WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.000 Cheers, Shane. Good morning, everybody. Nice to see you. If you've got a Bible, then do turn to John, the book of John, the fourth book in the New Testament, and we're in chapter 5 this morning, and I'm just going to read the first 15 verses, okay? 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:20.520 And I'm reading from a version known as the New International Version. So it says this, 00:00:20.520 --> 00:00:26.900 some time later jesus went up to jerusalem for a feast of the jews now there is in jerusalem near 00:00:26.900 --> 00:00:33.520 the sheep gate a pool which in aramaic is called bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:41.720 colonnades here a great number of disabled people used to lie the blind the lame the paralyzed now 00:00:41.720 --> 00:00:46.540 in my bible i've got a little footnote at this point because there's a verse here which is missing 00:00:46.540 --> 00:00:52.000 which is verse 4 and in the footnote it talks about the fact that verse isn't in the earliest 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:57.260 manuscripts so for those of you that have done alpha recently and done all that textual criticism 00:00:57.260 --> 00:01:03.060 stuff about how we know the truth of the bible the earliest manuscripts we have don't have verse 4 00:01:03.060 --> 00:01:09.800 but later ones do and verse 4 says and they waited for the moving of the waters from time to time an 00:01:09.800 --> 00:01:15.940 angel of the lord would come down and stir up the waters the first one into the pool after each such 00:01:15.940 --> 00:01:23.240 disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had. And then we come back to verse 5. One who was 00:01:23.240 --> 00:01:29.080 there had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been 00:01:29.080 --> 00:01:35.280 in this condition for a long time, he asked him, do you want to get well? Sir, the invalid replied, 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:40.840 I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I'm trying to get in, 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:46.400 someone else goes down ahead of me then Jesus said to him get up pick up your mat and walk 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:52.660 at once the man was cured he picked up his mat and walked the day on which this took place was 00:01:52.660 --> 00:01:59.000 a sabbath and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed it is the sabbath the law forbids you 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:04.780 to carry your mat but he replied the man who made me well said to me pick up your mat and walk 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:10.620 so they asked him who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk the man who was healed 00:02:10.620 --> 00:02:18.380 had no idea who it was for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there later Jesus found 00:02:18.380 --> 00:02:24.980 him at the temple and said to him see you are well again stop sinning or something worse may happen 00:02:24.980 --> 00:02:33.000 to you the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well so I wonder 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:39.960 if you were to have two minutes to explain to somebody who Jesus is how would you go about 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:45.340 doing that you know when we were at work we used to talk having an elevator pitch because America 00:02:45.340 --> 00:02:49.060 so if you're in a lift for two minutes and you got someone's sole attention for two minutes 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:54.040 how would you get across in that time what you do so if you had two minutes to tell somebody about 00:02:54.040 --> 00:03:00.040 Jesus what would you say and more importantly how have you how do you know where have you got that 00:03:00.040 --> 00:03:04.540 from right because we learn about Jesus through reading the bible we learn about Jesus through 00:03:04.540 --> 00:03:09.880 talking to one another don't we we learn about Jesus through our own experiences we even 00:03:09.880 --> 00:03:14.960 learn a little bit about Jesus and shape him in our heads based on the culture in which we live 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:20.560 or we have come from or the society and all these voices and all these things are influencing us 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:26.580 in terms of who we think Jesus is and what we think he is about and it's so important that we 00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:31.760 come back like we do Sunday after Sunday to look at the scriptures because I don't know about you 00:03:31.760 --> 00:03:37.280 but for me sometimes I get a little bit fluffy around the edges in terms of who I think Jesus is 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:39.120 and I get a bit warm and fuzzy 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:40.900 and I can notice I get a bit influenced 00:03:40.900 --> 00:03:43.000 by the culture in which I live 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:45.280 and I want Jesus to fit the culture a bit more 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.000 than actually maybe he really does. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:48.820 And so coming back to the Bible 00:03:48.820 --> 00:03:51.480 is something that helps us knock off those bits 00:03:51.480 --> 00:03:52.620 that we've got a bit wrong 00:03:52.620 --> 00:03:54.040 and to straighten that up. 00:03:54.100 --> 00:03:56.000 It's a little bit like, I don't know, in your house, 00:03:56.100 --> 00:03:58.460 but if you use recipes when you make meals. 00:03:58.900 --> 00:04:01.020 You know, when you first make a meal for the first time 00:04:01.020 --> 00:04:02.040 and you read the recipe 00:04:02.040 --> 00:04:03.580 and you go through all the stuff 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:04.480 and you make the meal. 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:07.100 But if you do that week in, week out routine, 00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:12.620 pretty soon you forget looking at the recipe and think oh I know this I'll just get on and do it 00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:16.180 and then you might add a little bit of flair here and change a little bit of that there 00:04:16.180 --> 00:04:21.340 and then a few years go by as you get older like I do and you start forgetting things you think you 00:04:21.340 --> 00:04:26.400 know what I need to go back and look at the recipe and just remind myself and think oh blimey it was 00:04:26.400 --> 00:04:33.280 a teaspoon of chili powder not a tablespoon no wonder you know and so going back to the recipe 00:04:33.280 --> 00:04:38.080 reminds us of what it is we're supposed to be doing and this is just like coming back to 00:04:38.080 --> 00:04:45.000 that recipe to remind us of what Jesus is all about and so in this passage today I find it 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:50.220 very challenging because it certainly knocks a few off the edges where I've gone a bit skewy 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:56.660 and remember when we started the book of John in the first chapter twice John told us Jesus was 00:04:56.660 --> 00:05:03.480 full of something can anybody remember what that was he's full of grace and truth perfect 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:08.780 absolutely and what we see as we go through John is Jesus interacts with different people 00:05:08.780 --> 00:05:14.700 we see in demonstrating that grace and truth remember we talked about it's really hard for 00:05:14.700 --> 00:05:20.420 you and I to be people who are full of grace and truth because we tend to be either we love the 00:05:20.420 --> 00:05:25.160 grace of God and we God loves everybody and he's merciful all the time and all this and we're all 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:30.120 like that or with people who love the truth and the word of God says this and you've got to change 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:36.840 and we tend to fall into one of those two camps but here is Jesus full of both of those things 00:05:36.840 --> 00:05:42.480 at the same time and in this story we see that being worked out and we'll see that in other 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:48.380 stories as we carry on through the book of John but I want you just to picture the scene at the 00:05:48.380 --> 00:05:53.880 minute of the passage we've just read there is this sheep gate in Jerusalem and there's this 00:05:53.880 --> 00:06:01.080 room there with a pool of water. And in this room, this room is chock full of people with 00:06:01.080 --> 00:06:08.320 disabilities, the lame, the paralyzed, the blind. And the room, as far as the eye can 00:06:08.320 --> 00:06:13.540 see, all you've got is men and women with disabilities. And they're waiting for those 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:18.780 waters to be stirred to be the first one to get in. And you can kind of picture in your 00:06:18.780 --> 00:06:25.180 minds I can't use people jostling for position lying on the ground perhaps some sitting maybe 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:30.140 some standing and a little bit like the boxing day sales people getting their elbows out ready 00:06:30.140 --> 00:06:34.400 to get first in the line because they want to be there as soon as the waters are stirred because 00:06:34.400 --> 00:06:40.520 there's only one person that gets cured apparently when that happens and you can the room is full 00:06:40.520 --> 00:06:47.200 chock full of people with disabilities in the version I read it says there's a great number 00:06:47.200 --> 00:06:52.720 of disabled people so it's a little bit like a hospital in that sense it's full of people 00:06:52.720 --> 00:07:00.600 with disabilities wanting to be made well and into this scene walks Jesus the son of God 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:05.750 and he surveys it all and it's interesting to me we don't have time to get into this but he walks 00:07:05.750 --> 00:07:13.690 past the lame the blind the disabled he doesn't stop he doesn't speak to them all he doesn't heal 00:07:13.690 --> 00:07:18.330 them and that causes us some questions which we don't have time to get into but he makes a beeline 00:07:18.330 --> 00:07:26.530 for this one guy who's been an invalid for 38 years and for this one guy this is the day 00:07:26.530 --> 00:07:34.400 the grace of God has come to this man on this day for 38 years he struggled with this 00:07:34.400 --> 00:07:42.360 disability and now this is the day that God comes to him and so Jesus makes this way to this one 00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:49.200 man he's been an invalid for 38 years all the time lying there in this room as part of his routine 00:07:49.200 --> 00:07:55.180 of life all the time but he's there hoping that he could be the one that is going to be healed but 00:07:55.180 --> 00:08:00.480 knowing in reality he's never going to be first in that pool because the measure of his disability 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:07.240 means he can't get in there first people always get in ahead of him and what must that have felt 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:14.370 like? You know, how must that have felt for him? You know, the frustration, the sadness, the sense 00:08:14.370 --> 00:08:22.530 of, you know, I can't do anything about this. In that sense, the system is against him. He's stuck 00:08:22.530 --> 00:08:27.670 there. This is how I get better, but I'm never going to get better. But this is how I get better, 00:08:27.870 --> 00:08:33.250 but I'm never going to get better. And the system is against him. He has no chance. There are too 00:08:33.250 --> 00:08:38.670 many other people in a better situation than him there are too many other people with more going 00:08:38.670 --> 00:08:43.250 for them there's too many other people with friends to help and you can picture you're 00:08:43.250 --> 00:08:48.870 overwhelmed by the circumstances of which he's facing and you know and like a lot of us in that 00:08:48.870 --> 00:08:55.820 sort of situation he probably thinks why me why am i like this why have people been dealt better 00:08:55.820 --> 00:09:00.420 cards in life than me and have more choices it reminds me a little bit you know with that 00:09:00.420 --> 00:09:05.780 you remember that thing at school where you pick teams and you pick them out of you out of you out 00:09:05.780 --> 00:09:10.880 of you out of you and we were always the last to be picked right and the emotional effect on that 00:09:10.880 --> 00:09:17.740 as a kid and it reminds me this guy is like that and for a lot of us and for a lot of people out 00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:25.040 there that's their lot in life that's what life is like for them but on this day on this day the 00:09:25.040 --> 00:09:33.840 son of god comes to this man and brings the grace of god into his life and so jesus asks him this 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:41.250 question do you want to get well and you kind of read that you think excuse me jesus haven't you 00:09:41.250 --> 00:09:45.470 read the first four verses i mean they're all disabled right they're all there because they 00:09:45.470 --> 00:09:51.230 want to get well he's been ill for 30 years jesus what are you doing asking do you want to get well 00:09:51.230 --> 00:09:52.130 Of course he does. 00:09:52.950 --> 00:09:54.770 But if we just think about that for a minute, 00:09:54.850 --> 00:09:57.450 we've seen Jesus do this sort of thing before. 00:09:57.910 --> 00:10:01.650 He asks a question that looks pretty daft on the face of it, 00:10:01.990 --> 00:10:04.710 but actually has got a real purpose behind it. 00:10:05.030 --> 00:10:07.290 And he's asking this question again today. 00:10:07.390 --> 00:10:10.910 Remember in John chapter 2, we saw the calling of the first disciples, 00:10:10.910 --> 00:10:13.770 and how Andrew and this other disciple left John the Baptist. 00:10:14.170 --> 00:10:17.070 They followed Jesus, and Jesus turns around and says, 00:10:17.490 --> 00:10:18.130 what do you want? 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:22.960 Jesus, when we encounter him, he's going to ask us that question. 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:24.180 What do you want? 00:10:24.400 --> 00:10:27.620 And so we ask this guy, do you want to get well? 00:10:28.680 --> 00:10:32.420 Jesus, when we encounter him, he asks us those questions. 00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:34.780 And his questions are for purpose. 00:10:34.780 --> 00:10:38.720 And it seems to me maybe Jesus is asking the question of this man 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:45.040 because really what he's asking him is how desperate are you to get out of this situation? 00:10:45.040 --> 00:10:50.320 or actually, have you accepted the situation you're in 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.000 and you just think this is your lot in life? 00:10:53.380 --> 00:10:56.360 Because he'd been like this for 38 years, 00:10:56.800 --> 00:10:59.120 disabled, unable to get a cure. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:01.000 His daily routine was set. 00:11:01.300 --> 00:11:02.360 It was his normal. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:05.160 And the reality is for a lot of people 00:11:05.160 --> 00:11:06.400 in that sort of situation, 00:11:06.780 --> 00:11:09.240 there is some security that they build 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:11.220 into that routine in their life. 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:13.100 They're used to it. 00:11:13.400 --> 00:11:14.120 They get comfortable. 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:17.880 But yes, they want to be healed, but that just becomes an idea in their head. 00:11:18.100 --> 00:11:21.500 They've got a routine that they're safe with, that they feel comfortable with, 00:11:21.700 --> 00:11:24.380 and there's security in how he does each day. 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:29.980 For this guy, if Jesus heals him, he's going to have to look for a job. 00:11:31.560 --> 00:11:31.720 Yeah? 00:11:32.280 --> 00:11:34.420 It's a massive change. 00:11:34.420 --> 00:11:38.680 For this guy, if Jesus heals him, he's going to have to live somewhere else probably, 00:11:39.300 --> 00:11:41.020 no longer in sheltered accommodation. 00:11:41.020 --> 00:11:48.640 for this guy if Jesus heals him he's going to stop relying on the NHS yeah yeah totally yeah he's 00:11:48.640 --> 00:11:54.340 he's going to lose his benefits because he's going to be up and working and well so there is 00:11:54.340 --> 00:12:00.220 so Jesus asking him the question do you want to heal me is to make him think flip you know if I'm 00:12:00.220 --> 00:12:05.280 in for this Jesus then there's going to be big changes in my life and the grace of God when it 00:12:05.280 --> 00:12:11.540 comes to you and to me it's the same thing are you in for the big changes in your life that Jesus is 00:12:11.540 --> 00:12:18.970 going to bring because it is a revolution when he comes and so even though he wants to be well 00:12:18.970 --> 00:12:25.270 Jesus questions are always probing always seen because there is a risk in following Jesus 00:12:25.270 --> 00:12:32.450 there is a transformation there is an upset that is going to take place when the grace of God 00:12:32.450 --> 00:12:37.490 invades your life, whether that's the first time you encounter Jesus, whether that's for healing 00:12:37.490 --> 00:12:45.430 for something or in whatever shape or form that is. So Jesus asks him the question, do you want 00:12:45.430 --> 00:12:52.390 to get well? And the man answers, the man answers with his own limited understanding. Do I want to 00:12:52.390 --> 00:12:56.150 get well? Well the only way I can get well is to get in this water but I haven't got anybody to 00:12:56.150 --> 00:13:02.070 help me get in this water Lord. So it's a bit of a weird question but I need someone to help me to 00:13:02.070 --> 00:13:12.060 get into the water. He says, I have no one to help me. See, Jesus comes to bring the grace of God to 00:13:12.060 --> 00:13:20.560 that I have no one to help me, people. I have no one to help me. Jesus brings his grace to those 00:13:20.560 --> 00:13:26.260 that are disadvantaged, to those that are weak, to those that are poor, to those that have no advocacy, 00:13:26.460 --> 00:13:31.360 no one to speak up for themselves, to those that are overcome and overwhelmed by the system around 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:37.600 them, to those that are vulnerable to abuse like this man was, to those that are vulnerable to 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:47.220 exploitation. The grace of God comes to those who have no one to help them. You see, maybe this man 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:53.700 had friends or helpers, maybe they supported him in that situation that he was in, 00:13:53.700 --> 00:14:01.140 but he had no one, no friends to help him out of that situation, no friends to help him rescue 00:14:01.140 --> 00:14:09.400 himself from that situation until the day the grace of God invaded his life and brothers and 00:14:09.400 --> 00:14:17.440 sisters in the church this morning that's what he calls you and I to be men and women who help 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:24.780 people out of the overwhelming circumstances they are in who men and women who go right into the 00:14:24.780 --> 00:14:31.140 places where people like this guy are right and sit alongside them and bring the grace of God 00:14:31.140 --> 00:14:31.920 into their lives. 00:14:32.060 --> 00:14:35.220 You see, Jesus could have turned up to this place 00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:36.960 where all these disabled people were 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:38.740 and he just could have stood in the doorway, 00:14:39.140 --> 00:14:40.820 looked around, seen this guy. 00:14:40.900 --> 00:14:41.840 Oh, you over there. 00:14:41.920 --> 00:14:43.180 No, no, not you, the one behind you. 00:14:43.500 --> 00:14:44.420 Get up and walk. 00:14:44.780 --> 00:14:45.960 He could have stayed at a distance, 00:14:46.140 --> 00:14:48.340 shouting, preaching, but he doesn't. 00:14:48.560 --> 00:14:50.400 He walks right in amongst them all. 00:14:50.680 --> 00:14:52.440 He sits down next to this guy 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:54.680 and he engages him in conversation. 00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:57.420 And that day, the grace of God 00:14:57.420 --> 00:15:00.060 came to transform that man's life. 00:15:00.060 --> 00:15:06.740 and he jesus calls you and i every single one of us who own his name here this morning 00:15:06.740 --> 00:15:13.280 to be exactly the same and to come alongside those that are disadvantaged those that are 00:15:13.280 --> 00:15:20.480 overwhelmed by life circumstances and to sit alongside them and bring the grace of god to them 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:28.910 and so jesus heals the man and he changes his life completely with us i like the way you know 00:15:28.910 --> 00:15:32.050 Jesus asked the question, which seems really strange, do you want to get well? 00:15:32.290 --> 00:15:35.970 The guy answers it in the only way he knows how, I can't get into the water, 00:15:36.370 --> 00:15:38.250 and Jesus completely ignores his answer. 00:15:39.030 --> 00:15:40.950 He doesn't say, that's not what I'm talking about, mate. 00:15:41.290 --> 00:15:45.330 He doesn't say, well, okay, I'm going to change the way you think about healing now. 00:15:45.690 --> 00:15:46.530 He doesn't say any of that. 00:15:46.590 --> 00:15:47.290 He just says, get up. 00:15:48.230 --> 00:15:52.210 And so the man gets up and picks up his mat and walks. 00:15:52.210 --> 00:15:58.510 And as the grace we read in the passage, as the grace of God breaks out in this man's life, 00:15:58.910 --> 00:16:07.390 for the first time, so begins the slow build-up of antagonism towards that same grace of God 00:16:07.390 --> 00:16:13.110 by the Jews and the Jewish leaders. We won't get into it today because it's going to grow as we 00:16:13.110 --> 00:16:18.670 carry on through the book of John. But the Jews spot this guy standing up and carrying his mat 00:16:18.670 --> 00:16:22.410 and they can go up to him and say, it's the Sabbath, what are you carrying your mat for? 00:16:22.490 --> 00:16:25.470 Because that's the kind of thing they did when they're bothered about their laws. 00:16:25.470 --> 00:16:34.870 you know this guy had been disabled for 38 years he had no hope no help and now all of a sudden 00:16:34.870 --> 00:16:40.130 he's up and walking around and the question isn't is blimey how did that happen the question is what 00:16:40.130 --> 00:16:45.850 are you carrying him out for you know it it kind of shows the wrong place but what it also shows 00:16:45.850 --> 00:16:51.050 behind that and what we'll see as we're growing as we go through the book of john is the threat 00:16:51.050 --> 00:16:54.450 that Jesus brings and the grace of God brings 00:16:54.450 --> 00:16:57.230 to those who remain in power 00:16:57.230 --> 00:17:00.450 through unjust laws and through control. 00:17:01.390 --> 00:17:03.390 And that's what's starting to happen here, 00:17:03.550 --> 00:17:04.930 just starting to open. 00:17:05.090 --> 00:17:07.030 And we'll see as we go through the rest of John 00:17:07.030 --> 00:17:09.130 how that grows and the challenge 00:17:09.130 --> 00:17:12.990 Jesus brings to that situation. 00:17:14.140 --> 00:17:15.700 And so we read that Jesus slips away 00:17:15.700 --> 00:17:17.740 through the crowd so that when the guys 00:17:17.740 --> 00:17:19.680 who were the Jews challenging the man 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:25.580 saying well who told you to carry a mat what fellow told you to carry a mat he just says i 00:17:25.580 --> 00:17:31.760 don't know i don't know yeah he's been healed of a disability he's had for 38 years and he doesn't 00:17:31.760 --> 00:17:39.180 know who's done it right it's fascinating isn't it and then we get to verse 14 and so we have the 00:17:39.180 --> 00:17:44.420 second conversation that jesus has with this man in the passage later jesus found him at the temple 00:17:44.420 --> 00:17:51.260 and said to him see you are well again stop sinning or something worse may happen to you so 00:17:51.260 --> 00:17:56.440 here we see both the things right the grace of God coming to this guy and bringing healing to him and 00:17:56.440 --> 00:18:01.120 restoration to him when he doesn't deserve it but Jesus comes to him and he and that's what happens 00:18:01.120 --> 00:18:07.340 and now we see the truth of God coming to him as Jesus challenges him about his lifestyle and the 00:18:07.340 --> 00:18:15.280 choices that he's making the grace of God comes to him and brings healing but Jesus always sees 00:18:15.280 --> 00:18:21.860 beyond the mere external physical thing this guy obviously physically changed he's up and he's 00:18:21.860 --> 00:18:27.380 walking about when he's never done that for 38 years so he's clearly physically changed and 00:18:27.380 --> 00:18:34.520 everybody can see that but God always goes to the root of our issues of what we are like inside what 00:18:34.520 --> 00:18:40.100 makes us tick why we think the way we do why we make the choices that we make what our heart is 00:18:40.100 --> 00:18:45.740 like in the old testament we read about what god called a prophet called samuel to go and find the 00:18:45.740 --> 00:18:51.220 next king of israel and told him it would be one of the sons of his chap called jesse and samuel 00:18:51.220 --> 00:18:56.780 finds this man jesse and tells him to bring out all his sons and they're all hunky looking you 00:18:56.780 --> 00:19:02.540 know a star men with a with a biceps and all the rest of it and samuel thinks oh this must be the 00:19:02.540 --> 00:19:09.500 next king and God has to say to him no it's not him man looks on the outside but God looks on 00:19:09.500 --> 00:19:16.680 the heart you see the heart we can hide from everybody else but we cannot hide it from God 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:22.920 and so Jesus goes to the root of the issue for this man on the outside he's changed but Jesus 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:31.430 says stop sinning stop it you know there's no detail no explanation simply stop it the point 00:19:31.430 --> 00:19:36.770 is that when a man or a woman encounters Jesus there needs to be real change in how that person 00:19:36.770 --> 00:19:43.110 lives their life. Jesus' warning is that you cannot let God heal you and then just carry on living life 00:19:43.110 --> 00:19:49.690 the way that you want. We cannot cherry pick the bits of Jesus or cherry pick the bits of 00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:55.090 Christianity that we want. You know I'm here because I like the nice songs or I love the food 00:19:55.090 --> 00:20:00.750 when we have gatherings together or I love the good company and the friendships but have no real 00:20:00.750 --> 00:20:05.490 change in how we live our life or the values that we live by or the priorities that we put on 00:20:05.490 --> 00:20:12.100 we're called jesus calls us to change our lives and so he says to this man stop sinning stop it 00:20:12.100 --> 00:20:18.810 it's not like you know stop sinning please it's not stop sinning you know if because it's a bit 00:20:18.810 --> 00:20:27.120 awkward it's not um uh so sometimes when we go out driving i shan't say who's driving but when we go 00:20:27.120 --> 00:20:33.540 driving and our son-in-law is following us, he has been known to say you treat the road signs 00:20:33.540 --> 00:20:43.580 speed limits as if they are a recommendation. So Jesus isn't saying this is a recommendation, 00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:53.050 he's saying stop sinning, period. It's a command and actually we see that carrying on through the 00:20:53.050 --> 00:20:57.310 pages of the new testament so paul writes to the church at colossi just to put some 00:20:57.310 --> 00:21:05.770 substance on this paul says to them rid yourselves of all such things as these anger rage malice 00:21:05.770 --> 00:21:12.950 slander and filthy language from your lips do not lie to each other he says rid yourself of it these 00:21:12.950 --> 00:21:18.450 are strong words and as the church of jesus we need to respond to what he's saying to us and not 00:21:18.450 --> 00:21:23.390 think we can be nice bedfellows with these things and kind of it's okay because what they do as well 00:21:23.390 --> 00:21:27.590 actually don't know so it's all right no we are to deal with these issues in our lives because 00:21:27.590 --> 00:21:34.900 jesus said stop it and we need to get a hold of that paul carries on to trying to sort out the 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:40.020 mess of the church in corinth he writes in the second letter he says i fear that when i come to 00:21:40.020 --> 00:21:47.500 you i'm going to find discord and jealousy this is in the church right fits of rage selfish ambition 00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:49.530 I want my way 00:21:49.530 --> 00:21:52.030 slander, gossip 00:21:52.030 --> 00:21:54.140 talking about people 00:21:54.140 --> 00:21:55.900 behind their backs, arrogance 00:21:55.900 --> 00:21:58.040 and disorder and I will be grieved 00:21:58.040 --> 00:22:00.180 over many who have not repented 00:22:00.180 --> 00:22:02.220 of the impurity, sexual 00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:04.320 sin and debauchery in their lives 00:22:04.320 --> 00:22:06.140 Jesus says when he calls us 00:22:06.140 --> 00:22:08.240 yes we want to sing, we want to love the grace 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:10.020 of God but he also comes to us 00:22:10.020 --> 00:22:12.340 and says stop sinning 00:22:12.340 --> 00:22:14.140 it's always interesting in our culture 00:22:14.140 --> 00:22:16.320 we have lots of songs about the grace of God 00:22:16.320 --> 00:22:18.340 lots of songs about you know 00:22:18.340 --> 00:22:20.440 Jesus I believe you're my healer 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:22.000 I've not heard many songs 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.220 Jesus help me stop sinning 00:22:24.220 --> 00:22:25.940 maybe someone could write a song 00:22:25.940 --> 00:22:28.480 about Jesus I want to stop 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:29.980 sinning find a tune for it 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:32.620 help me to stop sinning because we don't 00:22:32.620 --> 00:22:34.200 do we because we don't like that bit 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:36.040 it's a bit awkward but actually 00:22:36.040 --> 00:22:38.180 we need both of those things 00:22:38.180 --> 00:22:40.220 it's a revolution about how we 00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:42.440 live our lives Andrew arranged some training 00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:43.640 last Monday 00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:46.200 about how to 00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:52.120 work with people with drug and alcohol addictions and the challenges around that. And the guy 00:22:52.120 --> 00:22:56.740 talking about that, Mick, he said one little thing in the middle. He talked about at its 00:22:56.740 --> 00:23:02.840 root, alcohol and drug addiction and pornography addiction and other things, at its root, it's 00:23:02.840 --> 00:23:08.280 about self-obsession. It's about being obsessed with me. I want me. I want to do what I want 00:23:08.280 --> 00:23:13.580 to do. I want my way. And as I thought about that, I thought, that's just true about sin. 00:23:13.580 --> 00:23:15.740 that's true about when I get angry 00:23:15.740 --> 00:23:17.040 when I get impatient 00:23:17.040 --> 00:23:19.020 it's not just about 00:23:19.020 --> 00:23:22.020 what you might mistakenly think 00:23:22.020 --> 00:23:23.500 are major addictions 00:23:23.500 --> 00:23:25.560 this is about everything, this is true 00:23:25.560 --> 00:23:27.480 the root of this is about self-obsession 00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:29.580 so Jesus says we've got to deal with it 00:23:29.580 --> 00:23:31.960 and that means admitting it 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.080 and that means addressing it 00:23:34.080 --> 00:23:35.460 and that isn't a one-off thing 00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:37.340 that we carry on going through our lives 00:23:37.340 --> 00:23:39.220 having to tackle this and to deal with it 00:23:39.220 --> 00:23:41.960 I remember when I was thinking about 20 or 30 years old 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:44.500 thinking, oh, it'll be great when I'm 50 or 60 00:23:44.500 --> 00:23:46.560 because everything will be sorted out. 00:23:47.060 --> 00:23:48.560 I won't sin anymore. 00:23:49.180 --> 00:23:50.500 Everybody will be really nice 00:23:50.500 --> 00:23:52.280 and we'll get on so well together. 00:23:53.270 --> 00:23:55.530 No, it isn't like that. 00:23:55.970 --> 00:23:56.450 Alas. 00:23:57.330 --> 00:23:59.410 We still have to work at it. 00:23:59.630 --> 00:24:00.970 We're still caught to do it. 00:24:01.850 --> 00:24:03.750 You see, we can't have this Jesus 00:24:03.750 --> 00:24:05.950 without this Jesus. 00:24:06.820 --> 00:24:09.260 We can't have a Jesus who we want to heal 00:24:09.260 --> 00:24:11.000 and we want to know his love 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:13.000 and we want to know his warm, fuzzy feelings 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:16.740 without having this Jesus who says, stop sinning. 00:24:16.800 --> 00:24:19.920 We can't have a wedding Jesus without temple Jesus. 00:24:20.100 --> 00:24:20.700 Remember that? 00:24:22.410 --> 00:24:25.750 Otherwise, we make a mockery of the gospel. 00:24:26.890 --> 00:24:27.230 Really? 00:24:28.150 --> 00:24:30.010 You see, what does Jesus say to the Pharisees? 00:24:30.450 --> 00:24:34.890 He says, produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 00:24:36.040 --> 00:24:38.000 That's what he calls us to do, to be men and women 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:40.160 who not simply repent, 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:46.280 but then our lives change, our lifestyle changes, the choices that we make changes. 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:53.360 So a modern word for this would be we need to recover the integrity of our walk with Jesus. 00:24:53.580 --> 00:24:58.580 Brené Brown describes integrity as choosing courage over comfort, 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:04.440 choosing what is right over what is fun, fast or easy 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:10.700 and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them. 00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:15.760 We need to be men and women of integrity as we walk with Jesus. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:20.700 Authentic following of Jesus means both responding to those grace moments 00:25:20.700 --> 00:25:25.640 when he relieves, he heals, he restores, he sets free, 00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:31.960 but also responding to this truth that our lives must change. 00:25:32.840 --> 00:25:34.440 It's interesting, I'll finish with this. 00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:36.340 interesting that when Jesus 00:25:36.340 --> 00:25:37.700 healed the man 00:25:37.700 --> 00:25:39.900 he had no idea 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:42.580 who had healed him, he had no idea 00:25:42.580 --> 00:25:43.560 who Jesus was 00:25:43.560 --> 00:25:46.830 but when Jesus told him to stop sinning 00:25:46.830 --> 00:25:48.750 to change his lifestyle 00:25:48.750 --> 00:25:51.050 then he knew 00:25:51.050 --> 00:25:51.990 it was Jesus 00:25:51.990 --> 00:25:53.340 Amen