that discipleship, being an apprentice of Jesus,

requires total commitment. It requires everything

in us. It requires everything about us. It requires

all of our time. It requires all of our energy.

It requires all of our focus. It requires every

dollar we have, every house we have, every mile

on our car. Being an apprentice, a disciple of

Jesus requires all of us. And I think that should

be pretty easy to give considering he gave all

of himself. But it raises a natural question

for us. What does that life actually look like?

What does the life of a disciple actually look

like? Because we live in a world where it is

really hard to consider the idea of giving up

security, right? We live in a world that it makes

it really hard to give up the idea of having

this sound future. It makes it hard to not want

the success, to not want the status, to not want

the things that we have. But what Jesus calls

us to is to say, all that I have, Lord, is yours.

And everything that I am, Lord, is yours. But

what does that look like? Well, if we truly follow

Jesus, even when it costs us, it should shape

the way we live. In Luke chapter 10, we start

Luke 10 · chapter mention

to see the answer of what that looks like. And

what we see is that life in the kingdom of God,

it operates by a completely different set of

values. It is not operating on the same values

of this world. It's funny, this morning we were

talking, I was talking with Claudia about the

difference between Apple and Android. When you

get an iPhone, it is a lot different than an

Android. Your iPhone does not operate on the

same operating system as an Android and vice

versa. And that's what it's like when you live

in the kingdom of God, you are operating on an

entirely new system. So let's look at Luke chapter

Luke 10 · chapter mention

10 together, starting in verses 25, and we'll

read through 37 together. If it's underlined,

I'd like for you to read it with me if you feel

comfortable doing so. And behold, a lawyer stood

up to put him to the test, him being Jesus, saying,

Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

He said to him, What is written in the law? How

do you read it? And he answered, You shall love

the Lord your God with all your heart and with

all your soul and with all your strength and

with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.

And he said to him, You have answered correctly.

Do this and you will live. But he, desiring to

justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my

neighbor? And Jesus replied, A man was going

down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among

robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed,

leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest

was going down that road, and when he saw him,

he passed by on the other side. So likewise a

Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,

passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan,

as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when

he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him

and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.

Then he set him on his own animal and brought

him to an inn and took care of him. And the next

day he took out two denarii and gave them to

the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him, and

whatever more you spend, I will repay you when

I come back. Which of these three do you think

proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among

the robbers? He said, The one who showed him

mercy. And Jesus said to him, You go and do likewise.

You see, the story begins with a lawyer asking

Jesus a question about eternal life. And he was

trying to trap Jesus. He wanted to get Jesus

in trouble. And so he asked him, what do I have

to do? What does it take to have eternal life?

Eventually, the conversation turns to the command

to love your neighbor, which caused the lawyer

to ask, well, who is my neighbor? Because I live

next door to some people that I don't know that

I like. too much. I live next door to some people

that play their music a little too loud. I live

next door to some people that make my house smell

bad because they like to smoke weed all night.

I live next door to some people that park in

my grass and tear up my lawn. I live next door

to some people that don't have the same religious

beliefs as I do, that don't see the world the

same way that I do, that don't love my country

the same way that I do, that don't believe the

same things that I do. So Lord, who is my neighbor?

In other words, Where do the boundaries of my

responsibility end? Who do I have to love? Who

do I have to show kindness to and show compassion

to? And Jesus answers with this story. He says

there was a man, he was traveling from Jerusalem

to Jericho, and on his journey, he was attacked,

he was robbed, he was left for dead. And as he's

lying there in his probably a pool of blood,

beat up, almost dead, a priest walks on by. A

Levite walks on by. And what Jesus is saying

there is these religious men, these followers

of God, they walk on by. Both people who should

know the law. Both people who should love their

neighbor. But they pass by on the other side

of the road. And then Jesus introduces the most

unlikely hero imaginable in this story, a Samaritan.

Somebody that... would not have been a friend

of this Jewish man. Somebody that doesn't follow

the way of God as the Jews follow the way of

God. This is somebody that the Jews would look

at as a villain in every sense of the word. But

guess what the villain does? He stops. He is

the one who stops. This man who is seen as religiously

corrupt and socially despised is the one who

stops. Let's read about the Samaritan again.

Do you notice what happens? This Samaritan sees

the man, and he doesn't just see the man, but

he feels compassion. for this man. He sees him,

and unlike those who pass by before, he doesn't

just walk on by. He walks toward him. He goes

to this man in distress. He sacrifices his time.

He sacrifices his resources. He gives up his

comfort, all for a total stranger. This is not

convenient. This isn't assumed kindness. This

is costly and unexpected love. Because the kingdom

of God turns expectations upside down. The people

who should have helped didn't. And the person

that nobody expected, the person that nobody

would have given the credit for, he stops and

becomes the example of loving my neighbor. And

then Jesus asks a very powerful question. Which

of these proved? to be a neighbor. Which of these?

Was it the priest? Was it the Levite? Was it

these religious men who knew the way, that knew

the law, that knew what the commands were, that

are the ones who are supposed to follow and worship

and serve God? No. And the lawyer has to answer

this question. He has to be the one to say, it

was the one who showed him mercy. It's funny,

he couldn't even bring himself to say it was

the Samaritan. Can I give you a really controversial

way to put this? This would be like the Republican

having to say it was the Democrat. And vice versa.

This is like the Democrat saying it was the Republican.

Do you know what I mean by that? This shouldn't

be controversial. It means the person I disagree

with, the person that I despise, the person that

I'm on the other side of the aisle with, they're

the one who did the good thing. Because truth

be told, people on every side of every aisle

can do the good thing. And so what Jesus says

is which one of these proved to be the neighbor?

And the man couldn't even bring himself to say

the Samaritan. He just says the one who showed

him mercy. And what Jesus says then is go and

do likewise. In other words, forget what side

you are on. Forget who you like. Forget who you

dislike. And just love people. Just show mercy.

Just do good. Just love your neighbor. even when

you disagree with them. And immediately after

the Good Samaritan story, Luke records another

moment that shows how different Jesus' values

are. I want us to look at Luke chapter 10, verses

Luke 10:38–42

38 through 42. Now as they went on their way,

Jesus entered a village, and a woman named Martha

welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister

called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened

to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with

much serving. And she went up to him and she

said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has

left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help

me. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha,

you are anxious and troubled about many things,

but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the

good portion, which will not be taken away from

her. Martha is busy serving while Mary is just

sitting around listening to Jesus' teachings.

How dare Mary? Martha's working hard to care

for Jesus to make sure that him and his guests,

that they have what they need. Mary, however,

she's just sitting at Jesus' feet listening to

his teachings. Martha becomes frustrated. She

asks Jesus to tell Mary to help. But Jesus gently

corrects her. Martha, Martha. And he says, Mary

has chosen the good portion. You see, the world

celebrates busyness. The world celebrates productivity,

sometimes even in ministry. It's a, what are

you doing? What have you done for me lately?

What have you done to show that you're doing

what you're supposed to be doing? What kind of

hours are you putting in at work? What kind of

accomplishments have you made? What kind of promotions

have you got? Are you doing enough? And the world

celebrates that. It encourages that. But what

Jesus reminds us is, is that the most important

thing is being with him. In the kingdom of God,

relationship with Christ matters more than impressive

activity. And that is not to say that service

is bad. That is not to say that we just sit around

listening to sermons all day. That is not to

say that we just sit at home and we just contemplate

and we just think about what Jesus wants us to

know. That's not what he's saying. But what he's

saying is do not put productivity over relationship

with Jesus. Service is good. But the relationship

with Jesus has to be our anchor. And then later

in Luke 13, we see Jesus heal a woman who she's

been suffering for 18 years. And a problem that

we've seen before pops up again. Do you know

what the problem is? Jesus healed this woman.

But the problem isn't that he healed her, although

I'm sure the religious leaders didn't like that.

The problem is that Jesus healed her on the Sabbath.

Again, Jesus is going against the religious tradition.

He's going against the grain. He's not following

their ordinances for what you do and don't do

on the Sabbath. And so the religious leaders,

they're again more concerned about rule breaking

than they are about the well -being of this woman

who's been suffering. And Jesus exposes the problem.

I want you to look at what Jesus says in Luke

Luke 13:15–16

chapter 13, verses 15 through 16. Then the Lord

answered him, you hypocrites. Let's read that

one again. Then the Lord answered him, you hypocrites.

Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his

ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it

away to water it? And ought not this woman, a

daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for 18

years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath

day? They show compassion to their animals on

the Sabbath. They're willing to make sure that

their animals don't go hungry or that they don't

go thirsty. They're willing to make sure that

their animals have what they need. But heaven

forbid the Son of God heal a woman of her infirmities

on the Sabbath. We care so much about these certain

things. But what Jesus says is that in the kingdom

of God, we value caring for people. over honoring

man's systems. Can you think of some people that

need to be cared for? That because of the priorities

we have set, they go uncared for. Because of

the things that we've convinced ourselves are

our priorities, these people go uncared for.

There's people in our community that need...

care, that need love, that need compassion, that

need to be showed mercy. There are people in

this room that need that, but we are so concerned

with what we've got going on or what we think

is important that we just leave them be to continue

to suffer because that's not the priority right

now. I think I've told you the story. I was driving

the kids to school one day and I was driving

back and I thought I had enough gas to make it

to Ingalls to get gas because, you know, the

fuel points, you got to use those, right? So

I thought if I can make it to Ingalls, gas will

be so much cheaper. So I'm driving down the road

and guess what happens on the highway? This dum

-dum runs out of gas. So I get out and of course

I don't have a gas can. So I get out, I go to

the gas station. Long story short, a guy helps

me. I don't know the guy from Adam. He just offers

to help me. He goes home, gets his gas can, comes

back. I mean, I paid for the gas. I did my part,

right? But he lets me use his gas can. He drives

me back to my truck. And while we're talking,

I was like, man, I just really appreciate it.

Most people wouldn't stop and help somebody like

me. And I was like, honestly, I wouldn't have

stopped. And he said, you know, I'm just a real

believer that you can never be too busy to help

people. Come to find out, this man is a preacher

here in town. So if you're wondering about a

church to go to, that might be your guy. I'm

not telling you his name or where he's a preacher.

But I thought that was a really good point because

guess what? He had something to get to. He had

a meeting to get to, and he was late to that

meeting because he needed to help me because

you can never be too busy to help people. You

can't. In the kingdom of God, We care more about

people than we do honoring our systems. And then

in Luke 14, we see Jesus. He's attending this

dinner where something catches his attention.

He notices the way that people are being seated

at a feast. Let's read Luke 14 verses 7 through

Luke 14:7–11

11 together. Now he told a parable to those who

were invited. When he noticed how they chose

the places of honor, saying to them, When you

are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do

not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone

more distinguished than you be invited by him.

And he who invited you both will come and say

to you, Give your place to this person. and then

you will begin with shame to take the lowest

place. But when you are invited, go and sit in

the lowest place, so that when your host comes,

he may say to you, Friend, move up higher. Then

you will be honored in the presence of all who

sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts

himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself

will be exalted. Jesus tells them, Instead of

trying to sit in the most honorable place, choose

the lowest place. Instead of trying to make yourself

feel like you are better than, put yourself in

the place of the least. Why? Because in God's

kingdom, the path upward starts downward. You

have to lower yourself. We used to sing this

song at camp all the time. Humble yourself in

the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up.

But we live in a society that says you need to

be the best. It was funny, on the first day of

Easton's T -ball practice, he walked up to his

coach. He said, hi, my name's Easton, and I'm

the best baseball player ever. If I was the coach,

you'd be batting ninth. We tell ourselves we've

got to be the best. We tell ourselves we've got

to have the most. We've got to have the nicest.

We've got to look the best. We've got to sound

the best. We've got to feel like we are the highest.

We've got to be in positions of acclaim. We've

got to be notable. We've got to have all of this

status. We tell ourselves this and that's what

the world tells us. That is what Satan has been

telling us from the beginning. The first lie

he told was, if you eat this, you'll be like

God. In other words, if you do this, you can

be as high as the creator of the universe. And

we tell ourselves that, and that is a lie that

leads to destruction. When you sit up high, you

will fall. But if you lower yourself, you will

be exalted. The kingdom of God starts downward.

Those who exalt themselves will be humbled. And

those who humble themselves, they'll be exalted.

The world tells us to climb higher. It tells

us to chase. It tells us to go after. It tells

us to try to achieve. And I'm not saying achievement

is bad. I'm just saying it cannot be your measuring

stick. The promotions, whatever. The bank account,

whatever. The status, whatever. It does not matter.

You have to be humble. Then Jesus gives another

surprising command in Luke 14, verses 12 through

Luke 14:12–14

14. He also said to the man who had invited him,

when you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite

your friends or your brothers or your relatives

or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you

in return and you be repaid. But when you give

a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame,

the blind, and you will be blessed because they

cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the

resurrection of the just. Don't invite your friends.

Don't invite your relatives. Don't invite the

rich. Don't invite the powerful. Don't invite

the people that are like you, the people that

are in your same social status. Don't invite

those people. Invite the poor, the hurt, the

needy. You know, I referred, I told you that

the gospel of Luke is sometimes referred to as

the social justice gospel. And I also said that

that shouldn't be a controversial phrase. It's

just about being just to those who need it. This

is it. It's this upside down way of viewing life.

It's inviting the needy to the table. And do

you know why all of this matters? Because this

is what Jesus has done. I mean, this is the gospel.

If I could sum it up, the kingdom of God practices

unfair generosity, and that's underlined. Will

you say that with me? The kingdom of God practices

unfair generosity. Did we deserve the generosity

of Jesus to give his life for us? No. Did we

deserve... the unfair generosity of Jesus to

come down from heaven to live and squalor among

sinful men like us? No. Do we deserve the grace,

the mercy, the compassion, the forgiveness that

Jesus offers us? No. It is unfair. fair generosity.

And that's what the kingdom of God is. It is

this upside down kingdom. It does not care about

status. It does not care about power. It does

not care about security. It does not care about

what the world tells us matters. It only cares

about loving those who need love the most. And

guess what? We need love more than anybody. We

need forgiveness more than anybody because we

are filthy rags. We are broken people. We. are

the poor. We're the needy. We're the broken.

We're the ones who need this unfair generosity

of Jesus. You see, when you step back and you

look at Luke 10 through 14, you start to see

a pattern of this upside down kingdom. Or as

people would say about a place that I'm from

in Mississippi, and maybe they say it about this

hillbilly mountain country, it's backwards. It's

a... It's stuck in a time that doesn't exist

anymore. You know, we talk about the good old

days where everybody cared for their neighbor

and where everybody loved everybody and everybody

took care of everybody. I remember hearing stories

about the great blizzard of 93. I love hearing

these stories. And I was like, man, I bet there

was a lot of people that went without and that

died and, you know, had a lot of issues. And

someone was telling me, no, this community stepped

up. And people were taking their tractors around

town to make sure people had firewood and to

make sure people had what they need and to get

people to safety. And it made me think about

after Hurricane Katrina when my entire hometown

was decimated and people from all over the country

came to help our hometown, to help all of these

people that didn't deserve their help, that didn't

know them from Adam, to help these people that

had just been, their community was destroyed.

They did not have to help them, but they did

because that's what it means to help your neighbor,

to love your neighbor. And that's what the kingdom

of God is. It's this backwards. It's this stuck

in a time that doesn't exist anymore, period.

See, the world values status, but Jesus values

humility. The world protects its time and its

comfort, but Jesus calls us to a sacrificial

love. The world seeks recognition, but Jesus,

he honors and recognizes quiet service. The world

gives when it benefits us, but Jesus calls us

to give when it costs us. And we have to realize

something very important. The reason following

Jesus is costly, the reason it is hard, the reason

it's not easy, the reason it is something that

Jesus says is a narrow, way. The reason following

Jesus is costly is because his kingdom operates

by completely different values than this world.

It's on a different operating system. It's an

upside down worldview. You see, when Christ's

followers operate like this, it disrupts the

way of the world. This is why the world doesn't

like it because it changes everything and it

messes up their flow. It messes up their system.

When Christ's followers operate like this, it

disrupts everything that the world has going.

I often refer to how the early church in the

book of Acts, they were able to completely flip

Rome on its head, not because they got in positions

of power, but because they lived a life that

was so humble, was so meager that the world looked

at them and said, how are they so happy when

everything around them stinks? How are they able

to have joy when they are literally being hunted

and murdered? Everything around them says your

life is not safe and it is not fair. They were

able to change an entire nation, a powerful dynasty,

because they simply lived the Jesus way. And

I ask you, if we lived like the Good Samaritan,

if we invited people to our feasts like Jesus

tells us to, if we would sit in the places...

of lowliness instead of trying to find places

of honor, if we would heal and take care of people

when it... cost us or when it disrupted our systems,

if we would live like Jesus, if we would live

a life that says everything I have, Lord, is

yours. It is not mine. Everything that I am is

yours, Lord. I am not my own. I live in a way

that is completely different than this world.

I live the upside down way of Jesus. If we lived

like that, if this church lived like that, could

we change the world? Yes. Let me ask that again.

If we live like that, could we change the world?

So why don't we? Why? Why are we content to just

sit here? And we have a personal Jesus and we

have the Jesus that helps us, but not the Jesus

that compels us to go and do. I read a quote

the other day, or I heard it in a sermon. It

said, we as a church, we've gotten so content

with the come and see that we forget about the

go and do. Jesus is calling us to go live a life

that looks different, that looks different from

this world, that looks like something that when

people see us, they say there's something wrong

with that guy. Or better yet, they say, what

happened? Where'd Wyatt go? I don't recognize

that guy. Where'd Curtis go? I don't recognize

that guy. Where'd Claudia go? I don't recognize

her. Where'd Kay go? I don't recognize her. They

call us, Jesus has called us to live a life that

is unrecognizable from this world that disrupts

man's systems. Because that's what Jesus did.

That's what the church did. And that's what we

have been called to do. We've been called to

live in this gospel -centered, upside -down kingdom

because the upside -down kingdom that we live

in begins with the upside -down grace of God.

I heard it in a song once. When's the last time

you heard a story about a hero dying for the

villain? Jesus died for people that did not deserve

his life. He died for people. that would willingly

put him on a cross, that would willingly cheer

for him being beaten, that were okay with him

being murdered. He died for those people. And

I don't know about you, but I know for a fact

that I am undeserving of his grace. I'm undeserving

of his mercy. Because I sin every day. I do things

every day. that drive the nails deeper in his

hands. I do things every day that I know bring

a frown to the face of God. Yet, because of his

upside -down grace, he died for me, and he promised

a home for me. And you know what's really cool

about that home? I may be living in humility

here. I may not have all the nicest things, I

may never be wealthy. In fact, I know for a fact

I'll never be wealthy. I may never have the comfortable

retirement. I may never have the nicest house.

I may never have the nicest cars. I may never

have the most secure life. And it may lead to

my death one day, and I'm okay with that. Do

you know why? For the same reason Stephen was

okay with his death in the book of Acts. Because

when that day comes, I will be able to look to

heaven. And I will see that it was all worth

it. Because there's a life waiting for me where

everything that I had ever wanted, everything

that I went without in this world, all the status

that at one point I probably thought I wanted,

all of those things, I'll have those. Because

God loved me enough that when I was still a sinner,

he gave his life for me. So it is not too much

for me to ask myself, can I give my all for him?

Can I look different in this world for him? Because

it is not my own life. These things I have are

not my own things. That's what the world wants

me to think. But what Jesus says is if you'll

sacrifice it now, you'll be blessed 20 times

over in the future. And that's not prosperity

gospel. That is the kingdom on display. So let

me ask you, which kingdom? Who do you serve?

Who do you live for? Are you living for the kingdom

of God that looks differently or are you living

for the kingdom of yourself? And let me ask this,

are we living for the kingdom of God or are we

living for the church of Christ? Are we living

for the kingdom of God? Are we living for the

town of Blairsville? Are we living for the kingdom

of God? Are we living for America? Are we living

for the kingdom of God? Or am I living for the

kingdom of Donovan? Are you living for the kingdom

of yourself? Who do we serve? And that's a question

we all individually have to ask. That's a question

that we as a church family have to ask. What

are we doing? Who are we doing it for? What way

are we living in? For those of us, for those

of you that are not already walking with Christ,

you haven't started this journey. You haven't

given your life to him. You haven't turned it

over for Jesus to take hold of your life. The

invitation is not merely for us to admire Jesus's

teachings. It's not merely to admire him as a

good healer, as a miracle worker, as a prophet.

It is to submit your life to him as the savior

of the world, as the redeemer. And for those

of us, who have given our lives to Christ, but

maybe have not been living in the way of Jesus.

I want to ask you, are we living by the values

of Jesus' kingdom, or have we adopted the values

of the world around us? Can I tell you, I think

I know the answer. And I think you know it too.

Can I ask you, could we please change? Could

we please start living like Jesus? Start looking

upside down. Can we start operating on a new

system? You know why the world hasn't changed

for the better? Because the church stopped doing

its job. Do you know why my family may not be

where it needs to be? Because I stopped doing

my job. Do you know why the world still is suffering?

Because the church stopped doing its job. I want

to be like the preacher across town. He says,

I'm not too busy to stop and help this complete

stranger. So what if I'm late for church? So

what if I'm late for work? So what if I'm late

to the practice? So what if I'm late for school?

I want to be like... the person that says, so

what if I don't have the nicest things I gave

to that nonprofit? And now because I gave to

them, they're able to help hundreds of kids.

So what if I don't have the most comfortable

house? I can say that I live the life that served

the poor and that served the needy. So what if

I don't have what the world says is success?

I lived for the kingdom of God. I walked in the

Jesus way, in a way that was costly. So church,

I'm asking us, whether you have started walking

with Jesus or maybe you started walking with

him and you slowed down a little bit and you

need to catch up, wherever you're at, whatever

you need, I want you to take this with you. And

this is the invitation. If you honestly feel...

Like you need prayer, like you need support,

like you need comfort, or you're ready to give

your life to Jesus. As I say it often, the water

is ready. I don't actually know if the water's

ready, but I promise we can get it ready, okay?

And if not, there's a creek somewhere we can

figure it out. But I want to leave you with this.

When we live the way of Jesus, the Jesus way,

the world gets a glimpse of the kingdom of God.

Have you ever seen something that was so amazing

that you just wanted to keep seeing it? For me,

it was the movie Free Willy. I'll watch that

movie any day of the week. I love that movie.

I saw it when I was a little kid. It was the

coolest thing in the world. And guess what? I

can't get enough of it. When the world sees what

Jesus' kingdom really looks like, I promise they

won't be able to get enough of it. They'll talk

about it. They'll want to be a part of it. But

it starts with us living in that way. So this

morning, wherever you're at, the invitation is

yours. Please come now as we stand and as we

sing.