No Vacancy III, Too Messy For Jesus

What a week I've had. You know one thing every teaching pastor will tell you, they shiver when they get the message assigned to them because they know that's the point they're going to get tested on during that week, if not the month beforehand. And boy, my week has been one messy week, but some of it's been great. I've found myself, for the first time I think in my life, I was celebrating two birthdays. I had the birthday this Thursday at 2.30 a.m. of my first granddaughter. We have a little photograph of her. Let's put her up. This is Louise Clare Paseven. My little granddaughter, my son David, his wife Corrie. That was the next day I was completely passed out about a week ago. About an hour and a half before her birth, but not mom and dad, they were around. What a great moment for me and our family, and we celebrate with them. And then Sunday morning, 11 a.m., the Sewickley Valley campus is being birthed in its formal way, in its first formal worship service, and I want you, I'm going to step over here real quick and pull this in, I want you to welcome Sewickley Valley to the North Way family. Would you go ahead and just give them a great welcome? Woo! That's it. Oakland, you do it too. Worship Cafe, that's it. Welcome, Sewickley Valley. You are now birthed. Sweet, thank you. Alright, so those are two moments that won't ever happen again. But I've got to tell you, they've both been messy. How many dads here were at the side of your wife when your child was birthed in the world? How many dads? Because there are some of you who are older and they didn't let you in, I know that. Okay, but how many of you were there, and you would say, that was a squeamish moment in your life? How many of you dads are just sitting there like, man, that was really... I know of dads that went straight down and on the floor during that moment. But we'd all agree, wouldn't we, dads? It's messy. I mean, one thing for sure, it's messy. But the outcome is so incredibly worth it. I mean, it's life. The two microscopic little cells somehow combine, and nine months later, this beautiful eight-pound, six-ounce little walleye comes out by the name of Elizabeth Clare. Amazing. I still have to say, those were the most emotional, moving moments of my entire life. To be at the birth of my kids and now my grandkids. And you know, the Sewickley Valley launch was... I mean, this was a messy kind of week. I remember using the word a couple times. Just all kinds of different things, you know, from projectors to policies, to all these different things we had to get right. We were pregnant, by the way, for 18 months in Sewickley Valley, just so you want to know. It took 18 months to give birth there, but this little cell group started. And I don't know how many folks are worshiping, right? But I have a hunch there's a lot more than that as a result of that birth. Messy, but worth it. You know, this is part of life. And as you may affirm, I'm sure, there are times when we wish that life would just go the way we planned it. But how many of you discovered, more often than not, God messes with your plans? You know, the Word does not say, I know the plans you have for you, says the Lord. No, He says, I know the plans I have, I the Lord, for you. Plans to prosper you and bless you to give you a future and a hope. And those plans sometimes are just crazy. They're just, you know, not what you expect. And so I came to this time and I thought, Lord, how exactly do I approach this text? How do I share this? Because it's imperative that you understand something. I don't want to be frivolous about this. In fact, in a moment, you're going to see how strongly I feel about this. I know for a fact that people struggle with whether or not God really wants to deal with them and their messes. In fact, if they're really honest and they were able to open up and tell you, their lives have been just a sequence of messes, one after the other. And they're wondering, really, is it just to a point where God no longer even has space for me? A few weeks ago, Lee Strobel talked about being too smart for God. That's not my problem. It is for some people. They think intellectually, they just can't deal with it. But I urge you to go to our webpage and watch that video. Last week, Pastor Ken Chevalier did an excellent job talking about finding room in your schedule, the schedule of your heart and your pace, for those of you who are too busy. But this one about being too messy is very personal. This is one that gets down to where we want to cover up some of this. We don't want everyone to know really where we're coming from. And the reason is, here it is, there's shame attached with mess. Isn't that true? I thought I got assigned this particular message because everyone took a look, the production team, at the pastor's offices. And despite the fact that I am, by virtue of being here the longest number of years, have the largest office, and I think it's the messiest, despite the fact that I have more room than all the other guys. There's just something wrong. I would blame the secretary of this. But the reality is, most of my personal spaces are messy. I won't even go down that right now. I'm not here to confess to you. More than that. That's a little insight. But the reality is that every one of us has part of our lives that are messy. How many of you would say that there's been a time, and actually you could draw on it, when you think, you know, I made a mess of this relationship. I made a mess of this opportunity. I made a mess of this situation. I made a mess of my finances here. I made a mess of my health by doing this, and so on, and so on. How many of you say, yeah, I can identify with at least part of that. Yeah, of course. And don't believe for a second that just because on the outside there might be a really fine, you know, well-manicured-looking person there, that there isn't some huge mess going on inside. How many of you know at least one really gorgeous celebrity that's made a mess of their life? At least, you know, I don't know them personally, but you know them at a distance. How many of you know of successful athletes with enormous impact and world recognition who've made huge messes of their lives? Don't need to name names there, do I? And I could go on down the list. I've dealt with multiple CEOs and small business owners, multiple, who deal with serious addiction issues in their life. And they are confounded with how to break them. And can I tell you a little secret? I know lots of pastors that have messes in their lives. And I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have a couple of my own. It's just part of the fabric of life for us, isn't it? And if you're one of those people that are here, maybe for the first time at Swickly Valley, or if you've been coming for a while, welcome to North Way if you have a mess in your life. We're glad you're here. You'll find other people just like you. Welcome to the kingdom of God. It's full of messy people. And welcome to the cross of Christ. You know, I was stopped in my tracks when I read this verse this week. This is of Isaiah. This was prophesied of Jesus. This is the heart of our Savior toward us. Isaiah 53. It says this, verse 5. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him. And by his wounds we are healed. Welcome to a Savior that will take your messes and heal them. If you have the courage to be transparent and open with him. In fact, this same Savior that's prophesied in Isaiah 53 appears on the scene in the person of Jesus. And Luke 19 tells us that he came to seek and to save those who were lost. One of the great hang-ups that the Jews had with Jesus was that he hung out with sinners. He's a friend of the sinners, they said. Always hanging out with, partying with the sinners. Being with the sinners. Being with those messy people. On your outline, very bottom of the page. If you don't catch anything else about us in these early days, if you're new to us, two foundational truths we believe about Jesus are these. That his love for us is proactive. In other words, he initiates love toward us and it's personal. That is, it's about you. It's not just about God loving the world. You know, I heard it recently, pretty well described, that men are more reluctant to commit to marriage than women. Have you heard that? And there was a long list of reasons why. Men are more reluctant to give up their freedom. They're more reluctant to give up their potential options. They're more reluctant to be kind of confined and so on and so on. And it's not saying that women sometimes have strong feelings in those regards too, but men as a whole are more reluctant than women. And you know what? Men cannot be talked through that or out of it. Men cannot be convinced that they should at some time commit. What is it that causes a man at some point to say, you know, freedom, options, all that kind of stuff, who cares? What is it? Right, it's a babe, right? It's a woman comes into his life that he cannot do without. And suddenly his many questions are meaningless compared to the reality of what's standing right before his eyes. Can I say that about Jesus? It's okay to have many questions, and we'll do our best to answer them, but the reality is you will never really get your questions answered until you know him. And our goal here in this church, the best that we know how, through relationships and through ministries and through preaching the word and through worship and through everything that we do, is to reveal Jesus to you. Now, I'm going to do something that's very risky. And I didn't know it until I walked into the building today. I was unsettled for the last 36 hours about this message. And I'm going to do something that, you know, it could fall right on my head and be a disaster, but I have a hunch it's exactly what God wants. He wants me to step off the script, and he wants me to go in the direction that his spirit can now have control of the balance of this sermon. You say, well, what does that mean? Well, it means this. I believe personally that if you pray and you spend time before God in preparation, that the moment you step onto this platform or wherever it is that you're called to share your message, it could be for you in your place of business or for you at school or whatever it is, if you are prepared and you've prayed, God is responsible for what's going to happen. You know, this morning I met, I prayed all week about this message and met with a group of elders to pray. And the Oakland elders, by the way, they gathered as well to pray. And they Skyped in with an elder in Hong Kong during their prayer meeting. And so literally we were being prayed for around the world as we gathered. Prayer's gone out for this moment. I prepared more hours into this message than I normally do. And the Holy Spirit just would not let me come to the place of going through all the details. I want to read the text. I want to let it speak to your heart. And then we're just going to let God do what He wants to do. Take your outline out. You need to look at it. And it's a story. In summary, I'll just mention, it's a story of a woman whose life was a mess. All right? It's found in John chapter 4. If you don't want to look at your outline, you can maybe watch the screens. I think we might have it up there. This is the story, commonly called the story of the woman at the well. And this is a woman, well, you'll see in a moment, why she wasn't really particularly expecting anything great to happen in her life. Let's pick it up at verse 7. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, she was at a well, which is, by the way, Samaria was in between Jerusalem and where Jesus was headed up toward Nazareth. And by the way, this is a fascinating little bit. I'll just share this with you. Do we have that map? Let's throw that map up so the folks can see this. Most Jews, you see down there on the very bottom, you see Judea and Jerusalem. Jesus is leaving there. And then up to the very top of the map, you see Nazareth and Galilee. That's where Jesus did a lot of his ministry. Well, what's right in the middle between those two cities? Samaria. And the Samaria, that was the region where the Jews who had intermingled with the non-Jews when the northern kingdom fell, that's where they were all living. And so the pure Jews would go out of their way. They'd go off to the right along the Jordan River and then do a left turn and go back. They wouldn't even go through Samaria because they didn't want to be polluted by being near a Samaritan. As it says in this text, Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. But Jesus didn't bother himself with those kinds of things. He walked the shortest distance. He went right through Samaria. And he stops at this well because it's dry. I've been in that area, and it's kind of desert-like. And he's thirsty. And this woman comes out. Jesus doesn't have anything to draw any water out. And so she sees him at the well. And here she comes out, and here's what she says. She says, Jesus says to her, verse 7, Will you give me a drink? Now his disciples had gone into town to buy food. Why does he even say that? Because his disciples would not have let him make contact with a Samaritan woman. Samaritan, that alone was enough reason to keep them apart. And a woman was not to be seen with a man, especially a single person. Now this thing is really getting complicated. Let's go on. The Samaritan woman said to him, You are a Jew, and I'm a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink for Jews to not associate with Samaritans? And Jesus answered her, 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. Now at this moment, friends, a woman's thinking, All right, I've got myself a cuckoo clock here. All right. Living water. What is that about? So the woman said, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where can you? Notice this. She's throwing it right back at Jesus. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, as did his sons and his flocks and herds? Jesus answered, verse 13, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, and the water in the well. But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Now the woman realizes that this is... Wait a minute. That bell started going off because that exact reference appears in Jeremiah 17, 19 about the Messiah, that he would be the giver of living water. So the woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty. And, loved ones, the beginning point of transformation in all of our lives, of getting our messes cleaned up, is saying to the Lord, Lord, I need what it is that you have. I'm thirsty. I'm thirsty for it. And he told her, Go back and call your husband, and then come back. See, he's putting her to a little bit of a test, a test of her sincerity. And she honestly answers, I have no husband, she replied. Jesus said to her, You're right when you say you've had no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true. How many of you believe that woman right there was ready to collapse into a little, just a little puddle of sand? How many of you would like to have a conversation with someone who knew your history, that you'd never met before, and told you, Oh, no, I know this is about you, and you'd never met the person before? How many believe that that person would have your full attention at that moment? She says under control, I can see you're a prophet. And then she goes into a sort of a religious diversion. I won't go into it except to say that religion is always a diversion from the reality of a relationship with Christ. She talks about, Oh, our fathers worshipped at this mountain, Mount Gerizim. That's where the Samaritans were. They go back and forth. That's not important right now. Here's what I want you to grasp. At this moment, she tries to do, well, Tim Keller, who was the, for many years, the senior pastor at Redeemer Church in Manhattan, and just a brilliant writer, and now retired and doing some teaching and mentoring and so on, said this. He said, People usually believe there are two ways to relate to God. One is to reject His ways and His will and do your own thing. And the other is simply to accept Him and yield to Him. But there actually is a third way, Keller says, and that is to do the religious thing. And the religious thing is simply when you go about what it is that you were taught from a child as being sort of what it took to please God, whether that was to go to church or to be a good person or to try harder or to give this or that or whatever. And Keller brilliantly talks in his book The Prodigal God about people who try religion instead of the third option, which is faith, faith in God's grace. I want you to watch a video with me in a minute because I want to say something again specifically as we welcome our new Sewickley family here. One of our goals as teachers every week is to give you something that you can take with you out of that worship experience and live out during the week. And the ministries that we've established and the groups that we invite you into are for the purpose of helping to make God's word alive to face the messes that you're in. When I watched this video, it grabbed my heart because like the woman at the well, this couple was in a mess. And without the direct intervention of Jesus, I believe that they would have separated and divorced and all the consequences that usually fall upon their kids and all that would have taken place. But because they had the courage, as you'll see, something amazing happened. In our story, let me just conclude the text by looking with you down at the very end. You see, after Jesus diffuses her religious argument, here's what she says. This woman said, I know that the Messiah called Christ is coming and when He comes, He will explain everything to us. And verse 26 is one of the clearest statements by Jesus of His divinity where it says, Then Jesus declared, I who speak to you am He. I, Jesus said, and the Messiah. I am the one who can make a miracle out of your mess. I want you to watch this video, lean into it, and then ask God, what about your life right now? Maybe it's your relationships. Maybe it's your relationship with God. Where in your life do you need the presence of God's Spirit to come and touch and heal the mess that your life is in right now? Let's watch together.