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Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP200201S
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00:09 >> Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for this day, Lord, 00:11 and thank you for allowing us to be here, Lord. 00:13 Thank you for another day of life, Lord. 00:15 We know that sometimes, things may happen, 00:17 and we go through trials, Lord, but you've given us 00:19 the opportunity to be here this morning and to worship 00:21 together as a community. And, God, I just ask that 00:24 as we enter our worship service this morning, 00:26 that you'll just please be with each and every one of us. 00:28 Thank you, Lord, in your name, amen. 00:30 >> Amen. >> I encourage you guys to stand 00:32 as we sing our first song, "Blessed Be Your Name." 00:35 ♪♪ 04:48 You guys can sit down for this next song. 15:01 I invite the congregation to stand for our last song today. 15:07 >> Please stand for the last song. 19:16 >> Well, good morning, boys and girls. 19:18 Nice to see you on this, oh, another great Sabbath 19:21 in Michigan. Ahh! What's up 19:24 with this winter, huh? Thanks to my friend, 19:27 Sharon Nugent, who found this story, let's go to 19:29 a place that has real winters. How about going to Alaska 19:31 right now? You want to go to Alaska? 19:34 They got winter up there. Maybe we can travel up there. 19:37 >> No. >> Oh, they got winter up there. 19:39 So this is -- This happened just 3 weeks ago. 19:42 So, Clyde comes to the door. 19:48 It's a weekend. Still has his pajamas on. He comes to the door 19:52 and he said -- front door -- "Ah, I see Amy left --" That's Mommy. 19:57 "I see that Mommy left the garbage. She wants me to take the garbage 20:01 out to the garbage can. Well, I'll do that. The girls are kind of 20:05 laying back. Let me do that." So he grabs the garbage. 20:09 And then he gets out the door and he looks both ways, because, in South Anchorage, 20:13 where he lives -- Okay? South Anchorage, you never know what shows up -- wild animals. 20:18 We're talking about fierce wild animals. Oh, man. 20:23 Well, I wonder if I'm going to see a bear today. He grabs the garbage. 20:30 Nothing coming? Good. Do I have the key to the shed? Oh, I got the key to the shed. 20:34 So, he's walking across the snow -- ooh, ooh! The driveway has snow on it. 20:38 Oh, I hate walking on the snow in my slippers. He gets to the shed. 20:41 There, I got the key. He opens the lock. Opens the door. 20:47 There's the garbage can. Wait. Well, they have to put this stuff in a shed because, 20:51 otherwise, animals would come and break your garbage can open, so they don't 20:54 want that to happen. So, he gets inside. He closes the door behind him. 20:58 He opens the garbage can. Boom! There goes the garbage for that week. 21:04 Now he's ready to leave. He walks outside the door. He closes the door, 21:11 puts the lock back in, got it, and turns around. Oh, boy. 21:20 You want to talk about a wild animal? We are talking 21:25 major wild animal, the one you don't want, because this wild animal is more 21:31 ferocious than a bear in Alaska. Oh, no! It's coming straight -- 21:38 He's running toward him. Now, I want to see what that wild -- 21:41 Let's just get the wild animal in our minds right now. Is there a picture? 21:44 Oh! Well, what do you mean that's not a wild animal? That's a wild animal. 21:49 What is that? >> A moose. >> That is a moose. 21:52 And this moose is coming straight at him, and they can run pretty fast. 21:57 You know, they had some problems with moose in that neighborhood. In fact, a mother moose -- 22:02 True story. A mother moose gave birth to a little calf 22:04 in their backyard a couple years ago. And last Christmas, 22:09 exactly a year ago, a moose ate their Christmas wreath on the front door. 22:16 So, here comes this moose. Which way is he going to go? If he goes to the house, 22:20 he's straight into the moose. There's only one decision. Where's that key? 22:23 Where's that key? Where's that key? He gets that key in the lock. 22:25 He pops the locks open. As he started to open, that moose -- 22:27 He could hear the... And it's going faster. As he jumps in, 22:31 he closes the door, and, boom, the moose hits the door. Hits the door. 22:37 One antler... [ Imitates thudding ] And he can see 22:41 the door going... I mean, this is just a little tin shed. 22:48 Oh! Fortunately, he had -- In his pajamas, he had his cellphone. 22:52 He pulls his cellphone out. "Come on, Amy. Answer the phone. 22:55 Answer the phone. Amy, do you understand? I'm in trouble here." 22:58 Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring. She doesn't answer the phone. "I can't believe this. 23:01 My teenage daughter is in bed. I'll call her." Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring. 23:06 No answer. No answer. "Somebody is going to have to help me. 23:09 I'll try Amy one more time. I'll try Mom one more time." And when Amy picks up, 23:13 he starts yelling. He says, "Look outside! Look outside! I'm in trouble!" 23:18 So she goes to the window. She looks outside. There's nothing happening. 23:22 She says, "Where's my husband? I don't see him anywhere." And she sees the shed. 23:26 [ Gasps ] He's in the shed. There's nothing out there. There is nothing out there. 23:32 She said, "What's the problem?" "Can't you see it?" "See what?" 23:37 Now, they have a security camera, and later, you can have your mom and dad look 23:42 at the YouTube piece, but just let's take a look at the security camera that... 23:48 Ooh! Whoa! That foot is up. That moose is moving fast. 23:54 The security camera -- click. He's trying to get that key in, get that door open. 23:57 "Let me in." Boom! Just in time. Turns out that the moose 24:01 got tired of that and walked off to another neighbor's. Oh, my! 24:07 You know what? There are some mommies and daddies, there are some boys 24:10 and girls who are trapped inside a little shed. Oh, it's not 24:12 a little shed like that. It's a shed of their own troubles. 24:14 They have troubles, and they're calling. They're calling, "Hello? Hello? 24:17 Does anybody know that I'm in trouble? I need help." 24:21 But nobody's answering. Nobody's answering. Guess what. 24:25 You're supposed to answer. Yeah, Jesus says, "Are you love on the move?" 24:28 He says, "I look at you, girl. I look at you, boy. You are love on the move. 24:31 That's what you are. I need you to answer. There are people in trouble. 24:36 I'm giving you eyes to see. I'm giving you ears to hear. And when you see that they're 24:40 in trouble, you help me. You be my love on the move." That's the only way 24:47 Jesus can help some people is if you become love on the move for Him. 24:52 Oh! Are you trapped in a shed? No. Are you fine? 24:56 Yep. But there's some people that need you. Open your eyes this next week 25:01 at school. Open your eyes. Recess time, open your eyes. 25:05 In the neighborhood, open -- Maybe downtown, open your eyes. Oh, Jesus, thank you for 25:12 being love on the move and coming to us. We'll go for -- 25:15 How many will go for Jesus? Would you be willing to go for Jesus if He said, 25:18 "Hey, you help me. You get over to that shed where they're in trouble, 25:21 and you help set them free." Would you take care of that need? 25:25 Find your neighbor for me. Ah! Who wants to thank Jesus for being that kind of 25:28 a friend and a savior? Come on, sis. Let's thank Jesus. 25:35 What's your first name? >> Abby. >> Abby. Okay, so we're going to 25:39 pray with Abby now. Close your eyes, please, and fold your hands 25:41 as Abby prays. >> Dear Jesus, thank you for this wonderful day. 25:46 Please take care of us while it's the Sabbath and while we listen here in the church. 25:53 In Jesus' name, amen. >> Amen. Beautiful prayer, Abby. Thank you. 25:57 As you go quietly back to your seats, you can pray what Abby prayed, 25:59 "Thank you, Jesus. We want to be love on the move for you." 26:05 Happy Sabbath. 26:09 In fact, let's pray those words. Precious Lord, that's our prayer. 26:14 Take our hands. This is a crazy place down here, not that you haven't noticed, 26:24 but we need to you to take us by the hand. How do we do this thing 26:28 that you've called us to do? We want to be the best we can be for you. 26:35 So, take these few moments, inject yourself into this conversation. 26:39 We humbly pray in Jesus' name. 26:42 Amen. So, how radical are 26:47 we supposed to take this love-on-the-move thing? 26:52 Can you carry it too far? Let's go to the moment. 26:55 Come on. Open your Bible. The second-best love story 26:59 Jesus ever told -- this is it. Yep, and here is the little 27:03 prelude that sets the story up. Luke 10. 27:06 You got your device, your Bible. Didn't bring a Bible, 27:08 you're going to want to follow this, a pew Bible. 27:10 What's the page number in the pew Bible? 27:12 Page 699. I'm in the NIV. 27:15 We begin reading in Verse 25. Luke 10:25. "And on one occasion, an expert 27:20 in the law stood up to test Jesus. 'Yo, Teacher,' he asked, 27:28 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?'" You go, city-slicker lawyer. 27:31 Way to come up with the hardest question that a human can dream up. 27:35 How do I get to heaven? "Oh, I got to see how Jesus answers this one." 27:42 Jesus answers, Verse 26, "Well, what is written in the law? How do you read it?'" 27:50 Little bit flustered that the question is answered by another question, 27:54 but the Lord is prepared. 27:56 Verse 27 -- "And he answered, 'Well, love the Lord your God 27:59 with all your heart and with all your soul 28:00 and with all your strength and with all your mind.'" 28:02 And then, for good measure, the lawyer tosses in one 28:05 more line from the Torah. "And, 'Love your neighbor 28:09 as yourself.'" 28:11 I'm sure Jesus spoke the next words with a smile on his face, when Jesus said, in Verse 28, 28:17 "You have answered correctly. Do this and you live." You got it. 28:26 And now he's really embarrassed, because he pulled the hardest question he could think of 28:29 and he's answered it himself. And so the lawyer -- Look at Verse 29, 28:35 "He wanted to justify himself." That's code language for wanting to spare his -- save face. 28:42 "Oh, I got to save face." And, so, the lawyer, Verse 29, "He wanted to justify himself, 28:47 and so he asked Jesus, 'Yo, but who is my neighbor?'" Gotcha! 28:52 And Jesus says, "'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho 28:59 when he was attacked by robbers, and they stripped him of his clothes. 29:02 They beat him. They went away. Then they left him half-dead.'" I don't know if He read 29:06 in the Jerusalem Times or the Jericho Tribune, but He knew the story. 29:11 And in fact, "Desire of Ages" just pulls the veil aside with a very interesting factoid. 29:16 Listen to this. I'll put it on the screen for 29:17 you. "This was no imaginary scene 29:21 but an actual occurrence which was known to be exactly 29:25 as represented in Jesus' story. The priest and the Levite 29:29 who had passed by on the other side of the road 29:31 were in the company that listened to Christ's words." 29:34 Uh-oh! Talking about uncomfortable. 29:37 Here we go. 29:42 So, we got a Jewish traveler beat to a pulp. Carjacking. Come on. 29:48 Everybody knows carjackings. We got it all the time. This had been a carjacking. 29:52 He's left to the side of the road for dead. Jesus says, "Okay." 29:57 Now verse 31. "'A priest happened to be going down the same road.'" 30:02 That would be a Jew. "'And when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 30:08 So too, a Levite.'" That's an elder, now, but still a Jew. 30:11 "'A Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,'" fellow Jew, 30:16 "passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan" -- It was cheeky to even mention 30:21 a Samaritan in this story, but it took chutzpah and daring to make the Samaritan 30:26 the hero of the story. And it's just happened, and everybody in the crowd 30:31 knows it. But a Samaritan, who, by the way, knows that if he were 30:37 the carjacking victim and he were mangled at the side of the road, 30:40 the Jew would walk over... [ Spits ] ...and then walk away. 30:45 The only good Samaritan is a dead Samaritan, they believed. 30:49 It was a bad word. Jesus used it. 30:53 "'But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man 30:56 was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 31:00 He went to him and he bandaged his wounds 31:03 and he poured oil and wine on the wounds. 31:05 And then he put the man on his own donkey 31:07 and brought him to an inn and he took care of him. 31:09 And the next day, he took out two denarii.'" 31:11 That's two days of wages. "'He took out two denariis 31:14 and he gave them to the innkeeper and he said, 31:16 "Look. Look after him, and when I return, 31:19 I will reimburse you for any extra expense 31:21 you may have.'" Now Jesus has been holding the 31:24 lawyer's gaze the whole time as he's telling the story. 31:30 And he looks him into the face with a smile again. He says, "So, of these three, 31:38 which one do you think was the neighbor?" The lawyer drops his gaze 31:45 and moves his sandaled toe in the dust. He can't even say the word. 31:54 The one who showed him mercy. Lawyer looks back up. Jesus smiles into his eyes. 32:00 You got it. Go and do the same. The end. 32:06 Wow. So, who is my neighbor? Is a convicted sex offender my neighbor? 32:16 Is a socially retarded, behaviorally odd student on this campus my neighbor? 32:25 How about the homeless man who rummages through street-side garbage as I cut a wide swath, 32:30 as I did one of the nights in San Diego this week, to avoid him? 32:36 Is he my neighbor? How about an inner-city baby? Is that baby my neighbor? 32:44 How about the unwed mother that gave birth to her? Is that unwed mother 32:48 my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? How about the chief of police? 32:55 Would he be my neighbor? How about any police? Are they my neighbor? 33:03 Is an unemployed drug addict my neighbor? Is an employed alcoholic 33:08 my neighbor? Is a Roman Catholic my neighbor? How about a Baptist? 33:15 Yeah, but maybe -- maybe not a Mormon. How about Jehovah's Witnesses? 33:23 How about a Hindu? Is a Muslim man who does not live next door to me -- 33:28 Is he still my neighbor? Is an illegal alien my neighbor? 33:41 How about if you're gay? How about if you're a lesbian, trans, or maybe you're straight? 33:49 Who's my neighbor? Anybody got it figured out yet? You know, 33:55 wouldn't it be something if this neighbor business wasn't about categories at all, 34:01 not about sexual categories, not about socioeconomic categories, 34:07 not about political categories, not about religious or denominational categories, 34:14 not even about morality categories? Wouldn't it be something 34:21 if it weren't about any of that? David Redding, in his marvelous book, asked the question. 34:30 I do believe he is right. We'll put it on the screen for you. 34:35 Redding writing, the writer. "Now, just who is my neighbor?" Answer -- "No one knows 34:43 until he knows." Hit the pause button right here. Come on. Come on. 34:48 Look, folks, there is no nifty little formula that we can use to ascertain which categories 34:52 of neighbors apply to me. There is no nifty category. Here is the deal. 34:56 You're going to have to know it. Something will happen inside of you. 35:01 Your conscience, which is used by the Holy Spirit to commune with your soul -- 35:06 that heart and compassion that you have beating in your chest, something is going to tell you. 35:11 You'll know the day, the moment, that is your neighbor. Do something. 35:15 You'll know. He's right. How am I going to know until I -- 35:19 How am I going to know until I get to that moment? 35:25 Keep reading. Redding back on the screen. "Now, just who is my neighbor? 35:29 No one knows until he knows." Now, this is good. "The Samaritan story says, 35:33 'I don't care who he is.'" 35:38 I like that. "You see, it is wrong," 35:41 Redding writes. "It is the wrong question to 35:44 ask," -- who's my neighbor? -- "For it mistakenly assumes 35:47 a boundary. The point 35:49 is not who is your neighbor, but make sure and be one." 35:54 Oh, you didn't get that, did you? That went by so fast, but that 35:58 is your take-home line today. My, oh, my, oh, my. I mean, if you're talking about 36:04 love on the move -- And this is a classic story, powerfully dealing with 36:08 just that, love on the move. The point -- 36:13 In fact, put it on the screen so we get it one more time. We'll lock it in our brains 36:16 that never forget a thing. On the screen, "The point is not who is your neighbor, 36:22 but make sure and be one." Forget the questions. Wow. Wouldn't that be something? 36:30 All this splitting of hairs over, "Hey, is this one my neighbor or is that one my 36:33 neighbor?" Guess what? We can lay all that splitting 36:36 of hairs to permanent rest. Never ask the question again. Never ask the question again. 36:42 The question is not, "Who's my neighbor?" Be one instead. 36:45 Be the neighbor. Now, Redding is not quite through. 36:49 One last slide. There it is. "The point is not who is 36:52 your neighbor, but make sure and be one. 36:54 To whom? Well, not next door, necessarily 36:58 but the next necessity you notice. 37:02 The word 'neighbor' has nothing to do with nearness 37:04 geographically, everything to do with need 37:08 anywhere you find it, wherever you hear it calling." 37:13 Hey, listen, folks. We got people all over this planet 37:16 who desperately need somebody to become their neighbor. And guess what. 37:24 I'm happy to inform you that this month is Sign Up To Be a Good Neighbor Month 37:30 for people overseas. Mm-hmm. Student Missionary Month. 37:34 Guess what. There's somebody on this planet where, if you were willing 37:39 to push aside your schedule for just a few weeks, you could be the very Samaritan, 37:48 Good Samaritan, God needs to say to them. Get ahold of campus ministries. 37:53 Walk into that office this month. Sign up. You can do it. 37:59 We've found that people who have taken the extra year off actually do better many times. 38:05 Mental health is a huge issue now with this Gen Z generation. The fact that you give a year 38:12 in service to be a good neighbor, mental health. We got studies now, 38:19 secular studies. There goes mental health, optimal feelings. 38:24 Why? Because you're doing something for somebody else. Listen, we have people 38:28 all over this community who need somebody to notice, to be a good neighbor to them, 38:34 somebody to notice their particular need. So why don't you sign up 38:38 and join a GROW group? Come on. Join a GROW group because 38:42 every GROW group is required to have a project to minister 38:47 to some neighbor in your proximity. Every single GROW Group. 38:50 Doesn't matter which subject you choose. They'll all do that. 38:53 And you can be a part of a group that ministers to that need. Sign up. 38:56 You heard how to sign up. You can do that. And, by the way, we have people 39:01 all over this campus -- I'm talking about faculty, staff, and students -- who are 39:05 waiting for some colleague, some classmate, somebody to say, "I see your need and I am 39:10 coming to you right now. I want to be your neighbor. I want to be your neighbor." 39:17 Come on. You don't need a PhD in how to be a good neighbor. 39:25 Love on the move. Whenever, wherever, whoever, however you find out, 39:34 step into that need. You're the good neighbor they've been waiting for. 39:41 And that must be the story of this congregation and this campus that have chosen 39:44 love on the move to be our self-descriptor. We want to be love on the move, 39:49 do we? By the way, David Redding did a good job, 39:56 but a century earlier, a book called "The Desire of Ages" 39:59 and a writer called Ellen White respond to the lawyer's question in almost the identical 40:02 way as Redding does. 40:04 Watch this. I'll put it on the screen 40:05 for you. This is good. 40:07 So, I'm reading from "Desire of Ages." 40:09 "Thus the question, 'Who is my neighbor?' is forever answered. 40:12 Christ has shown that our neighbor does not --" 40:14 Now, there are going to be three negative definitions of neighbor 40:17 and three positive definitions. Watch these. 40:18 And I have them all marked in the quotation. 40:21 "Christ has shown that our neighbor does not --" 40:24 negative definition 1 -- "mean merely one of the church. 40:27 It does not mean merely one of the faith to which we belong." 40:30 And here is the third one. "It has no --" Negative. 40:33 "It has no reference to race, color, or class distinction." 40:37 None of that counts. Now here come 40:39 the three positives. Whoa. These are good. 40:41 "Our neighbor is --" positive 1 -- "every person 40:45 who needs our help. Our neighbor is --" 40:48 positive 2 -- "every soul who is wounded 40:52 and bruised by the adversary. And our neighbor is --" 40:54 positive 3 -- "everyone who is the property 40:57 of God." 40:59 Did you catch that? Anyone, everyone in need -- that's your neighbor. 41:06 That's your neighbor. 41:17 Anybody who's the property of God is my neighbor? "Dwight, wait a minute. 41:22 Time-out. That's the whole planet." Oh, you got it. You got it. 41:25 The whole planet, but you're not going to meet the whole planet. 41:27 You're going to meet one stranger at a time, and that little voice inside 41:32 of you and that heart that pumps compassion is going to be knocking on your shoulder 41:36 and saying, "Come on, boys, girls, slow down. This is your neighbor today." 41:42 Wow. Is it convenient? Are you kidding? 41:48 I'm telling you what. Love on the move... In fact, look how the Samaritan 41:54 does this. So, what is this? Verse 33? But a Samaritan comes along, 41:57 and you know the first thing he does? He sees. 42:00 So love on the move first sees the need. And then it says he feels pity. 42:04 So love on the move now feels the need. And then he moves toward 42:10 the crumpled Jew, and so love on the move now moves. 42:14 At first, it sees. Then it feels it. Aha! There's that inner voice 42:18 talking to you. Then it begins to move. And number four -- love on 42:22 the move then meets the need. It's very simple. It's those four steps. 42:26 Meets the need. What did he do? 42:28 He pulled out some oil and wine, lotion and disinfectant, 42:32 and he put him on his own donkey, 42:34 gave him a ride to the next town, 42:36 Jericho, put him in a motel, and the next morning, 42:40 he comes to the innkeeper and said, "Yo, I got to go. 42:45 I'm giving you two days of wages. 42:47 Take care of this man. And when I come back someday, 42:51 I'll ask you how you did and if I need to pay you more." 42:57 Love on the move resources the need, but here is the -- 43:02 This is fascinating. Watch this. 43:03 Love on the move delegates the need. 43:07 You see what he did? He says, "I'm giving this to 43:09 you now. 43:11 It's no longer me." Some of us are so worried about love on the move 43:14 and actually stopping in the middle of a street corner somewhere and jumping out, that 43:19 this might somehow obligate us more than that split second -- We're worried, "Well, what 43:23 if he comes back to me? What if she finds my cellphone number and she calls me up 43:27 and then she wants more, and then I'm going to be -- I'm going to be up to this thing 43:30 up to my eyeballs, and I'll never be free." You see, that foolish fear 43:36 has throttled our good instincts and our love-on-the-move impulses. 43:42 "I don't know how long this will last." Get over that. 43:46 Oh, I love the way Redding puts it. 43:49 One last quote from Redding on the screen. 43:52 Oh! "But the Samaritan" -- Watch this. 43:54 "The Samaritan did not try to play God." 43:56 Mnh-mnh. He just wanted to be a good man. 44:00 I love this. "We are not asked to put 44:02 everyone we are asked to help all the way through school." 44:07 "Man, if I help him, he's going to ask me to go to college. And if I help him there, 44:10 then he's going to ask me to go to graduate school. And now I'm going to end up 44:12 paying this guy's education until he's dead. I can't do that. 44:15 You're crazy. Forget it." The story is clear. You can delegate it 44:19 to somebody else. Now keep going. "Not every cry we hear will 44:25 become a permanent assignment. Only a cup of water may be called for, one meal missed." 44:29 I'm skipping my meal so that you can have some food. "This philanthropist --" 44:32 you know, the Samaritan -- "didn't move his case," the Jew, "to Samaria 44:36 or take over his life. He did his turn and he departed." 44:40 Now, "Here was not only a good man, 44:42 but a man good enough to believe that other men were good 44:45 and would carry on after he did what he could." 44:49 That's it. Do what you can. Let somebody else take over. You think God needs -- 44:55 You're the messiah of the human race and you got to save everybody? 44:58 You're not that important. He says, "I just need somebody to do something for me." 45:05 Excuse me. The guy in the back row. Could I do it? 45:08 Yeah, you do it right now. And you do it. You don't write home about it. 45:13 You just do it. Is it convenient? Are you kidding? 45:17 I want to tell you something. Love on the move is quite inconvenient. 45:20 You know what? Number one, it's going to get you outside of your comfort 45:23 zone. Oh, look out. Number two, it's going 45:26 to cost you some precious time, because I'm in a rush, baby. I can't stop to talk to right 45:31 now, but, no, my conscious is saying, "You stop and talk." 45:34 I'll miss the bus. I'll -- And, number three, it'll cost you more than time. 45:41 Two days' wages it cost the Samaritan. No, it's not convenient. 45:47 It was terribly inconvenient, by the way, when the capital-G Good Samaritan stepped 45:52 1,000 light-years out of his comfort zone. He was where everybody 45:58 loved him. Whenever they wrote a song, he was the hero of the song. 46:01 Whenever they wrote up -- made up a story, he would be the main guy in the plot. 46:05 He was everybody's beloved. But he steps out of that comfort zone to a dark planet 46:13 lost in something called the solar system -- jagged rocks, the human race 46:18 battered and bruised, ravaged by the adversary of all of God's Kingdom. 46:27 And he came down. He saw the need. He felt the need. 46:34 He moved into the -- plunged into the need. And he met the need. 46:37 He starts wrapping. He starts saying, "Get these filthy rags off, 46:40 off, off, filthy rags. Move -- Those wounds, heal those wounds. 46:44 Let me get those wounds. Let me get the wounds. Hey, hey, I got a robe 46:47 right here," spotless robe. His perfect life, his perfect righteousness. 46:51 He wraps it around our battered hearts, and now we're -- "Oh, this is great." 46:54 And then He finds for us a place of refuge and rest. He says, "You rest here for a 46:58 while. You're going to be fine. You're going to make it." 47:02 That's what He did. And, by the way, he says, "Before this is through, 47:05 I want you --" Hey, watch me now. And He went like this. 47:09 He said, "I want you to want you this," and they nailed Him. They nailed Him to a Roman 47:15 cross, and He died to redeem the entire human race, every neighbor 47:21 you will ever know, plus more. But before He left, He looked into faces of His 47:28 upturned followers, said, "Yo, I'm giving you a new commandment. 47:35 I want you to love one another as I have loved you. Love each other. 47:38 The whole world will know you're my people if you love this way." 47:43 Wow. Because when you become love on the move, it just keeps coming again 47:50 and again and again. It's not just once. It's just -- 47:54 You're love on the move now and you're making a difference everywhere you wander in the 48:00 human race, like the three people whose stories I want to share with you right now 48:05 as we put a wrap on this. Yep, they went to our website, downloaded -- 48:10 uploaded the story. I got the story now. I got a student here, 48:14 an anonymous man, and a young adult that was a student here. 48:20 Okay. Let me read the first one. This is the student one. 48:22 "When I came to Andrews University to study in the fall, I didn't know anybody. 48:28 I had briefly met two Andrews-associated people at a convention a few months 48:31 before, but to say I knew them would be a big stretch. So when I got here, 48:35 it took some time to figure out where I fit in. After a few weeks, a classmate 48:38 invited me to a Sabbath School class he was attending." You go, classmate. Well done. 48:44 "A couple months earlier, he'd been invited to this same Sabbath School 48:46 by a guy who saw him walking to campus and gave him a ride. The Sabbath School 48:50 sounded like a good one, so I decided to give it a try. It didn't take long for me 48:53 to see that this wasn't just any old Sabbath School. This was a community 48:59 of belonging that not only studied together, but they ate together, 49:02 played music together, socialized together, and served in the community together." 49:05 Sounds to me like a GROW group. "When a member had a crisis, the community rallied 49:10 around them." Here it comes. "When I injured my knee 49:13 early in the second semester, I started to spiral into depression." 49:18 Mental health, okay? "One person in particular from this Sabbath School class 49:22 made it her personal mission to regularly invite people over to eat and fellowship 49:27 with her and her husband. I was one of the people she invited, 49:30 and thanks to that invitation and many more to follow, I found a very close group 49:34 of friends here in this place where I had previously known no one. 49:38 They became my support system, and the downward spiral reversed in large part 49:43 because of this community that showed they cared. Invitations --" Yep. 49:49 "Invitations to Sabbath School, invitations to a home for a meal and fellowship -- 49:52 thanks to those invitations, I found a community of belonging and best friends." 49:59 Isn't that beautiful? >> Amen. >> We're not dealing 50:03 with rocket science here. "Hey, come over with us." That's all it took. 50:10 Wow. Okay. This is anonymous now. This is from a male. 50:14 "My wife and I were traveling south to be with family at Christmastime, 2018, 50:18 and after 10 hours on the road, we stopped around 11:00 at night at the hotel 50:22 where we had made reservations. So I went into the lobby to check in, 50:25 but I had to wait my turn because a father was talking to the desk clerk 50:29 while his young family stood off to the side. I couldn't help but overhear 50:33 the pleas of the father of Hispanic heritage asking if he could get a room 50:37 for the night with the only money he could offer, a $20 bill. 50:45 The clerk was sympathetic but said she was not authorized to deviate from the hotel's 50:50 policy requiring full payment at the lowest price they could offer, 50:53 which is more than five times what the man could pay. I was instantly impressed." 50:58 There's that little voice. You'll know. You'll know the moment. 51:03 "I was instantly impressed. 'Excuse me, but I can pay for the room for this family.' 51:10 The relief from the man and his wife was palpable as they accepted my offer of help 51:15 and went upstairs rejoicing with their two children. And I joyfully praised God 51:19 for his exquisite timing and for answering my daily prayer 51:22 to be filled by his spirit so that I could be a faithful ambassador for him." 51:27 You go. You just keep praying that daily prayer. 51:30 Beautiful. "After 10 hours of being on the move --" 51:34 Isn't this amazing? "He brought me to that place at the exact instant 51:38 I needed to be there to be love on the move for that family. What a God!" 51:43 Exclamation mark. Isn't that beautiful? What'd he do? He saw the need. 51:49 He felt the need. He moved into the need. He met the need. 51:56 Love on the move. Got one more. So, here is a student, who now is a young adult 52:01 working in the community. "When I heard the sermon today, I realized I'd been trying to do 52:05 this thing -- Really, I'd been doing this for a while, trying to show God's love 52:08 to my various co-workers." So, she lists her co-workers with only a letter. 52:15 First, "D" -- the letter "D" -- "whose fiancé is suffering from PTSD, 52:19 left her and took everything, including her car. She didn't even have any makeup 52:23 to her name, so I bought her some mascara. We had her to our house to share 52:27 Thanksgiving dinner with us. I shared with her how God loved her and how -- 52:30 And she now prays and believes in God but has moved to another job." 52:34 You go, girl. Oh, "And then came 'R,' who was struggling with poverty 52:40 and who had her children taken away and put into the foster system. 52:43 When she had a plumbing issue, my husband and a friend were able to fix it for her, 52:46 and when she said she had nothing to eat in the house, we dropped off 52:49 a bag of food essentials so that she'd have something to eat over the weekend. 52:52 She expressed an interest in coming to church. She came over to our house 52:55 for a meal once. She's moved on to other work, and I've lost touch with her." 53:01 It's okay. Then "K." "Oh, 'K' was going through a divorce 53:05 who had a terrible accident. She fell down a flight of stairs, fractured her skull. 53:09 She missed almost a month of work, and I set up a GoFundMe 53:12 which raised $2,000 to help her pay her bills while she couldn't work. 53:16 I still work with her and being a friend to her each day as we work together." 53:23 "Yeah, Dwight? And next?" No, there's nothing more. That's what she did. 53:28 Do you think love on the move has some sort of, like, the whole orchestra playing, 53:32 and all Heaven stands up and says, "Wow!" No, no, it's just you do 53:36 what you do. And she's got four of these, so there's one more. 53:40 "The latest one that God has brought into my path is 'P,' who shared with me 53:43 how when she divorced her extremely controlling ex-husband, he took everything 53:46 from her, including her car, because he insisted that everything be in his name, 53:49 so he got it. She has precious little and not really any family in her life. 53:53 We have prayed for her situation to improve, and it has. She now has two jobs and has got 53:57 more shifts at her other job. I'm down to only working with her one day a week 54:01 but hoping to have further chances to interact with her and show her God's love." 54:05 Now here comes the wrap. "We still pray for all these people 54:08 I've mentioned, even the ones I've lost touch with, and I know that God 54:11 brought all of them into my life so that I could try to show them God's love in the best way 54:15 I could." She saw the need, she felt the need, 54:18 she moved into that need, and she met the need. That's it. 54:24 And that's what every one of us is called to do. Every man, woman, and child 54:28 in this congregation, every Sabbath School division, every Sabbath School class is 54:32 called to be love on the move. Every elder, every deacon, every volunteer leader, 54:37 every Pathfinder, every Adventurer, everything we do, 54:40 every worship leader, every worship participant, everybody has been called 54:44 to be love on the move. It's our mission. I got to end with this. 54:54 Got this story from my friend, Frank Hasel, who is just ready to publish 55:02 his new book, "Living for God," which I had the privilege of reading in advance. 55:05 He sent me the manuscript. In the book, he tells the story of his boy, Daniel. 55:10 This is a great story, so let me just read his words. "When my youngest son, Daniel, 55:14 was a child, he played with his friends at Bogenhofen in Austria --" 55:16 so that's where Daniel and his family were -- "where I was a teacher 55:19 in the theology department. I also taught religion classes for international-language 55:24 students who wanted to learn or improve their German. Daniel's friends, therefore, 55:28 came from a wide variety of countries and spoke many different languages -- 55:31 Portuguese, French, Russian, English, German to name but a few." 55:34 Now here it is. 55:35 "One day, a mother, who spoke, fluently, 55:41 several languages introduced her children to little Daniel 55:44 and then asked him, 'Daniel, do you speak French?' 55:49 Daniel shook his head. 'Do you speak Italian?' 55:52 Daniel shook his head. 'Do you speak English?' 55:55 Again, Daniel shook his head. Then, as if she wanted 55:58 to build a bridge for Daniel, she asked him in German, 56:00 which is his mother tongue, 'Do you speak German?' 56:03 'No,' Daniel responded. 'No? 56:07 Nein?' "By this time, the lady seemed a 56:13 bit confused and flabbergasted. 'Well, Daniel, 56:16 what language do you speak?' To which the little boy 56:21 responded, 'I speak friendly.'" 56:30 "I speak friendly." Put it on the screen 56:34 so we won't forget that, please. Love on the move 56:38 is when you speak friendly. Jesus asked the question, 56:42 "Which one of these three were the neighbor?" 56:43 It was the one who spoke friendly, just like Jesus, 56:49 which, of course, is the whole point of it all. 56:53 So let's speak friendly together. 56:57 Amen. Before you go, let me take an 57:01 extra moment to share with you an opportunity to get into the 57:04 Bible in a fresh, new way. All across the world, 57:06 more and more people are hearing the call to examine scriptures 57:09 for themselves. If you felt drawn to learn more 57:12 about God's Word but you don't know where to 57:14 start or you're just looking for a more in-depth examination 57:17 of Bible truths, then I have something right here 57:20 that I believe you're going to enjoy. 57:22 I want to send a series of guides to get you started. 57:24 This one is entitled "Why Does God Allow Suffering?" 57:27 Each guide begins with a story, an introduction of the subject. 57:30 Then, through a series of focus questions, you'll be 57:32 learning portions of the Bible you may never have known before, 57:35 and when you're through, you'll be able to share 57:37 with others some of these inspiring Bible truths. 57:40 So just call our toll-free number. 57:41 It's on the screen. 877, the two words HIS-WILL. 57:45 Our friendly operators are standing by to send 57:47 these study guides to you. Once again, that's 877-HIS-WILL. 57:51 Call that number, and then, again, join me next week 57:56 right here at the same time, "New Perceptions." 58:01 ♪♪ |
Revised 2020-02-12