Ugly Sweater | Week 3

Hey. Meowy Katniss. How you doing? Hey. I wanna say good morning and hello. And I also wanna say hello to everyone out there watching on the the interwebs there. We we live stream all of our services now. It's so cool. So

so you can stay at home in your bathrobes and boxer shorts if you want. Or you can come here. We don't care either, but just make sure the bathrobe stays closed. But good morning. And and it's fun to be here. And if you're out there for the first time watching or you're new, I don't normally dress this weird.

We're in this series called Ugly Sweater. And and we've been talking about, you know, that's kind of a tradition around Christmas time.

And what one of the things we wear these and you you're proud of them, we love them, but we wouldn't wear these when Christmas time is over. It's kinda like once Christmas, the season's over, you put them away until next year, like we do with our lights and the trees and all that stuff. We like Christmas is this moment. It's a season. We celebrate and then we pack it up. But what we've been talking about is this idea that do we also do that a little bit with the faith of what it means to be a follower of Jesus? Do we do we do the same thing? Around Christmas time, do we have more holiday cheer? In other words, we're a little bit more generous. We care a little bit more. We wanna share the love of Jesus with people, and we act a little bit more focused on it for this moment.

But then once the season's over, we fold that up and put it away as well. When we're really called to lit to basically the faith version,

wear our ugly sweaters all the year round. That's what we're and you know what? We might look weird. People might think we're odd and different because that's what we're called to be to to share that love of Christ. We've been and that's what we've been talking about for the last few weeks. Today's the the last week of this series.

And what we've talked about for these big ideas, we started the first week with this concept out of John one that Christmas is a mission, it's not a moment.

It's not just a moment, it's about a mission. The whole story of Christmas is the story of God's love, the story of Jesus, the story of the purpose, the story of our mission. And we've been looking at the Christmas story out of the gospel of John, which is interesting because the gospel of John doesn't record Jesus' birth. It doesn't record it, but it records the why.

So Christmas is a mission, not a moment. And then last week,

pastor Daniel spoke on in John chapter two about how Christmas is a is a mission, not a moment, and that mission is to be the light of the world. Didn't he do a good job if you were here? He did he did a great job, didn't he? Yeah. He he he he left some information out though. He he told you guys that he had to buy my sweaters because he's the one that got all the sweaters. He said he had to buy them in a women's medium.

What he didn't tell you guys is he had to get his at Build A Bear. And so because the story normally shops at Wet Seal closed. So so there you go. Got him back to.

But no. He talked about how, you know, Christmas is a mission not a moment, and that mission is to be the light of the world. We're not the light of the world, but we're supposed to reflect the light of the world of Jesus. That's the mission.

Well, today we wanna add one last statement to that big idea, And this last one is I'm just gonna tell you right now. I wanna I want you to just prayerfully stay engaged with what we're talking about. Because if you are someone that's been going to church your whole life or going to church for ten minutes,

if we do not embrace what we're gonna talk about today out of John chapter three, you will be a frustrated follower of Jesus your whole life. Or most likely, you'll fall away from following Jesus if I don't embrace this concept. And that is this.

Christmas is for us, but it's not about us. The whole story and remember, Christmas is not just this moment. Christmas is the whole message of Jesus. And this whole idea of knowing the Lord and our relationship with God, it is for us, but it is not about us.

What do what do I mean by that? Let me let me give you a little story. I remember I I told a story a few weeks ago about how my mom gave me encyclopedias for on

Christmas when I was six. And at the time, I thought it was a horrible thing. It ended up being a huge blessing because I didn't want encyclopedias. Well, when I was sitting around a few years ago, we were telling stories of dramatic because good, bad, great Christmas stories. Just staying in it was, woah, that was crazy. I kind of shared that story then and then then a friend of mine, a guy that used to be on our staff, he was our original drummer, little drummer boy when he was 12. His name's JP, Josh Paul. Many of you probably remember him. He he's been back. He's led worship. Good guy. We're sharing these kind of stories, like, what are some dramatic Christmas moments for you? And he shared this awesome one. He goes, when I was 16, I hadn't been 16 very long, it was Christmas.

And we opened all the presents, and then my mom, he'll twinkle her and I, she goes, hey, got you one more. I was really? And she goes, yeah. It's parked in the garage and the keys are in it. Could you imagine how many of you, even if you're way past 16, can almost feel those tingles right now if you heard those words like

can imagine being 16 and you get there you there's a car in the garage. I know what I would be thinking. I'd be like William Wallace in Braveheart. Freedom. You know, and and

thinking about, wow, this is gonna how is this gonna bless my life and impact my ability to go wherever I want? And so she's like, the keys are in it. So he bolted to the garage. He opened the door and there it was, shiny, all it had been waxed up, this deep forest green, John Deere. Riding lawn mower.

He topped my encyclopedia story, by the way. And he's like, what? They bought him now now leave aside the idea that that seemed kind of evil for mom, but but that's my point. Like, think about it. Though, how do you think he felt when he opened the door versus what he expected and what he got?

It was horrible. He's like, his his his his his heart dropped. It sank. He was kind of bummed out. He was really frustrated in that moment, But you know what? He's telling me this story years later. He goes, you know, in the end, just like my encyclopedia story, it ended up being a huge blessing. See, the reason mom bought that for him is they had moved to Texas,

and they had two acres of grass, and it was his job as the son. His mission as a member of the family is he was supposed to mow the lawn every Saturday, and they only had a push mower. So he spent most of every Saturday mowing the lawn. So mom was blessing him with, this is gonna take you probably less than an hour.

You'll be able to do this in under an hour. It just it it just gave you five and a half hours of your life back to do whatever you want. Now think about that. That's actually a massive blessing if you give a rip about the mission. If you see, feel, I am engaged,

I'm a part of this family, I love being the son, I understand, I wanna be a part of this, I'm all in. This is massive. I could actually do more quicker. But if you don't care about the mission, you feel like my mom is mean. She's cruel.

She says she's gonna promise to take care of me, and then gives me this. Says the keys are in it in the garage, and this is what I come to. That's how many of us are gonna respond to what Jesus has for us in life when he says here's the gift I wanna give you. This is what Christmas is about. Here's something I have for you. The problem is when we think we have something for us, we also want it to always be about us.

And a lot of what God wants to give us, it's for us, but it's not about us. It's about being a part of the family. It's about living out the mission we've been called to live out.

But here's what's cool, and the hope side is what JP shared is, he saved so much time. He had neighbors that discovered they didn't like mowing their lawn either. So guess what he started doing? He started getting paid to mow other people's lawn.

And he was still only spending about 4 hours on Saturday mowing these neighbors lawns. He's still saving two hours and he made a bunch of money. Guess what he did with the money? Bought a car. See, in the end, the Bible says that Jesus said, hey, seek ye first what? The kingdom and then

all these things shall be added unto you. It means God will give you everything you need to seek the kingdom. But you know what he's so awesome? He'll throw in some cars here and there too. He'll he'll throw some stuff in there. But if I make the goal about the car, In other words, if I make it about me.

If everything's about me, even my following of Jesus is about me, I'll miss the meaning. If it's me, I'll miss the meaning. If I make it about the mission, I'll find the meaning.

You'll you'll you'll get further, you'll get faster, you'll be happy, you'll have joy. Even if there's bad things, if I always make it about me, I've turned to Jesus. Even if I come to church. You're like, I come here, I'm a church. But if I make it about me, and not just something for me, but it's about me,

then what'll happen is I'll turn Jesus into the ultimate Santa Claus.

He knows if I'm naughty or nice, so I wanna be on the nice list. So I do the things I'm supposed to do. I don't really like doing those things, but I'll do them, so I'll get on the nice list, so that I can give him my list, my prayer request of all the things I want and say these are my demands.

I have served you. This is I'm on the nice list. This is what I want for being on the nice list. You're missing the whole meaning of the gospel. The whole meaning of what means to be a Christian. The whole purpose of Jesus is love. Because here's the deal. When I say Christmas is for us, but not about us, you realize God's love is for us, but God's love is not about us. Did you know that?

God does not love you or me because of you or me. That sounds bad, but it's actually a massive blessing and a relief to us. Because it also means you don't keep God's love because of you. You see, God loves us because God loves. And God doesn't change. If God's love was based on our being lovable, that's a lot of pressure.

And here's the problem. God's also perfect. So God's love, if it was based on our merit, we would have to be perfect. But since God loves us despite us, because it's about him, we can relax. And that's what we want to look at today, this idea that Christmas

and the mission is something that's for me. There's definitely something for me, but we make a huge mistake when we make it about me.

What do I mean? Let's look at let's look. We've been in the book of John, like I said, we're now in John chapter three. What I want to do in in John three is I want to look, this Gospel of John, I want to look at the last part of this chapter. The first part is is a story that happens with a guy named Nicodemus. It's a famous passage, the most famous verse in the Bible is in there. That's actually gonna be my Christmas Eve message. We're gonna look at that on Christmas Eve, and you're gonna wanna bring some friends there. And so but I wanna look at the second part,

and and it's a story that picks up with this guy, John the Baptist. He showed up in chapter one, and you know he's John the Baptist, so you know he's really good at potlucks and yelling at people. But just a joke. Sorry.

But no. He's called the Baptist because he's out baptizing people. He was a prophet that actually quotes is quoted of and spoken of in the book of Isaiah. Matter of fact, when he describes his job, he says, I'm just the voice crying in the wilderness, make a way for the Lord. That's coming straight out of the book of Isaiah. And he was called, he came before Jesus, and he and he prepared the way. What he was doing is they were expecting the Messiah, and he was the prophet that was to come to prepare the way. When he says prepare the way for the Lord, that what that meant was it's a phrase that was common back then was it meant when a king is showing up. And what they would do is when a king showed up, hey I'm gonna come to your piddly little town. Well, know, these little towns and villages, the roads were pretty weird. They're, you know, around that brook, through that tree, under that thing over there. Well, when a king would show up, they'd go out miles away from the town, and they would actually make a new road. They would flat they would go along the road, and if the road undulated

that means up and down. I only know that because of bad golf. I go, the undulating hills really killed my score and my lack of ability. But but but the idea is undulating. So they would they didn't want the king to go up and down and around. They would actually literally make a straight road.

And if it if it dipped, they would fill it in. They would literally clear the road, widen the road, and make it straight. And so basically, what this prophecy says is John's job is to go to the people of Israel, to go to the world and say, hey, the Messiah is coming. Are you ready for it?

And you need to make a straight path into your heart. And so what he was doing, he was doing this thing, this baptism. It's a different baptism than what we do now as as believers. It wasn't a baptism because they didn't understand Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. This was a baptism under repentance, saying it's the I want my heart to be straight. I want to not miss the Lord. I just want to this is preparatory thing that the Bible talked about. So he went out and hundreds and, you know, tons of people were coming to him, and he's baptizing him. You need to understand that because this story opens up with an argument that ensues.

Okay? So so so here's what's happening. You get in verse 22. It says, then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and they went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with their baptizing people. Now we know from the other gospels when he says baptizing, Jesus didn't do the baptizing, his disciples did. So they set up shop. Now they're doing the same thing. They're doing this, are you ready for for for for Jesus, you know. And

verse 23 says, at this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there, and people kept coming to him for baptism. It says this was before John was thrown into prison. We'll see that at the end of this message. A debate broke out between John's disciples and a certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing. See this fight starts because this this this Jew comes up and he goes, what? Is this a ceremonial cleansing? Because because what he's talking about is, at this time Jews at the temple, they had these little cisterns that you could do these ceremonial washings, and a Jew would do that. They'd say, I need to repent. It was kind of a reminder, kind of a, what we call today. I've rededicated my heart. You know what I mean? And and they would have the ceremony washing, but they're actually

baptizing people. And the only thing that the Jews did, they did do a form of baptism, but it was only for converts who were not Jewish.

So if you were Greek or or you know, just a a gentile of any kind, and you converted, you got baptized. So he's watching all these Jews come out and they're getting baptized. He goes, what is this? Is this some kind of ceremonial cleansing? Because you're baptizing, and that makes no sense. So they get into a fight.

And we know that by backward reason, what they're about to go say to John the Baptist after this fight, we know that somewhere in the conversation, the guy probably says, well, I don't get why you're doing it, but what does it matter? The guy over there, that Jesus guy, he's baptizing

they're baptizing a lot more people than you are. Because we know that they know that, because then they go to John and they they say something to them. So now they show up and and they come to John verse 26 says, so John's disciples came to him and said, Rabbi,

the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, I get I love this. The one you identified as the Messiah, the one you already told us is God in a body, the one you already told us is the savior, The one you already told us is the one that we're preparing the way for. That's what our job is here.

They're scratching their heads. And he says, is also baptizing people. And everyone's going to him instead of coming to us.

I added that emphasis. I I I but I'm pretty sure that's how they felt in their heart. They're coming and complaining. They're getting this fight, and then they come and say, you're not gonna believe this,

but the Jesus, the Messiah, the one you said, he's the one, the whole reason for why we're doing what we're doing, he's now doing it, and people are leaving us, and they're going over there. The the people were the person we're supposed to point people to are actually going to them, and that's infuriating us.

That sounds stupid, doesn't it? But before we call people stupid, you're like, we? You just did.

We have a tendency to be this way too. The most obvious one is is churches can do this. Pastors can do this. They want a following. I don't want a following. I want people to follow me, as Paul said, as I followed Jesus.

If I'm not following Jesus, don't follow me. Matter of fact, run up and grab me on the arm and say, you're going the wrong way. But the truth is we're supposed to point people to Jesus. And they were pointing people to Jesus, but then they got offended when they seemed like they were competing with you. They went from

serving to competing. And it was all in their own heart. So you can say okay, corporately churches will do that all the time, but I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about us, individuals. I think we still do this. We can get so involved in our version of our religion that we end up competing with our relationship

with Jesus. And then it becomes more about me. And my religious tradition, the things I do, it becomes about me, it becomes about my family, it becomes about this, and it becomes about a lot of things. Going to church becomes about a lot of things. But pointing people to Jesus and walking with Jesus myself

literally becomes a secondary priority. Matter of fact, if if if we stop caring about pointing others to Jesus, we've stopped caring about the mission. Because that's what's happening. They're frustrated that people are going to Jesus, and it's affecting their ministry. It's affecting their life.

See how that can happen? So so so John now, the next four verses, I wanna go through a verse at a time,

because he gives four truths. Four statements he makes give us some four significant truths that if we can embrace these actually, it's three. The fourth one is really the whole point of all these. But the first three kind of show us how it works out. It's a litmus test for us. But these truths

will actually if we embrace them and apply them and own them, they actually will get us from just me to meaning this Christmas.

They will get you out of me, and get you towards real meaning in life, which is ultimately everything we chase after in life, you're looking for meaning, we're looking for purpose, we're looking for hope,

and this is where it comes from. So they come with that complaint, and here's what John says. Verse 27, John replied, no one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. So his first comment is basically, if you want to word that in everyday language for us, is he's saying he's saying God's in control.

See, they come all panicked. They're all going to him. They're not coming to us. So they're freaking out. What's going on? What's happening? Because because he's saying their ministry, what they were doing, they were in control. And now they feel like they're out of control. And his first response is, you do know God's in control. Right?

God's in control, not us. This is God's plan.

And they act just like anybody else when they feel like, wait, I thought I was doing the right thing and now it's not working the way I expected it. We feel out of control. You ever get that way? You think you're doing the right thing and it doesn't feel the right way, and now you feel like you're out of control?

Here's something I've learned. Maybe you have, I just know it in my life is,

you're not actually in control. You never were. And no matter how hard you try, you never will be. You may act like you're in charge. We can act like we're in charge of our lives, but you're not actually in control. God is. And so he's saying, first thing you got to do guys to get this right is understand that everything we do

is God is in control. And the second thing he says goes right along with it. So I'm gonna read it. He says, the very next verse he says, he says, you yourselves know how plainly I told you. He's like, do I need to say this again? He goes, I am not the Messiah.

I am only here to prepare the way for him. So you guys, guys, guys, you remember why we're doing this. Right? God's in control, and what he just said, he says, and I'm not God. And neither are you guys is what he's saying. He's like, God's in control and we're not God.

He is. So you're getting all frustrated and feeling out of control because you're forgetting God's in control and you're forgetting we're not God. See, God's in control. We're not God. We're never in control. But when we don't own that we're not God, we'll take charge anyways.

We'll act like we are. And when we act like we are, and then get out of control, what happens? Worry, fear, frustration, anger, anxiety, depression. Why do you think those are so much more elevated at Christmas time?

Because this is the time we emphasize this joy and hope and happiness, but you know what? It's great when you're a kid, but when you become the adult Christmas becomes a lot of work.

And now I feel like I got so many things on my plate, I'm supposed to bring Christmas joy and cheer to my family, and you know what? I just wanna punch them all in the face and go to bed. Can I get an amen from the congregation? And then you're like, everybody wants something, and I got about $10 as a budget.

And if I give everybody what they want, this is like, half the national debt. And

and and and you know what? And being a lead pastor, get it. We have to put our budgets together this time of year, and it's funny. What does all the ministries want? When you're in a growing church, guess what? The first round of budgets, if we actually approve the budget that everybody asked for, it's like, you know, we would need a government bailout. I'm just telling you, it wouldn't work. And it's like there's stress in that, isn't there?

And then there's fear of if I don't really get little Timmy that scooter or whatever, man, they're gonna be so sad. And then I own this idea that I'm supposed to make everyone happy. I have taken charge. I am God, and I'm trying to control.

See the downside of that? The downside of being the guy that gets to spin all the plates is you get to be the guy that spins all the plates. And then what happens when they start breaking?

So you've got to understand the first thing is, guys, you've got to realize if I'm gonna do this thing called Christianity, if I'm gonna follow the Lord, it's not just sit in a row, come to a church, and and learn about Jesus. The mission is to be more like Jesus, not to know more about Jesus.

Now you need to know more in order to be like, but if you just keep getting more information, but no transformation, you're missing the point. And the key is you got to understand basically, God's in control, not me. And God's in charge, not me. I am not God. Now, I don't think any of us would walk around saying,

I think I'm God. There's been a few wackos throughout history other than, you know, that have have said that. We don't literally say, I'm God. But you know what we do say? We think we're in control. We do the cafeteria plan of spirituality. We come to church and we say we want to be spiritual, but then we pick and choose.

Well, I like that. I don't like that. I'll do this part, but I don't like that part. Well, think about it. If Jesus says do this, and you say I don't think so, who's in charge? You are.

If you try to live your faith that way, you're gonna be frustrated and eventually you'll walk away. You'll miss the meaning. Because you make it about when I make it about me, at the end of the day, all that's left is me. You make it about meaning about Jesus, about what he's about,

there'll be meaning at the end of that. There'll be purpose. There'll be joy. There'll be happy. There'll be contentment. Despite the individual moments, the moments might be dark, but the mission is intact. Because that's what God built us to do. The question is, are you gonna trust him?

It's a constant battle to trust. That's why I want to jump. I want to jump to the last principle, which kind of pulls us all together, then I want to go back to verse 29. So because that ties into this last verse 30 says, he must become greater and greater and I must become less and less.

He must become greater and greater. You know, he's saying that about literally, guys you realize our calling was to point the way, so we're supposed to shrink and he's supposed to become great. You know what's crazy? Some people don't get that. Do you realize that the reason John's writing this here is like, they still had people doing John the Baptist baptism.

There was still people running around the Judean hillside, prepare the way for the Lord. And John's like, I'm 90. I followed him. He came, he died, he rose again. He already came. And there is people still, nope. Prepare the way. Prepare. They were so busy. They missed the whole point.

And so the battle is always that's the thing is like, our goal is not to know more about Jesus. Our goal is to be more like Jesus. So it needs to be less of my

sinful nature. The desire to get it my way, to just get what I think feels good, to get the car in the garage, and more about I need to learn to want the lawn mower. I I I want to engage as a son of the king, as a daughter of the king. I

wanna go. I need to become less. He needs to become more. And this is one of those things that does just happen. Oh yeah, I made that decision like twenty years ago. You realize we almost need to make we need to make this every day. And some days, probably about every ten minutes.

Because there's gonna be moments in your life that you're gonna be tempted to want to go, I need to be more and more, and he needs them less and less. It's a battle. It's always a battle. It's what the original lie cost us to sin. Adam and Eve, Satan came and said, God's holding out on you. You need to take his place.

You need to go around him. You need to take control. You need to take charge, and then you'll be like him.

Didn't work out too well. How about you? Because when I choose the way to word that, so these three phrases, God's in control, I'm not God, and this one says, and I must get out of the way. I need to choose every day to get out of God's way. In other words, John the Baptist is an example to us for this. He knew who he was.

He knew who he wasn't. And he definitely knew who Jesus is. Do you? Because when I'm able to embrace that, you know what happens? You know what's in it for me? Look what it says in verse 29.

He goes, first he had just said, I'm not the Messiah. I'm just here to prepare the way for him. And then he says, it is the bridegroom who marries the bride and the bridegroom's friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. So he goes, I end up having joy

in service. I will find joy in mowing the lawn. I will find purpose and meaning in living intentionally with my time, my talents, my treasure, and my testimony pointing to Jesus

not living for me. Because look, he says, I'm glad and I have joy. He actually finds joy in it. So many of us as followers think of actually giving, actually serving, actually getting out of a row and into a circle with other people as a burden and an option.

Well, you're thinking that because if you make it about you, you don't have enough time for that.

And then it becomes a burden. There's not a joy in it. But if I embrace this right, you actually will find a joy. I'm not saying, well, just get over it, suck it up, and do it, and God will be out. You see, you take that approach, you're back to Jesus as Santa Claus. Well, guess if I do it, even though it sucks,

then it's gonna cost me time and money and effort, at least maybe my list will get fulfilled. That's not the way. He finds joy in it. What does he say? He says, because I get to be the guy that stands next to the groom as he makes the vows to the bride. We get that illustration. You get to be the best man at the wedding.

But in in the Jewish culture, that's even deeper, because best mans in our wedding is is is make sure the lanyards don't get lost, make sure the groomsmen don't get too drunk, and make sure we have a really good

bachelor party. But but you know, that's kind of the goal. Back then, what he's talking about is they didn't have a big huge wedding party. You had that that guy that stood with you, and his job was their ceremony wasn't like everyone came to the ceremony. The husband, the the groom would go get the bride.

There's you just walked the town, you'd go to where the bride is, you'd you'd meet her, you'd take her back to where they're gonna live, they would make these vows, and you got to be the guy that walked with them to get his bride. You got to bring the groom and the bride to meet.

And then you walked them back to where they're going, and he's about to get p g 13, but this is Bible. Snummy. And then you didn't just hear vows. They went in to make it legal, you know the opposite of how most people do these days, and you stood at the door on watch to make sure this nothing happens to interrupt this.

It was a big responsibility and an honor. And he says, I find joy that I get to introduce the bride to the groom. Do you understand in the Bible who the groom is? Jesus is called the the bridegroom. Do you know in scripture who the bride is? It's people who become Christians and followers of Jesus.

So what John is saying, I find the greatest joy in getting to be the guy that introduces Jesus to the people that need Jesus. And I get to watch Jesus make the vows.

He's the one that died for them and came back to life and wants to restore our relationships and restore meaning and hope and all of that. And he gets to be the guy that gets to do that. And here's what's crazy. We are all if you know Jesus in this room, we're the bride.

But if you know Jesus in this room, we're called to also be what John is, the best man or the maid of honor. We're called to be both. We follow, and then we get to be the one that that introduces him to the bride to bride to the bride.

We get to go out and introduce him, and what he's saying is, I find joy in that. I am glad for that. You know why? Because he's not competing with God. You can't find joy with someone who's getting married and be their best man and compete with them at the same time.

I mean, if you had someone that get married and they have a great wife and you love them, you know they love you, man, that guy would, you know, he he took a bullet for me. Literally, the guy took a bullet for me, you know, and all that. You and he asked you to be the best man or it's a woman, the maid of honor. You would be so honored.

But imagine if they're more of a frenemy, like your brother or sister or someone, or a good friend. You love each other, but you are always competing with one another. And all of sudden, they're gonna marry this person that you absolutely like more, and you're jealous,

and you're frustrated, and you're like, wow, I'm happy for them, but I wanted to be married. I'm the older sister. I'm the older brother, and they got this great marriage, and I'm still alone, and and I don't like it. Would you be happy? Because you know what?

You gotta be my best man, or you're my maid of honor. You know what that whole process of showing them honor and making about them would be? I've done a lot of weddings. My wife was a wedding coordinator. This happens more than you know. There ends up huge fights. A lot of times it isn't even about the bride or best

man. It could be the mother of the bride sometimes turns into the monster of the bride and wants to make it about her. And you get so much drama in that moment. You know why? Because there's you're competing with the person getting married instead of complimenting and cooperating.

We should find a joy in serving. A joy in financially sacrificing. A joy in sharing with our friends and inviting them to come to opportunities where they might come to know Jesus. Do you? Or does it feel like a burden? Because if it feels like a burden, something in your heart is competing with Jesus.

Something is competing with Jesus. It happens a lot. Man, think about that. We just did our groundbreaking ceremony over here. Wasn't that pretty pretty pretty awesome? I mean, we're there. I got to be a part of it. Wasn't it cool? Wow. Glad to hear all the excitement.

You're the ones that didn't wanna care about this building. And this is the service that's creating all of our problems. All of you people and your kids. We just did an incredible groundbreaking ceremony. There you go. Making me insecure. But

if you weren't able to be a part of it, and you're excited, and you're part of this church, I just couldn't be there. We have the little jars out out back, and they're not for drug testing. There there are jars that you can go out there and scoop. Because what we did is we all broke the ground together, and we all took some dirt, put in the rock point jar, and then take it put it somewhere to pray. To pray because that's sacred ground for the purpose of why we're building the building. That building is so we can introduce more brides to the groom.

And we should find joy in that. But you know what? Sometimes people struggle with that. We're excited at first, but then it keeps growing. Now I'm like telling you, because right now guys, before we get this building, we've ran out of room. I need some of you to get uncomfortable. I need a lot of you to stop coming to this service.

Because this is where all the new people show up. I need a couple 100 of you to get uncomfortable and go to another service, preferably Saturday, but even this 05:30 is getting full. But God forbid, 08:30 or 11:30, you know, most of you just come 11:30. You'll only be fifteen minutes later than you're showing up anyways.

But we need to do these things, and then when all of sudden it gets uncomfortable,

and and I start going, hey guys, I need you to give financially. We need to sacrifice for the Lord. I need you to move off of this service. I I need you to give to the missions boxes. You know what we do with those missions boxes? We introduce the bride to the groom. You know what we're gonna do with the building? We're gonna introduce more brides to the groom. You know what you're gonna do if you leave this service? If you leave this service, someone will come to Jesus. Every time people left the service, we've led people to Jesus that took their seat. The easiest way you can be the light of the world is stop putting your butt in that seat this time of the day.

And and but we fight like, well what about me? That just doesn't work for me. That doesn't work. And we get frustrated. Matter of fact, when I was talking about their groundbreaking someone commented on our Facebook post that, well, when has a church grown too much? When is it done growing? When is it too big?

And I was like, I gave an answer. Now, I've told you guys don't start Facebook fights. So I thought about this answer, and I just gave a nice answer. I just said, it's done growing when there's no one left that needs Jesus.

It's done growing and now then he liked it. So I was like, okay, I didn't get in a fight. That was a good answer. But some of you don't like that answer.

And you're like, when are we gonna be done? Are you gonna stop asking us to give? No. Are you gonna stop asking us give? No. Are we gonna stop trying to do that? No. Because that's the mission. We've been called to mow that lawn, and that's what we're supposed to do.

And if you don't wanna do it and you know Jesus, if you're new you don't understand what I'm talking about. If you're on the internet I just confused you and scared you, sorry. But but here's what I'm saying, if you know Jesus and you wanna be a part of what he wants to do, and you want to stop making it about you, we need to be about the mission, and you need to get all in. And if you don't want to do that, then don't come to this church.

I'm gonna stop with that.

The reason I'm gonna stop is because it sounds like I'm just being mad. I'm not.

Jesus really loved irritating people that wanted to say they know God, but not actually follow God. So if I've irritated you, you're probably one of those people.

But here's the the reason I'm just doing this.

If you want to do something you've never done before, if you want to get someplace you've never been before,

you're gonna have to act in ways you've never acted before.

The Christians I see that are stuck in life, you get stuck in the same relational issue, you get stuck in that same pit, that same thing, you just get stuck are the ones that refuse to surrender.

I'm giving you the John Deere. The problem is you want a car. You want your freedom to go where you want to do, when you want to do it. You don't want to mow the lawn. But what John is sharing here, what over and over and over and over and over again in Scripture,

if I don't want to do that, I'm not saying, you know, buckle up Legolas and get it done. What I'm saying is this, There's something in your heart that's listening to a lie. You are deceived. The enemy wants you to believe that meaning is gonna come from the stuff that you realize I'd have to give something up

to serve. I'd have to stop something to give. And there's something in your heart that says, you need that. And here's the problem. What Jesus says is in the end, all those things we run after other than His kingdom burns up as a pile of rubbish. And in your heart you believe, if I gave my time and my money to that cause,

I'm wasting my life. What you're spending your time and your money on other than Jesus, that's wasting your life.

It's wasting your life. Because all you're doing if you spend it on me, all you're doing is spending it. If you go after what Jesus asked you about, you're investing it.

That's what I'm saying. What would happen if you chose to put your ugly sweater on?

Break down that lie that's grabbed your heart. Free of the truth. That was awesome. Does that make sense? So I don't want to get in a fight. I just want to rattle some cages because Christmas is for us, but it's not about us. And you know what?

The rest of the passage goes on to describe why it's all about Jesus and it's great. But at the end, in verse 36, it says, and anyone who believes in God's Son, here's the for us, has eternal life.

Anyone who doesn't obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God's angry judgment. What he means by that is, if you don't embrace the love that Jesus gives us, you're only left with you. And at the end, you is not enough. And you ends. Eternal life begins where I stop and Jesus starts.

That's the joy. That's what's for us. Wouldn't you want that? And you know what, but I get it. I get it. We think of John the Baptist, what he did here and what he said here is, well, that's more of the exception. He was a crazy guy. He was a Baptist. He was fanatical, you know. But the the reality is, he's the example.

And even the example falters. That's why I said this is a continued thing. We always have to ask ourselves this over and over and over. Come back to these moments where we recommit. Because even John the Baptist struggled.

It's said there when he wasn't in prison. Well, in chapter in Luke, the Gospel of Luke, it shares the story of how he ended up in prison, and he ended up dying. And he knew he wasn't gonna get he knew I'm probably gonna die here unless something miraculously happens. And so he's isolated,

he's alone, he's in a dark place like some of you are right now, and you know what's weird is how many times we start to doubt and struggle when we're isolated. That's why I say get into community, don't just sit in a row, sit in a circle, because when we get isolated those lies become exaggerated.

When you get isolated, the lies get exaggerated. And then we will believe the lies, we'll buy into the lie, we won't listen the truth. So he was alone, and he was getting these sporadic reports about Jesus of what's going on. And he probably had a little bit of misconception.

He thought Jesus was gonna put a car in the in the garage. Probably thought like all the other Jews did about Jesus was this Messiah was gonna get rid of our problem. Run Rome out. Set up shop. We're gonna rule. It's gonna be awesome. And all a he's talking about sacrifice and carrying your own cross and all this stuff. And then he heard that he's irritating the religious elite, and and and and and the people. He's getting less popular because he's starting to call people out to actually have faith. And he's probably thinking and so he starts to have this doubt of like, wait, wait, wait, wait, I'm about to have surrendered my whole life to this cause.

Was it worth it? Do you ever feel that way? So even John the Baptist had that moment. And I want you to see the grace of Jesus, but also the faith of John in how he responds. So it says in chapter seven, real quick, he says he sent a couple of his disciples to find Jesus.

He says, John's two disciples in verse 20 found Jesus and said to him, John the Baptist sent us to ask, are you the Messiah we've been expecting or should we keep looking for someone else? She's like, I just gotta know. Did I just waste my life? But look at Jesus' answer.

If you're about me when you're in a dark place, the answer you want is no no no. I'm the one. It'll be fine. You're gonna get out. I'm gonna get you out of prison. You're gonna have a great career, your grandkids, you're gonna set up, you're gonna end up with a retirement condo on the Mediterranean.

No, that's not what he says. Look what he says, it says, right when they show up, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind.

Then he told John's disciples, so he's zippity zappity zap. He did all he he he did this. And then he turned to his disciples, said go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard. The blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life, and the good news is preached to the poor.

And then he said and added, God blesses those who don't fall away because of me. So what is his answer? That sounds like a cryptic answer. If you're about me, don't like that answer. But if you're about the mission, you get that answer. John got that answer. You know what he's quoting? Isaiah.

The book of prophecy that John was that prophet to come back out and say, I'll clear the way of the Lord. And it says, here's what the Lord will do. Here's what the Messiah will do. In Isaiah, hundreds and hundreds of years before it says, the Messiah, when he comes, the lame shall walk, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the people be cured of leprosy, the poor will be preached the gospel.

And and and he's basically saying, tell him what you just saw me do. Go back and tell him that, because he'll know what's happening. He said, basically, go tell him the mission is a go despite what you've heard. The mission is a go even though you're in a dark place. The mission is a go even though you're a little bit confused. The mission is a go even though people don't get it. The mission is a go. I am who I said I am, and it's good, and you didn't waste your life, John. And even though you're gonna die, it's worth it. Because the part he didn't leave was the very next phrase, was and those who are confined will be comforted.

Because he knew that John would fill in that blank. He says, blessed are those who don't fall away because of me. You're isolated, you're worried, you're in a dark place, you start to what about me, what about me? He goes, did I waste my life? He goes, no you didn't. Because even though you're gonna die, even though you gave your life for this cause, this is what I built you for, and you have all of eternity. That's what eternal life is. You have that for you. You have that going. You got to stand by me. You got to be a part of this eternal mission. You got to do that, and you're gonna find comfort in that,

because you chose to mow the lawn.

If you don't mow the lawn, you still die. That's dying for nothing. And John was good with that. But you know what's cool about Jesus? He answered his doubt, but then he turns and he says this,

what kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? This is talking about John the Baptist. Was he weak? A weak reed swayed by every breath of wind? Were we expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No. People who wear beautiful clothes live in luxury and are found in palaces. Were you looking for a prophet? Yes. And he's more than a prophet. John is the man to whom the scriptures refer to when he says, look, I'm sending my messenger ahead of you and he will prepare

your your way before you. Verse 28, I tell you here he just doubted. He just had to answer this guy's doubts. And yet Jesus' grace and love, he says, I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. It wasn't because he didn't doubt. It wasn't because he was better than.

What made him so great is he just trusted Jesus. He knew who he was. He knew who he wasn't. He knew who Jesus is. And he took his doubt to Jesus. How about you? Because you think, that's John. He's supposed to be great. He's this Bible guy. But look at what the last phrase says, yet

even the least person in the kingdom of God is greater than he is. You know who the people in the kingdom of God are? Any of us in this room that have put our faith in Jesus. Jesus was talking about you and me. He said, we're greater than John. Does that what does he mean by that? Like, I can go up to John, you suck. No.

What he meant was we have a greater opportunity to go further if we trust because you know what he's referencing? John died before Jesus died and was resurrected. John mowed the lawn without the Holy Spirit.

It says that after Jesus died, he sent this Holy Spirit, that if you are a believer now, we don't only point to the light, the light shines through us. That we have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit says we have the dunamis power, it says in the book of Romans, the power that word where we get dynamite. It's describes that God gives us the same power to live for him in our life. It's the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

So our ability to not live for him has nothing to do with him. It has all to do with our willingness. Will we surrender to him? Will we say I must become less, he must become more in my life? And if I do that, I have the potential to change the world and it'll be used by God in more powerful ways than John. You know what he's basically saying in the end?

John had the push mower. He's given us the John Deere.

The question is, do I care about mowing the lawn? Will I put my ugly sweater on and start mowing? Will you? Father God, thank you Lord. Thank you that you love us and you do care for us. And Lord Christmas is definitely for us.

You came to die for us. You came to restore relationship with you for us. You came to give us eternal life for us. But Lord, you also came for us to live through us. And Lord, it's not about us. So Lord, I want to confess before my church body that I'm the chief among sinners, that I have to deal with this daily.

That I want to make it about me. Lord, even serving you, even being a leader, even being a pastor, for so many times it's so easy to make it about me, and I'm sorry. So Lord, I pray for myself and anyone else in this room that they'd have the willingness to say, I'm gonna get out of the way. God, you're in control.

You're God and I'm not. And I wanna find joy in serving you. I wanna find the joy in the mission you have for me. And Lord, know the only way I'm gonna get that is by getting out of the way and saying, may you be greater and I be less. Lord, may I put the ugly sweater on? Run to the garage. Hop on that mower,

and find joy in that. That's my prayer today, Lord, I pray it in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.