Resilient: It's Practical

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We exist to awaken this generation to new life in Christ.

Thanks for tuning in.

To find out more, go to awakeningchurch.com.

Well, happy Mother's Day.

My name's Ryan.

We're so thrilled to have you join us today.

And uh man, what a special day.

I actually I just want to give a shout out to my wife.

Happy Mother's Day and my mom.

Mom, hey, you're watching.

It's so good to have you apart.

Happy Mother's Day.

And then to all the moms in our community.

Man, we wish we could gather together, but we're so grateful that we can do it in this way and celebrate you today.

Um, I just came across this the other day for Mother's Day, kind of fun thing.

It said, news alert.

Moms are the most likely to carry coronavirus with no symptoms.

The best course of action is to keep them away from men and children.

Your designated quarantine area or areas are local wineries where you should remain for at least 14 days, you know, just to be safe.

I know that even this year it may be one of those years where you're going, like, you know what, a quiet house might be the best Mother's Day gift yet.

Uh, but we're just glad to get to be together and to celebrate you and so grateful for the impact that you have on our church and on our uh kids.

And we love you.

Uh, as we transition now, we um we've been in a series called Resilient.

And we are closing up our series Resilient uh today, and we've been talking about this idea of resiliency and what resiliency really is, it's the ability to withstand or to recover from a difficult situation.

It's this ability to stand strong in the face of a storm, to be knocked down, but the ability to get back up.

And so we've been asking and wrestling with this question how how do you have resiliency in the face of a difficult situation?

In the face of this COVID moment, in this crisis, when when things at home are maybe a struggle or things at work or the future's uncertain, how do we have resiliency in this?

And we've been studying uh the book of James.

Uh now the James is writing to a people who are in their own COVID moments.

If you want the full context, you can actually go back and look at Acts chapter 8 and see the moment of what he's navigating.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

James was the half-brother of Jesus.

He was the leader of the church in Jerusalem, and the church had just experienced intense persecution, and everyone was scattered from their homes and afraid.

Their lives were upended in this moment, and he's writing to them in their COVID moment of how to navigate, how to respond, and how to be a follower of Jesus even in this season.

And that's why he opens up his letter to them this way He says, consider it pure joy or all joy, my brothers and sisters.

Whenever you face trials of many kinds, and we're all experiencing different kinds of trials, even though we're all in the same trial together, isn't it?

True.

And he says, When consider it joy, you can actually reckon it joy in this moment.

Why?

Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, it develops this ability to remain under, this strength to withstand.

It develops when we persevere, a resiliency.

Perseverance, it says, must finish its work.

We must allow it to finish its work.

Why?

So that we can be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I think there's such a great picture of what it looks like to be resilient in our day, of what does it look like with good times or bad times?

In difficult situations and when things are going great, to be a person who has been developed to the point where there's this maturity, there's this wholeness, where your circumstances don't determine whether you have or lack anything.

And so we've been wrestling with this idea of resilience and talking about uh in week one, uh, it's tempting.

Like, how do you have resiliency in the face of temptation?

Uh, what do I do when temptation knocks?

Week two, we talked about it's emotional.

How do you navigate the destructive emotions that we're all experiencing?

Uh, this is an emotionally disorienting time, isn't it?

And what do I do with the emotions inside of me?

Last week, my dad talked about it's powerful and our response to God's word and what it does to transform us.

This morning, we're gonna talk about it's practical.

Like, James is gonna get real practical.

Like, what do we do?

And maybe have you ever wondered as we've been talking about this, like, what do resilient people do?

What are their habits?

What are their practices?

What do they do?

Whether it's a good time or a bad time, the circumstance may change, but these actives, activities, these practices do not change.

And what we're gonna discover, there are specific practices of resilient people, regardless of their circumstance.

And so if you got your Bible, would you open up to James chapter 1, verse 26?

James 1:26

James chapter 1, verse 26.

James 1:26

You can click on the notes tab if you're watching on Church on the line forum, or you can open your UVersion app, or if you're analog like me, you can open your Bible to James chapter 1, verse 26.

James 1:26

He begins this way Those who consider themselves religious.

Religious uh is you know, we don't naturally think of ourselves as religious, we think of ourselves as spiritual.

He says, Okay, well, then say those who consider themselves spiritual, or those who consider themselves a Christian, those who consider themselves a follower of Jesus.

This word religious refers to the outward acts of worship.

Those who attend awakening, those who are in a group, those who give, those who are doing the Bible reading app.

This is who he's talking to, those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues, deceive themselves.

And the religion is worthless.

Then he goes on religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

It's practical.

In fact, what we're gonna see is there's three specific practices of mature followers of Jesus, or better yet said, resilient people.

What are these three practices?

He's gonna first say, mature followers of Jesus, those that have been refined and are resilient.

The first practice is they actually have the ability to bite their tongue.

They have the ability, as James says, to reign in their tongue.

That word reign is the word bridle.

It's the picture of a bit in a horse's mouth that that controls it, that you bridle, you're able to hold and check.

You notice he said those who consider themselves religious that are like, hey, we're in this, we're followers of Jesus, and yet if you're not able to control what's coming out of your mouth, he's gonna say something pretty powerful.

He's gonna say, we deceive ourselves.

That word deceive is he's uh one writer says, the self-deceived person is the one whose religious acts do not make a difference in the way they live.

Like I am worshiping God, but then my words that come out to my neighbor, my words that come out to my kids, my words that come out about my coworkers are are just cut.

And he says, You can't be worshiping God and say, and then have your words tell a different story.

And this is what James is doing.

He's actually connecting our understanding of worship with our understanding of wisdom and saying, those two go hand in hand.

Proverbs talks a lot about this.

Think about this, Proverbs 10, 19.

Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongue.

Proverbs 11:12.

Proverbs 11:12

Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue.

Proverbs 17, 27, the one who has knowledge uses words with restraint.

This whole idea of bridling or holding back our tongue, like spirit, this practice of, okay, I it's starting to come and I'm gonna hold it back.

Well, why does James go to the extent to say, like, man, your religion's worthless?

That's kind of harsh.

And I know it's pretty convicting for me.

Well, he's building off of what Jesus was saying in Luke chapter 6, verse 45.

Luke 6:45

Jesus has something that's so powerful and poignant when it comes to our words and revealing.

He says, A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.

For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

So this is why this is so important.

See, I think when we think about our words, we're just like, Well, I didn't mean to say that.

Or we might say, I'm just trying to be honest, keep it real.

It was just, it just slipped out and it's no big deal.

And what Jesus would say is that what comes out of our mouths actually reveals what's going on inside of our hearts.

Like what is flowing out of our mouths, and especially in these moments, in these crisis moments, like it begins to reveal the condition of our heart.

It's not just a thoughtless word or just I didn't mean it.

Jesus would say, No, there's actually some hard things going on in there.

In fact, uh, many of you right now, you're watching me and you have your coffee with you, like I have my coffee, or maybe you have orange juice or or water, or you have something else because it's Mother's Day.

I don't know.

Um, but here's what you just imagine, you know, if you had a dog that ran up and jumped on you right now, or maybe your kids jumped on you right now, or maybe your roommate bumped you.

And what you know, and what I know is the minute we get bumped, the contents in your cup, my cup, spill out.

And whatever the content is, is what's gonna spill out.

And so if you have orange juice, orange juice is gonna spill.

If you have coffee, coffee's gonna spill.

If you have water, and here's what Jesus is saying when it comes to our words, like, what spills out of your mouth when you're bumped is revealing the contents of your heart.

He's like, what is that?

And this is why this is so powerful, this practice in these seasons of resiliency of like, okay, I'm gonna be so aware of my words right now.

Because I know that it's pointing to something in me that that has this potential to spill out, and it's actually pointing to some heart things, it's like an indicator.

I I gotta be aware of my heart.

Let's think about this.

Maybe raining in when bumped, maybe for some gossip words that come out or boastful words.

Maybe it's slander or you're cutting someone down or criticism.

It's easy when bumped, I think, in this season for me to go towards the naturally negative and just kind of look at the glass half empty and just kind of be a Debbie Downer, or maybe it's crude and maybe it's harsh words for you as you've been bumped.

We've all been bumped.

What's been coming out?

What's what what's what's been spilling out?

And Jesus would say that's gonna reveal something deeper in our hearts, you know.

Uh, when we're talking about it's emotional and us talking about anger, um, I'm trying to gather the whole family to sit down and watch the service together, and um, you know, Miles was getting up, going over here, and Ryder's going over here, and I couldn't get everybody all focused.

And I you probably've had this same uh experience.

I'm trying to get everyone focused, and I'm finding as we're about to watch me talk about anger, that I'm getting angry in the moment and getting frustrated with my kids, and I'm just like, and my kids can feel it.

And my daughter Ella just is like, Are you getting angry and gonna talk about anger?

I'm like, no, kids, man.

And she was right.

See, sometimes what gets bumped is just frustration and these emotions, and and it's just that indicator of something deeper going on inside of me.

And so what uh the mature person of Jesus or the resilient, they have this ability to bite their tongue and then bring their heart before God.

See, it's like I can bridle it, I can hold it in, and that takes a process, that takes time, it just takes awareness.

And but then he's like, okay, I'm gonna bring my heart, I'm gonna bite my tongue, I'm gonna bring my heart before God.

The first area, bite your tongue.

Second, roll up your sleeves in love.

Notice what he said religion or worship, spiritual acts that God, our Father, accepts as pure and faultless is this to look after orphans and widows in their distress.

He's gonna say, resilient people don't simply look in and try to figure out how do we just make it through.

What they have the ability to do is they're gonna roll up their sleeves and look out and go, Who can we love?

Who can we love?

Who are the people that God has put along our path to be the hands and feet of Jesus?

This word look after means to go see a person with helpful intent.

It's actually proactive.

I'm going to go see a person, I'm gonna go out of my way, and my heart and my intent is how can I help?

What in what ways can I bring aid and hope and to you?

Uh the apostle Paul would say it this way in Galatians 5 6 the only thing that counts.

Think about this.

That's a big statement.

The only thing that counts is faith.

Okay, so the confidence that God is who he said he is, and he'll do what he said he will do.

Faith, your worship with God, expressing itself through love.

That we are fundamentally, regardless of what the circumstances are, to be a people of love, marked by love.

In fact, the early church in the moments of crisis were fundamentally known for their love.

When plagues hit a town, they would risk their lives to care for sick and to bring aid while everyone else fleed.

He says, roll up your sleeves and love.

This gets back to the heart of God.

Micah 6:8 says, He has shown you, oh man, what is good?

Micah 6:8

What does the Lord require of you?

But to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

That we're supposed to have this combination of just acts and love of mercy that that looks after the most vulnerable and hurting in our society.

Psalm 68 talks about that God is a father to the fatherless, that he's a defender of the widow, that he sets the lonely in families.

Like that's the heart of our God.

And so that is to be the heart of us.

And so, followers of Jesus, we're to roll up our sleeves.

Really resilient people have this practice, whatever the season, and we're gonna love.

Well, who are we gonna look after?

We're gonna look after those that often get looked over.

We're gonna look after those that so often get looked over.

Well, who are they?

First, it's the vulnerable.

It's the vulnerable, it may be vulnerable economically, maybe vulnerable when it comes to health or age.

Think about the foster care system.

And we've been supporting uh and have supported foster the bay, we've been uh who works with foster care, and we support Avent homes and and what they do to get people out of human trafficking, the vulnerable, the ostracized, the outcast, the overlooked.

I I think this week has been a real painful week of not just living in the pandemic, but seeing the the evil of racism, and that that is such a reality in our world that you know we've kind of we I've forgot a little bit because we uh are in just such a weird season, and we saw just the evil of that moment, and it reminds us as followers of Jesus, we're to be a voice for the voiceless.

We're we're to to lean in and call out for justice.

We're to be a people that says, okay, we are going to fight for those who are able to fight on their own to bring about healing and hope in life.

See, this this is just what it means to be a follower of Jesus no matter what season.

The vulnerable, the ostracized, and the invisible.

The people we don't see, the people that we can tend to overlook.

I think in this season, the invisible is often the homeless and what they're going through.

Invisible might be a neighbor that you just really had no idea what they were going through because you because we often don't ask maybe that deeper question and know what's really going on in their life and their struggles.

It says, roll up your sleeves and love.

My friend Christina says it this way you don't have to look hard to find pain and hurt.

And boy, isn't that right?

You don't have to go far.

We just have to start looking.

We have to do that look after instead of looking over.

And church, I'm proud of some ways that we're doing that.

I already said foster the bay and advent homes and what we're doing with Haiti and how we're engaging with Del Mar and those families and our care team and homeless and the way we're praying and connecting there.

And yet I think there's some practical things for us as a church to go, let's get our hands dirty.

Let's not just pay, you know, write a check.

That's great.

So I'm not saying let's not do that.

We need to do that, but let's actually get our hands dirty, let's get involved in someone's life together.

You know, as this season hit, I have one neighbor down the street that's uh she lives on her own, she's an older lady, and I just wanted to go, hey, however, we can help, whatever you need.

And she emailed me and say, Hey, could you run and get this prescription?

Or I need this picked up at the grocery store.

It's just a simple, simple way.

Because I think sometimes we hear this and we think it has to be big, grandiose, or and I think really it's just what Andy Stanley said so many years ago: do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.

See, we get overwhelmed by the needs, we get overwhelmed by the pain around us, and so unfortunately what happens is we end up not doing anything at all.

And so you can't do everything for everyone, but you can and I can do something for someone.

And if we would lean into that and go, I'm gonna do something, one specific thing, and I'm gonna go and get my hands dirty, I'm gonna roll up my sleeves and begin to love people.

Maybe it's a phone call, maybe it's checking in, uh, maybe it's beginning to pray specifically for your neighbors or people that you're going, God, open my eyes to the needs around me.

You're not gonna go far until you run and trip over, and God's gonna put people along your path to love.

Three spiritual practices of the resilient of the spiritual mature.

There's this, there's this restraining of our words, there's this rolling up our sleeves and loving, and finally, there's an engagement of a spiritual detox.

Mature people, resilient people engage in a spiritual detox.

Now, right before our shelter in place hit, I was training for a triathlon.

I to 2020 I had the goal.

This is my last year before my 40s.

I was gonna do two different triathlons, one that was a shorter sprint, one that was a fuller one.

And so I was getting into you know rhythm with that, working on my diet, working on my exercise, all these sort of things, and then shelter in place hit.

And I gotta let you know that everything fell apart.

My diet fell apart.

Um, my workout regimen fell apart, and it almost felt like, well, why even try?

I mean, the I we're probably not gonna be able to do the um triathlon, and now I know we aren't gonna be able to do the triathlon.

And literally for a number of weeks, and maybe you found this to be true as well, is I began to engage in coping or numbing activities that were not actually nourishing my soul, nourishing my mind, or nourishing my body.

It had to do with just numbing out to TV.

Um, I was talking with my buddy Reed, who's helping with the live stream, and and we were talking about the quarantine 15 all at the beginning, and and it's just one of those things of like you're now home and the fridge is there all the time, and I just found myself just kind of going in and just eating when I was bored and all these sort of things.

And it was only a couple weeks ago.

I'm like, I gotta, I gotta like adjust because this is not healthy, and we have to do that spiritually as well.

We gotta engage in a spiritual detox.

Notice what he says about this true religion that God, our father, accepts.

He looks after the orphans and widows, and then notice what it says, and keeps oneself from being polluted by the world.

Like, like there is this active keeping or uh abstaining to keep yourself from being polluted or tainted uh by the world.

Now, when James is talking about the world, he's not talking about the world the way we kind of think about the world, like we think about the people in the world.

He's actually addressing uh what and different biblical authors talk about this in the New Testament, and they use the word world here, cosmos, as the world system.

It's the value and beliefs underneath uh this world that are opposed to God and his ways.

One author said it this way: it's the total system of evil uh that pervades every sphere of human existence.

And he's saying there is this proactive keeping yourself from being polluted by that world system.

Now, I thought that word keep was interesting, and I wanted to look up because uh earlier in our relational intelligence series, we talked about don't follow your heart and above all else, guard your heart.

And I thought, well, there in Jesus' day, actually, just prior to Jesus, uh, there was this big undertaking to take the Hebrew scriptures and translate it into Greek because so many people spoke Greek in that day.

It's called the Septuagint.

And so I was curious, was this the actual Greek word that the writers then used to translate the Hebrew uh word here, guard?

And it it is, in fact, and so it says, above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

He says, keep oneself.

James is making this clear connection between Proverbs 423 and right here.

Guard your heart, keep oneself from being polluted.

There's things that want to contaminate and that will actually kill your joy, that will kill your peace, that will kill your life.

Keep yourself from being polluted by those things.

Well, the question is, well, how do we engage in a spiritual detox?

Well, first, we got to identify the toxins in your world.

What are the things that are contaminating?

What are the things that are polluting?

John would say it this way if you want to flip over just a few pages to 1 John, 1 John 2, verse 15.

1 John 2:15

He says, Do not love the world.

That's that world system, or anything in the world.

If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

It's like you can either love what's going on in the world and the things of this world or love God.

There's there's not like this in-between land, and so many of us try to live in the in-between.

He says you can't.

And he goes, for everything in the world, and it gives three areas, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world.

The world and its desires will pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

And he begins to unpack this lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, that there are these things that are that are like these sirens calling, saying, These will provide happiness, these will provide meaning, these will provide significance and security.

And it is calling you and drawing you away from your purpose and your relationship with your heavenly father.

The lust of the flesh is this calling, the siren of possessions.

It's it's materialism and consumerism, and we get so consumed with keeping up with the Joneses, with driving just the right things, of wearing just the right things, of looking and being in shape and making sure we post that to Instagram, or so envious of how everyone else is living and looking at their, you know, travel things and going like, well, I don't get that, or the lust of the eyes, and this whole idea of pleasure or autonomy or or your freedom to do and be whatever you want to be, and the boastful pride of life as we pursue power, we pursue platforms and prestige.

Now we talk about it being an influencer, and you have to identify the toxins, just like you would if you're gonna do a detox with food.

What are the toxins that I'm gonna take out?

And then what am I going to put in?

And so identify the toxins in your world, then begin a daily habit of clean thinking.

Begin a daily habit of clean thinking.

The apostle Paul in Romans chapter 12 would say it this way: do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Same word here.

The world's system, the values.

That word conform literally means to be molded or shaped.

Don't allow the world's systems and values and ideology to mold you and compress you and to form you.

Instead, he says, but be transformed.

That's the Greek word metanoia, where it literally is that metamorphosis reality.

Allow yourself to be transformed.

How?

By the renewing of your mind.

See, what you put into your mind is of principal importance.

Every day you have a decision, what will I put into my mind?

And whatever you put into your mind, you become eventually.

And we have to be so careful.

As parents, we have to be so careful of guarding what we allow our kids put into our mind.

And as parents, we have to be so careful of what we put into our mind.

As young adults, and not so young adults, you never grow out of this.

He says, Would you begin a daily habit of clean thinking?

See, I think in this COVID arena, sometimes we're just going, we're just coping and hoping to get through, right?

And and so then we just numb out, and Netflix became our best friend, and we're watching stuff maybe we'd never watch.

And frankly, I get really nervous when I hear what I followers of Jesus who say, I'm a follower of Jesus, but I'm watching this show.

Like, you know what?

The the the violence and the sex and the um, oh, there's another one that always, oh, the language doesn't bother me.

Well, maybe it doesn't bother you, but could it be because you've allowed those things to form you?

You know, you know, we get used to pollution that we don't even notice it and we just accept it as the normal reality.

And he says, no, no, no.

Do not conform.

Begin daily getting into God's word.

Go back and listen to last week's sermon and begin to get God's word in your mind so that you can understand what is true and what is good.

He says, then you'll be able to test.

This is Romans 12, the end part of two.

Then you'll be able to test and approve.

Like your life will experience and be able to demonstrate God's will.

What is God's will?

His good, pleasing, perfect will.

See, one of the great lies when we're talking about this is that God is somehow trying to keep you from fun and holding out.

And there's all these other areas, and you know what, if you dive into those areas, that's real life.

No, no, no, no.

God's trying to keep you from harm, and he wants the very best for you.

You know, when I was a boy, we went to visit my um my aunt and uncle in Kentucky, and they had an Atari, and we didn't grow up with video games, and so this Atari was like the coolest thing ever.

And I remember seeing the Atari, and I was like, oh my goodness.

And I started playing, and my brothers were playing on this, and then the whole family was going to go out, and I didn't really know where they were going or what they were doing, and they just said, Hey, we're gonna go out.

Would we why don't you come with me?

So I'm like, I'm loving playing the Atari.

I just I mean, no, I'm just gonna stay here.

And I remember the time they're gone, I'm just playing all the different games that they had, and then they walk in the door, and someone's like carrying this really big stuffed animal.

And I looked up and was like, Where'd you guys go?

Oh, we went to a carnival.

A carnival?

Yeah, and then they begin to tell me about all the things and the funnel cake and the rides and and all the stuff that they experienced.

And I was like, Oh my goodness.

Had I known I was missing out on the carnival, I would have said no to the Atari because the carnival was way cooler and the stories they were telling me.

I'm like, man, I don't want to miss out on that.

And that's how we live.

We settle for things because that's what we know, and yet the reality is, is God says, I have something so much better for you here.

C.

S.

Lewis picks up on this in his quote in The Weight of Glory.

He writes, We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the Islam because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea.

We are far too easily pleased.

Like God loves you, He wants the very best for you, He's not holding out.

And so, would you engage in a spiritual detox where you go, you know what?

I've been watching movies, I shouldn't be watching.

I've been on social media and it's just contaminating.

In fact, there's some friendships that are actually polluting right now and engaging in conversations that aren't there.

And you begin to experience and be renewed and experience his good and pleasing and perfect will.

See, this is what resilient or mature people do.

This is this is how they respond.

They they bite their tongue, they they love people well, and they engage in this spiritual detox, and you're going, like, well, where do I begin?

How does that help me today?

And here's what I'd say take that and reverse the order.

Take that and reverse the order.

And so, today, would you begin a spiritual detox this week?

Where you would begin to go, okay, what am I going to stop allowing into my mind and into my heart?

There's a stopping, and and I'm gonna begin to get into God's word.

I'm gonna start playing worship music and get my heart and mind uh there, and then roll up your sleeves and love someone.

Spiritual detox, and then roll up your sleeves and love someone.

And here's what you'll find.

Here's what you'll find is your tongue will be an indicator of you the condition of your heart, and you'll begin to see, oh, you know what?

I was able to hold that.

I you know what, I'm able to see these things, and God's beginning to form and change me, and it'll be an indicator of you seeing, oh God, you're actually changing my heart because I would have responded this way, and and look, I was able to withhold that moment.

Well, let me pray for us and we'll continue in worship.

Jesus, thank you for my friends, thank you for the time together.

God, I just ask that in this moment as we respond to your word, we wouldn't just be hearers of the word like we talked about last week, but we would be doers.

God, I ask that there would be a specific next step for each person to take.

That you would give them the courage to do it no matter how hard it is, and that you would make us mature and complete.

You would make us resilient so that we could love people well.

We can be your hands and feet to a hurting and broken world.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.