The Messiah Changes Everything | John Challinor

Good morning, church. Good morning to those of

you online today, the online fam. That is you

wherever you happen to be, whether you've been

moving some of you or just you woke up and today

you're here. We are glad you're with us. Those

of you in Baghdad and Paulding that call Heights

home and are in specific locations there. We're

so excited we get to do this together. And how

are we? Yeah. There's kind of a whistle. I mean,

it's kind of a, you know, somebody's feeling

a little more than somebody else. I would say

this. If you're new here, and by new, I'm like,

you don't know what this space is. You don't

know what your faith journey is. You don't know

kind of how you landed here with what you carry

into the room, what you think about God, what

you think about you. I just want you to know

you're welcome. This is a space that I hope that

you find is safe, that I hope that your questions

are welcome, that you find that even the ones

that you think will scare religious people, that

they're actually welcome here, because none of

us got it all figured out. There's no one here

that even those that would be doing this professionally

on staff that can claim that we have it all figured

out. I would put it this way. One of my favorite

phrases is we're just all stumbling towards Jesus.

And if you ask us one day, we may be doing great

in that stumbling. It may feel more like a run.

If you ask us another day, it may feel more like

a crawl. And I just want you to know that God

calls this a family. God calls this, we don't

choose that. God chooses that. And I just want

you to know like this morning that however you

came in the door, I love you. I just want you

to know that. You may be like, man, that's really

weird. But I'm going to say it again. I love

you. And I love those of you online. I love those

of you in Paulding. I love those of you in Baghdad.

Somebody told me that they love me this week

and gave me a hug. I didn't realize how much

I needed that. And so I don't know where you

are, what you carry in, how you're feeling, what

you, I just need you to know I love you today.

I need you to hear that you are loved. And with

that, with that, you should also love your country.

You made it to the next round of the World Cup.

Well done, well done. There was a debate online,

like, who's John going to root for if England

meet the U .S.? I hate to tell you guys, there's

blood in the veins. I don't know what to tell

you, right? Like, there's blood in the veins.

I don't wish you ill. I just wish you lose to

England. That's all. So my parents got married

in 1966, and that is the last time England won

the World Cup. And so we've been waiting a little

while. It's coming home. It's coming home. But

here, I want to help you out. I want to help

you out. Okay, so made it to the next round.

The next round, it matters. It's the knockout

rounds. Okay, so like every game cannot end in

a tie. Okay, just to help you out. Like this

is where we're getting serious. So here's the

thing. Your next game is on Wednesday. Okay,

so I expect every single person, you've been

warned, you've been prepared, it is coming, and

I expect you to come and not be able to sing

next week because you lost your voices while

yelling at the U .S. national team to win. It's

a game they should win, round of 32, you should

go into the 16. But it's been fun. It's been

fun to be reminded that humans are humans wherever

you find them. It's been such a beautiful gift

to watch. I was watching a video, and it was

a player who's really big in Europe, gets paid

millions and millions and millions like athletes

do, comes to the United States, and they're videoing

him trying a New York deli sandwich for the first

time. And he loses his mind over this sandwich,

and you're like, really? All your millions? You've

never had that? And so with that, it's just a

reminder, right, that we're all in this life

together. We're all just made of the same stuff.

You're made of the same stuff that I am, right?

The people around you, we're all in this together.

And I feel like we should be singing at this

point, a little high school musical, you know

what I'm saying? But the reality is that there

is no one, no one, not one person on the entire

planet And as the nations descend together and

you watch the Scots drink so much beer, they

have to order more beer to Boston, right? And

you're like, wow, that's a great group of people.

That's why we keep them in the north in England,

right? We don't let them south. We don't have

enough beer for them. But the reality is like

we're just made of the same stuff. And I think

it's so important to understand this. There is

not one person in this room that is better than

another person. Oh, you may think you are. You

know what I'm saying? Because you drove that

car into a parking lot and you sit in that seat,

your seat, you know what I mean? Some of you

are like, we have seats. Some people do. How

do I know? I see you every week in the same seat.

And there's this, There's this beauty to just

stripping this thing down and going, you guys,

it doesn't matter. Your bank account does not

matter. Your status does not matter. Your hair

being done or not being done. The only things

that matter is the person of Jesus and the difference

he makes in our life. And we're going to look

at this because there's a desperation to us.

Right, like when we start to strip things down

to what matter, we realize, man, there is a desperation

and this Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. Right,

like he has been evidence stacking all the way

through this collection. And he's specifically

stacking that he is the promised one that God

had promised all the way through scripture. So

that as soon as us humans who are all made of

the same stuff, messed it up and sin entered.

And now we got brokenness and all kinds of disease

and all kinds of sickness and all kinds of everything

that goes with it, right? Separation from God

and all of that and the way we treat each other.

But you know what they say? The way that we know,

we know that we are family and the way that the

world out there knows that we are family is that

they will recognize us by our love. The Messiah

changes everything. Some of you, right? You're

like, If I say Jesus Christ, do you think Christ

is the last name of Jesus? And that's okay. There's

no shade with that. Because the only context

you ever maybe hear it in is when somebody decides

they hit their... And what comes out? The name

of the Messiah. Isn't that interesting? They

don't yell the name of a soccer player. The name

of their neighbor. They yell the name of the

Messiah. Christ. Christ is like the meaning of

Christ is the anointed one. That he is the one.

This is what we've been looking for. He's the

one. And if you're looking for like pithy way

to say it, he reverses the curse. He reverses

the natural flow that we are born into and we

are accustomed to. And he's been stacking, stacking

for weeks, right? Like where's his family? His

family's the line of David. Where was he born?

Bethlehem. What will he be from? This town over

here, right? Like all the things that they've

been projecting for years and years and years,

he's now starting to stack up and go, I got that

one. I got that one. I got that one. I got that

one. He read a whole thing last time, right?

Like the blind will receive their sight. What

do we see? The blind receiving their sight. The

lame will walk. The demons will be cast out.

Why? Because it's so important as humans. that

we have to see Jesus for who he is if we are

ever going to be different. It's so important.

It's so important. And the story we're going

to get into today, it's in Luke chapter 5. Shocker,

Luke 5 · chapter mention

I know, we've been going through Luke. Luke chapter

Luke 5 · chapter mention

5. Anybody, here, I'll start it out, then we'll

ask a question. Ready? Verse 12. While Jesus

was in one of the towns, a man came along who

was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus,

he fell with his face to the ground and begged

him, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me

clean. Anybody ever heard this story before?

You can raise your hand. It's okay. It's okay.

I'm not going to make you worship. We're just

raising our hand. You may be sitting here going,

John, I never heard it. Here's what I'm going

to ask you. Even if you raised your hand, I've

heard this story I don't know how many times.

I believe that God has something new for you

in him being the Messiah that he wants to teach

through the story. But what it requires is that

you don't all of a sudden go, oh, I've studied

this one. That's good. Yay. Yay for you. Good

for you. Right? Oh, I've even taught this one.

Good for you. Oh, you don't understand, John.

You don't understand. Like I've not only studied

this one, I've looked at some of the Greek words

and I understand inside of them. And good for

you. That was yesterday. Today, God's got something

fresh for you. And he's got something fresh in

that he is the Messiah, the promised one for

humanity. I need you to know something. There's

not another superhero coming. He is the superhero.

And what happens here, while Jesus was in one

of the towns, a man came along who was covered,

covered in leprosy. And you may have a translation

that says. full of leprosy. When you have a container

and you fill that container and that container

is absolutely full, the container you could say

is consumed by what is in it. Agreed? This man

is consumed. Every part of him is what it's trying

to get us to understand. Every part of him is

consumed with this thing called leprosy. Now,

the idea of leprosy, like you get into like,

what's the actual word? What does it mean? And

what disease was it? And we're not totally sure.

We know it's a skin disease and we know that

within the skin disease, what would happen often

in this context is there was a disease that would

eat away at all your joints until eventually

just ate away at everything and you no longer

live from it. You died from this disease. And

so this man is completely consumed. What the

scripture is trying to get is there's no space

left. This has captured him completely. It has

consumed him completely. Who he was, he no longer

is because this has consumed him. I wonder just

what consumes you? What consumes you? What is

it today that you're like, ah, man, I feel like

this has such a hold on me. This has such a grasp.

I feel like everything within me is just identified

by this. And for this guy, he's consumed with

this disease. When he saw Jesus, he fell with

his face to the ground and begged him, Lord,

if you are willing, you can make me clean. Lord,

if. There's an assumption there. Lord, in fact,

you got to see the picture because he comes into

the presence of Jesus. And in the presence of

Jesus, it says that he gets face down and he

begs Jesus. He's begging Jesus, the Messiah,

the chosen one, the one he's heard of. He is

so consumed that it has led him to a posture.

on his hands and knees, and it says he is face

down, face down before Jesus. When was the last

time you were so consumed with something that

you're like, the only posture I can do is come

before God Almighty, come before Jesus and be

in a posture where I am begging you have to change

this. When was the last time you were so consumed

that your posture became one that we've associated?

It's so funny, isn't it? Like we think about

like getting on our knees and we associate that

with worship. I don't think this is a moment

of worship. I think this is a moment of respect.

I think this is a moment of recognition. I think

this is the moment where he goes, if you, Jesus,

If you don't show up, if you don't change this,

I got nothing left. I'm desperate. What part

of you is desperate today to see Jesus? What

part of you is so desperate that you're like,

if you don't show up in this and be the Messiah,

if you don't reverse what's going on, I'm staying

under this curse. If you don't reverse what's

going on, I'm staying in the state that I'm in.

He's on his hands and on his knees, and he is

desperate. And he says this, Lord, if. Huh. Lord.

I recognize you as master. I recognize you. And

what's interesting with this word, it actually

recognizes him as someone who is as master. He's

master over the kingdom of God. And he's going,

Lord, as the master over the kingdom of God.

I know, I know, notice the end of it. I know

you have the power, but there's an assumption

that you won't. If you're willing. If you're

willing. Lord, if you're willing, you can heal

me. If, if, what? Jesus is the Messiah. He knows

that Jesus has power, but his assumption is Jesus

won't use that power on him. Where did that come

from? Well, if you turn back to Leviticus, plot

twist, nobody was like, oh, we're going to Leviticus

today. Leviticus 13. The context here is this,

that if you lived, the law told you that if you

lived in this time under this religion in Israel,

then what happened was if you had some kind of

skin disease show up, then you had to go to the

priest and the priest would analyze your skin

disease. Now, if you want some really good late

night reading, 13 and 14 of Leviticus, great

late night reading. It gets into all kinds of

things like. If your skin, if the sore is white

and the hair is white, then you should, it's

like, wait, what are we talking about? But notice,

notice what Leviticus does. If you have a skin

disease, we go what? Go to who? Not your question.

Man, I'm really worried about you now. Because

if y 'all got skin diseases, where are you going?

The doctor. You ain't coming to me. And if you

come to me, guess where I'm going to send you?

To the doctor. I'm going to look at you and go,

that doesn't look good. You probably should go

to the doctor. Now, I may pray your way to the

doctor, but they go to the priest. Now, what's

important about this, the priest, the priest

is the visible representation of God on the earth.

That's what the priest is in this context. So

you're telling me that our guy, our beggar, right?

Like before he was begging, before he, right?

Like he's at some point, he goes to the priest

and he goes, hey man, I got a rash. Could you

check it out? Could you take a look at it? And

then what the priest would do is he would look

at it, analyze it. And in the case of this man,

what happened is at some point, the representation

of God on the earth told him. you are ceremonially

unclean. What they told him is you are unclean,

right? And in that moment, here's what this means.

There are ripple effects to being unclean in

this context. It means that you can no longer

stay where he is. So wait, if he's the representation

of God, what do you hear in your ears? God is

telling you what? You're unclean and you're not

welcome to worship anymore. Now, he can't go

home. Why? Because he's unclean. And so now the

layers get further. At the end of this, in verse

45, it says this. Anyone, so this is if you are

found unclean, anyone with such a defiling disease

must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt,

cover the lower part of their face, and cry out,

unclean, unclean. As long as they have the disease,

they remain unclean. So as long as it's there,

they're unclean. They must live, look at this,

they must live alone and they must live outside

of the camp, outside of the people of God. So

you have lost your worship, you lost your family,

your home, and now you are outside of the camp.

And when you get outside of the camp, you're

to wear torn clothes. Torn clothes represented

mourning. You went into mourning. For your life.

You went into mourning for who you are. You're

still alive, but you're mourning that you're

dead type thing. And now you leave your hair

unkempt, right? So that your hair, your visible

representation was assigned to people that you

were unclean and cast out. And then on top of

that, you wore this face covering and everywhere

you went, you had to go unclean, unclean, unclean.

By the time Jesus shows up, there's a six foot

rule, right? Like it's a good COVID rule. Stay

six feet away. Now on a windy day, you had to

stay 150 feet away. So today, if we were at heights,

that person would be over there because they

have to be 150 feet away because of this disease.

This man is living in this reality. But wait

a minute. The story doesn't say that. The story

says that he is where? He's over here and he's

down on his hands and knees in a posture with

his face to the ground and he is begging Jesus.

How did he get in the presence of Jesus? He's

a rule breaker. I like him. How? He's so desperate.

And he asked the question of if. The assumption

is, why would you? Why would you treat me any

different than anybody else? You ever had that?

You ever done that to God? God, why would you

treat me different? God, I'm just an outcast.

I'm alone. I'm isolated. Nobody sees me. Isn't

it amazing that his disease became his identity?

Isn't it amazing that everything he did, including

the way he looked, the way he used his voice,

the way he carried himself, the places he stayed,

all said, I am unwelcome here. They all said,

God's for them, not for me. And he gets in the

prison. I love it, man. It's so, I mean, if you

want somebody who's a superhero, this guy's pretty

good. And he gets in and he goes, I'm begging

you. I'm begging you. You have the power. But

God's already rejected me. But will you accept

me? Turn back to Luke. Look at Jesus' response.

Verse 13. Jesus reached out his hand and touched

the man. I am willing, he said, be clean. And

immediately the leprosy left him. Jesus reached

out. His hand and what? Come on, we can do better

than that, church. Touched. The man. Touched

him. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. The man who

has broken protocol, who's got in the presence

of, and he's begging, if, if, if, I don't know

why you would, but if, if. Notice what Jesus

does. Jesus does the unthinkable. This man was

supposed to be on a day like today when it's

windy. He's supposed to be 150 feet away from

Jesus. Jesus could have him punished. And what

does Jesus do? He reaches down and who knows

the last time a human being has touched, shown

any sign of affection, any sign of desire, any

sign of you're welcome here. Any sign of I see

you, any sign of I know you, any sign of I love

you. And Jesus reaches down, the Messiah reaches

down and he touches the man. Why is that so significant?

Because notice what happens next. He reached

out his hand and touched the man and then he

said, I am willing. His actions came before his

what? His words. He didn't even need to tell

the man he was willing. He's already proved it

by his what? His actions. I wonder how many times

our mouths are just running off. You know what

I mean? I wonder how many times our mouths pop

off. Oh, you sound good. I've heard some of you.

You sound real good. You sound real smart. Sound

like you know Jesus real well. But they'll know

we are Christians by our, they're going to know

we are Christians long before we open our mouth

by how we act. Jesus takes his actions and puts

them on display way before he runs his mouth.

Had Jesus gone, I'm willing. We didn't do that.

He gave the man what the deepest longing of the

man's heart was. To be seen and to be known.

To know that God's not mad. That God's not upset.

That God's not distant. And that the Messiah

changes absolutely everything. You see, here's

what's stunning in this moment. The way things

work on planet Earth. Maybe you don't know this.

Maybe you weren't here for COVID. Right? Like

if it's going to transfer from me to you. then

don't be in my presence and it won't transfer

to you. Because that's how things work naturally

here on planet Earth. Agreed? And in this context,

if you have a skin disease and you touch a skin

disease, then you are likely to get said skin

disease. That's the way. Does Jesus not know

how planet Earth works? Does Jesus not know?

Does he not understand that Jesus, by touching

him, you're putting yourself in danger? But the

Messiah reverses the natural flow of this planet.

Instead of uncleanliness coming the direction

it should, because it's natural on our broken

planet, what happens is when Jesus touches him,

his holiness washes over the uncleanliness and

the man is completely healed because in Jesus's

economy, it doesn't go the other way. I don't

know anybody who's connecting dots, but I am

really glad that it works that way. Because there's

a verse that says that when Jesus died, you became

the righteousness of God. How can that even happen?

Well, he had to take your unrighteousness. You

didn't make him unrighteous. He made you righteous.

Why? Because the Messiah changes the natural

flow. That's why it's so important we get in

the presence of the Messiah. Jesus tells him,

verse 14, don't tell anyone, but go show yourself

to the priest. and offer sacrifices that Moses

commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to

them. Go show yourself to who? To the physical

representation of God on the planet. And what

is he showing him? I'm healed. And the guy's

going to go, how? That's not possible unless

the Messiah shows up. What is Jesus doing in

this moment? He's evidence stacking. He's taking

this moment and he's going, the Messiah is here

and here is the clearest example that the very

thing that you have set outside to die in, I

have showed up and I have reclaimed it and restored

it because that's what the Messiah does. He restores

things back to the kingdom of God, not the other

way around. And so the Messiah shows up and as

the Messiah shows up, now this man is healed

and he goes to the priest and he goes, hey man,

you're the guy that kicked me out. You remember

I had the rash? And it says at the end of that,

as a testimony to them. And you know who else

it's a testimony to? You. This is God yelling

to you. Don't miss it. The Messiah is here. Jesus

changes everything. So that thing that you walked

in the door with that you're like, ah, I've just

been struggling for so long and I keep going

back and it's just weird and I don't know why.

And guess what? The Messiah reverses the flow.

You don't have to walk through that and carry

that anymore. The thing that you go, I'm just

so desperate for. What happens is when you get

in the presence of God and you go, God, I'm so

desperate for you. Well, according to this, first

and foremost, those of you in the room that go,

John, that's great for everybody else, but you

don't understand me. God has given up on me.

I beg to differ that God has not given up on

you. You have given up on him. I beg to ask you,

would you ask him if you are willing, because

you're assuming he's not. I beg to differ with

those of you that are in the room that you're

so old and crusty in your faith. What do I mean

by that? You've been studying so long, your head's

so large, we had to put double doors in just

to get you in. Right? You're like, I know it.

And we know who you are because you take two

chairs. So dumb. Don't laugh at that. But there's

some of you that you've made this about what

happens in your head. It's not your head, it's

your heart. It's not your head. It's not to know

and be able to write on a piece of paper that

Jesus is the Messiah. And here's all the proof

texts of why Jesus is the Messiah. It doesn't

matter if you have never been on your knees in

his face and begged him to transform you. It

doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you know

everything and you still don't love people well.

Why? Because when you meet the living, say, okay,

okay, you guys, I got to be done. I'm out of

time. How do you think this man went home? Because

we don't have it. I'll read you the rest of it

just so you know we don't have it. Verse 15.

Yet the news about him spread all the more. So

the crowds of people came to hear him and be

healed of their sicknesses. Huh? So the news

spreads about Jesus all the more. Okay, so said

man, he begs. Jesus goes, go show yourself to

the priest. Comes back to the priest, the one

who represents God. He's like, see, no rash.

What do you think? How do you think he left there?

Yeah, I agree. I think he was silent the whole

way home. I don't think he whistled, not once.

He didn't even hum. No way. I think he walked

out and he is singing. I think he walked out

and he's telling anybody who will listen. You

guys, you don't need to go here. We have the

Messiah. Let me tell you what he's done. Let

me show you. I think he walks out of there and

he goes, do you know how great God is? And when

they said, no, why? He goes, I met him. I met

him today. And I thought he wasn't for me, but

he's for me. I thought. I thought that I was

too far gone, that I'm just death waiting to

happen over there. I'm already mourning my death.

And he goes, no, no, no, no. I see you. I know

you. And I got plans for you. And you're a part

of this whole thing. We discount God before God

discounts us. And I'm curious. I'm curious, you

guys, what would happen? What would happen if

a room full of people, they decided we're just

going to declare. How great is our God? And as

you declare it, you're just thinking of things

he's done. Or maybe you just need to declare

it going, hey God, I know I don't belong here.

I know I shouldn't be here right now, but I am.

And I don't know why I'm still here because I've

been feeling like I should have got up and left,

but I'm still here and I still need to see you.

And so I'm going to declare how great you are

as a request for you, for you to show up. I think

these next moments are so important. I told Eli

earlier. If you don't know who Eli is, he's right

here playing sweet sounds. I told Eli earlier.

Eli, my hope is Monday morning they're singing

the song that we end with today. That you wake

up with what the Germans call an earworm. Or

you can't get that song out of your head. How

great is... our God. And you know what it says

next? Sing with me. How great is our God. And

all will see how great is our God. Would you

stand? We're going to worship.