This Must Be The Place | Luke 2:8–18 | Pastor Levi Lusko

God cleans his fish after he catches them. See, you come to him as you are. And he loves you so much, he won't leave you that way. You come to him dirty, you come to him broken, you come to him poor, or you can't come to him at all.

If we're uh doing it right, we're going to find ourselves at some point in the Christmas season in Luke 2, which is where we're going to be at today. I have a different message for Christmas Eve, but Luke 2 is very familiar. Now there were in the same country, this is the night Jesus was born, shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid." One more of the 365 do not be afraid in the Bible. One for every day of the calendar year. >> I I bring you, he says, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.

If you underline things, underline this next phrase, which will be to all people. How many of the people is this joy for? This joy that's not just regular joy, but great joy, full of good tidings for all people. For there is born, and I love this, you can say this about yourself this Christmas.

There is born to you. Who's this present for, right? In my family, my my dad never could label presents, right? I can't tell you how many presents I opened in my life. And he's like, "Oh, it's not for you." And he would, you know, and then hand it to your sister.

Hand it to your brother. And then you get yours halfopen from your sister, right? He forgot to put his name the names on them till after he wrapped them. So he was he was sure it was so and so, right? It was just one of the funniest Christmas traditions in our family was opening a halfopen present when he realized, put the lid back on.

That's not for you. But there's no mistaking who Christmas is for. >> Come on, touch your own heart is to you. This gift, Jesus, God's gift to this world is to you. It's for you. There's born to you this day in the city of David. What a savior. a savior who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men."

So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." Can you believe we got to hear about this?

And they came, underline this next adjective, with haste. How'd they come? They came with haste. This is this is exciting. This is worth running for. And they found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. I know I'm going to get a text message from my editor later. She's I listen to this sermon. That wasn't an adjective. That was an adverb. I'd already heard her in my head, so that was an adverb.

They came quickly, right? Um, title of my message today is this must be the place. This must be the place. Have you ever wondered if you were in the right spot? You know, like I don't This says this is the address, but this doesn't look like it. It doesn't look right.

It doesn't feel right. Uh my wife and I had a meal with some friends in California a while back and we were asking another friend where we should go and he was telling us about this place you should eat at and we're like if we can get in and we did and and we were excited about that and he said but just so you know like try and play it cool it's a major Hollywood hot spot like you are without a doubt he goes I've never been there and not seen like an A-list celebrity so I was like everybody we got to just keep our composure you know the whole meal I was so disappointed saw nobody nobody not even like Hallmark dark movie famous, you know what I'm saying?

Like I was like at this point I would settle for someone from the commercial, you know, like just like just kind of like keep it keep it cool but look around a little bit. Nothing. Nothing. Very disappointing. So we load up and we had a great meal. We loaded up in the in the Uber to leave.

And and right when we got on the Uber, I asked I asked someone. I said, "How long is the drive?" And they said, "It's like half an hour, right?" In in LA, it was it was a mile, by the way, one mile, but it it was going to be half an hour.

I I said, "I can't my bladder can't do it. I'm so sorry." So, I just get out of the Uber, still in front of the restaurant, and I go back in the restaurant to go to the bathroom. And it was one of the bathrooms where it's just one door situation.

I open the door. I b There's someone in there going to the bathroom. They didn't he didn't lock the door. He turns around, looks at me. It was Danny Tjo. I don't know if you know who that is. It's this cat, right? This is This is who I who I burst in on right here.

Okay. This is not someone you want to trifle with. All right. He looks over at me. If looks could kill you guys. Now I'm a child of the 80s. So I thought Conair. He's been in a lot of movies. He's been in a lot of films. But I'm thinking Conair, right?

And so I'm like so stupid. He said, "No, no, you're good. You're good." So I'm like, "No, no." So then he he washes his hands. He comes out and I say, "I am so sorry." He says, "It's it's fine. It's fine." So then I go in, I use the restroom and uh and and when I come out, he's standing menacingly at the door. said, "I'm I'm I said I was sorry.

Please don't kill me." And he says, "No, I I left my cane inside." And sure enough, there was a cane hanging from the the back of the door. And so, oh, here you go. Hand it to him. And I said, "By the way, love your work." He says, "Really?

What? What do you like?" I said, "Well, Conair comes to mind." He goes, "Oh, Conair." He said, "You should you should he wanted to talk. He said, "You should see when I fly the reaction to pilots and you know, flight attendants." And I said, "I bet." I said, "I also love in Breaking Bad how they attached your head to a turtle.

That was really great." And he goes, "Oh." So we we chatted for a while. Then I he I said, "I got to go." I remembered my wife and my friends in the Uber out front and he said, "I I was at some he was I was at dinner with some friends."

I said, "Oh, that's amazing. I got I got to go." And and he was so chatty. He was like as I walk away still. And then I I walked and I slam I'm not joking. I slam right into Alpuccino like like fullon hockey check the godfather now. He looked disheveled and was not nearly as friendly as Danny Tjo.

So I I didn't even say anything. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Mr. Pacino. And I walk out to the car. As I open the door to the Uber, I look over and standing at the curb waiting for his car to pull is Samuel L. Jackson. actual Nick Fury is there.

Okay. So, I I I try not to stare. I get in the Uber and I say to my friend Sean Johnson and Earl Mlen, also in the car with their wives. I say, "Guys, Samuel Earl Jackson is right." And so, so they they they're all trying not to look.

So, what Earl does, this is great as a classic move. He pretends like the door window is broken and he just raises it and lowers it over and over again. and he acts like he can't figure out why it keeps going up and down. But every time it goes up and down, we're able to get just a little just a little glimpse of glimpse of greatness, right?

Everyone say, "This must be the place." As we come to the Christmas story and we think about the kingdom of God. Of course, we're in a series of messages called This is the Kingdom. Uh it is notably strange who got invited first to the Christmas party because I know in our day we've become so desensitized by repetition that we don't even flinch, right?

If the shepherds aren't there in the play, if the if the wise men show up and the angels show up, but there's no shepherds, we're like, "Wait a minute. Where's the pastoral scene?" We love the charming, quaint country vibe the the the shepherds bring to the story. But you have to understand when the gospels were first being written and and they were writing it down and people were reading that the shepherds got invited to the party, nobody was going, "Oh, that's so that's so lovely.

I just love the agricultural vibe. It's like a trip to Murdoch. This is this is great." You know, it's like this is this is fant. No, they were they were like, "Wait, what?" And not only did they stumble, it's not like they stumbled into it. They were sought out.

God sent an angel and then then angels to make sure specifically, listen to me, they were the first to be included. Why is that so bizarre? Here's why it's so bizarre. In that day, shepherds couldn't testify in court. Their opinion was discounted. And you have to remember something about our God.

He always selects what people reject. Yeah, >> he always includes what what others will exclude. And so shepherds who, you know, trying to come up with a a modern parallel without insulting or or or hurting people, right? But you you you you read various things in commentaries like this is the person working the the counter at a 7-Eleven in an inner city, you know, gas station at at 3 in the morning, right?

On a holiday, right? This is this this is not a job that you would end up with that you were as a child dreaming of, right? I always wanted to be uh you know a trash collector in in in in a slum. I mean there's this there there are jobs that you just you get stuck with and in that day that was what it was like to be a shepherd.

Now, of course, that also then helps you understand and realize, you know, that David, the one who Jesus is uh going to be an ancestor of, was was was cast aside to do the shephering while all of his brothers got to go to war. In their day, shepherds were not only uh not allowed to testify in court, they were also considered religiously, ceremonially defiled.

So, they couldn't go to worship. could literally not even if they wanted to go into the temple and be a part of the ritual of the sheep being offered that they themselves raised. Their only part in the religious life of the nation without going through a cumbersome ritual of purification was to be the one raising the animals that everybody else got to bring when their sins were being atoned for.

And then of course because they lived outside they also would be considered physically dirty. So this is not someone who would be on anyone's guest list much less the first to be invited to the party. And yet when you understand how the kingdom of God works and you see the shepherds there that should make you feel like this actually must be the place.

This is exactly how God wants it to go. And so off they go looking for the newborn king. Hello, the newborn king who gets announced with an angel entourage. And yet what where do they find him? They find him not in a palace. They find him not in a temple.

They find him in what would be today the equivalent to a barn, literally lying in a feeding manger, dressed in rags being held by peasants. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is no anomaly. This is the kingdom. >> Scandalous, shocking, and listen, upside down. We've said over and over over throughout this series that Jesus's kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world.

That's why he so often has to say throughout the biatitudes and throughout the sermon on the mount, you have heard it said, but I say. I know how it works in this world, but here's how it's going to work in my kingdom. And I want to take you now to a dinner party where this is on display in a powerful way.

What we see in the shepherds is is going to be articulated and formalized through one of the teachings of Jesus about his kingdom. It took place at a meal. It says in Luke chapter 14, if you just want to turn a few pages to the right, it says, "Now when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, how he talked about the kingdom, he said to him, well, blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."

He lifted his glass and said, "Here's to the kingdom of God. Isn't it going to be great when we all get there, fellas?" And Jesus said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many." And he sent his servants at supper time to say to all those who were invited, "Come, for all things are now ready."

But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, "I can't come because I have bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused." Another said,"I have bought five yolk of oxen and I'm going to test them.

I ask you to have me excused." Because we all know the time to test drive a vehicle or do all the due diligence on property is after you've closed on it. And then the third one is maybe the worst. I can't come because I married a wife so I can't come.

Everybody knows women hate parties, right? Hate dressing up. >> Wow. >> So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor." and the maimed and the lame and the blind.

He said, "Go get all the shepherds." And the servant said, "Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room." Then the master said to the servant, "Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled." It's 5:00 somewhere.

He says, "Go find some people to get in here. They'll do nothing. They'll receive everything for it. For I say to you that none of those men that were originally invited shall taste my supper." Now, for context, Jesus here is at dinner at the home of a Pharisee.

And the Pharisee invited all the who's who, all the VIPs, all the bigwigs. They were all sitting around the table also. And what Jesus is doing is he's revealing the reversal of order. That's how his kingdom operates. That's the exact opposite of how the world operates. Because in his kingdom, it's it's the first who are last.

It's the last who are first. that many are called but few are chosen. That greatness is serving. That holding on to your life is how you lose it. That laying down is how you have it. That giving, not hoarding, is the key to receiving. Go figure that out.

I I give yet I have more than I need. I hold on to it yet I find that my my money goes into a bag that has holes in it. And while he sits here at feast, and it's I do love, by the way, because we always talk about and make a big point of addressing when Jesus goes to the home of a sinner.

But did you know that he's also willing to go to the home of a Pharisee? I love that when a Pharisee would approach him with purity and sincerity like Nicodemus and ask him to have a meal with him, he was willing to eat with with with the Pharisee as well.

But the shocking scandalous nature of the kingdom is who's left outside of it. and who's celebrated on the inside of it at the end of the day. And it's not always what you think it would be because remember the parable of the prodical son ends with the good son outside the house and the sinful son on the inside of the house.

And Jesus said often times it's going to be what's going to blow our minds about heaven is who's not there that we were sure we're going to be there and who's there that we said would never able be able to be there. Don't forget the king. This is the kingdom.

He said, "Tax collectors and prophet uh tax collectors and prostitutes are going to sit at the head table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob while religious leaders who prided themselves on their holiness are left outside where there's weeping and nashing of teeth." And at this meal, he's been teaching in this manner.

And at one point, one of the Pharisees lifted up his glass and and said, "Isn't it going to be so great in heaven? Isn't heaven going to be so awesome when all of us are there?" He he was saying to them, "Isn't Isn't it going to be rad to be in in in in the holy place with the man upstairs?"

And Jesus told this story to reveal that not everything is what they think it's going to be. Because push, when push came to shove, many of these people who prided themselves on how religious they were, actually loved money, loved power, and the praise of people, and didn't think they actually needed God's grace because they thought they were good enough on their own.

And so, what Jesus is trying to show them is the way that our towers that reach to the heavens are actually the tower of Babel that get pulled down. And those who know that they are the shepherds, who know that they don't deserve it, who know that only by the grace of God can any of us actually get in are the ones who will end up at the head table.

So there's a few things I would love to just pull out and extract from this this passage or these passages from the shepherds there invited as VIPs and and hear Jesus teaching helping us understand why. And the first is jot this down. The kingdom of God is a feast, not a funeral.

I just love that it's a party. I love I love that it's a party because I believe that church and and God's kingdom, it should be enjoyed and not endured. Some of us grew up, you're not supposed to have fun. This is church, right? That's not how it's supposed to be.

You see the shepherds ecstatic with joy to come and see the newborn king. You see the people here as Jesus describes it. It's a it's a feast. It's a party. It's he would talk about the kingdom of God as a wedding where the wine never runs dry. Where the laughter happens until you cry.

This is what God's kingdom is meant to be. Full of joy, abundant life. Yes, we're exhausted because we're giving it our all to serve him. But we're serving the Lord with gladness, not a a crushing, grudging sense of obligation. Well, I guess I got to do. Well, I guess I got to give.

You know, you're supposed to. And we have this this idea that that sin's where all the fun is in God's kingdom. We should do it because if we don't, we're going to be in big trouble. And no one wants to go to the place of H double hockey sticks, right?

But but even though it's lame and and boring and worse, we have to just this this this this is what we're supposed to pretend is actually fun. And it's the exact opposite. That fullness of life, eternal life, abundant life, true life on the outside, on the inside, peace and wholeness without regret, without shame, without condemnation.

That's where we find uh these things is in the kingdom of God. And there's nothing so fulfilling as living a life of mission. It's been well said that the two most important days of your life are number one, the day that you were born and two, the day that you figured out why.

And to wake up every day aware that there is meaning, there is purpose, there's there's satisfaction, there's life to be found in the name of Jesus. And then to to live a life where yeah, we get to enjoy the blessings of God in this earth that we live in, but we're not holding on to them as our identity.

If your job is what gives you meaning, if your money is what gives you meaning, if your sex appeal, if if last night's party, if that's what life's all about, listen to me, we're all moving towards a moment where we're saying goodbye to all those things, right? We can't stay on this earth.

We can't live forever on this life. And so to have death pry these things that were your identity from you, to have age pull them from you is to inevitably give into despair. And yet in the kingdom of God, we get to enjoy this life but not be defined by it.

And we're moving towards our true home, which is heaven. And so nothing what what can any of these the things that come against us in this world actually do us? They can't kill us. They can't take our life from us. They can only make us stronger. And to to leave this world is to head to our true home and not leave what we mistakenly made our home even though it's temporary and fleeting.

So the kingdom of God, it's to be viewed as a feast, not a funeral. It's to be enjoyed, not endured. And then secondly, not everyone will be willing, but everybody is welcome. Not everyone's going to be willing. This story tells us that very clearly. None of those men who are invited shall taste my supper.

There will be people in hell. But God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. Some people talk about like well you can't make me believe preacher you know like all hostile. Why you why you got to be so hostile.

I wouldn't try to make you believe. All I'm trying to do is tell you where I found eternal life. >> To tell you where I found joy to to tell you where I found forgiveness of sins. to tell you where I found hope like an anchor that can hold us up in the storms of this world.

No one can make you believe. And believe it or not, God won't even violate that. He's given you that honor, that choice, that power of free will. You can go to hell if you want to. You'll have to practically crawl over the cross of Jesus Christ to get there, which God planted in your path on the way to destruction.

God's waving his arm saying, "I don't delight in the death of the wicked. Be converted. Be saved. Be set free." He's saying, "Be born again. I've taken everything out of the way necessary for you to be saved. But you must choose to come to the living water and drink.

And no one can make that choice for you. Your parents who prayed for you, your grandparents who beg God for you, your husband or wife, your children who are interceding before the throne for you. No one, no one can make that choice. The tickets to heaven, they admit just one.

Not everyone will be willing, but everybody is welcome at this table. >> There is in my father's house, Jesus said, "Many mansions. I've gone to prepare a place for you." There's room for you. There might not be room for you on the nice list, but there's room for you in heaven.

All right. All right. Number three, jot this down. This text teaches us that you can miss out by being bad or just by being busy. You'll notice that the men who ended up not in heaven, the men who ended up not at the table, it it didn't say that they were shooting up heroin.

You know what I'm saying? Like it's not like, well, yeah, these women didn't come, but they were also, you know, like just downloading porn. You know, it's like, no, it just says I'm I'm going to get around to it. And you have to understand something about the mechanics of how party invitations went out in that day. where we would send an invitation and you would RSVP yes or no and then just simply come is different from this culture.

There was two rounds of invitations. The first round would go you're invited. Are you coming? They would say yes. Then the second invitation would come when it would say it's actually ready now. Here's the day. Here's when it's coming. So please do come now. So the insinuation here is that everybody who's getting the invitation in the parable it had actually already said yes I'm coming.

And now the invitation is, "Okay, let's now now here's when it's actually happening. Please come." And they go, "Oh, that's a problem. I I wanted to, but as it turns out, right, I bought a field. Now I got to go walk around and make sure it's good field that I bought."

And if you don't like it, what are you going to do? You can't get a refund on it, right? You already bought it, right? So, they're all making excuses. Here's what they're saying. My my business means more to me at the end of the day when push comes to shove.

My relationships uh matter more to me at the end of the day, God. and my possessions. These actually now that I now that I actually count the cost, I realize I I'm going to hold on to some of these things. I'm not giving you I'm not willing to give you everything.

Again, they're they're not bad. They're just busy. And the devil doesn't quite care whichever one you fall into because both of these can keep you back from the kingdom of God. Yes, prodical living, partying, the whole, you know, eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. That can keep, to be clear, can keep you back from God's kingdom.

But so can other things that just mean more to you than God. That's why Jesus said, "You cannot come to me unless you hate father, mother, sister, brother, your wife, your parent. You cannot come to me unless you unless you hate everything compared to me." Now, he's not saying, because that feels very off-brand for Jesus, right?

Every time I quote that verse, I I can feel your response. You're like, "That's not my Jesus." Well, it is. It is Jesus. >> He's saying you have to love me so supremely that every other love in your life looks like hate compared to me. that you are willing to say, "I I turn back from everything to follow you, Jesus.

Though none go with me, still I will follow." And these people at the end of the day, their their car, their job, their spouse actually meant more functionally to them than following Jesus and counting the cost. And so they were not willing to come. And you can miss out on heaven by being bad or by being busy.

Number four, self-mping is the prerequisite for entrance. How does the kingdom of God work? It's not like you think because you you'll invite people to church, you'll hear it all here. You should come to church and they'll go, "Oh, if I went that plate, the roof would fall in on me."

And my response is always, "Well, it hasn't fallen in on me yet." You know, right? Not not yet. But but you have to understand that insinuates that you have to clean yourself up and then you can come to God. It's the exact opposite. I've always said it like this.

God cleans his fish after he catches them. See, you come to him as you are. And he loves you so much, he won't leave you that way. You come to him dirty. You come to him broken. You come to him poor. Or you can't come to him at all.

The prerequisite for entrance is selfmping. You'll notice the text says it's a feast, not a potluck. It's not like you bring your casserole to God and he's like, "Oo, that looks tasty. You can come in." Right? He he he you come in empty-handed. You say, "Nothing in my hand I bring.

Simply to thy cross I cling. I'm coming to you poor. I'm coming to you naked. I'm coming to you destitute." If you think you're a 6 a.m. hire and you've worked all day, that then you'll always feel like God should be in your debt. And when your life falls into pain, you'll be confused.

Why would this happen with all I've done? Where is God? Right? But when you come to him knowing I don't deserve it, it was 5:00. He brought me in and then the whistle blew simultaneously and I got into work and he goes, "All right, it's over. Let's go into the house."

You're just like, "Well, this is a great deal. I like this place, right? That's salvation. That's the gospel. That's Christmas." And it's Listen, you can clap for it, but it's offensive. >> It's off. That's why the Bible says the gospel is offensive because you it's it's a lovely thought to clap for it, but what it's saying is you can't save yourself.

It's saying poor unfortunate souls, right? Too bad. You you cannot you there's nothing you can do. And our nature loves to do something. We love to be the hero. You're not the hero. Jesus is the hero. You were so screwed. He had to send Jesus. That's the gospel, right?

You had no you you were so messed up. It took the son of God coming as a baby and then dying on the cross. That was the only way you could get into heaven and out of hell. You realize that it's not Christmas is not a compliment. He's not saying, "You're so great.

I'm going to send my son down there to get brutally murdered." He's saying, "This is the only way." That's how messed up you are. And he can satisfy the wrath of God that would be poured out on each of us had it not been poured out on Jesus on the cross.

And only us self-MPing, laying down our pride, laying because we love to be that Pharisee. Oh Lord, I fast three times a week. I pray four times a day. I give alms to the poor. Right? We love to be that guy. And we think God's like, Gabriel, put a gold star on her chart.

She's so good. She didn't say any bad words this week. You know, like, but that when you empty yourself of all accomplishments, when you empty yourself of all that you think that should give you status in God's eyes, and you you are hardly able to even raise your eyes to heaven, but you beat your breast like the tax collector who said, "God, would you please show me mercy cuz I'm just a sinner."

And God says, "Come on into my house. Come on into my house. There's room for shepherds at the table." So, what I'm saying is we're recruiting for a Christmas play and all the spots are shepherds. That's it. None of none of us are married. None of us are Joseph.

None of us are even wise men. We're just shepherds. We're just unclean. We're we're unwanted, right? And we're loved. Fiercely loved by Jesus who says, "Come on in. There's always room for one more shepherd. If you're willing to self-mp, I'm willing to bring you to dad's party." And that's Christmas.

All right. So, what do what do we see if we're going to let Jesus cook, right? You got to let him cook. That's what they say. If we're going to let him cook, what are the ingredients he loves to cook with? There are three ingredients as I see it that God loves to cook with.

They are humility, hospitality, and holy urgency. Now, humility, I get hospitality in our homes and lives should be an extension of kingdom hospitality, right? But what do I mean by holy urgency? I fear, and there's pendulums that swing back and forth. I fear in Christianity, in the church today, there has been an unnecessary casting aside as something not to be sought after anything to do with hustle or hurry, right?

Hustle and hurry have been just like the bad. Right? Now, to be clear, the enemy can work through a life that's just so busy, where you're frantic, where you're doing so much, where you're distracted, right? and and that's not what we're praising here. But but to altogether say hurry is bad and and hustle is bad to take those sorts of elements of like let's let's get after it.

Let's have some grit. Let's go for it. Let's have some drive, right? Let's let's actually let's let's is the kingdom of God is worth burning the candle a little bit. Right? You see what I'm saying? I'm going to give my life for. I'm going to give my all for.

This is worth building, right? And and and to kind of like thumb your nose at those sorts of things. Just do not to me square with shepherds who saw something that blew them away and what? Sauntered off at a leisure pace. No, it says they made haste to spread widely to everybody what they had seen and heard.

And everybody who heard the shepherds talking, their hearts were moved and they marveled because of what the shepherd said. They made haste. What is making haste? It's holy urgency. It's some pep in your step, right? I I think about how the the Bible says that there's still room.

There's still room at the table, right? Is we got all the poor, we got all the lame, we got all the sick, we got all the wounded. All right, there's still room. Make haste. Highways, you byways, you we got to go. There's still room in my house, right?

What does that mean? There's some urgency to it. So, this liy dah, you know, kind of approach to God. Let's just let's not let's not be so excited. I just I need more me time. I I don't know. I just feeling a little burnt out right here. I just to me that doesn't square with Jesus who said night is coming when no one can work. >> Night is coming when no one can work.

Right? Think about the disciples after Jesus had ascended to heaven and they're just gazing into the you know stars like almost like treating like the calling like it was just this big monastery. Let's just go and be in a monastery and just reflect and think and feel and and the angels were like hey guys what are you doing?

Oh, we're just looking in, you know, and he's like, they're like, uh, he's coming back. Don't you have a great commission to accomplish? Don't you have a world to reach? Well, I'm making a case for kingdom urgency. I'm making a case for some holy hurry. I'm making a case for let's get after it.

We got a world to reach. We got a gospel to preach. We got we got we got we got lives to touch. Let's it's it's worthy of being tired for. There's something to be said for giving it our all six days a week. And then yes, take a day of rest.

But I think there's almost like a weird flipping of it where Sabbath becomes like the six days a week. And maybe maybe I can if I if it's if it just works out just right, give a little bit of one day a week to God. But God wants us to be giving our all that his house, hello, may be filled.

Are you hearing me? Preach a Christmas case for urgency today. Not frantic, but faithful >> as though we were going to we're going to give an account. And so we're prioritizing fruitful. Okay? Not frantic, but faithful and hopefully fruitful. That when we stand before him, he'll he'll say, "Good, well done, my good and faithful servant."

He gave us one commission and it was great. >> Only one commission. Go to the whole world, preach the gospel to every creature. So that's worthy of getting our heart rate above zone two a little bit, right? to get the news out >> to give it all for him.

This is not this is not being received. Well, I can tell I can tell you it's not the one you wanted. You wanted just, you know, oh yes, it's very good and and all that. And I'm like, cattle prod time. Get after it. But that's how God gave it to me.

So, I'm going to give it to you whether you like it or not. All right. All right. So, where are our application steps going to be? If those are the ingredients he likes, then we're going to have some application. All right. So, for humility, our application is go low.

If humility matters, we're not going to pick the high seats. Jesus will tell that in Luke 14. We're going to pick the low seat. We're going to let God uh give us recognition. That's not our our goal. We're just going to be faithful and we're going to go low and I I just merely did what you said.

I'm willing to do whatever needs to be done, right? Nothing. I always say to our team, nothing that we do is not my job. So, if I see a need, I'm going to I'm willing to do it. I'm willing to do anything. I don't need some position. and I'm willing to do what God wants me to do.

I'm going to go low. Then for hospitality, I'm going to aim high. Right? If if church is a reflection of the kingdom of God, that I'm going to I'm going to aim high that the details will be done well with excellence and creativity and and the intentionality that everybody coming in and experiencing the ministry in our lives would feel like, man, you really this you really thought this out.

This doesn't feel like you just, you know, winged it and bought me a gift card. You know what I'm saying? Like you you you really put some thought and some care into this. not in not even just what what gift it is, but how it's wrapped, how it's presented, that the way I live and and and and and respond as a reflection of worship to God in my day-to-day lives to be kingdom hospitality agents would just feel just man, you thought through every deal.

I'm going to aim high. That's what that's the church I see that we would be a reflection of the kingdom of God, which is like an an incredible wedding feast where the table is set. It's not, you know, Big Macs on paper plates, right? I'm saying we want to be Ruth Chris a little bit here. is what I'm trying to say.

And then uh for holy urgency, we're going to go big. We're going to think big rather. We're going to we're going to aim high. We're going to go low. We're going to think big. Meaning it's not like I said a small commission. So we're going to ask the question, who have I proximity to that I haven't cashed in on that to either get them to church or to share the gospel with or to share my story with?

And we're gonna Well, what if they don't want to come? Well, that's okay. They can say that. But I'm going to keep asking. I'm going to keep inviting because listen to me. Christmas Eve and the next week and the next. I want the house to be full. I want people to hear.

I want people to know. I'm going to not think small. I'm gonna think big. I want God to touch this world. I want to end with a story I really could have began with because it's the origin story of this series. This message series has been called This is the kingdom.

And I'm going to tell you the day God gave it to me. I was in Nauvoo, Alabama and my family and I along with a few others who are a part of our podcast uh family, the the Lusketeers we call them. Our podcast is called Hey Celelescos and then we have people who listen uh and we invited them to come on a mission trip with us and then some people from the the church community as well, Fresh Life came as well.

And um we were serving at a camp for families with special needs called Hope Heels. Uh people in the Hope Hills community um might have a child with Down syndrome or a parent uh with with with some sort of maybe a stroke that has left them unable to walk or or move.

Uh it's it's it's it's heartbreaking the the reality dayto-day and and yet a hope heals. Um they want to make an environment where in a world where they feel excluded like they live in a world that's not built for them in many ways in this community they're included and and everybody uh is carrying some sort of of of thing that holds them back.

And it's the only camp of its kind because it's completely free. Nobody's allowed to pay a cent to come and be a camper for a week at Hope Heels. Um, and of course there are massive costs to doing that, right? The gospel is free. It cost Jesus everything. >> Church is free and yet there's an there's a cost to it all, right?

Um, the whole experience is free and yet it takes resources. And so it requires people believing in it who are willing to say, "Hey, put that on my bill. >> Put that on my bill." And so we as a church community this past summer, you guys may may not even be be aware of this if you give here.

We paid for 13 families to be a part of the Hope Hills experience this year. And you did that every cost necessary for 13 families to come for a week and be treated like kings. And the whole thing ends, it was one of the most touching things I've ever experienced in my entire life.

The whole thing ends with a dance party and they call it their Luke 14 banquet where maimed and wounded shepherds get celebrated like VIPs and then they they have a dance off at the end. And I just I took one little clip I wanted to show you because this is literally you're going to meet these people in heaven and they're going to want to thank you for what they experienced there.

Check this out. We can't show the music. Listen listen to the music cuz we'd get sued. the uh the conga line joy and celebration. And after we feast and and dance, everyone comes in and this text that we just focus on gets read. And it was so full in the chapel that not everyone could sit in chairs.

And I was sitting off to the side and I was watching and a a part of our church uh a man of our from our church, he attends in the Whitefish location. His name is Josh Drace. Uh who was assigned for the week to be a CC, which a CC is a compassionate what is it? >> Companion.

Compassionate companion. He was assigned to this little boy named Otto. All week long, Josh was Otto's compassionate uh companion. And I'm just meant he was with him from sun up to sun down so his parents could have a little bit of a break and enjoy the camp programming themselves.

And I was the pastor preaching to the the the the parents of the campers. And uh I was watching Josh and Otto and and I and I have a photo I snapped because it took my breath away because I know a little bit about Josh. I know he graduated from the University of Georgia.

He's got a degree in international finance with a minor in Mandarin Chinese. Uh so if he ever invites you to Chinese, go with him. He'll know what to order. um he works for Nissan remotely and literally, you know, is a part of our church, but is able to work for this this major company in the world and and and he took vacation time to sit on his knees.

That's not comfortable. And to be Otto's friend all week long. And when I took this photo, I heard God's whisper to me and he said, "This is the kingdom." Because the world is awed by celebrities. What movies have you what what is what what what are you what have you done in this world?

But heaven thunderously applauses for exactly this kind of greatness. And this is what God is calling us to, inviting us to step into each day, each moment. And Josh becomes in this moment a a picture of Jesus who was willing, though he lived in heaven in the highest heavens to come down and suffer, to come down and and and take on our sin, to take on our pain, to take on our shame.

Now, I want to close here with this. You might look at yourself when you think about a great commission, the world being reached. And you go, "Who am I? I'm so ordinary. I'm so normal. I feel so calm." Because you don't see what God sees. The world looks at the outward appearance.

But what does God look at? He looks at the heart. Do you have a heart that would say, "I want to serve you, God. I want to do something for you, God." And God says, listen to me. God says, "Let's go." God says, "Let's go." So, so, so, so where you might be looking at yourself going, "How could God use me?"

God's going, "This must be the place." I love to use calm and I I love to use ordinary. I also recognize that for some of you, the thought, the very thought of of of serving God in some way feels foreign or even baffling to you because you're hurting so badly today.

And you go, I'm barely I'm barely keeping it together myself. I'm barely just keeping the lights on my myself. I'm hurting so bad. I I can't even think about serving someone else. And and I I think back to that photo of Otto. Otto's parents serve at Hope Heels.

Many people come in as campers, but end up serving there, end up even on staff there, right? They come in just needing to receive, but then eventually they're like, I want to do something for someone else, right? I think about that's the kingdom of God that that even when we're hurting, God can minister to the places of our lives that are that are in pain.

And then weirdly, we become even more qualified to serve God because of our pain. So if you've got a spot in your heart that is on fire today, I say to you, this must be the place where God wants to work, right where you're at your weakest, where you admit you're maimed, you're wounded, you're a shepherd in need, and then he he floods him with his power.

He floods him with his peace. He floods him with his healing and comforts you that you might be able to comfort others. And the world is full of other hurting people. Someone said, "Well, that if you can be good at ministering to people in pain, you will never be without opportunity in this world."

And so this, I pray, would always be what we would prioritize and seek out and and and and see as valuable. that we would be putting these things together in our lives and God would say this must be the place. Now what if as you look at your life you see just common and ordinary.

I would say that you see exactly what God loves to champion, what God loves to use. The world looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. And if your life today is full of pain, if you would say, I would I would think about serving.

I would think about reaching out, but I'm just keeping it barely keeping it together here, Levi. And I would say to you that you are perfectly and uniquely positioned to watch God work in your life this Christmas. Because remember in an upside down kingdom, blessed is the poor in spirit.

Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst. Blessed are those who are reviled and forgotten and excluded and not included. For theirs is the kingdom of God. For they shall see God. For they shall be comforted. for they shall be filled. And so if you're tempted to sort of even push back on Christmas, I I welcome you to push back on the saccharine artificial marketing aspects of it all day long.

But don't push past Christmas on the basis of pain and darkness and death and dread in your life and dis disability and difficulty. That perfectly positions you this Christmas to experience the wonder and the power of almighty God who condescended and came down and his death was surrounded by his life was was surrounded by death.

Prophecy said wailing and mourning and sorrow would would break out and indeed there were children who were slaughtered as Jesus came. Kings tried to hold on to their thrones but the darkness can't prevail against the light. I find it uniquely significant that today as I preach this message to you, we sit in the darkest, shortest day of the year.

But starting tomorrow, it gets a little bit lighter. Starting tomorrow, it gets a little bit brighter. Not all at once. A little bit at a time, a little bit at a time. And let me tell you, if your life is hurting today, it's time to shine some light. >> And it can get a little brighter.

Not in a day, but daily. Day by day, you'll watch God begin to move. And as you choose to accept that he's going to use you in the midst of your pain, you will watch God do more through your life than you ever could imagine or think or ask.

So, what we're going to do is we're going to sing a song. And if there's grief in your heart today, I'm I specifically feel called to include someone who who it's hard for you to celebrate because of an empty seat at your Christmas table. someone who died, someone who's not there, someone who abandoned you.

And for you, that makes you feel like you're excluded from Christmas. And what we're gonna ask you to do as we sing this next song, and if you're watching at church online, you can go find a candle and some matches in your house somewhere. But for those in our locations, we're going to give you space to come up to and light a candle at one of these places that are an altar to meet with God.

And as you light this candle, you're saying, "This person's not here anymore, but God, I remember them. There's space for them in my heart this Christmas." And God, I give you this pain. I give you this loss. And as you do that, shining that light, it will overcome darkness.

And you will watch God. This is a this can be a victory moment for you. We talked to a man once at a moment just like this. And he said that his mom had been murdered on Christmas Day. And he hadn't been able to celebrate since. And his act of hopefilled defiance in lighting this candle and choosing to to light a Christmas light as a beacon of hope and trust and surrender was his way of saying, "God, invade these associations that I only connect to hard loss and pain.

And I choose to light a candle. I choose to light a I love that lights go up on homes in the darkest time of the year. They wouldn't hit the same in July, right? It's because of darkness that light means so much." You watch as you light this candle as a declaration of I believe you anyway.

You can watch what is the most painful over association in your life become one filled with hope one layer at a time. And I'm living proof of that. Yesterday was 13 years for us from when Linda went home to be with Jesus 5 days before Christmas. That next year the decision to put lights on the house and go in and all any of it was really nauseating and really difficult.

But we've come to a place where we love the light. We love it because it doesn't just remind us of what we lost. It reminds us of what we can't lose. And I dare you to to take that step even if you're trembling. So as you come to one of these stations to light this candle, the rest of us are going to be praying for you.

And if you need someone to your left or right to come with you, ask them to come with you. They can be strong where you're weak. And then I'll come and pray for us in just a moment. But God, do what only you can do in our hearts as we shine this light that turns off the dark.

We pray in Jesus name. You come light a candle. Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright. Your virgin mother and child. Holy inant so tender in mind. Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace. Silent night, holy night, shepher way of the sun. Glory stream from heaven.

Let me host sing hallelujah. Christ the Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born. Silent Night. Holy night. Son of God, loves pure light rain and beams from thy holy face with a dawn of redeeing grace. Jesus Lord at thy birth. Jesus Lord at thy birth. Silent night, holy night.

All is called, all is bright. Crown your virgin mother child. Holy inant so tender and wine. Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace. God, we thank you that we are not left alone in our pain and our confusion. That you see, you are the God who sees.

You've seen all of our wanderings. You've seen all of our tears. You see all of our struggle, God. And you know and see what parts of our hearts that hurt today, that are grieving today, that are confused today. And thank you that you can relate to us in all of our pain.

You became human like we are. You experienced grief. You experienced betrayal. You experienced loss and and loneliness. And so, God, we look to you and have a place. We're so grateful to have a place to bring that pain, God. I know the enemy wants us to turn us against you, to turn us against you because of how we've suffered, but those same things can bring us to you.

Thank you that the feelings of grief, God, in time can even be a gift because of the way we're connected to our loved ones, not just by their presence, but even then by our absence. So, we don't have to be afraid to heal. And I pray for that spirit over your sons and daughters today.

God, I thank you that you're preparing us by entering in through the door of lament for true Christmas joy. And I know that joy will be even more full if the house is filled. God, thank you that we get a broadcast into prisons today where people who feel set aside and forgotten and neglected and and outcast by society at large get to be seen by your people as worth communicating the gospel to, worth communicating the love of God to, that you have a plan for them, God.

Thank you that no one is excluded. And and God, I pray in the coming days that you would open up our eyes to see who in our life we can invite to come to see that we would go and tell and not just selfishly experience your goodness, but do what we can to to get people into the house so that it may be filled.

You want your house filled. God, help us to beep for what you want for as well. If you're in on that, if you'd say, "Man, I want to be a part of that with humility and hospitality and holy urgency." Could you just raise up a hand up? Raise up a hand.

Raise up a hand. Raise up a hand. Thank you, God. Bless us, God, as we go. Bless us as we tell. Anoint us and commission us, God, to be bringers, we pray. You can put your hand down. We want to now invite anybody who's come into the house today and you've never given your heart to Jesus.

The Bible says that Christ was willing to die for you, to rise from the dead for you. As he stands at the door of your heart, you must open the door to let him in, confessing your sins, putting your faith in his hands, and then you can have the promise, listen to me, of eternal life.

But as I said, the promise is not for tomorrow. It's for this day. And life which is a vapor is passing by. And so to not be in Christ, to not have him in your heart, is to be outside of life. So I want to invite anybody who's ready to give your life to Jesus today to do so.

I can tell you that today is the day of salvation for all who believe. So say this to God. No one praying alone. Church, pray it with us. Say, "Dear God, Dear God, >> I invite you into my heart. Please forgive my sins. I don't have anything in my hands to bring.

But I thank you for the gift of eternal life. Please forgive me. be my Lord and my Savior. Thank you for new life. I give you mine in Jesus name.