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Teaching podcast from the Eagle Community Church of Christ in Mont Belvieu, TX.
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to our podcast, the Eagle Community Church of Christ. My name is John Gunter and we are in, lesson number 3 of the be salty series. Again, this is just a lesson or a series challenging us to be who we're supposed to be. In this particular lesson, we talk about how Jesus faced conflict just by sticking to the mission.
John Gunter:So, we shouldn't be afraid when we have the same kind of conflict. Be strong. Be courageous. Be the person you're supposed to be. Have a great week.
John Gunter:I don't know what all he talked about in those 14 hours or in in those times, but in the next 14 hours, we'll find out. See if we can't cover it too. I wanna, thank Beau for his prayer, and his scripture reading earlier, With the little series that we've been going through, it really kind of captures what we've been talking about, again, and that's really knowing your identity. We've talked about being salty, knowing who we are as Christians and being that. And this morning is going to be more of the same, but what we are talking about today is kind of those clashes in your life, when who you are clashes with what other people think you should be.
John Gunter:Have you ever come into contact with that? Well, you are a Christian, so I can fill out the rest, right? I already know who you are and what you do, and maybe there is some backlash against that. But Scripture is full of Jesus doing the exact same thing, and so this morning we're going to read several scriptures where Jesus, and who He is, sent from God, comes into contact with human beings, even people that were supposed to be, again, the religious leaders of the time. And we'll see how that goes.
John Gunter:Our first reading is from Luke 5:12-13. While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said, be clean.
John Gunter:And immediately, the leprosy left him. Now there is a problem in this, and what is it? What did Jesus do that was an issue? He touched the man. You are not supposed to touch someone with leprosy.
John Gunter:And leprosy in that, they could cover a variety of skin diseases, but if you had this, you had to be isolated from everyone, and so you certainly didn't wanna touch someone with it. But Jesus knew who Jesus was, didn't he? And so what we see in this short episode is that Jesus with his, again, caring, his healing ability, the reason god sent him to be with the people, he has an opportunity to do exactly that. He sees the faith of this man with leprosy, and Jesus reaches out and touches him. It says, immediately, the leprosy left that man.
John Gunter:Now, had a lot of people seen this, I'm sure there would have been an uproar. That you're not supposed to do that. Now, you have to go ritually cleanse yourself. You have to go do all this other stuff. You know, take a break from that ministry stuff you're doing But Jesus again, is Jesus and he knows who he is and he is about compassion.
John Gunter:In this moment, he restores a man back to civilization. Can you even wrap your mind around this? Imagine I I anybody have dry hands in here? Yeah. During the winter, especially, you get dry.
John Gunter:Can you imagine if you showed up to church one day and we saw your dry hands, we saw my dry hand, like, listen. You got to go away. Everybody wear gloves, you know, so I I would go to church today, but I'm feeling a little flaky. I don't want to get cast out from society. And so, that's what this man was experiencing.
John Gunter:He couldn't be with the people he wanted to be with because of his condition, but Jesus sees him where he is, how he is, reaches out, touches him, and heals him. In Mark 3, verses 1 through 6, another time Jesus went to the synagogue and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they were all there with good motives. Right? They were there in the synagogue hoping Jesus would do something.
John Gunter:Look, they they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath because if he would heal, then we've got it. Surely, church folks aren't like that. Just waiting to see how we can get someone else But that's what the religious leaders were doing, looking to see if Jesus would heal on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, stand up in front of everyone. That's how you know this guy wasn't an introvert, right?
John Gunter:He would have never done that. Then, Jesus asked them, which is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil? Why does he ask this? Jesus has the opportunity to heal a man and what they're looking for is Jesus to heal a man so we can do something about it. So which is lawful to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill.
John Gunter:Jesus preempts what they're thinking. You see that? I imagine that made them a little more red faced than they'd like to give off. It says, but they remained silent, waiting. He looked around at them in anger because, again, he knows why they're there.
John Gunter:And they're not man enough. Can we say that? I don't know. They don't have enough courage to actually say it when he's saying, yeah. Which one is it?
John Gunter:He looked around at them in anger and deeply distressed in their stubborn hearts said to the man, stretch out your hand. He stretched out and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Isn't that amazing? That the church people of the day, the leaders of the churches there, they would think what's a good idea is if He heals somebody on the Sabbath, y'all, we'll kill him.
John Gunter:And they had nothing in their minds that said that would have been wrong. Can you imagine that? That they would let themselves get to a place like this. But again, Jesus knows who He is, and actually what's funny to me in Scripture is that Jesus goes around trying to do things on the Sabbath to challenge them. It's like on another Sabbath Jesus did this.
John Gunter:Jesus was pushing the envelope, because sometimes you have to push the envelope to wake people up. Like, you're so worried about me healing a man, but you're ready to kill 1, and you think you're in the right. Amazing. From John 4:4-ten, Now he had to go through Samaria, so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well, and it was about noon.
John Gunter:When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, will you give me a drink? His disciples had gone into the town to buy food, thus saying he had asked somebody else. The Samaritan woman said to him, you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? And notice this, For Jews do not associate with Samaritan.
John Gunter:So she throws that out there to challenge him, like, why are you even asking me? Because Jews would have seen Samaritans kind of as the lowest of the low. Why would you even talk to me? Jesus said, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. So Jesus, again, he knows who he is, and he knows what he's about, and he puts himself in this situation, a situation where he even surprises the lady he's talking to, because, again, Jews do not associate with Samaritans.
John Gunter:I don't know what equivalent, I'm not even going to try to make an equivalent of that today, because everyone would be offended when we leave. But the lowest of the low, how would you associate with them? And it's not just the narrator, John, saying this. Notice what happens when they come back. Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman.
John Gunter:There is an idea here that it was pretty scandalous to even be talking to a woman by yourself. But they were surprised. He said, but no one asked, what do you want? Or what do you seek? Or why are you talking with her?
John Gunter:Then leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah? They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Now, again, Jesus was not afraid to push the boundaries, again, because he knew who he was. Jesus was here to show people God's love.
John Gunter:It didn't matter if you were a Samaritan woman at noon of all times, at a well, probably because you were avoiding everyone else, because of the issue that we didn't cover in that. But it doesn't matter. Jesus was there, again, to bring the good news about God and what God was doing for the people to everyone. Who is everyone? Everyone.
John Gunter:Everyone is worthy of the gift of God. And notice, though the disciples were surprised, and it might have been a little scandalous, the end result, because Jesus was, again, willing to do what he needed to do, was that this woman went into town proclaiming the goodness of God. Could this be the Messiah? A man who told me all that I have ever done? And he shouldn't have known.
John Gunter:There's no way he could have known. But Jesus puts the envelope. You ever been in a situation in church where other Christians were worried about who you were hanging out with or who you were around? You ever been in a situation like that? I think more than, we would care to admit, we have a lot of opinions on who other Christians should be seen with, when a lot of times we should be pushing the envelope on giving the goodness of God, showing the gospel to everyone we come into contact with.
John Gunter:With. And we're so worried about appearances. What might they think if they see me at the well with that woman? That we, again, in doing so, refuse to give the gospel to everyone. We're so worried, we're afraid to share, we're afraid to even talk about our faith because what somebody else might think, what does that say about us?
John Gunter:I think what it says is oftentimes what we elevate is our ego and our pride and really desire approval. And if I can't have approval, what am I doing? There are a lot of things Jesus did that made him unpopular. Remember Jesus even says, John didn't come doing anything. You know, he basically called him weird.
John Gunter:He said, but I came eating and drinking. He called me a drunk. Right? Jesus was different, but He knew who He was bringing the gospel to everyone. In Luke 7, this is going to be probably the largest of the readings, Luke 7 verse 36, When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with Him, He went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.
John Gunter:A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and that what kind of woman she is, that she is a sinner. And I dare say, a lot of us haven't moved on from this idea since.
John Gunter:And we could be out again in ministry to anyone and someone gets upset by it about who you are. If He was who He says He was, He would know she is a sinner. Thus, meaning, He shouldn't be near a sinner. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine a church thriving that didn't ever accept anyone in?
John Gunter:Can you imagine a church that existed that was so self righteous that thought all the sinners were out there somewhere? Really? Yeah. How many times have I asked you to raise your hand and say, How many sinners do we have in here? I think we did last week, didn't we?
John Gunter:And we understand that in principle, but a lot of times our first reaction is when we, again, encounter someone from somewhere else, it feels different. Well, they sin differently than I do. I've got mine under control. Right? I mean the best.
John Gunter:They, they just live in sin. So all of a sudden, it becomes a different and it says, that's what I love about Scripture, Scripture doesn't hide from anything. This is a woman who, again, lived a sinful life, it says that. Does Jesus care? Not does He approve of her sin, but does He care in the way that He encounters her?
John Gunter:No. What he sees is not just a sinner that needs to be, you know, expelled from society. What he sees is a broken person in need of God's grace. And wouldn't we all be better if we looked at everyone else that same way? How many of you can think of somebody you really don't wanna see right now?
John Gunter:Don't raise your hand. Especially if they're sitting by you. But we can be like that, can't we? Especially, you know, we like to report on the bad. Right?
John Gunter:Everything's bad. All crime's up, all these things. And so you may go to the grocery store later today and look at everybody out of the side of your eye like they're about to do something to you. You know, we can't anybody else exist like that sometimes? Yeah.
John Gunter:But what if we change that? What if we change that narrative to, again, being the people we're supposed to be, seeing other people like Jesus saw them, seeing people that need God. By the way, let me just say that a lot of those people you may see at H E B later today already love God. We've just been trained to look at them with a cynical eye, think they are about to do something to us. What if we looked at everyone like they are a person in need of God's grace, just like I am a person in need of God's grace?
John Gunter:Because it's always Scripture shows us that not always, but a lot of the time it's the religious people that don't get it. It's the religious people that put themselves up on a platform saying, well, nobody can ascend to where I am. If he knew who he was, or knew he actually was who he said he was, he would know who she is, which is a sinful person. Surely you wouldn't let a sinful person near you. Jesus says this, Simon, I have something to tell you.
John Gunter:Tell me, teacher, he said. 2 people owed money to a certain moneylender. 1 owed him 500 denarii and the other 50. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?
John Gunter:How many of you got up in arms over the possibility of student loans being paid back? If you have student loans, you weren't up in arms, were you? Oh, you are? Okay. But how many of us look at other things, but I didn't get treated fairly, right?
John Gunter:Jesus doesn't say they both had equal debts. Who loved him more? Jesus said, one had some, one had a lot. Neither had money to pay back. Now, which of them would love him more?
John Gunter:Simon replied, I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven. And we said, yeah. Imagine that scenario if you haven't ever had that happen. He says, you have judged correctly. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, do you see this woman?
John Gunter:I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. Gross. Right?
John Gunter:She humbled herself to that point. He is sitting up here looking at that going, mm-mm. She has humbled herself to the point where she can wipe a man's feet with her hair and tears. 46 says, You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume, again expensive, on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, as her great love has shown.
John Gunter:But whoever has been forgiven little loves little. Then Jesus said to her, Your sins are forgiven. The other guests began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sin? Jesus said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.' Jesus again looks at this scenario much differently than the man whose house He was in, doesn't He?
John Gunter:The man again looks at this with, can he believe she's in my house type of thing. And Jesus looks at it with, she may need to be forgiven more, but she's loving way more than you are. And guess what? She'll continue loving way more than you are. That should challenge us.
John Gunter:That should challenge who we are, who we see ourselves as, the way we interact with other people, because we do. We can go out and we can say, Hey, I really want you to come to church, but we treat people with this high self righteousness. The way that we can fall out of who we are is amazing to me. It's an election year and I will tell you as a preacher I hate them because it seems to divide everyone, including the people in this building. And what amazes me is that we are fine getting on social media and calling someone on the other side, which ever side that is for you, all kinds of names, all kinds of things, and then feeling like we should still have a relationship with people to invite them to church.
John Gunter:Why would anybody want to participate in that? I don't know. You're an idiot on Tuesday, I'd like you to come sit by me on Sunday. I don't understand. We should be who we are supposed to be every single day in every single platform.
John Gunter:We should be and see people just as Jesus did. In Luke 2, after the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. They began looking for him among their relatives and friends. The parents' worst nightmare.
John Gunter:Right? You ever left your kid in the supermarket, couldn't find him for a few seconds? Yeah. They left for a day, okay? Maybe your parenthood is your parenting is okay.
John Gunter:When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After 3 days, they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, son, why have you treated us like this?
John Gunter:Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you. Why were you searching for me? He asked. Didn't you know I had to be in my father's house? Jesus understood His identity from an early age.
John Gunter:He knew who He was and what he was supposed to be about. And some of us have been coming to church for a very long time, and we still don't know who we are or what we are supposed to be about. It's like we are searching every week. How do I do this? How do I control that?
John Gunter:When God has said just give your life to Him. Make your life about Him. And that's what Jesus says here, Didn't you know I had to be in my father's house? And the response, they didn't understand what he was saying to them. What?
John Gunter:Can you imagine? Sometimes, I'd like to leave my kids somewhere for 3 days. Not accidentally though. I'd like to know where they are. But Jesus knew who He was, and that didn't take away from anything.
John Gunter:I can't I'd like to know, where did He stay? What happened in those 3 days? But Jesus is saying, I was right where I needed to be, in my Father's house. And as we've been reading from Matthew 5:13, You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
John Gunter:We are supposed to be salt. We are supposed to be light. Those things bring qualities into the world, don't they? Again, I've I've told you, and maybe I just need to put a picture of my smoker up here. I love to to cook.
John Gunter:Denton Dorsey and I have have learned to cook together, I think, smoking meats and all of these things. I have I don't know how many different rubs at my house. I even gained one last week. Clint Johnson brought me one. I have tiered rows of rubs, which is salt in a lot of them.
John Gunter:It is flavor. And when I read this, that's exactly what I see. I'm not going to go to HEB and pay $10 for, again, a bottle of air. Are you? That's what he's saying.
John Gunter:If salt loses its saltiness, what's its worth? What's its value? It's not worth anything. And so if the church just exists as a group of people who don't do anything for the world, we're not any different, we don't add anything, there's no spiciness. What are we worth, church?
John Gunter:So I hope through this series that we are challenged to, again, be who we are supposed to be. That we see people as Jesus saw them, even if it means that, again, we may ruffle some feathers. Because in the world I always say in the world, and I don't mean everybody out there, because sometimes in ministry and living your life the way you know you need to live it, some some of your biggest opponents may be people sitting in the other chair in this building, because they don't see it the way you see it, or they don't think you are doing it the right way. And that's not to say about anything about anybody else anywhere else, Because, again, oftentimes, we are our own worst enemy, not being who we are supposed to be. So that's a challenge for all of us.
John Gunter:Be who you're supposed to be. Love like Jesus loved. And that's our message for the day. Would you pray with me? Me?
John Gunter:Our father in heaven, God, we thank You again for this day. Lord, we thank You for Lord, the way that your scripture challenges us, that your word is something that we need constantly, Lord, to live. Help us be people who Lord, we just we just long for your word. We long to study, not just to to know intellectually, Lord, but to be transformed by your word and who we're supposed to be. God, I pray for all of us as we go out in in every direction.
John Gunter:Lord, that we are salt, we are light, we are different. We are, again, lord, we pray that we are people dedicated to bringing others to you. Lord, help us when those challenges come. Help us, especially when those challenges come from inside. And the people that we we feel like we should, trust and have safety with.
John Gunter:And, Lord, that we are always people looking to, again, love better, love each other, and to love you. Lord, again, we thank you for the way that you challenge us. It's in Jesus' name we pray.