Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:01]
A
Let's go to the word family. Mark chapter six, beginning at verse one says this. Then Jesus left there and went to his hometown. He was accompanied by his disciples. And when Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many who heard him were amazed. Where did this man get these things? They asked. And what's this wisdom that's been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he's performing? Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us? So they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his own relatives, and in his own home. Look at this. He could not do any miracles there except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. I want to stop the reading of Scripture there and talk from this subject in our time together, family, very simply, I'm surprised. Clap your hands every location. I'm surprised. I want to start this sermon with a statement that may seem simple, but it is significant as it relates to what I'm going to attempt to share our sermon today. The statement for the note takers is on the screens. Missing something you think you should have caught isn't always a sign of deficiency. Sometimes it's a sign of humanity. In other words, spiritual development does not mean perfect discernment. Having discernment means you see more things. It does not mean you. You see all things. Being close to God makes you more like God, but it never makes you God. And therefore, you and I can be spiritual and still be surprised, discerning and still be duped, biblically literate, and still end up blindsided. Ladies and gentlemen, let me be clear on my intention in this introduction. I am intentionally and assertively and aggressively attempting to expose and address a theological assumption that many people are unconsciously operating with. That suggests being spirit filled means you're surprise proof. It is this unconscious assumption that because you are godly, you get all of God's attributes. And I am arguing that the Scriptures are clear that there are some attributes that ex. That are exclusively retained by God. And one of these attributes is an attribute we call omniscience. He sees all things. He knows all things. We don't. Therefore, come here. Come here. Therefore, no matter how prayerful, prudent, or perceptive you are, you will find yourself experiencing some. Experiencing some predicaments that you couldn't predict you're gonna look up one day and you'll be experiencing some life transitions you didn't predict. Some career catastrophes you didn't predict. Some financial realities you didn't predict. Some business shifts you didn't predict. Some relational dynamics you didn't predict. All of us will have to face something we didn't predict, fight something we didn't predict, carry something we didn't predict. Bury something we didn't predict. And after you're praying and after you're fasting and after you're turning your plate down, you're still gonna step in a season where you look around and say, I'm surprised. And it is imperative and essential that every believer who is serious about their spiritual formation journey understand and embrace that no matter how evolved you become, you will never outgrow imperfect discernment. Why is it quiet in this church? While we may have effective discernment, we do not have infallible or inerrant discernment. And as a matter of fact, no matter how close we are to the Master, there will be some things we will miss. Because the Master has made it clear, I know all things. But I never promised I would tell you all things. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, the secret things belong to God. Therefore, every disciple needs to be developed on how to win in seasons you didn't see coming. Because if not, we will end up being fragile, breakable, unproductive believers who can only prosper when things go the way you plan. But if I'm remembering Jeremiah right, he said in Jeremiah 29:11, I know the plans I have for you. He didn't say, you know, I know the plans I have for you, and I want to know, am I talking to anybody even in this introduction that is objective enough and honest enough to admit Pd I've lived through some surprise seasons. Okay, let me try it again. I want to know, am I talking to anybody that's honest enough and objective enough to admit I'm sitting in one right now? I didn't know I would be fighting this in my body. I didn't know I would be fighting this in my marriage. I thought I would be married by now, and I'm single. And then I got married, and I wish I was single. Y' all aren't talking to me. There is this erroneous assumption that spiritual development gives you perfect discernment when omniscience is relegated to God. So I've got to learn how to handle seasons I didn't see coming. I need to be discipled on what to do when things don't go as planned. Because there's three ways. To handle seasons and situations that don't go as planned. There's culture's way, and culture's way is emotional reactivity. It is when an individual becomes overwhelmed and intoxicated emotionally to the degree that they begin to act unwisely. Okay, I'm gonna say it again. Emotional reactivity is when I step into a season or a situation that I didn't predict and I am so overwhelmed or intoxicated. So when the Bible talks about being sober minded, It is not just talking about alcohol. It's not. It is referring to what is influencing your mind and your actions. And when we are overwhelmed or intoxicated emotionally, sometimes it provokes us and prompts us to act unwisely. It's being imprisoned with panic that is rooted in the assumption that just because things didn't go as planned, it doesn't mean that God can't fulfill his plan. So instead of responding with wisdom, we respond with emotion. And when this happens, we turn what should have been disruptions into disasters. An example of emotional reactivity is seen in First Samuel, chapter number 13, when there's this king named Saul who's under the leadership or the influence or the mentorship. Yes, you use this word of a judge named Samuel. And Samuel says to Saul in 1st Samuel 13, verse 11, what have you done? And Saul replied. He said, when I saw the men were scattering and that you didn't come down, and at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling, I thought, the Philistines are going to come down against me at Gilgal. So I have not sought the. I have not sought the Lord's favor. So I felt compelled. Now notice this. He said, I felt compelled because what can happen is we can feel compelled and confused. Compelled. We're being led. And so a lot of times we're saying, I feel in my spirit when what's actually happening. What you're feeling is in your soul. I got Bible. Now give me Hebrews chapter 4. Give me Hebrews chapter 4, verse number, verse number 12. Hebrews 4, verse 12. For the word of God is alive and quick. Sharper than any 2s sword. It penetrates even to the dividing of the what and the what. Okay, joints and what. So the writer of Hebrews is saying, your soul and your spirit are intertwined like joints and marrow. And sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference between the two. So I. I need the word to actually divide and differentiate. Is this God or me? Some of us trust Our feelings too much. It. Sometimes it takes the word for us to see if what I'm feeling is actually me in my soul or God in the spirit. I don't care how. I don't care how strong our feelings are. Here's what the Bible says. The heart is deceitful. It'll have you feeling strong about something wrong. And I know this might not be for this service, but it might be for 33 of y' all in Gwinnett and 73 of y' all in Jersey and 8 of y' all here in DeKalb and 19 of y' all online. If you look back at your relational track record, you should be able to admit you can feel strong about who was wrong, Tell the truth and shame the devil. And when you don't understand this, you'll call every outer body, prompting God. You will call every red light discernment. When some of what we calling discernment is paranoia. You traumatized. And the reason I know your discernment has been hijacked by trauma is you can only discern threats. Why is it quiet? You can discern a threat, but you can't discern the opportunity. You can discern. You can discern who not supposed to be in your life, but you can't discern who is supposed to be in your life and who you need to treat right when they in your life. Because if they step out of your life, there's no guarantee you'll get anybody like that back in your life. Saul said, I felt compelled. This is emotional reactivity. I see a threat in the Philistines. I want divine favor that comes through this spiritual discipline of offering a burnt offering. Samuel, you told me you would be back at a certain time, and you're not back at a certain time. So because this is not happening according to my time frame, and then I see a threat coming. Now, instead of acting in wisdom and waiting on somebody who's authorized to offer the burnt offering, to offer the burnt offering, I feel compelled to step out of my lane of authority and responsibility because I am in fear over a threat. And I am anxious because you not meet my timeline. Now, let me tell you something here for my Bible readers. Look what the Bible says in verse 13. You have done a foolish thing. You have not kept the command of the Lord that he gave you. If you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people. Because you have not kept the Lord's commands. Now, for all my Bible study students and Sunday school class attendees and those who grew up in vacation Bible school, if you're Baptist like me, Baptist Training Union, listen to me. We just read 1st Samuel 15 and we thought 1 Samuel 15 is what disqualified him from being king when. When he was. When he was instructed to annihilate the Amalekites. And he partially obeyed. And Samuel corrected him by saying, obedience is better than sacrifice. Sacrifice. But when you read the text, all 15 was. Was a pattern that. That started in 13. He lost a kingdom in 13. Not over immorality, over impulsiveness. He said, I cannot afford to have a man on the throne with this much power who. This emotional. Okay, I can. I cannot. I cannot have a man seated in a position of power who is this emotionally immature. It's emotional reactivity. Emotional reactivity costs you opportunities you have the ability to take advantage of. It's culture's way. Then there's church's way. We've been talking about this all year. Spiritual bypassing. This is spiritual bypassing here. Let's make sure we're on the same page here. This is the tendency to use spiritual language to avoid emotional processing and take personal responsibility. This leads to rehearsing religious rhetoric like God's in control without. Without reflecting on what they feel. It's religious sharing religious platitudes without properly processing their pain. So they actually underestimate their pain using spiritual language. See, spiritual bypassing shows up all in Scripture, actually. God used Jeremiah to correct spiritual leaders who are contributing to spiritual bypassing. In Jeremiah, chapter 6, verse 14, he says, they dress the wound of my people as though it was not serious. Peace. Peace, they say, when there is no peace. That's spiritual bypassing. Are y' all here? I said, are y' all here? So. And when this happens, people have failed to properly process their pain or disappointment. And as a result, they call their passivity trust in God. When it's really paralyzed faith. That's church's way of handling surprise seasons. Your whole life plan disrupted and you acting like you all right because we taught you to say God's in control. You don't like a thing that's going on right now. But now you gotta sit and look Christians in the faith and lie and call it faith talk. How you doing? I'm good. No, you're not. You're mad, you're frustrated, you're disappointed, you're confused, you're angry, you're weak, wounded, you feel betrayed, you feel like you should be further along at this point in your life. And we have curated a caricature of God that cannot handle your emotional honesty. As opposed to saying, how you doing? Mad, Confused. That's church's way. Then there's the King's way. And one of the things I love about our church is the diversity of spiritual heritages. It's really a third way of Kingdom church. Cuz we reject tribalism. So we got a little bit of everything in here. And I just need my Pentecostals at every location. Do not tear the carpet up. Don't you tear this carpet up when I give you this point. Because culture's way is emotional reactivity. Church's way is spiritual bypassing. Come here. The King's way is a sanctified pivot. I didn't see it coming, but watch me pivot. And I didn't know I was going to to be here, but watch me pivot. I got tears in my eyes, but watch me. Watch me pivot. We don't do this a lot here. And I. And that's on purpose. But every now and then we can do certain things with moderation. And the Bible says in Hebrews 3:13, encourage one another daily. I want you to encourage somebody and give them a high five and tell them, pivot. You think this is the only way God can do it? You think this the only way God can get you there? You think this the only door he can use? You think that's the only people he can use to bless you? Pivot. Watch me pivot. Watch me pivot. He's still going to do it, still going to make the way, still going to get me there, still going to open the door, still going to fulfill my calling. Watch me pivot. A sanctified pivot. All right. This only for my Pentecostals or my Baptist, because that was a word for some people, it was a part of the teaching. For others, it was a prophetic word or it was a word of knowledge. So I want 18 seconds. Somebody just thank him for the pivot. You get ready to make. It. A sanctified pivot is the ability to acknowledge the dilemma, adjust your direction without abandoning your devotion. You got to pivot. You got the pivot. And an example of a sanctified pivot is it's seen here in this text in Mark 6. I don't have time to unpack what I want to unpack here, but. But the text says, Mark, Jesus had what was called an itinerant ministry. So he went from place to Place various cities and regions engaging in ministry. So Mark captures him going back to his hometown. He's going back to a hometown of Nazareth. And so he goes back to his hometown and he takes his disciples with him. We going to go where I'm from. And he goes into the synagogue and the Bible says he begins to teach. And as he is teaching, watch what the text says in verse number two. It says, many who heard him were amazed. They said, where did this man get these things? What's this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these remarkable miracles he's performing? Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son? Isn't this the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him. I'm confused. Go back to verse two. It says they were amazed. How do you go from amazed verse 2 to offended in verse 3? Y' all see that? They went from amazed in one verse to offended in another. Which is why it's irresponsible to have your sense of self tied into the opinions of people. Because they'll shift in a verse. Now notice what happens. The questions they ask tell us the source of the offense. Because they had no problem with what he said. They said, where did he get this wisdom? And they were impressed by what he did. Because they said, how's he performing these miracles? But the offense was tied into who he was. Now, I'm not going to bother this, but even their. Their assess. Their assessment of him was based off facts. That's inaccurate. Give me verse three. They said, isn't this the brother of James? That's right. Joseph. No, that's my stepdad. Judas. No, that's my disciple. And he's not even my friend. Simon Peter. That's my disciple. Isn't that something? If people gonna draw an opinion of you, then at least, at least get your facts right. You don't have to like me, just like me for just dislike me for the right reason. And they took offense. Now, I did a lot of thinking with this. And when you are drawing meaning out of Scripture, the word is exegete. When you're drawing meaning out of Scripture, the number of factors you have to take into place, right? And one of the factors you need to take into place is like historical factors. He goes back to Nazareth. Why does Mark tell us that? Now, I'm not gonna throw shade on Nazareth. But Nazareth was not known to be a city that produced high functioning, highly productive people. As a matter of fact, I told You. Two weeks ago, when Jesus called one of his first disciples, the reputation of Nazareth was so complicated, Nathaniel said can any good thing come out of Nazareth? So I've been working with this concept, Ms. Sissy of Environmental discipleship. How where you are, if you're not intentional, can unconsciously shape the way you think. So there are some areas, there are some areas that all disciple us in different ways. And if we aren't intentional in identifying, where do I need to resist? I can end up unconsciously adopting mindsets and attitudes that are inconsistent with God's best. But they normal for people where I'm from. Y' all ready for this? This is not the only but one expression of what the apostle Paul calls in Ephesians a principality. I don't know what your favorite whoever told you that word mean, but a word can never mean what it never meant, right? Come on. So before they start giving you a revelation, what's the definition? Definition. And if you're a revelation, don't mind, don't line up with the definition. That's an idea. That's not a revelation. And so principalities can show up in areas or regions or people groups. Because it has been syncretized, synchronized with cultural norms. So it's normal in the culture. So you don't even know I'm being discipled by the demonic. Did you hear what I just said? So their response to Jesus suggests to me that the small nature of Nazareth was producing small mindedness in the people there. So you so petty. You'll reject a miracle you need because it comes from somebody who from where you from? But because they no longer like who you are, you no longer like them. I know him. It's the carpenter, son. And we know there's a degree of disdain there because Jesus response is a prophet's not without honor. Except for in his own home and among his own people. Are y' all okay? So their issue wasn't what was said, it was who said it. Because people watch this. People will take offense. Listen to this. People will take offense at you when they refuse to update their understanding of who you are. He's more than the carpenter. He's the Christ. And out of all places, you wouldn't expect this at your hometown. And the text says he was amazed. Jesus was amazed. You know what that word, amazed means? Astonished. Marveled. He was. He was surprised. Out of all places. Now here's your question. I know Tario. This. This all they can take Here it is. They tired of me already. I'm getting. I'm Getting mean mugs. But I mean everything I said here it is, here it is. Listen, listen. This is interesting. He was surprised. The question is if Jesus is fully God and fully man, if he's fully God, he's omniscient, he knows all things. So if you know all things, how can you be surprised? How do these two truths exist in one person? But Philippians 2 tells us that Christ, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his advantage. So he made himself not nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. So the word for this is a Greek word called kenosis. It is the self emptying of Christ. He didn't surrender his divinity, he surrendered the independent use of it in order to live a fully human life. So he chose to live within the limitations of humanity while remaining fully God. Gods don't die. But he chose to limit an aspect of his godness and for three days stay in the grave and then reclaim it. And early Sunday morning release resurrect himself. So when, when the text says he's surprised, it's not saying he lacked information, it's saying he chose to experience that moment as a human. And I said all that just to tell you this. If he was surprised, What makes you think you're not going to step into seasons where you are? And we live in an age and an era of vision boards and strategic planning. I'm not anti any of that. I'm just telling you after you get through cutting all those pictures out the magazines, putting it on that cardboard, your ability to win is going to be tied to your ability to handle seasons with people that's in the text, with problems that's in the text and with possibilities that's in the text that you didn't see coming. What if I told you it's probably not going according to plan? For most of you, it's not going according to plan. Look at me. I'm done. Look at me. But what if I told you everything doesn't have to go right for it to be all right? Oh, I need more time. I've been late all day. I don't. But the heart of this series is. The heart of this series is this. Or the heart of this message, excuse me, is this. Some of us have unbiblical expectations of the way our discernment is supposed to work. And as a result of that, you've set a standard for yourself. God hadn't. And so instead of living joyfully in the Present season you're in, you keep retelling a narrative of what life would have been like if you'd done something different. So you are blinded to the beauty of the season you're in because you are imagining what it, what it could have been if you've done stuff differently. When the truth of the matter is it took not doing stuff right to learn how to do it right. Look at me. So if you come from Nazareth and they didn't teach you money management, how do you expect to know how to. So you killing yourself because you blew it. But how would you know what to do with it? Because they didn't teach me that in Nazareth. Some of you are like, man, this happened with this person. I hired this person, I let this person back into my life and I did this this and I did that. And I should have saw the signs and I missed the signs. Signs don't always mean what you think they mean. Sometimes you don't know if it's Judas or Peter until after. Cuz some people betray you and they recover and they change and they give up. And some people don't see every symptom don't mean the same thing. If somebody start coughing by you right now, you like, did you go on a cruise recently? What's. They could have literally had something in their throat. So when you say I missed the sign, every sign don't mean what you think it means. And sometimes you missed it not because you're naive, you're generous. You refuse to reduce people to the worst version of them. You're human. So sometimes you're gonna pick wrong, you're gonna hire wrong, you're gonna invest. Because you never outgrow imperfect discernment. But God, as He maps out his plan for your life, includes in his calculations your missteps and releases and dispenses grace to make up the gaps between what you, what you didn't know and what you wish you would have done done. And he knows how according to the counsel of his own will, make everything all right. Even when everything didn't go right. So I have long since relieved my myself from the pressure to be anything but a human. Submitted to the Father. I want to be wise. I want to learn from my mistakes. But I do not carry God weight. To make perfect decisions, to always discern motives, to always do things perfectly. As a human, I'm gonna be surprised. But just because I am surprised doesn't mean God is. We gotta go. I want you to sit with this though. I want you to sit with this idea, Lord Jesus is a nightmare out there. I can sense it. But I want you to sit with this idea. Holy Spirit, help me to live joyfully in the season that I'm in without imagining what it could have been because it couldn't be what I wanted to be because it took that to make me who I am now. I wasn't the kind of person now then that I am now, but it took my missteps to actually make me so somebody's in a surprise season. Here's been my prayer all week because I'm in one and I've been asking I think I got surrender Deshaun. I've been asking the Lord, Father, help me to joyfully surrender. To a season I don't want to be in. Help me to do it because you want nothing grudgingly. You don't just want to you to don't want you don't just reject a grudge of offering you reject a grudge at yes, and I don't like this and I'm surprised but help me to live joyfully in a season that's a part of your plan for me even if it's not a part of mine. I want you to sit come Holy Spirit, help your people to joyfully surrender to this surprise season in Jesus name Father, would you miraculously bless change church with bigger buildings. So I never have to rush when I sense you move moving.