Miracles | More Than Healing

Good morning.

You know, we we like things that are about us.

We like things that are about us.

We like information that feels like it connects to us.

We we like information that feels like like it moves us forward, moves the ball forward, like it's gonna produce something that's gonna impact us.

And and as a result, I think when when it doesn't connect with us, when we experience anything and we don't see how it ties into our life personally, we just kind of get bored with it.

So we find it boring.

Now that's that's not like it just an us thing.

That's a that's a human thing.

We all get bored when when things don't connect to us.

This also explains why we find reading the Bible so boring.

Because we're looking through it and we we show up to read our Bible and we open it, we're like, all right, God, tell me what to do to save my marriage this week.

Like, we're trying to find it.

God, help me to feel better about my week.

We're trying to find that.

Oh, God, help me.

I need some encouragement.

We're trying to find that.

My kids are crazy.

What do I do?

And trying to find that, and like, and then we're bored because we can't find it.

Like, where?

And this might surprise you.

And the reason is because we we like things that are about us, and that's a problem with the Bible because it's not about you.

That's that's the problem.

It's actually not about us.

It doesn't mean, listen, God cares about you, God cares about all those things, but that's not the point.

Like you and I are not the main the main idea.

Now, to be fair, I I get this because when you've got something going on in your life, when you've got a need in your life, it's really hard to think about anything other than that.

I mean, if you got, if your body's not healthy, if you've, if you're like, if money's tight, if you know, you go down the the list, health stuff to family stuff to marriage stuff, when that's not right, it's hard to look at life through any other lens other than, okay, somebody help me like survive this season.

And that that and that's fair.

And I think Jesus knows that.

We're gonna read a story here today.

It's out of Luke 17, it's a story of these 10 guys who have leprosy and they and they get healed.

It's an amazing story.

But I think I think there's there's something far bigger that's happening in the story, and I think this is this is for all of us.

It's like you you want to read you read life through the lens of what you need, and but through that, through all of that, I Jesus is actually trying to say something else to you.

Jesus actually wants to get another message through to you.

He actually wants to communicate with you and connect with you on a different level.

Don't get me wrong, he cares.

I mean, spoiler alert, he heals all 10 of these guys.

So he cares.

But there's something else that I think he wants to say to us.

This is this is, we're right in the middle of our series that we're doing on miracles.

A lot of you are meeting in groups already.

You you just started with your your miracle groups.

You've got a guide, you're you're going through the process.

Good job.

Keep going.

This series is going to take us through the end of April.

And we're taking a look and we're going, okay, these miracles, miracles of Jesus, what are they about?

What is this?

What were those miracles about?

Is he still doing miracles?

What if I need a miracle?

All of that.

By the way, we do believe that.

We believe that God still does miracles.

We believe he did them, we believe he still does them.

This isn't a series about how to get your miracle, but make no mistake, if you need a miracle, we're gonna ask and we're gonna seek and we're gonna knock and we're gonna believe, and we're gonna believe that God will come through for you.

And so we were absolutely that's all part of this series.

We we've said this way, this is our working definition of a miracle.

It's this right here, pull up on the screen.

It's an unusual act of God that shows his power and points to who he is.

And this is this is the thing.

It's not just some, it's not just some moment where where God invades the natural order of things.

It's actually a moment where he exercises his authority over it.

And guess what?

He actually has something else he wants to show you through the process.

I'm gonna go to Luke 17.

If you got your Bibles, you can open it up.

It'll be on the screen here behind me as well.

We're gonna we're just gonna read through this story.

Ten guys, leprosy.

It's a whole dynamic, and I'm gonna die, I'm gonna parse it out with you here in just a moment.

We're just gonna we're just gonna read the whole thing for you.

It's a chapter 17, verse 11 through 19.

Here it is.

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him.

They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, master, have pity on us.

When he saw them, he said, Go show yourselves to the priests.

And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.

He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him, and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, Were there not uh were not all ten cleansed?

Where are the other nine?

Has no one returned to give praise to God except for this foreigner?

Then he said to him, Rise and go, your faith has made you well.

I'm gonna I I have different ways I like to teach.

This one's a little bit different today.

I'm basically gonna I'm just gonna run through this story with you, and I just I I pulled out some points that I think I think are relevant, some things I noticed that I think are really pertinent for for you, and I think are gonna I think I think they'll hit this week for you.

So I got seven of them.

That's not all of them, that's just the seven I have for you this week.

So let's just hope I can get through.

I might start talking really fast at the end.

I don't know, but we're gonna try to get through all of them.

Okay, so here it is, right at the beginning.

Now on his way.

He's now on his way.

He says now he's on his way to Jerusalem.

In fact, now this is the thing about the Bible, is that there's so many times there's these little phrases, and we just sort of like treat it like it's any other book, and we don't realize that even the like, even the like the small statements actually carry some weight to it.

And then this might surprise you, but there's a lot in this in this phrase, now on his way, on his way specifically to Jerusalem.

You know, I nobody else knows where he's going, or at least they have an idea.

They don't they don't exactly know why he's going there, but he does.

He's on his way.

And if you think that Jesus is just doing things arbitrarily then or now in your life, you you're mistaken.

Jesus is living his life on purpose.

Jesus is on mission, he's on his way, he's on, he's not on his way just just because that's where he decided to go that day, or or it just kind of feels like it.

No, there's a there's a there's a purpose and there's a mission to this, and Jesus is living on mission.

In fact, here he is, he's on his way to Jerusalem.

Do you know what's gonna happen in Jerusalem?

Nobody knows.

He knows he's going to suffer.

That's what he's going there for.

He's on his way to a place, he has every expectation he's gonna suffer and ultimately die for you and me.

Now he knows where he's going, but catch this.

On his way to suffer, he actually has space to be interrupted and address suffering people.

And this is a big this is a big thing because the point out of this is not a time management principle.

Jesus had margin.

I don't mean that in a time manager.

Yes, that applies to your calendars.

Who couldn't use a little bit more margin in your life?

It's like, oh man, that's some breathing room in my in my calendar.

That's great.

If you think that Jesus was just sitting around and didn't have anything to do, you are mistaken.

He's living on a mission, he's living on purpose.

The difference is he was very interruptible.

Very interruptible.

You know what's funny?

Is as my kids are getting older, you know what I'm realizing?

That the best conversations I'm having with my kids are the ones that they decide to have with me when I least expect it.

It's amazing.

It's just like the most random questions.

And I'm just like, you know, that's a great question.

I was gonna, you know, do this, but I and it's like, guess what, Dad?

You better, you better get interruptible if you want to maintain some influence.

I'm just saying like Jesus was very interruptible.

It wasn't from a lack of things to do, but he had some enough margin in his in his life.

And I'm and I'm telling you, for you and me, following Jesus.

If you're gonna follow Jesus and if you're gonna live on mission, and if you're gonna live on purpose, it was going, it's going to require margin in your life.

I'm I'm I know it.

Listen, this isn't to throw a rock.

I get it.

I I'm life is demanding, especially for all the young families in the room.

You got young kids, and life gets demanding.

But I'm just telling you, there are things in your life, if you're not careful, you'll let everything in your life dictate what's important.

And you got to find a way to get some space, you've got to find a way to get some margin.

Because I'm telling you, living on purpose with Jesus is gonna require, it's gonna require some margin.

It goes on.

He says, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

That's another one.

If you were reading this in your last year's Bible reading plan, I don't know, you probably just skipped right over these lines.

You just don't even think you don't even think anything of these lines.

He traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

Give you a little bit of context there.

This is Samaria, Samaritans, these are not people, these are people kind of on the outside.

They're kind of seen as compromisers, they're compromised ethnically, they've compromised religiously, they're they're like sort of Jews, but not really.

People don't, the Jewish, the Jewish people don't like them.

They're on that, they don't like the Jewish people.

Like they're they all there's a lot of division.

This is a very contested area.

This border that he's on, there's a lot of tension and there's a lot of conflict in this particular area.

And then in Luke, he makes a point of saying this is exactly where Jesus is walking.

And this is important because this is the kind of things that Jesus does.

Jesus actually, he actually, his ministry actually extends to those places that we feel like we've already got it figured out, and even though there's lots of tension and everyone's got strong opinions, it's amazing.

There's Jesus.

He finds himself, he inserts himself right in the middle of that.

And and this is the thing that you got to understand because to us it's just it's just the Bible.

It's just the Bible.

We're talking Samaritans and Samaria and Galilee, there's just Bible words and Bible towns, and for most of us, it doesn't even hit, it doesn't even register for us.

We don't think anything of it.

But for these people, this was a big deal.

Jesus is in a place spending time with a people that they don't expect him to.

And this is the thing about Jesus and his ministry.

Jesus just does things you don't expect.

In fact, his whole ministry, Jesus is far beyond all your expectations.

You think you got Jesus figured out.

I promise you, if you think you got Jesus figured out and he was standing here and walking, you actually physically had to walk with him this week, he might surprise you.

He'd surprise you.

His ministry and and what he, the people he's actually for, it might surprise you who he actually is for.

The people he wants to bring his ministry to.

And I know we've all had this experience.

You've been, if you've been a churchgoer for any period of time, you've had these moments where you're sitting in church and you look over and you're like, wait a second, who is that?

Like, oh my goodness, I can't believe that person's here.

I can't believe they're coming to church.

Like, oh, that's the last person I ever thought I would see here.

It's like, yeah, that's right.

Because Jesus has this way of going to people you never expected.

Jesus has a way of breaking through things that you didn't think were possible.

It goes far beyond your expectations.

Here's the other expectation he goes beyond.

He's he he also goes far beyond all the little boundary lines that you that you think that he has.

That's here's what I find for most people.

I'm not saying there's there's there's ethnic tension in our in our country.

You see it in the news that comes up.

I my conversations with most people, most of you, I don't, I don't pick that up.

I don't pick that up.

I don't think that's how, I don't think it's the lens through most of you are are seeing your life through is sort of this like ethnic border lines, like these people over here and those people over here, and Jesus is for us, but he's not for you.

I don't hear that a lot from from people, okay?

I don't hear that a lot from you.

But we do have our own boundary lines.

We do have lines where we go, oh, Jesus is is in this area, but he's not in this area.

And that goes for outside of us.

We go, wait a second, you mean Jesus might actually have something to say about the most controversial issues that we are facing in our world today?

Oh my goodness.

It's almost like we thought Jesus was great with felt characters and nice little Bible stories in Sunday school, but it's just like, wait a second, he actually has something to say about the things that matter in our life.

He crosses all those, he doesn't know those boundary lines.

That goes for outside of us, but that also goes for the inside.

It's amazing to me how many times we just go, I loved, you know, church is great and I love Jesus because we love, we we acknowledge he has something to say about loving our neighbor, but then we go, wait a second, he has something to say about my sex life too?

Wait a second, he actually has something to say about how I'm actually supposed to do relationships?

Whoa, hold on a second, Jesus.

That's getting a little bit personal.

We have boundary lines.

I'm okay with this, but then we think, well man, does he actually have access to that part of my life?

I'm just telling you, Jesus is far more reaching.

He's far more, he's his reach goes farther than you thought.

He actually has a lot more he wants to say about not just outside your world, but outside of you, but also inside of you and what's going on in your world as well.

He's far beyond your expectations.

Here's the next one.

It says, ten men who had leprosy met him.

That's a bad day.

You got leprosy, that's a bad day.

You know what that is?

Some of you younger ones, you're like, I have no idea what this is.

It's bad.

It means all your skin's falling off.

It's it's horrible.

It's like a horror movie, okay?

That's leprosy.

It's not a bad deal.

They they met him and they stood at a distance and they called out in a loud voice, Jesus, master, have pity on us.

Okay, I got five kids.

All of you know that.

And when I when Bethany is out, especially when she's got something going on at the church, um, I don't want to make dinner.

You know?

That's a lot of kids, that's a lot of juggling.

I'm like, you know what sounds good to me?

Fast food.

Emphasis on fast and food I don't make.

I like both of those things.

That's great.

You're like, let's let's get this going.

And so I've I've you know we don't do it all the time, but every now and then.

And so I take kids out, and uh I won't say the place because I like the restaurant, and it's not a statement about them, it's just a thing that happened.

And so we're at the restaurant and it's not fast.

And I'm like, man, this is getting ridiculous.

I got five kids.

This it's a bit, it's like a chicken time bomb, you know, it's like volatile, you know, you feel it, it's like it's boiling right now.

There's a simmer, you know, it's about to like break forth.

And so I'm just like, okay, like put a pacifier in that kid.

Don't, don't, and stop looking at her.

You know, it's just like, don't talk to your sister.

You know, I'm just like, well, it's just like I'm just trying to keep it all together.

And then the food finally comes.

It's like, dear Lord, finally.

So I'm looking for the food.

I'm like, I was like, where's my hamburger?

It's like, here's your hamburger, and here's your chicken sandwich.

And then it's just like, where's mine?

I'm like, are you you gotta be kidding me right now?

I was just like, oh my goodness, do they understand what I'm trying to do here?

So I go in there and I'm just like, guys, okay, listen.

Do you remember me?

I was here, you know, 30 minutes ago ordering my food, and and they're looking at me just like, uh, do we did you do you have a receipt?

And I'm just like, uh, so we're going through some onion rings, some fries, a burger.

We're just trying to get the whole thing.

And I'm and I've and I remind myself, I gotta do this from time to time.

I'm walking up there, I'm like, You're a pastor, you're a pastor, you're I gotta remind myself of that.

Because I'm you know, I gotta because it's a small town, you know.

I gotta like you never know.

So I'm like, I'm reminding myself of this.

And I'm up there and it's amazing.

I'm just like, I ordered something, and that's not really how it comes out, but that's what's going on in my mind, you know.

I think this is sometimes how we approach God.

We come to God and we go, God, I ordered a miracle, I got some needs here.

And I wasn't, I don't even remember or not.

I asked for like extra peace.

I feel like I got none.

Like the bag is empty, Lord.

Where are where are you?

Oh, and by the way, I was expecting just a little bit, a little bit more convenience than this.

We get this like entitlement, and I don't even think we do it consciously, we just get so exasperated, the needs of our life, like that lens just sort of like has a way of overtaking us, and then entitlement slips in.

And I love how these guys respond.

There's no entitlement here.

They look at Jesus, Master, have pity on us.

Jesus is moved by humility.

I think sometimes we have this idea that God is yeah, he's unchangeable, God is consistent, God is the same, but God is moved by humility.

That's what the Bible says.

He actually moves toward us when we move toward him.

That's James.

That's James chapter four.

It's amazing because we live in, we live in a cultural moment.

We live in a cultural moment that says that when you're not getting what you deserve, when you're not getting what you ought to be getting, when you're when you feel like you've been held back in any way, we live in a cultural moment that says that that now entitles you to make some demands about how other people are supposed to engage with you.

And I'm just telling you, that's not how these guys respond.

I love this because that's not that that's not what moves the heart of God.

God, don't you know what I've been going through?

Don't you know?

Can't you see how difficult this is?

Can't you see what I've been having to navigate?

They got it easy.

Why don't I?

This isn't fair.

God, he doesn't he's not moved by that.

You know what he is moved by?

Jesus, Master, have pity on us.

That's humility.

That's humility.

They're not entitled, they're humble.

It's amazing.

God moves toward that.

I think sometimes we just forget this.

We forget that God, that this is actually a relationship with a person.

His name is Jesus, and he actually is moved by our humility.

He says he resists the proud and draws near to the humble.

And it's amazing.

That's a real thing.

That's not just poet, poet, that's not just poetry.

Like that's real.

He wants to move toward us.

Now, here they are.

They're crying out to God, God, you know, Jesus, help us, you know, have have mercy on us.

They clearly they it's it's obvious what they need.

By the way, they're doing this because Levitical law, like Old Testament law, doesn't allow them to just approach anybody, they're not allowed to do that.

So they're they're they're hollering out, they're yelling at him, not because they're lazy and they don't want to come to him, because they have to.

That's that's how that works.

And so they're they're hollering out to him.

And I love how Jesus responds because if you didn't know this, faith that that that idea, that the idea of faith, that's not some full that's not just a philosophy that you subscribe to.

I think that's what we think it is sometimes.

We're just like, well, I have faith, and it's just like just because you no, no, no.

Faith is um faith is like it involves steps.

Faith, specifically faith in Jesus means you're following a person.

And if you follow a person, that requires you to move your feet a little bit.

That requires you to actually start, you know, taking steps.

Follow.

And I love this because there's some steps here that Jesus has for these guys who are crying out to him.

He says, Go and show yourselves to the priest.

But just so you know, priests don't heal you.

That's not what he's they don't they would know this.

They know this.

They're not going to the priest because they're going, oh my goodness, the priest, he's got special healing.

Like this, the special water came in today, I guess.

Okay, so they're gonna go to the priest.

That's not what it is.

They know this.

The priest doesn't heal you, they verify healing.

That's their job.

That's that's this whole, again, this is whole Levitical law, there's a whole culture to this, there's a whole there's a whole ceremony to this.

There they they verify healing.

And he says, look at it, go show yourself to the priest.

And as they went, they were cleansed, which means this.

It means that when he told them to go and they turned around and they went to the priests, they were not healed.

That's what that means.

It means they said yes, it means they chose to listen and be obedient before they had actually seen anything come of it.

They trusted him.

This is by the way, of all the points I could make today, this is gonna probably be the strongest one.

So if you've zoned out, this is your time to zone in.

Okay, so right here, this is it, right here.

They're they're they're obedient.

By the way, welcome to following Jesus.

This is what this is what it looks like.

Welcome to following Jesus.

Too many of us, we come to Jesus with a condition.

We're just like, okay, I'll follow the Jesus way when I start to see some things fall in line.

I'll consider your faith, I'll consider this Jesus stuff if just fill it fill in the blank.

We have we have these conditions that we that we come to the Lord with.

And I love this because here they are, these guys, and they're begging for a miracle.

Understandably.

So you got leprosy, you're begging for a miracle too.

Okay.

By the way, they don't just have they don't they're not just sick with their families, they're sick and now isolated.

That's it that's what it meant to have leprosy.

It means you didn't have you weren't around your families, it means it meant you weren't around anybody.

You meant you had a new community with other people who are sick, just like you.

That was your new community.

I'm sure it was a really pleasant crowd.

Yeah, they're desperate.

So they're begging for a miracle.

The miracle, arguably, they believe they need the the most.

And they get healed.

Where?

On the road of obedience.

That's where they get healed.

On the road of obedience.

This is the stuff, this is the stuff we live we we miss because we want to come to God with a condition.

We want to come to God with an ultimatum.

I'll as if somehow, as if somehow, like God wins the lottery when he gets me.

It's like but we come with it, we come with a condition.

I want to I wanna I'm gonna drill into this.

You know, there's a difference between blessings and miracles.

I don't believe miracles is God's best for your life.

Do you know why?

Because to qualify for a miracle, it means your life had to have taken a left turn at some point.

Something, someone.

Your health, family, relationship.

I don't know what it is.

Okay, when you need a miracle, it means something's gone off the rails.

God, I need you now.

I don't think that that's God's best for you.

I think I think blessing is different.

Blessing is different.

Blessing is something else entirely.

See, a lot of us we find ourselves in this tension because we're going, God, I need a miracle in my finances.

God, I need a miracle in my money.

But I've already written off and I've determined that tithing is totally optional and probably archaic, and giving's not really a topic, and generosity is not really a value.

Oh.

Maybe it's not a miracle.

God's going, hold on a second.

No, why don't you come over here where blessing is?

Perhaps your miracle's on the road toward obedience.

Oh, God, I need a miracle in my relationships.

I don't want to be lonely.

I feel like I'm lonely.

I want to, I need a, I need somebody, I need a companion.

It's just like, okay, I get it.

I want to come through for you.

But how about instead of trying, instead of playing married, how about you come over here and get under blessing and stop living with your boyfriend or your girlfriend and come over here where blessing lives and do it my way?

Not because he hates you, not because he has some some archaic, antiquated rules for you to live, because he goes, I didn't design you to live that way.

And when you live this way that's outside of my way, life's really hard.

You don't actually need a miracle.

You just need to bring your life onto our place where God goes, Oh, I can bless that.

I can put my hand over that.

That's good right there.

I just say we get this confused.

Oftentimes, the very the very miracle that you need, the thing that you desire, the need that you need met is actually on the road of obedience.

Oh my God, I'll do it when.

No, no, no, no, no.

It's on the road of obedience.

Here's the next one.

He says, one of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.

He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him.

And he was a Samaritan.

Again, Samaritan, what's that mean?

It means this is the one guy who shouldn't get any of this.

That's what it means.

This is the compromised guy, right?

This is the guy that everybody looks at and goes, that guy's in church.

That's this guy.

He's the one guy that came back.

You know, he comes back, he says, Thank you.

You know, this isn't a lesson in manners.

I don't know if you know that.

This isn't a manners lesson.

Gratitude.

He's expressing gratitude because gratitude, this isn't about manner.

This is about somebody who actually recognizes who Jesus is.

They received from him.

He's the one person that recognizes and goes, wait a second, this is this is an incredible miracle.

I think I just had an encounter with the living God.

You know that because he goes and he worships him.

He's the one person that gets this.

Did you know that the most valuable thing that you can give to the people in your life is relationships.

You want to bless other people, you can introduce them to your relationships.

You want to be you if you're healthy, the best thing you can offer, you can give to the people around you is yourself.

It's your relationships.

It's contrary to what you believe, it's not what you're building, it's not what you're accumulating, it's not the influence that you have or the opportunities that you can offer somebody, it's the relationship that you can have with that person.

I was watching a video this last week.

Scrolling YouTube, repenting.

I know, it's bad, bad habit.

It kind of goes in waves, you know.

This week was not a good week.

That's way too much.

Anyway, that's another story, another sermon.

Anyway, so I'm watching YouTube, and I saw this video, and this mom, she's this mom's laying on the couch, she's watching TV, and it looks like the dad is on the floor.

He's sitting up against the couch on the floor watching TV, and there's this little, this little, their little toddler couldn't have been any older than 18 months, is standing at the end of the couch on the floor.

And they're just sort of watching TV.

There's no there's no words in the video, just video.

And and you just see this little 18-month-old just sort of like just kind of scooting closer.

Looks over his dad, looks over at the TV, you know, just kind of scoots on a little closer.

He gets about two feet from his dad and then just sort of like dives right into his dad and sits down on the floor as close as he can, and he just sits like this with his hands in his life, just watching TV with his dad.

You know, I don't know anything about these two people.

Is that that guy could be a total loser for all I know?

I don't know.

You know, their marriage could be on the rocks, they're like in the middle of a divorce.

I have no idea.

For all I know, that guy just got laid off.

He just failed in business.

He's actually just filed for bankruptcy.

He's just like feeling like a total failure.

We have no idea.

You know who else doesn't know?

That little 18-month-old.

He doesn't care, he don't care about any of that.

You know what he does care?

His dad's on the floor with him.

Why is that important?

Because we overlook the significance of relationships.

We're all interested in what is offered, what's accomplished, what's what's what can fit in our hand.

And I'm just telling you right now, Jesus heals these people, but guess what else?

He wants to give himself, he wants to give you himself.

This is this is the thing that's that's overlooked here.

It's like you can you'll be all excited about what you hope Jesus offers you, but but this one person gets it.

This in this interest, the one person who's not supposed to get it is the one who actually got it.

He wants to give you himself.

You know, we we see this, we see this today a lot.

Because there's some of us, we've been following Jesus for years.

It's like, I've been doing this church thing for 10 years, 20 years, I've been in church my whole life.

We're just sort of like, we know the routine.

You're like, okay, here we go again.

What time is it?

I hope he doesn't go along today.

You're just sort of like in the routine.

It's like, are you a Christian?

Of course I'm a Christian, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I can tell the joy of the Lord is on you.

But we're just like, we're just kind of going through the routine, and then somebody else comes along, and they're like really excited.

They're just like, oh my goodness, I love that song.

I just want to worship Jesus.

Thank you.

You're just like, calm down, calm down.

It's way, way too much excitement for 11 a.m.

Like, this is crazy.

What is that?

You know, what is that?

It's almost like it's almost like they found the treasure in the field.

It's almost like it's almost it's almost like they they they've there's a connection there, there's a relational component there.

There's a there's a revelation that maybe it's not maybe it's more than just the the traditions and the habits and the routines, and those are not bad, by the way.

I'm not opposed to all that.

I just but it's like when you when it finally clicks that it's actually a relationship with you, when it actually clicks, that he can give you exactly what you want, he can he can come through for the miracle that you need.

When it clicks, that it's actually not about that, and it's actually about him.

It's a game changer.

It's a game changer.

I love the question that he asks here.

This next question that he asks, this is this is an important question.

He says, Where are the other nine?

I I just have to imagine that when he asked this question, you had to have been like looking over the guy's shoulders.

Like, weren't there ten of you that got healed?

And you got looking, where's the other nine?

Where where did they where did they go?

Okay, all the married people, you know this.

You know that like moment when you're when you're arguing with your spouse and there's that like tension in the room and nobody's saying anything, but you both know somebody's gonna have to do this.

Like somebody's gonna have to go first, right?

Somebody's got to relent here.

Y'all know what I'm talking about?

That like awkward tension moment.

You're just kind of like, okay, I mean, who's gonna go first?

I mean, probably the person that's wrong, so I'm waiting.

You know, one of those kinds of moments.

And here's the dirty little secret.

We all kind of know it, but we don't want to admit it is that the one who relents first is usually the most mature person.

Okay, it's true.

Yeah, that's a hard truth, but that's the truth.

Now, when we were first married, when Bethany and I were first married, we'd be in an argument.

And I'm just I'm not gonna lie to you, I was such a better Christian than she was back then.

I was relenting first all the time.

I was like, are you taking notes, Bethany?

You know, I was just like, I was feeling really good.

Now that was then.

I don't want to talk about now.

That was then.

We're not talking about today, just back then, okay.

Today's might be a little different story, but I don't want to talk about that again.

I might have to step my game up a little bit.

But anyway, back then, it's like I was I was relenting.

Somebody's got to go first, right?

You can't stay there.

You know what I love about this story?

Is that Jesus goes first.

Jesus goes first.

He doesn't he doesn't go, oh, okay, here's the thing.

You need a miracle?

I got one for you.

Now I can do it.

I'm Jesus, I'm God.

You don't know that, but you're about to find out.

Okay, here it is.

I can do it for you.

But on one condition, you all gotta come back.

He don't do that.

He just goes first and he risks it.

Only one.

One one out of ten.

Only one out of ten actually comes back.

And this is this happens.

Honestly, this ought to cause, give us pause.

This ought to give us pause as to what we think it means to follow Jesus.

Because here's what this means: it means you can actually be blessed by Jesus, you can receive from Jesus and yet have never returned to Jesus.

It means you can actually experience the goodness of God and not actually be with God.

Jesus goes first.

His question, by the way, is not some like emotional infantile question.

Oh my goodness, Jesus, why are you so insecure?

It's like, where are the other nine?

It's like, be thankful.

One guy came back, at least, you know.

That's not the question.

You know what the real question is?

The question beneath the question is the question for all of us.

Will you treat Jesus like a tool or will you treat him like a king?

Is he the one that just provides you access to what you think you need most in your life?

Or is he the one that we're actually following?

And this is the incredible thing is that Jesus didn't just come to give you an antidote to your problem.

Did you notice he does though?

That's the that's the incredible part of the story.

Is he does give the antidote to the problem.

But he didn't just come to give the antidote to the problem only.

He actually wants you, he wants to be with you, and he wants for you to be with him.

This guy you gotta understand, it's like Jesus models this for us.

Loving people is is risky, it's risky.

Like it is not a guarantee when you engage relationally with other people, you run the risk of being wounded and hurt deeply.

This is a real thing.

I mean, I I can tell you just personally, just as a pastor, you know, you open your doors to people, you invite the amount of people I've invited into my home over the years, invited the amount of people I've given access to see parts of my life that not a lot of people have been able to see.

And then, and sometimes it works out really well.

It's like, oh my goodness, I'm so glad we're in each other's lives.

This is fantastic.

And then there's others, you know, they come along and they're just like, hey Pastor, do you know about this?

I don't know.

Are you sure you want to do this?

And it's just like, I get it, I know that, I know their past, but you know what?

It's it's this is the risk we run.

And sometimes it bites you, sometimes it hurts.

Like, maybe I shouldn't do that next time.

Loving people is is risky.

It doesn't always, but this is the thing that Jesus shows us.

He goes first, he doesn't do it with all the conditions.

You know, if if the story ended there, if that was the end of the story, here's what we would be tempted to think.

If this was the end of the story, we would be tempted to think that that you got ten guys who are lost, and you got Jesus trying to be the hero, one guy recognizes he's the hero, and nine guys decide that they're gonna continue being bad guys.

That's what you would think.

You'd think you have nine guys that are just sort of like and and then Jesus.

Jesus is the hero of the story, but you you you would almost think that it's a story about external problems.

These nine guys that just don't get it.

Well, how many?

We've all said this.

In our cultural moment, I know y'all are saying this, I hear you saying it.

You can't help yourself.

You're like, my God, what's wrong with these people?

Just watching the news, you're like, oh my goodness, there they are.

I bet they're part of the nine.

That's what we'd be thinking.

Maybe.

If if this is where the story ended, you'd be you'd be tempted to think that this is all about the external stuff.

How do we fix these people?

How do we get these other people to see it?

How do we get these other people to acknowledge this?

But that's not the end of the story.

Look how he ends it.

He says, then he said to him, the one who actually came back, he said, Rise and go.

Your faith has made you well.

Your faith has made you.

I thought he was already well.

I thought he was already healed.

This is actually, there's actually two different things.

One to be cleansed, there's these are two different words.

He said, The other, all ten of them were cleansed ceremonially.

All ten of them, all ten of them are now healed.

All ten of them have had healing, which means the other nine, I guarantee you, they're all throwing parties at night.

They finally get to go have dinner with their families, they're finally back with their friends.

People who wrote them up, they actually get to be reunited.

It's an incredible thing.

You'd be throwing a party too.

They are throwing parties, it's a big deal.

And that's all ten of them.

But only one of them was made well.

Did you know that's the same word for saved?

That's salvation.

What one only one's been totally made whole and totally restored.

Not all ten, just one of the ten.

That's the two different things.

That's why you've been made.

That's why you've been made well.

He's been made well.

This is the tension that I think a lot of us face, especially.

I don't know if it's it's probably a Midwest thing.

It's we live in America.

I don't know what it is.

We have a lot of misconceptions around what it means to be a Christian, about what Christianity is about.

For a lot of us, we approach Christianity like it's just this, it's this thing that like helps us be moral people.

That's what it becomes.

It becomes this, it becomes this system to to work out good morals.

It's it's it's helpful because it helps create good citizens who will contribute to society and it'll be good for everybody.

And I want to live in a culture where we have espoused these values, and this is what Christianity becomes.

Oh, it becomes the good, the thing that helps me be a good person.

You know what?

Christianity is great because it's gonna help my kids kind of walk the right path one day.

This is so many of our versions of Christianity.

This is what we think it means.

This is what we think it means to quote be a Christian.

And those things are not bad.

And you know what I believe?

I believe, I believe they're all derivative.

I think that I think that all those things can happen.

I think that they can transform you, and and those can things can be great and great for the people around us.

But that's not the main point.

It's actually all about Jesus.

And then this is the part you have to.

I'm just telling you, if you're missing this, is because you're you're missing the part where re where Christianity and being a Jesus follower is actually meant to be and intended to be a real relationship with an actual person, and his name is Jesus.

Like, really, like really hearing his voice, the Spirit of God, his Holy Spirit that he has given, that you would hear his voice, that you would follow him, that you would live in communion with the other people who are committed to following him.

That's real Christianity.

And we miss this.

We have it, we we give Christianity all kinds of other titles, we give it all other kinds of philosophies.

We attend it's amazing how many times I'll say this from this platform.

Well, not this one.

This is all my fourth time to say anything from this platform, but other platforms.

I say this and then I get off the platform.

And it's amazing how people will come to me and they'll say the same things all the time, same things over and over again.

You know, I'm just trying to, I'm just trying to follow the rules, I'm just trying to do the things I'm supposed to do.

I'm just, and it's just like, you're not hearing me.

You're not listening.

You're not listening.

Those are derivative of being close to Jesus.

The the mirror, see they these guys, they had a miracle and they needed it.

Don't get me wrong, they needed a miracle.

You got leprosy and you're isolated, you need a miracle.

These guys needed a miracle, the miracle they thought they needed most was along the road of obedience.

The miracle they needed, they actually needed most was at the feet of Jesus.

And see, they missed that.

They missed that to be made whole, to gain the world and lose your soul.

It's Jesus.

It's always it's always been about Jesus.

That's what it is to be a Christian, to follow the one who came back from the dead for goodness' sake.

That's Jesus.

Listen, Jesus didn't come.

You can clap, thank you, all three of you.

That's right, you got that.

Thank you very much.

Jesus didn't just come to make you well, he came to make you his.

Let's pray.

Jesus, we love you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You know, I I can't help but think in a room this size, where we're sitting here, there's a lot, there are those of us that have had a flawed version of what it means to be a Jesus follower, to be a Christian.

Jesus, would you, by your spirit, would you make that known to us?

Would you, I pray for every one of us here, would you make it known?

Would you would you give us revelation right now?

Would you help us to see our faith accurately?

Would you, would you help us in this moment?

I pray for those of us in the room that we've had flawed versions.

Some of us we got flawed versions of what it means to be a Christian, not just because we've believed lies, but because we've got some people in our lives that have sabotaged that vision for us.

We've got sabotaged perspectives on what it means to be a Jesus follower.

We've got, we've got we've got pasts we feel like we're overcoming, we've got histories we feel like we're overcoming, we've got parents we feel like we're having to overcome, we've got, we've got all kinds of things we feel like we're having to overcome.

And we're just going, yeah, well, that's great, but you don't know my stuff.

And I'm just gonna tell you, and this is my prayer right now, Jesus, would you just find a way to break through all of that right now?

Would you cut through all the noise?

Cut through all of the barriers, would you cut through all of the excuses?

Would you cut through all of the hurdles that the people that we are all sort of trying to navigate and climb over to try to understand you and the truth and what it is that you're wanting to say to us?

I pray that you would just break through that right now.

Some of you've never actually really committed your life to Jesus.

For you, Christianity has been about good habits and good morals and where you're gonna be on a Sunday morning.

And for you, for a lot of you, that's your version of Christianity.

Are you a good person or are you a bad person?

I got news for you.

We're all bad people and we all need Jesus.

And if that's you, I'm gonna I want to pray right now that you would be bold.

If that's you, if would you raise your hand?

I want to pray for you to say that's me, and I want to give my life to Jesus here this morning.

I want to commit my life to him.

I've I've I've I've maybe you've even done it in the past, but you want to recommit your life to Jesus.

If that's you, I just want to pray for you.

Would you raise your hand and just say, Yeah, Pastor, that's me.

Thank you.

I see your hand right there.

Any others?

Very good.

Good job.

Good job.

I see that.

Any other hands?

Raise your hand and just say, Good job, I see you.

Good job.

Good job.

Just want to give your life to Jesus right now, commit your way to Him.

Just make this prayer your own.

Just in your own way.

Just tell him, Jesus, I give you my life.

I may not even understand all of it.

I may have a lot of questions, but I I choose to believe that you died for me, that you rose again, and I commit from this day forward to follow you, the one who came back from the dead.

Thank you for raising me to new life with you.

I'm yours.

I'm yours.

And I commit to follow you for the rest of my life.

I pray for the rest of us here too.

I know we all got things that we need.

There's some of you in here right now.

You are going through real crisis right now.

This whole idea of needing a miracle, that's exactly what you need right now.

You need a real miracle.

Your marriage needs a miracle, your kids need a miracle, your health needs a miracle.

You you are in a place where you're going, okay, this was great.

I get it.

It's all about Jesus, but can we just cry out to God for a second?

Jesus, I need you to actually come through for me right now.

And I would just say this.

Yeah, Jesus cares.

And I want to pray for you.

I'm gonna pray for you right now.

I just wherever you're at right now, if you got that in your own way, you can even just turn your palms up and we just pray right now.

We just say thank you, Jesus, for seeing the needs in our life.

Thank you, Jesus, that we are not navigating our lives by ourselves.

Thank you that we don't have to do this on our own, but that you see us.

Not only do you see us, but you empathize with us.

I thank you that you're not just the God who did miracles, you're the God who does miracles.

And I thank you, Father, for coming through, for giving us clarity on our relationships, giving us breakthrough in our marriages, giving us breakthrough in our finances, giving us wisdom and insight so that we can begin to navigate our life in a way that honors you and the people around us.

Help us and we trust you.

We thank you for hearing our prayer.

We thank you for answering our prayers, we thank you for coming through for us.

We love you and we're grateful for you.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Everybody said, Amen.

Amen.

Hey, like we mean it.

Can we put our hands together and tell Jesus thank you this morning?