Forward in Faith: Showing up spiritually

Tuning in online. I don't know what that smell is either.

There's like electrical smell. Nothing is burning. We've checked.

But there's a smell. So you can't smell that online.

Just to set everyone at ease. Nothing is burning. Just in case you're like,

is that it's like one of those smells? I don't know. I don't know.

I didn't smell before. Maybe it's one of you guys. I don't I'm just joking. It's not one of you.

OK, enough. Enough with that. Well, today is our last day in this series that

we've been doing, Forward in Faith.

And this series, we've been trying to do two things. We've been going through

the words of Jesus in Luke chapter 14. So we're going to keep doing that if

Luke 14 · chapter mention

you want to go back to Luke chapter 14 for one last time here.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

So you go ahead and go there.

And so we've been going through this little section in Luke where Jesus gives

a parable and then gives an explanation.

And we're just taking it for what it says, trying to figure out,

okay, What is God telling us through his word here?

But we've also been thinking, you know, just like in the moment a little bit

about the moment we as a church are just coming into.

As you, I'm sure, all know at this point, and I've said last night,

I've given this little elevator speech so many times, even I'm annoyed by it,

but here I go anyway, just for those who are just picking up and not aware of

the context, maybe online.

We're in the process of preparing this building to be sold. We are replacing

the septic systems here as part of that sale.

And I'm actually happy to say that this is the actual permit,

not just the approved design, the actual permit to get that work done.

So we could technically, if I had an excavator, I could start doing it tomorrow.

Actually, no, I couldn't. Someone could start doing it tomorrow.

They won't start doing it tomorrow.

Now they're going to put it on the schedule. But we think it will be a fairly quick turnaround.

We're hopeful that they'll be able to start work on that very soon. so

that's really really great news because it has

been a journey a journey to

get where we are with that but it's been good so hopefully

on monday we'll know precisely when the install will happen and i'll just keep

you guys updated but our aim is to have everything complete by july 31st like

all installed and all done so we have a month hopefully where we can do that

apparently like once they're on site it's not it's like three or four days you

know it's not like a crazy job they just have to dig a hole and put some stuff

in it and then fill up the hole. How hard could it be?

I know it can cost $180,000, but I don't know how hard it could be.

Anyways, so please keep that in prayer. That is to say, you know,

this is like the final thing of getting on the schedule and getting all the

material here on time and getting the work done.

So please keep that in prayer. And while we've been preparing for this sale,

we've also just been taking steps to buy a new building in downtown Snoqualmie.

And as long as we can finish the install on July 31st, We should be able to

do everything contractually and make sure that all happens.

We've been getting things lined up. And like we talked about last week,

we're actually moving towards raising some funds for a remodel, right?

We're not raising funds for the purchase of the building. That's separate.

We're trying to raise $350,000 for a remodel.

And last night we had an event, like a vision event, also kind of a fundraiser

giving opportunities to people to commit financially towards this.

And this is the first I'm telling anyone this number.

So we were trying to raise $350,000 and we took a big whack at that.

And we have taken in commitments for $214,525 so far.

That's like 62%. So that's pretty darn good for day one.

So if you would like to help us continue to make progress there,

there's pledge cards in the back that people filled out.

You can put that in the offering box or you can email me. or in the email that

was gone out and one that will go out probably tomorrow or Tuesday.

There's options to participate in that. But we're making good progress,

and I was really actually happy with that.

So thank you all for being here last night and being a part of that.

But here's the thing, and this is, again, the last little elevator speech that

I've given, and then we're going to move on to actually this sermon. Isn't that great?

Then I won't have to do this anymore after this series. I'm really excited about it.

You guys don't care, but I care. Okay.

This move, it's more than a new location.

It's more than just raising money. It's more than the logistical complications

that come along with the move, which are significant. And I'm preparing myself for that.

But the reality is, it's more than that.

But to make this move really count, to make it worthwhile, we as a church,

we need to consider and prepare ourselves for what's to come.

And that's what we've been doing in this series. We are thinking about,

okay, we're at where we're at right now. and we've been where we're at right

now, but as we think forward, as we consider what does it mean for us to be

faithful as a church into a new season, we need to consider what's required of us.

And that's what we've been doing in this series.

And what I think we also need to do, we've looked at it from different angles.

We've talked about how we need to show up, which is really, I think,

the point of Jesus' parable.

We need to show up personally, missionally, financially. And this week,

we're talking about showing up spiritually.

One thing I think we need to do is raise the spiritual temperature in our church.

And, you know, honestly, like I don't love dividing it up into four topics because

really this is just like being a whole person, right?

Like you are not just a financial person and you're not just a spiritual person

and you're not just a missional person.

Like that's just not how people are. You and me, like we're just like a mess

of a lot of things, right?

You're a whole person. And really what we're talking about here is showing up

with our whole selves to what the Lord has.

But we're really focusing on the spiritual side of things this morning.

Because what Jesus is addressing here in Luke 14, and we've been going through it.

We've looked over the last couple weeks. Jesus shares, he begins by sharing a parable.

We call it now, he didn't have a name for it then. We just call it the parable

of the large banquet because that's what the topic is. There's this large banquet going on.

And as we've discussed, it's about how God is at work in the world and he's inviting people.

He's inviting people to be a part of his work in the world. But there's a problem

that's being addressed.

And really, like Jesus is going at this throughout the rest of Luke 14.

There's a problem is that people are invited, but they won't show up.

God has sent out an invitation. The host in the parable has sent out an invitation.

But his friends, the people he's inviting in to be a part of this party, this banquet,

are so consumed with business and busyness We talked about all this last week

They're so consumed that they don't end up responding to their hosts They just say,

look, I just can't make it there I know this is an important party for you,

but I'm just not able to make it there They're not showing up.

And Jesus goes on, like we talked about in the last couple of weeks,

he explains the parable.

And he really is just drawing some really very clear lines.

He's saying that those who follow him, his disciples, people who are going to

be following after the Lord, they just don't have an option to not show up.

There's not an option for non-discipleship in the kingdom.

It's really the big message. So disciples have to show up, and then he prepares

them for what that would look like.

He challenges his disciples to count the cost of discipleship,

to really sit and consider what is it going to take for you to do these things,

follow through in these commitments, respond to what God is inviting you to do.

And he asks his disciples to really sit and consider what it might cost them.

He asked them to recognize the seriousness of the calling that they have to

come to this party, right?

And he recognizes and he makes very clear that they really need to,

his disciples need to forsake anything that's going to keep them from showing up.

Because you and I, like we're a mess of all sorts of things like we've been

talking about, right? We're not just spiritual selves.

We're not just like physical selves. Like you have your work self and you have

your family self and we compartmentalize, but you're all over the place, right?

You are many different, there's many different facets of your life,

but what has always been an issue for people of all time is that sin and apathy

and pride and hurt and all these things can come in in different parts of our

lives and they can keep us from showing up to the Lord.

They can keep us from what he has for us.

And so he is really pressing his disciples on the importance,

the priority of discipleship.

And at the end of that hard-hitting parable and explanation,

Jesus says these really familiar words, which is where we're just going to be

thinking about this little short section that he wraps up with right now.

He says this, just wrapping up his thoughts about discipleship.

Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty?

It isn't fit for the soil or for the manure pile.

They throw it out. let anyone who has ears to hear listen.

So Jesus here, he uses this little phrase that he oftentimes used in the gospels

and throughout the gospels, let anyone who has ears to hear listen,

which is his way of saying that

recognizing, number one, that it would be really easy to miss the point.

So Jesus understands, like he has to underline this point and emphasize it because

he understands that it would be easy for us to move past it,

but he's also emphasizing that we ought not to miss it.

It really matters that we take this away, that salt is good,

but if salt loses its taste, it really is not fit for anything else.

He's saying this point matters. Salt is good, right? But if it loses its taste, what is it good for?

So what's Jesus saying here? And I remember like this verse,

having studied this in the past and preparing for this message.

You go through the commentaries and they're talking about all how, oh, salt was in this day.

It was like this, and this is all related, the manure pile and explaining this stuff.

But actually, I realized it's actually really obvious what Jesus is trying to say.

He's just making it really clear. He's saying that something like salt really only has one purpose.

It's really only good for one thing. you've got salt in your cabinet at home

and you only ever bring it out for what? For what?

Fries. Yes!

That's the point. It's its only use. Because you taste that fry and you say,

you know what that needs?

A little bit of salt. And that's the only time you grab salt because something needs a little bit of it.

Like, it's really not good for anything else. And I know people have like medicinal

woo-woo stuff with that, but you know, whatever, you know, that's fine.

The only time I use salt, and I think it's only real use, is to make food more salty.

Salt doesn't smell like anything. It's not particularly attractive.

You can't build anything out of it.

It just sits there and you sprinkle it in your food when you want it to taste a little bit different.

That is its purpose. And what Jesus is saying here is that people, right?

Because, I mean, this is directed to people who are called to show up to be

a part of God's story. He's making it clear that people were created for really

just one very narrow purpose.

We get up to many things in our lives, but really our primary calling that trumps

them all is to show up and to be in relationship with God, to love him,

to serve him, to seek him first.

He's saying that, yeah, salt only has one purpose, and you really only have

one purpose, and you really should get that into your head because we get into

so many other things. People are made to come to the banquet,

to sit with their Lord, to see Him, to know Him, to walk with.

You were made to be a part of this party. And we think that doesn't sound lofty

enough for us, but Jesus represents the kingdom as just a banquet.

And we're just coming in.

We're coming like invitees who just get to enjoy the hospitality of our God.

And he's saying, you have to show up to that because if you don't,

you're just losing your essential purpose.

You're losing your calling.

Showing up is inextricably connected to you fulfilling your purpose and living out your purpose.

You might know the Westminster Catechism. It's like an old document intended

to kind of teach people the doctrines of the faith.

And it's this question and answer thing where it's like, here's a question, here's an answer.

It's illustrating doctrine. The first question in the Westminster Catechism

is this, what is the chief end of man? Like, what is man's purpose?

What is his goal? And the answer given in the Westminster Catechism is this,

that to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

That's your purpose. And that's good enough, at least according to the Westminster Catechism.

And I think this is accurate, that really our goal, our purpose,

our created purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

But then the question becomes, okay, because these are words like,

okay, to glorify. That is my purpose. and enjoy.

All right, so I kind of, I feel like I know what enjoyment means,

right? But what does it mean for me to glorify God?

What does that look like? And I actually think the answer is simple.

And I think we would all say, yeah, we have an idea. But I actually think what

really glorifying God is a little bit scandalous to Christians sometimes.

Like actually, I think what, how we most glorify God, we're a little bit uncomfortable with.

And here's my thesis, and it's what I'm going to kind of argue,

that we glorify God as we partake in his glory.

We glorify God when we show up and let him work in us and renew us,

and that brings him glory.

Now, the thing is, we're comfortable with that idea to the extent that we are

passive, but my whole point this morning is, I need to tell you,

is that you are not necessarily, you are not as passive as you think you are in this process.

In this process. You have a role to play in this. Showing up,

being a part of what God has for you, glorifying him in this way.

You are actually elevated in this in a way that sometimes makes us a little

squeamish because we want to think, oh, no, I'm nothing.

I just want to remain nothing. You don't get to remain nothing.

You get invited. You get invited in. That's a meaningful thing.

Look what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2.

We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, loved by the Lord,

because from the beginning, God has chosen you, number one, chosen you for salvation

through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

And he has called you to this through our gospel so that you might obtain the

glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And that last little bit is so important. So that you might attain the end of

the gospel, its effect, its ultimate goal, according to Paul in 2 Thessalonians,

is that you might attain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Does that make you a little uncomfortable? Because isn't that his glory?

We don't want to be any part of that.

But God has chosen us to partake in this in a way, a way that's appropriate.

Anyone know the band Simon and Garfunkel?

Who was really the talented one? Paul Simon.

We know that. But Art was there.

Art was there. He probably did his part. It was good. It was valuable.

He was still in the band. He still gets the glory. He probably still gets the residuals.

Every time, hello, darkness, my old friend, Art goes, yes.

It's really good for him, right? He gets up to be a part of it, right?

Not on the same level. Paul Simon, who obviously went on. I mean,

the guy who wrote so many great songs after that.

Or it's like, you know, so just in case you're uncomfortable,

I'm just saying, yes, we get the glory, but we get it like Art Garfunkel did

or Ringo Starr, if you will. You know, sorry, Ringo.

That's my opinion. I don't know. I think he did go solo once,

but I don't think it went very well. Okay.

Look, salvation by faith is by faith and it's through the sanctifying work of

the spirit. And we all get that.

But I really think that if we read the Bible carefully, and especially do a

word study on this word glory, the end of the gospel, the goal of the gospel

is that we are given this kind of glory along with Jesus Christ.

We get to partake in his glory.

Is that if we were trying to say, no, no, no, no, no, we're not to be a part of this.

Well, I think what he would say is what we find in Colossians 1.

He says this, I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that

was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known,

the mystery hidden field known of the glory of this mystery,

which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

We are partakers of the glory of God. It's all from him.

It's through him. But he gives us something.

And whether or not you like the idea, I think the gospel of grace,

that is God saving those who don't deserve it, who contribute no merit to it.

The gospel of grace is the gospel of us receiving from God undeserved favor,

merit, glory, kindness, however you want to call it.

Those who receive undeserved grace become glorious as Christ works in them.

And as the gospel takes roots in the soil of our heart, we become transformed.

And this matters, this matters because we need to keep in view what Jesus is up to.

Again, like think about this in the context of the parable and of being salty.

We're being invited to show up spiritually. Jesus says, actually,

some of this does depend on you.

If you don't show up, you're not actually going to be stepping into your purpose.

We are invited to show up and we're invited to show up not in just kind of a perfunctory.

$10 word, you're welcome perfunctory,

performative like formulaic kind of way where we're like, okay,

well I've got my get into heaven now card and I'm all set,

thank you Jesus that's all the glory I need like the invitation that we have

is to sit at the table to gaze into the beauty of Jesus Christ and to have him

have us be transformed like it says in 1 Corinthians 4 or 5,

from glory to glory, from his glory, it becomes our glory.

As we see his beauty, as we see his love, as we experience his work,

as the Holy Spirit comes in us, as Jesus Christ lifts us up from the pit,

from destruction, from despair, from discouragement, he says,

I have so much better for you.

And in fact, I want to make your life a powerful testimony to my glory as it

works its way out in your life.

Matthew Bates, who I quoted earlier, he has this little phrase to describe the

idea of what God is doing in us.

And what he says is that he wants us to be gospel famous.

Gospel famous, that he wants people to look at our lives and just say,

wow, that person is so great so that we can say, God has done great things in my life.

It's all his glory, his glory, right? Working its way out in me.

But the point is, unless we understand that you are very much concerned,

your life, your character, your

heart, what comes out of you is in view of God's purpose in the gospel.

Then what you're going to do is just say, well, I'm going to heaven and that's

enough for me, and it's easier that way, and then you just don't show up spiritually.

God wants to transform your heart. He wants to transform your life.

It might take your whole life. You might not even get there.

You might die on the road to God bringing about this glorious transformation.

But what we see is that God looks at people, rebellious people,

hurting people, broken people, and he says, no, I created them to be bearers of my image.

I created them and I'm going to restore them and I'm going to redeem them.

God wants us to be gospel famous. He wants to see us glorify him by letting

his work in us take root and take effect.

He wants us to see people whose lives become the venue for his glory.

And we have to show up to partake in that. I think a great example of someone

who is gospel famous is from Mark 14.

And this is like gospel famous, this story. Maybe you've heard it before.

I'll just read it. While he was at Bethany, while Jesus was at Bethany,

at the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at the table,

a woman came with an alabaster jar, a very expensive perfume and pure nard. Pure nard.

She broke a jar and poured it on his head. But some were expressing indignation

to one another. Why has this perfume been wasted?

For this perfume might have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to

the poor. And they began to scold her.

Jesus replied, leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done something noble to me.

You always will have the poor with you, but you can do what is good for them

whenever you want. But you do not always have me.

She has done what she could. She has anointed my body in advance of burial.

Truly, I tell you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world,

what she has done will also be told in memory of her.

This is someone who is gospel famous, someone who has shown up and sat at the table with her Savior,

seen His glory and responded in a way that gives glory to her.

Like literally Jesus says, it will be told in memory of her,

but it also gives glory to God in a way that confounds even the other disciples around.

They're just saying, what is up with this person?

This woman, not even named in the gospel of Mark, she's lifted up by Jesus as

an example of someone who just gets it, who understands what it is to glorify God and to enjoy Him.

Someone whose story will be told right along with the gospel through the whole

world, through the ages.

I want to make just a couple of observations because she's showing up spiritually,

and I think we can learn from her of what that might look like.

As we too are looking to show up spiritually. Okay, so number one,

like we want to be gospel famous.

What we see in her, and I think we need to understand is a part of our calling,

is that she is responding to redemption.

We don't, in the gospel of Mark, have this woman's story, she's not named,

but in John and in Luke, a similar story is told, whether it's the exact same

story, we can only speculate,

but in the similar stories in the gospels, like in John, her name is Mary,

and is she Mary and Martha? We don't know.

Again, Mary's a very common name in ancient Israel, so it's sort of hard to tell.

And in Luke, we're told, again, assuming this is the same person,

not really sure, we're told that she's a sinner.

This makes that very clear in Luke. This woman comes up and she does this act

of anointing on Jesus and she's a sinner.

Again, not necessarily the same story.

But we need to recognize that this act of worship, which Jesus says will make

her famous, is very likely, or at least it seems it's just in response to the

redemptive work that he's done in her life.

This woman recognizes, whoever she is, she recognizes and sees in Jesus someone

who has looked upon her with great favor.

Someone who has crossed the boundaries of social rules and stuff.

And like Jesus was always doing this. He was spending time with people who socially

he ought not to have because they would be beneath him, either women or poor people or lepers.

Jesus was always just going out, being gracious to people.

And so this woman recognizes that Jesus has really miraculously done something.

He has redeemed her and cared for her in a way that is just crazy.

She recognizes his great kindness. and Jesus doesn't like, Jesus is not demanding this from her.

She simply has experienced his redemptive love and grace and kindness and she is responding to that.

That kindness in worship, in glorifying God. And her response is just,

it's just worship from the heart.

It is good for me. It is good for you. It's like this week, or we have this

task, right? We want to show up spiritually.

And we usually, because we're Americans and we love a Western mindset,

well, tell me the checklist of things that I need to do.

What are the acts that I need to perform? Do I need to go buy some nard?

Yes, I don't know what that is, but have fun with that. Go find some nard.

Like, do you need to go do these things, right? Like, I honestly think like

what we see in the Gospels is that those who are responding to Jesus,

those who are making much of Jesus,

those in whom the Gospel is having the most well aware of the redemptive work

that they've experienced.

They are well aware of the kindness of God, their undeserved kindness of God.

They are people who have let that fact that they have been invited in to fellowship

with God and that they don't deserve to be there at all.

They've let that just take root in their hearts.

They've meditated upon the facts of their redemption.

And that from that deep awareness of the kindness of God, that's where grace

and glorifying God comes out. That's where worship comes from.

Look what David says in Psalm 40, verses 9 through 11.

Psalms 40:9–11

I mean, David was another good example of this. somebody who knew God and who

just knew that he was just so

favored and God had been so kind and God had redeemed him in so many ways.

He says this, I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly.

See, I do not keep my mouth closed. As you know, Lord, I did not hide your righteousness in my heart.

I spoke about your faithfulness and salvation. I did not conceal your constant

love and truth from the great assembly.

Lord, you do not withhold your

compassion from me. Your constant love and truth will always guard me.

As David gives us this praise book,

this song book, as he is a man after God's own heart, he is very clearly somebody

who is just well aware of the redemption that he's experienced through God,

through God's favor, through his kindness.

And he's someone who has let that go down into his heart.

And then having gone down into his heart, it comes out in sincere heart worship.

And you know i think we we have because we're not really aware of everything

that goes on in our hearts right we think that some stuff like this just happens

and i don't think it does if we want to be people who are responding who are

becoming gospel famous who who are who are really just just,

responding to the redemption of of god like we need to be people who are thinking

about the story Think about your story.

And I think for somebody like me, I don't have a wild story.

I grew up in a super vanilla kind of place.

I moved around. Like, whatever. And I was sort of bad, but not really.

Like, you know, I wasn't going to write a movie about it.

Like, I was just kind of like a boring, normal kid. And then I think sometimes

I've thought, like, man, I don't really have a testimony.

You know, some of you guys got testimonies. It's great. But then I think about

it And I think about Were it not for not only God saving me But for showing

up in my life In radical ways In moments in time,

Where would I be And what would my life be As I consider that.

I am more and more aware that my life has been just a series of God's kindness and redemption.

And it may be in subtle ways that only I can really tell. And I can't even explain

it to you because it's too complicated.

But the more that I think about all that God has done for me,

not withholding His compassion from me, even when I am undeserving,

even unaware of my need for it, when I consider all His goodness to me.

And yet still like I have problems and still I've got things going on and still

I have things that I wish God would take care of in my life.

But as I consider this sweep of my life, I cannot help but say that God has been so good.

And yet so much in my life, like I don't spend time thinking about that and

I don't spend time doing the responsiveness of actually speaking up like David tells me to.

And I honestly think that I need to spend more time, and I think we all need

to spend more time considering what he's done.

That honestly, things that we don't think will solve our spiritual issues,

like simply just meditating on his goodness and proclaiming his goodness to

ourselves and to others, this will do much work, I think, spiritually.

You don't need another book.

Look at the book of your life and look at the faithfulness of God in your story.

So she sees this, she understands this, she leans into the redemption that she's experienced.

We also just recognize this, I think, in this another part of just being gospel famous.

She knows that what she does, her worship, her glorifying God is remembered

in eternity, even as it is scorned by the people around her, right?

Someone says, what a wasteful thing for this woman to come. And it could,

because this nard or this, you know, anointing oils are very valuable and they

could have been sold and we could have done something worthwhile with all of this.

And instead, this gratuitous display of worship, it seems wasteful to this person,

not identified here, but actually in other passages, again, assuming the same

one, it's Judas who says this.

He says, ah, this isn't worthwhile. This isn't valuable.

But for whatever reason having known

the redemption of God this woman comes along

and she does this thing which is accounted as waste

in the eyes of some but she

says no it is the best that I can bring it is my worship to Jesus it is my way

of simply saying that I'm going to give you something God that may be forgotten

in this world but it will be remembered in eternity because it is just a sincere

and quiet devotion to Jesus.

And I really just think spiritually we need to remember that if we want to be

gospel famous, we want to be people who are having this transforming spiritual work in our hearts,

we need to recognize that a quiet and honest devotion to Jesus, it goes so far.

We sometimes want to think about, and some people were made for certain things.

What are the things we can do for Jesus to advance the gospel and go do all these things?

But we can neglect the simple work of sitting before him, praising him,

praying with him, speaking to Jesus.

We can neglect this work of just doing things that seem to not be moving the

needle, but that are really just about calibrating our hearts,

remembering him, things that seem wasteful.

Like when I think about all the things I have to do in a day,

the thought of giving 30 minutes to prayer, I mean, how?

That's 148th of my day. Well, when I say it that way, it's really not that much, is it?

Right? But again, we put a value to everything in our lives and this is part

of what we do when we make decisions. We weigh decisions. Do I have the time?

Do I have the resources? Do I have the attention?

Do I have the bandwidth to do these things?

And what we will do because we're sinful people is we will undervalue these

simple things that are of great worth to God.

But because we are just like so consumed with all of our business and all of

our busyness, like we don't put a value on them.

And so we don't pray and we don't spend time reflecting and we don't spend time

in the word and we don't spend time doing stuff because of all our busyness.

It is easy to think just like Judas or whoever this person is and think there's

a better way to spend my time than worshiping Jesus.

But not if we want to let the gospel do its work in us. And my final point,

worship team can come up. Okay.

Is that if we're going to be gospel famous, then we live for the kingdom.

I mean, totally, totally related to just remembering eternity and putting eternal things first.

Jesus says in Matthew 6, 33, he says, seek first the kingdom of God and his

righteousness and all these things will be provided for you.

Jesus understands that we are anxious about all the things we need to do and

ought to do and all the shoulds, a lot of shoulds and oughts in our life,

like so many burdens that we carry, things that we have to manage.

And what Jesus says, like, here, let me simplify things for you.

If you seek the kingdom of God first, all that other stuff will take care of itself.

It will get in its right order and God will show up in your lives and he will provide things for us.

And I'm reminded of Hebrews. Hebrews is my favorite book of the Bible.

Hebrews 11, 13 through 16, having reflected on this list of the hall of faith,

you know, like the hall of fame or the hall of faith.

All these people who were faithful, who actually, if you read them,

it's like, oh, some of them were just like me.

They did a really bad job at a lot of things. But they're lifted up as people

who are faithful people.

And it says this about those faithful people in Hebrews 11, 13.

These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised.

But they saw them from a distance and they greeted them and confessed that they

were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.

And now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity

to return, but they now desire a better place, a heavenly one.

Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them.

Um, if you want to have the gospel, like have its, its, its true goal,

like, like that you would be transformed and your heart would be just like,

just like filled with overflowing joy and all these things like not all the

time, like everybody has their days.

But if you want to grow into spiritual maturity and you want to become gospel

famous and see the glory take effect in your life and see Jesus change,

then we have to live for something else.

And Jesus recognizes that there is this being set upon our hopes upon something

better, a better place, a heavenly place.

And Jesus looks at those things and he says, yes, like I take people on journeys.

I take people who are just obsessed with the stuff of their life,

who are anxious, who are concerned, who are just like really into the stuff

of the world. and he pours out grace and kindness on them and he invites them in.

And then what Jesus understands is they go on a journey.

And they start to live for and into this city that God has prepared for them.

And as you start to live for the kingdom, as you start to live for this better homeland,

this better place, what you find is this like really by virtue of your having

grown spiritually and as Jesus like doing a work in you is that you start to

live for the kingdom, right?

But it involves, I mean, it involves going from one place to another.

It involves a willingness to go on a journey.

I think a lot of times we spend our time, this is like guilt and shame,

feeling bad about that we haven't made the progress that we should make spiritually

is the number one way to keep you from moving forward.

You're a complicated person. I'm a complicated person. I have dealt with the

same things for years and years and years, and I could easily sit and just say,

well, this whole glory thing must not work for me.

This whole spiritual maturity thing must not work for me because I can't get over these things.

I'm still back at square one. But you know what? I just need to come back again

and just say, God, I know you know the road from where I'm at to where I'm going.

And so I'm going to listen to you again. I'm going to put your kingdom first.

And I'm going to just show up.

And I'm going to let you change me, transform me. I think that a lot of us,

this thing is like Seattle areas, people are doers. They're get-it-done sort of people.

Um and you know

i think god wants to do the work but he wants to do it in his way he wants to

lead us along a difficult uncomfortable journey uh of faith um and so yeah guys

if we're gonna go where we're going then we are gonna have to show up we're

gonna have to show up to that place into into that time.

And honestly, like to do that, whether we move or not, it's worthwhile.

Okay. I'm going to pray. And then I'm going to say one last thing and then we'll,

we'll worship here. So God, I thank you for these people, Lord. I, um.

Lord, we need to learn so much. Lord, I need to learn so much.

Lord, we just come as your students. We come as your disciples.

Those who say, well, we don't have our lives together, so we'll follow after you, Jesus.

And you're gonna lead us to a new place, Jesus.

Lord, would you restore in us? Would you stir us up?

Would you call us to hear the invitation, to sit with you, to know you,

Lord? Would you do a work in us, Lord?

Would you let us understand the urgency and the desire that you have to change

our character, to change our hearts.

Lord, and we don't need to feel bad that we haven't done that.

The whole point of the gospel is that we cannot do that. We cannot change our

hearts. Lord, but you can.

Lord, you can put your spirit in us.

You have chosen us. And so God, we remind ourselves of what you've done and what you're doing.

And we turn ourselves yet again to your strength and your empowering.

Holy Spirit, we invite you. God, if we are hung up someplace in an old place,

if we're hung up in past things, Lord, would you lead us forward?

Would you lead us to a new place? Lord Jesus, would you do,

the work that only you can do?

Yeah. Lord, we pray that in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's worship.