Pastor Justin McVey: Welcome to the Sandals Church podcast. My name is Justin McVey and I am the campus pastor at Sandals Church East Valley. We're so happy to have you join us today as we listen to this incredible message. If you've enjoyed our content, please consider leaving us a rating to help this podcast reach more people. But for now, let's get into the message.
Pastor Fredo Ramos: New Year's Eve is the 2011 romantic comedy that focuses on all of these interconnected stories of people living out their lives on a course December 31. And this movie is set in the beautiful backdrop of New York City with the moment culminating in the iconic celebration of the ball dropping at midnight. As you can tell by the movie poster, it's one of those films that's got like every actor in it. You're like, man, how do they manage to pay for all of these wonderful b list actors to portray different individuals, and who could forget Chris Ludacris Bridges in his iconic film. Know, he's a standout moment for him.
But this film kind of captures all these various stories. You have an old man in Robert De Niro who's, on the brink of death contemplating his life. He's cared for by the nurse played by Halle Berry. You have a young couple who's excited to welcome the birth of their child, and they're hoping that their child is born first because then they'll win a cash prize. And of course you have these other individuals who are strangers meeting each other for the first time and they get stuck on an elevator, and then you have all of these various stories of people looking for hope, changing their career, looking for love, a failing rock star who's trying to fix his family.
Right? There's something kind of unique and playful and sentimental in all of these stories colliding together in again the beautiful city of New York. Now, what's important to note is that one of the themes that rises through this film is, listen now, new beginnings. The possibility of new beginnings. And I share that because, you know, maybe your appetite for film is too sophisticated for something like New Year's Eve.
I think you could still resonate with the fact though that there's something about New Year's Eve that connects all of us as people. Something in all of us that longs for new beginnings. There's that innate human experience in which we, look forward to letting go of the past and and pressing into the future. We long for a new beginning. And we're just here to remind everyone today that it's really not January that has the power to transform us y'all.
It's actually Jesus. Right? The the hope of new beginnings is rooted not so much in a in the calendar year or in a month, but in the fact that Jesus himself is here. And he says in Revelation that he is making all things new. And so that's what gives us genuine hope for the future as we think about new beginnings.
And I share that because here we are finding ourselves living in the days of the holidays, the holy days between Christmas and New Year's, and they tend to go a little bit slower, and they tend to be a bit quieter. And if you're anything like me, maybe you're still hiding out in the house, you're on the couch, maybe watching New Year's Eve and thinking about if you can stuff another tamale in your body, which is what I typically think about. But there's a moment in these days that feel quieter and slower. And it makes me think of this quote from Henry Nauwen when he says, we know how to anticipate a moment, but we don't know how to sustain it. Think about that for a second.
And he was saying that in the context of the holidays. We know how to anticipate the joy of Christmas, but do we how to sustain that joy? We know how to anticipate the excitement of a new year and new goals, but do we know how to sustain that new excitement? Because if we don't slow down and really think about what's happened to us, what this last year has done to all of us, then we run the risk of just stepping into a new year. And that, friends, can be very dangerous.
Whatever we don't reflect on from our lives, we will oftentimes repeat in our lives the following year. And so, you don't slow down, when you don't see what's shaping you, when you don't acknowledge the ways that maybe you have stumbled in 2025, what do you think will happen in the next season of 2026? Genuine self reflection, listen now, is a gift. It's meant to be a gift, and so I have one more gift for all of you. It's the gift of self reflection, and unfortunately, there is no gift receipt, so you just have to take this.
Right? Just receive it. It is what it is. But this kind of reflection doesn't necessarily have to be one that's, you know, rooted in obsessing over what went wrong this year. The the person you didn't get a chance to date, or the job you didn't get.
There is a way that reflection leads us to maybe a kind of regret, a feeling bad, a kind of guilt. But this kind of reflection I think is a a God guided honesty. The kind of reflection you hear from David in Psalm one thirty nine when he says, search me o God. Search me, oh God. Know my heart.
Test me. See if there's any anxious way into me or any way that is offensive, and lead me to the path of what? Life. Lead me in the way of everlasting. That kind of reflection is what we are invited into this year.
One that's marked not by guilt, not by regret, but by grace. But by grace for God, or grace from God for all of you and me. And so with that, we have a word from Jesus today out of Matthew 18. He's going to share some words that I think are going to guide us along this journey of reflection. So I'm gonna ask that if you are willing and able, you would stand with me for the reading of God's word.
Matthew writes these words beginning in verse six. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusted me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. What sorrow awaits the world because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting? So if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.
It's better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. As you can tell, some really light reading for us today. So we head into the new year.
But this is God's word. Let's pray together. Heavenly father, we do thank you for the gift of scripture, and we thank you for your presence as well. And we pause in prayer to acknowledge that in our gathering here today, you have gathered with us. And so we ask now that as Jesus said, you would give us ears to hear and eyes to see, so that we might become all that you desire us to be in Christ.
We pray these things in his name. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. You can be seated.
Well, millstones and drowning and gouging out eyes, that doesn't probably, resonate with any of your New Year's plans. But I would imagine that Jesus is very intentional with his language here today. In other words, there's a purpose for what he's after, and what you might remember from our last time together that, the focus and really the context of this passage is that Jesus has been teaching his disciples about humility. You gotta know that Matthew 18 is maybe one of the most profound teachings of Jesus as he's on his way to go back to Jerusalem. He knows what's ahead of him.
In fact, he just got done, warning his disciples, prophesying about his own death. He lets them know what's going to happen, and so this set of teachings here in Matthew 18 is rich. It's out of Matthew 18 where we are told that God is like this father who goes after the lost sheep. A shepherd who goes after that one leaves in '99. What a beautiful teaching.
It's in Matthew 18 we're told about, how reconciliation is to play out in the life of the church. Pretty crazy to think about as we realize that, man, the church is made up of some difficult people, and reconciliation is important. It's out of Matthew 18 that we're given this incredible story about the unforgiving servant, and really the power of forgiveness that originates in God, and then has the power to work in into our lives with each other. And it's also out of Matthew 18 that Jesus gives us this rich teaching we heard last week on humility. Now, you might remember that this whole discussion originates with a simple question, and it's this, who is the greatest?
All of this is birthed out of the disciples asking about greatness. And in response, Jesus places a child in their midst and says, you've got to become like this child. You've got to become just like this. You won't enter the kingdom unless you become like a child. He says, to turn from your ways and become like this child.
Now, here's what I think is so beautiful about this teaching. Notice Jesus never rebukes the disciples for wanting to be great. Think about that. He does not rebuke them for their ambition. He does not rebuke them for their desire to be great.
What he does is redefine what greatness actually is. And this is encouraging for us in the New Year. Like, you guys should hopefully take a deep breath. Like, okay, cool. It's It's not terrible for me to wanna have a great year in 2026.
Greatness is not necessarily wrong, but whose definition of greatness are you using? Because we all like to imagine as we maybe we take a moment to reflect, you know, to imagine '26 to 2026 to kind of go up and to the right. We all love charts that kind of move in that direction. Up and to the right. So if you're single, it's like, man, this year, I want to date someone who looks better, you know.
Who's emotionally available, and has less debt. Right? That that's the kind of person that you want to date. When you think about maybe a job that you want to get, you want to get a better job. Pays better.
We love things that are up and to the right. But again, Jesus, if he's not after rebuking their desire for greatness, but if what he's doing is redefining it, then it's beginning to help us understand what the pathway to greatness looks like, which is essentially this. In 2026 now, greatness in my life will be marked not by how high I rise, but by how deeply I'm willing to humble myself. Your great year is not going to be marked by how high you climb up this ladder of whatever you think greatness is, but by how low you are willing to descend into the journey of humility. How low are you willing to go?
This whole discussion around temptation and and gouging out your eyes and causing these littles to stumble. This is this is Jesus inviting his disciples to not play the game of the world when it comes to pursuing greatness. To not trample on other individuals. To not take advantage of the weak as you try to make your way to a great place in life. And so this invitation to find greatness through dissension, not ascension, is really found in his ongoing language here in this passage where he talks about little ones.
He says there in verse seven, if you I'm sorry, six, if you cause one of these little ones who trust in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. My goodness, what language is this? Now millstone, for those of you maybe are not familiar with what's going on here, a millstone is this massive stone with a hole carved in the center, with a rope tied through it, connected to a donkey, going in a circular motion that's crushing grain. So this is like out of this world kind of extravagant language of Jesus. He's saying it's better for you to tie that massive stone on your neck, not just to go out to a lake, but to go out to the depths of the sea and be plunged into it.
If you what? Cause one of these little ones who trust in me to stumble. Now, as we discovered last week, this idea of a little one is, yes, both a child, someone who's vulnerable, dependent, young, but it's also anyone who is new to the faith. And so what Jesus is cautioning all of us in the church is that the way you lived your life in 2025 had ramifications on new believers. Think about that for a second.
The way you followed Jesus impacted the lives of other people. They observed it. They observed it. And the warning here is is is if you lead any one of them to fall into sin, the word there is stumbling, to to stumble. In Greek, it's the word scandal on.
It can be translated as to fall or to go off the path. Right? So, this is like a lot less, you know, you kind of having a quick moment where you stumble over a crack, which is fun to watch for all of us, and much more about a trajectory in life, a direction that you are heading in the moment. That's what Jesus is concerned with here. This is the same word he uses in Matthew five where he says, if, your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.
He uses this again in Matthew 13, the parable of the sower. He when he talks about hardships and persecutions for my name's sake will lead them to fall away or to stumble. The the seed is thrown into shallow soil, and because of persecution, it doesn't last. Later on in Matthew 26, it's the same word that's used to describe the disciples when Jesus says, this very night you will all fall away or stumble. Right?
This is an idea of you not just having a one time slip up, but of a trajectory in life. And what he's saying is there's a way for you and I to pursue greatness that gets us off the path, that leads us down into a way that not only causes us harm, but harms those around us. He goes on there in verse seven and says, what sorrow awaits the world because it tempts people to sin. And he says, temptations are inevitable. In other words, Jesus is very aware of how this world works and how broken it is by sin.
And then he goes on to say, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting? Man, what language here. So not only is we we, you know, we're just living in a world where sin is going to happen, but the concern is how much more of a problem for you and I who through our lives bring other people to sin. You become the conduit for it. You become the very reason why other people are so many.
This is scary language. And I think this is harsh, somewhat scary language and serious language that Jesus is offering. Why? Because he takes people seriously. He takes your life seriously, and he values you and your decision making.
This is a caution and a reminder to all of us that none of us sin in a vacuum. All of our sin, all sin has massive consequences on your life, on your soul, and on those around you. And and this needs to be said in a world today where it's natural for you and I to imagine that our sin is private. People don't know about it. It's disconnected from consequences.
Right. Like we have so many cute ways, especially in our Christian world today, of like talking about our shortcomings. You know, we we our Christianese is like out of this world right now. You know, I'm just I'm just in a difficult season. I'm just, you know, going through some some challenging stuff, and I gotta really just I gotta press into obedience.
Like, what? Why do we talk like this? Can we just be honest and more direct like, yo, I'm messing up, and I need help. And and so let this let this language, as harsh as it might be initially, let it sit with you, and maybe free us up out of just the temptation to just color code everything in our lives, and not be aware of the way that Jesus understands how sin is actually working in the world today. This this hyperbole is is given to us with a kind of purpose.
It's calling for a decisive kind of action. Right? Much like a doctor who goes to, you know, sit down with you overseeing your charts and realizes, you know, there's a lump there. There's a mass here. And we would we would be upset if he didn't take it seriously.
And though he says, man, we we gotta we gotta get you in now. We we gotta deal with this. We gotta cut some of this out. We gotta test it. Like, I know you weren't planning for this, but something's got to change.
You and I would not say this doctor is being too harsh. We would say he's actually operating with care, with wisdom, and I think Jesus is doing the same. The intensity of his language here is to shake us out of our our complacency of sin. And if there's anything that you and I need as we head into a new year, it's that. It's to be shaken out of the ways that you and I have become complacent with the sin in our lives today.
And so, as we think about this passage, I want to invite us into just a brief time of reflection. There are, three questions I want to just post to us rooted out of this passage from Jesus. And I'm going to warn you right now, for some of you, you will love the gift of reflection. You will enjoy this time. You will wish I gave you more time, but we gotta keep it moving.
For others of you, you're gonna hate this gift I've given you. But again, like I said, there's no gift receipt. You can't take it back. And so I wanna encourage all of you right now with this, to know that in this moment of reflection I'm going to give you, God actually desires to speak to you. He longs to offer you a word right now in this moment.
And you might feel like you're not good at writing. You're terrible at journaling. Like, you got a journal from 2023 that still just has one page written in it. Right? Like, that's all okay.
Because God is much better at speaking to you than we are at listening to him. And so trust that right now in this moment, he desires to say and to offer you a word as we work through these questions. And I'm gonna do the same thing too. I'm gonna take a seat and and process with these questions. But the first one is this, I'm gonna just kinda guide us through as we reflect on this year.
Where did the cracks in my character show? Where did the cracks in my character show? The half brother of Jesus, James, says it real bluntly in James three. We all stumble in many ways. He just says it.
We all stumble in many ways. And so this idea of falling into sin, this idea of stumbling, it is nothing new to the human experience. And so there's an opportunity for us to maybe think about where those cracks were starting to show. Small, but still very important. Very significant.
And so take a moment to examine maybe patterns, habits you noticed this past year. Maybe ways that you were reacting and instead of responding? Perhaps ways in which in your pursuit of of greatness, your ego got the best of you. Where did cracks start to show up in your life this year? Take a moment to write some down and then we'll come back in just a moment.
Our second question is really rooted in that imagery that Jesus offers to us as he's explaining his disciples what needs to be dealt with if their hand or their foot or their eye is causing them to sin. So the question is this, what in my life is causing me to sin that I need to cut out in 2026? There's a temptation for all of us to manage our failures, to manage our sin. And we should allow the harshness of Jesus's language to guide the way that we act decisively. And so maybe think about things that you're looking at, that your attention has, things you're doing with your time that are really having a way of deforming your heart, deforming your soul.
Think about what needs to be cut out. Rhythms, environments, kinds of entertainment. What kind of boundaries need to be set. And my son the other day, was at the table reading Proverbs five to Ash and I, and he got to the very end of the chapter where it just simply says, and those who lack self control die. And then Eli just looked up at me.
They die, dad? I'm like, yeah. I mean, that's what the proverb says. So let's eat some more breakfast, you know. But there's such a directness.
Those without self control, those without discipline lead to destruction. And so take this honest moment now to reflect on what needs to be cut out. What needs to be ripped out of your life. And it's beyond something that you're trying to manage, and it's being ripped out for the sake of life as a way to keep you from self destruction. Let's take a time now just to reflect on those things.
As we think about stepping into the new year, it's not just that we long to, you know, leave things in the past, cut things out of our lives that are maybe harming us. But it's also about embracing practices that are going to form us, that are going to be healthy for our souls, healthy for our relationships, healthy for the way that we, connect to God and hear his voice. And and you know yourself better than many other people in this room. And so I want you to think about what are the practices that will form me into the kind of person that Jesus calls great in his kingdom. So what are those specific habits and rhythms that you can embrace in 2026 that are going to lead you to become the kind of person that not the world calls great, but that Jesus calls great.
It was actually on my drive over here that, this became very clear for me. In my life as a pastor, so much of my Christianity is lived publicly. And that's a good thing. I talk about my life with Jesus. I help other people follow Jesus.
I preach from time to time about following Jesus. And there's a great temptation in my own soul to simply equate greatness based on how well I'm pastoring other people. And friends, that is dangerous. And so for me, as I've been wrestling with disturbed reflection, what's become apparent for me that is if I think about greatness, I think about things that are happening in my life that aren't public but are private. And so for me, what I'm sensing from God is an invitation to do things that are secret, that I will never talk about in front of other people, that won't necessarily be seen in public as I work here at this church.
The secret things, you know, what the left hand does, you don't tell the right hand. What are the secret practices that me, that Alfredo can do as a Christian, as a way to be shaped into the kind of person that Jesus calls great, not the world. That's what I'm after. And you might be what are, you know, you might be curious. What are those secret things?
I can't tell you. They're a secret. But they are important to me. So be thinking about what are the practices that you need to adopt that will help you become the kind of person that Jesus calls great, not the world. Take a moment to reflect on that.
So you maybe begin to think about various kinds of practices. Maybe what naturally floats to your mind are things like scripture, which is beautiful. To find yourselves in the story of God as you navigate your own life and story. You might think about practices of prayer, different kinds of prayer. And again, beautiful to to find ways in which you are speaking to God, talking to God, hearing from God, having communion with him.
You might think of acts of service, specific ways in which God is forming into you humility as you serve people. People who are very different from you. Right? There's all kinds of various practices. And what I want to just leave you with as we close our time down is that all of you find yourself maybe in unique seasons as you enter into the new year.
And so I want to free you up to the reality that maybe what served you in past years may not serve you well in the coming years. There are certain disciplines that served you well for a season and they had a purpose. And so it's important that you in this moment just discern discern from God. What is it precisely that he's calling you into. And at the same time, to know that no one longs for you to become more like Jesus in 2026 than Jesus himself, friends.
The best part still of following Jesus in my life is Jesus himself. And the best part of your 2026 is going to be in every single moment where you find the beauty and the wonder and the power and the wisdom of the Lord walking with you side by side. There is a a desire in all of us to be blessed in the coming year. And friends, that is a beautiful desire. But let us not forget the words of Paul when he says in Ephesians ones, all praise to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly places with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.
That is to say everything you long to have in 2026 is already yours in Jesus Christ. It is already yours. What you long to step into, what you long to receive is already yours in Christ. And so so much of this reflection hopefully is meant to lead you to a place where you are fully satisfied in what he already has for you. And you discover the richness of what life will bring to you is nothing more than more of Jesus being discovered in and through your life.
That is what we're hoping for. Hoping for an opportunity to, as Paul says, discover more and more spiritual blessings in him. And so let me just pray that into us, into our lives, into our church as we step into this new year. Heavenly father, what an absolute gift it is to see another year. And God, as we realize that many of us are carrying the weight of past decisions, the weight of past problems, the weight of uncertainty, the weight of what this year might bring.
We want to just simply throw ourselves into your loving presence and to ask God that you would bless us as we move into a new year. And that everything we long for as it relates to greatness, as it relates to being blessed, that we would find all of it in Christ alone. And so help us now by the power of your Holy Spirit to see this gift of reflection as an opportunity to be with you, to hear you leading us to a place of life. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.
Amen. I want to take a quick moment to say thank you to all of you who are watching us online, wherever you might be and wherever God might have you. I want you to know that it's a gift that you would take time to be a part of what is happening here at Sandals Church. And as we close out the year, we do pray that you would spend time reflecting and hearing from God as he sends you into a new year. In the same way that he is sending us as a church into a new year.
There are amazing things that are happening here at Sandals Church that I know you get maybe a glimpse of from week to week through the sermons, but I want to encourage you. If this church, if these messages have served you or blessed you, would you pray about making an end of the year gift to continue to support the work that God is doing in and through Sandals Church? To do that, you can go to sandalschurch.com/support. Grace and peace, and happy New Year.