Have you ever had to point out a blind spot to someone else…but really didn’t want to do it? You’re sure God is prompting you to ‘speak the truth in love’ but you want to wait until ‘the right time’, wait until you’re ready. Don’t miss this 3rd message in our teaching series, “Blind Spots”.
Next Steps
- I will say “Yes” to God even thought I don’t feel ready.
- I will say “Yes” to God in an area I’ve been saying “Not yet.”
- I will obey God even though it’s risky.
- I will say “Yes” to God in the area of generosity.
- I will say “Yes” to volunteering at Blue Oaks.
- I will help someone take their next step toward God.
- I will be praying about who God wants me to invite to church on Easter Sunday.
Good morning.
We’re in this series called Blind Spots.
We’ve been talking about how we all have blind spots we can’t see — the truth about us is we don’t know the full truth about us.
That means we need to speak honest truth to each other if we’re going to be able to grow.
Last week we talked about telling the last 10 percent to each other.
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We want to live in transparent openness with each other, and we want to speak the truth in love to each other, but a lot of times the truth is we don’t quite feel ready to do that.
It feels kind of daunting or intimidating.
So today we’re going to look at the truth about being ready — the truth about you being ready to obey God.
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The truth about being ready is you’ll never feel ready.
This is a real problem in life.
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When our first child was born, we took her home from the hospital, and my wife Kathy started to freak out a little bit. She had all these questions:
* What if she gets sick and we don’t know what to do?
* What if nursing doesn’t work like we want it to?
* What if one of us drops her on her head?
* What if we discipline her too much?
* What if we discipline her too little?
* What if we’re too emotionally unhealthy?
* What if we mess her up her whole life long?
I finally I just said, “Kathy, you know, we can always have more children.”
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Just about every parent I’ve ever known has this sensation — when they get that baby home, they find themselves saying, “I’m not ready for this! I thought I was, but I’m not!”
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Then the child grows up, and it’s time for the child to leave home and face the world, but the world is scary and complex and expensive.
The child says, “I don’t think I’m ready for this!”
And the parent says, “Oh yes you are. Ready or not, it’s coming!”
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This is not to excuse poor preparation. God wants us to try to equip ourselves and be educated as best we can and prepare, but it’s just reality.
Life, opportunities, challenges, relationships, commitments, eventually aging, and ultimately death all kind of have a way of saying, “Ready or not, here I come. This is your moment. This is your one and only life.”
We all face this problem.
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You see, the truth about you is, when it comes to being ready, you’ll never be ready for the most important, most daunting parts of your life.
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The truth about Jesus is Jesus actually uses people who say, “Yes,” even when they don’t feel ready.
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This is true all through the Bible.
There’s a fabulous story about not being ready but going at the end of the gospel of Matthew. I want to read that right now.
Mark Labberton, former president of Fuller, pointed out how this is kind of a not-ready story.
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After Jesus has been crucified, after he has been resurrected, he’s going to send the disciples out. This is what Matthew writes:
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)
He gives them this remarkable assignment. It’s a commission. It’s sometimes called the Great Commission because it is so comprehensive.
He says, “All authority has been given to me.”
He keeps using this word all.
“So you go and make disciples of all the nations, all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, teaching them to obey all the things I have commanded you to become truly great people as I have instructed you. I will be with you all the time, all the days, to the end of the age.”
This is a really big commission, but it’s to people who are not really ready to go.
The first little indicator we have of that is the word eleven. That word would jump out at people reading this text in that day.
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You may know that the ancient world was fascinated by numbers. They would often associate certain meanings with certain numbers.
The number three was associated with holiness.
The temple was divided up into thirds.
The Holy of Holies, the holiest place, was one-third of the temple. The Holy Place was two-thirds of the temple.
The great blessing of God was, “Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty.” Three times.
The number three was connected to the notion of holiness in God.
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The number four was associated with the earth and with physical creation.
There are four directions (north, south, east, and west). The product of these two (three times four) was associated with the union of the holy (the divine) and the human (God and people, heaven and earth). So it was a revered number. || There were 12 loaves of bread in the temple. Twelve was often a number for wholeness in the ancient world. The lunar calendar had 12 months. That was when something was complete. || By Jesus’ day, this was all broken. It was all wrong. || Centuries earlier (about 722 BC), Assyria came and decimated the northern kingdom. All that was left were the tribes of Benjamin, Judah, and about half of the tribe of Levi. They were not the 12 tribes anymore. They longed, they ached, they grieved for the day when God would set things right and restore the 12 tribes. || Then Jesus comes, and he says, “…the kingdom of God is at hand. God is at work. God is setting things right.” || Then Jesus selected some disciples. Back in his day, all rabbis had disciples. Jesus was the only one we know of who actually recruited, who chose, disciples. That was generally beneath a rabbi’s dignity. Rabbis generally accepted applications. Jesus was unique in this respect. He went out and selected disciples. Do you know how many disciples Jesus chose? Twelve. This is not a coincidence. It’s not an accident. No other rabbi had 12 disciples. All other rabbis had disciples. No other rabbi we know of had 12 disciples. No one would have. It was too presumptuous. When Jesus chose 12 disciples, he was making a claim. It was a real clear claim, and it was a very dangerous claim. It was part of what got him killed. He was saying to all of Israel (he was saying to Rome for that matter) that what God began so long ago with the 12 sons of Jacob, with the 12 tribes that have been lost, that have been broken, that everyone aches to see restored, God is now beginning again, redeeming, recreating through Jesus. This is one of the most audacious acts of Jesus’ whole ministry. It’s the number 12. He chooses 12 disciples. He says, “Take a look at these 12 guys. These are the 12 tribes. This is the whole people of God, God’s redeemed community on earth. God’s dream is beginning again with me and these 12 guys.” That’s why you see 12 all through the New Testament. || By the time you hit Revelation, 12 is everywhere. The city we look forward to as a picture of when life is finally redeemed will have 12 gates, one for every tribe. They loved 12. Israel loved 12. They couldn’t wait for 12. That’s why the disciples loved being the Twelve. It was like, “We’re it!” Individually, they didn’t look like much. There was Peter the denier, Judas the betrayer, Thomas the doubter. Individually, they looked a lot more like Snow White and the seven dwarfs. But together, they’re the Twelve. They loved being the Twelve. That’s why they argued about who was the greatest. “We’re the Twelve. It’s all starting again in us!” || Now at the end of the gospel of Matthew, there’s the crucifixion and the resurrection. And Jesus is going to send the disciples out, but Matthew says there are only 11. In other words, they’re not whole anymore. They’re not perfect anymore. This is a wrong number. There are not enough. || It’s not just that they’re the wrong number. Matthew goes on to say when they saw Jesus, “…they worshiped him.” The next phrase is — “But some doubted.” That’s an amazing statement after Jesus was crucified and rose from the grave. And Matthew doesn’t try to hide it. So now they have not only a quantity problem; they have a quality program — they don’t have enough disciples, and the ones they have don’t believe enough. They worship, and they doubt. Imagine that moment. Jesus meets them on the mountain. That’s where everything began in Galilee. They see the crucified, resurrected Lord of the universe. “Hail Jesus, crucified and resurrected Son of God, creator, redeemer of the earth. Oh come let us adore him.” In their hearts, they’re saying, “Maybe? Really? Seems kind of crazy. I’m not sure what I believe, to tell you the truth.” Eleven, not 12. They worship, but some doubted. That’s the group to whom Jesus is going to say, “Go into all the world.” || Dale Bruner, who is a great New Testament scholar, writes this: The number ‘eleven’ limps; it is not perfect like twelve. The church that Jesus sends into the world is ‘elevenish,’ imperfect, fallible. Inadequate. Jesus did not say, “First let’s get enough numbers.” He didn’t say, “First let’s get enough faith.” He said, “You go. We’ll work on the numbers thing, and we’ll work on the faith thing while you’re doing the obedience thing. You will learn as you go, but I’m going to send you out ready or not.” || It was really interesting. As I began to think about this story this week, I realized the truth is this is not just true of the disciples. This is the theme throughout the Bible. In the Bible when God calls someone to do something, as far as I know, no one ever responds by saying, “I’m ready! Good timing! You came to me at just the right moment when my tank is all filled up, and I’m adequately prepared.” Over and over again, God says to Moses, “I want you to go to Pharaoh and say, ‘Let my people go.'” Moses says, “Really? Lord, I’ve never been eloquent. I’m slow of speech. I can’t find the words to speak.” || God comes to Gideon and says, “I want you to liberate my people.” Gideon says, “But Lord, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I’m the least in my family.” || God comes to Abraham. “I want to begin a new community in you.” Abraham says, “Will a son be born to a man 100 years old? There’s like no pharmaceutical help involved here at all? I don’t think so.” || God comes to Jeremiah. Jeremiah says, “Ah, sovereign Lord, I’m only a child. I don’t think so.” Again, there’s this mixture of worship and doubt. “Sovereign Lord…” That’s great worship. “I don’t think so. I’m only a child. I doubt it.” || God comes to Isaiah. Isaiah says, “Woe is me! …for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” || Esther is called to work for her people. She says, “For any man or woman who approaches the king not summoned [that’s what she was called to do], the king has but one rule: death. I don’t think so.” || Jesus calls a wealthy, young ruler whom he loves to follow him, but we’re told the rich, young ruler went away very sad, for he had great wealth. || Ruth has a moment to enter into this divine story, only with Ruth it’s just the opposite. There’s a great famine going on. She has nothing. || Saul, the first king of Israel, was told by the prophet Samuel that he was going to be made king. He stands head and shoulders above everyone else. He says, “I can’t do it. I’m the least of my own tribe.” When it’s the day when Samuel is going to anoint Saul (this is like coronation day for Israel’s first king ever), everyone gathers together, but they can’t find Saul. Samuel was going to anoint him king. They can’t find him. They ask if he’s present. The Lord said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” || Too inarticulate. No one ever says, “Okay, Lord. I feel ready.” || Here’s the thing. God loves using people who aren’t ready. God loves it! Ready or not. When people say, “God, I trust you…” The issue of feeling ready is not the primary indicator of being ready. But if you don’t go, you’ll never know. If you don’t go, you will never know. God comes and says (and Jesus still does this to us all the time, every day): Take a risk, would you? || The truth about you is you’ll always have a reason to say, “Not ready.” Because for us, ready is to be so completely self-sufficient that success is guaranteed. || The truth about you is you don’t know what you can do until you actually do it. The truth about you is if you wait until you feel fully ready, you will wait until you die. || Only God knows if you’re ready. God knows more than you do. “Elevenish” doubting. Jesus says, “Go.” Jesus doesn’t say, “Go. You’re ready.” Jesus says, “Go, because all authority has been given to me. Therefore, I’m sending you out, and I will be with you. I will be with you.” || Years ago I was invited to be a guest teacher on a retreat that was on the Colorado River near Lake Havasu. A friend of mine took me out for a hike one morning up a hill to a beautiful cliff-diving spot on the river. I didn’t know this until we got to the top. I stood there on the edge of a cliff, looking down. He asked me, “Are you ready?” Do you want to guess what my response was in that moment? “No, I’m not ready!” I’m very clear on this. “I am not ready!” Here was the problem. This was our only way down to the river, unless I wanted to hike back down in shame by myself. At one point he told me, “Matt, you can stare at the river all day, at some point you’re going to have to say, ready or not, I’m jumping.” So that’s what he said before he dove into the river — “Ready or not, here I go,” and he did a beautiful swan dive that made it look like he was flying through the air for a really long time before hitting the water below. Now I was on the side of the cliff by myself trying to psych myself into jumping. I couldn’t not go. So I said it, “Ready or not, here I go,” and full of fear, I jumped in. || Jesus takes his friends up a mountain one time, and they’re staring off a cliff. There are not enough of them. The ones who are there don’t have enough faith. It doesn’t matter. The reason is not that they’re ready; the reason is Jesus is ready. Because when you go — you have to go even though you don’t feel ready. You have to risk. The reason you do it is not that you feel ready. It’s because you won’t be alone. || See, we’re “elevenish.” We always are. || I was thinking about this. There are a number of football stadiums around the world (and American football stadiums as well) where the fans are known as the twelfth man. The Seattle Seahawks fans are known in their home field as the twelfth man. A number of football teams around the world have retired the number twelve because they say it belongs to their fans. These stadiums set records for how loud their fans can be. The Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium holds the Guinness World Record for loudest outdoor stadium, reaching 142 decibels at a game in 2014. || 100 decibels of sound will create hearing loss. 130 decibels is like being within a football field of a jet takeoff. They cranked up to 142 decibels. You can see why these fans are considered the “twelfth man.” They actually contribute to the outcome of the game by preventing the opposing team from hearing each other out on the field. That’s why some teams put up flags in their stadium to honor the twelfth man. || Jesus says, “Don’t worry about only 11. You’re forgetting the twelfth man — me. I’ll be with you.” Jesus goes with you. When you go, when you trust, when you try, you don’t go alone. You’re never alone. He makes this clear. He says, “I will be with you always.” Literally he says, “All the days. Every single day from now on till the end of your life, till the end of time.” Not just most days. All the days. You may have a bad hair day, a bad mood day, a bad news day, a bad day at the office. You never have a bad Jesus day. You may wake up on the wrong side of the bed. You never wake up on the wrong side of Jesus. || Sometimes people go to church. They read the Bible. They affirm the right stuff. They pray now and then. Jesus calls them just to obey, just to go. — “Just trust me in something.” Risk. || Here’s what’s interesting about us. This is the truth about us very often. We don’t say, “Not ever.” We just say, “Not yet.” You know, “Sometime, but not yet.” || Here’s the question — what’s one area in your life where you’ve been saying, “Not yet” to God where today you need to say, “Yes”? || It could be really small. It doesn’t matter whether it’s big or small. Jesus always gathers his friends and says, “Now I want you to go. ‘Elevenish,’ I know. Worshiping and doubting, I know. I get it. Go.” Where is some area where you’ve been saying, “Not yet” and today you could say to God, “All right, yes I’ll go”? || Maybe it’s in your financial life. I talked to a young guy about money. It was so interesting. This is so seductive where we live. This is basically what he said to me. He said, “You know, I don’t really have anything right now. I’m young. I’m getting my career established. I’m going to use these years to make a lot of money. I’m going to accumulate a really impressive pile of assets. Then when I’m wealthy, when I have a lot, then I’m going to be really generous.” || Here’s the truth. Again, we’ve been looking at self-deception in this series — how deceptive we are about ourselves. He’s giving himself credit for being generous and philanthropic while he’s actually hoarding his money because he wants to be rich and successful. But he sees himself as being really generous. || We do this kind of thing. We’ll judge other people based on their outward behavior, but I judge myself on my noblest inward intentions, whether or not they ever get realized. I think to myself, “I’m pro-generosity. I can just picture myself being incredibly generous. Therefore, I am generous.” See, he doesn’t say, “Not ever” to God. He just says, “Not yet.” In his mind, “Not yet” actually equals, “Yes!” || I have to tell you, I’ve rarely seen a life of obedience to Jesus get built on self-excused, real-time disobedience. I’ve not seen that. Maybe what God is saying is, “In whatever way, just start giving something, ready or not, here we go.” || Maybe it’s serving. I don’t if you know how many volunteers it takes for us to function as a church from week to week. It takes 150 volunteers serving in this church to make us the church we are. We couldn’t be a church without volunteers. And we’re going to need even more volunteers when we move into our new building this year. Maybe God is saying to you in the area of serving, “Ready or not, here we go.” Just start serving somewhere. || Jesus gathered the 11 (wrong number) doubters (wrong faith) and said, “I want you to go to the people around you and help them become disciples. Help them meet me. I want you to be bold in this. I want you to baptize them.” Maybe you’ve been saying, “Not yet” around this one. So often people feel like when it comes to talking to other people about faith, about Jesus, about God, “I’m not ready. I’m not trained. I couldn’t answer every question.” You don’t have to. Just pray for someone. Just bless someone. Just help someone take one step toward God. Just extend one invitation. || I talked to someone in our church this week. He had a neighbor who for years was just resistant to God, not interested in faith, not interested in church. Finally, he just decided to invite him to watch our church service online. He watched our entire series of Daniel. And he’s planning on coming to Blue Oaks on Easter Sunday for the first time. || Maybe an entry point for someone you know will be serving the unhoused community with Lisa and our Compassion Ministry team. Maybe you know someone who’s not interested in God right now, but they have a heart to serve. Invite someone to serve with you on one of our Compassion Ministry projects. || You know what I hear from people who are not interested in God, but serve with us through our Compassion Ministry? Usually the sentiment is, “This is totally different than what I thought church people were like. This is just a bunch of people who want to help other people.” || Jesus gathered the 11 (wrong number, wrong faith) and said, “I want you to help other people to know me, to meet me, to become my disciples. I want you to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.” In other words, “I want you to help them to actually go public, to put a stake in the ground, to say, ‘I want the whole world to know.'” There’s nothing like it when this happens. || This year on Easter, it’s going to be a great service. I’m going to talk as clearly as I know how about Jesus and what it means to become his follower, his son or his daughter. Then on Easter Sunday this year, we’re actually going to baptize people. We’re going to offer people the opportunity to do what Jesus said — to be baptized. Jesus said we’re supposed to do this. Easter is kind of his day. It seems like an appropriate time, doesn’t it? We’re just going to try it and see what happens. || It may be you’re a follower of Jesus and you’ve never taken this step. You’ve never publicly declared your faith by being baptized. I cannot imagine a better day to do it than Easter Sunday, for that to be your day. If you do, you’ll want your friends and your family to witness that, to cheer you on. || I’ll guarantee you, there will be someone in your life who you know who has never clarified that commitment. Easter might be the day when they cross the line. I don’t know of a thrill like being a part of that journey in someone else’s story. Would you be praying for them and invite them to join you on Easter Sunday? Blue Oaks Church
There are four dimensions (height, width, length, and breadth).
And there are four corners of the world.
There were 12 gems in the priests’ vestment.
For Israel, 12 especially meant the 12 tribes of Israel. The whole family. Everyone.
They’ll be made of 12 pearls. If you’ve ever heard of the pearly gates, it comes from the book of Revelation.
Its walls will be set on 12 foundations.
They will be guarded by 12 angels. It will be perfect safety and perfectly inclusive.
They will be fed by a tree of life that bears 12 kinds of fruit in each one of 12 months. There will be great abundance, no need in that community.
It will be filled with people — 144,000 people. Again, that’s a symbolic number. Twelve times 12,000. Every tribe filled up.
Too weak.
Too old.
Too young.
Too sinful.
Too dangerous.
Too rich.
Too poor.
Too much baggage.
Would you love someone?
Would you connect with someone?
Would you share what you have?
Would you serve?
Would you volunteer?
Would you take a risk?
Would you try?
That’s the reason why you go.
You have to try.
You have to share.
You have to give.
You have to connect.
You have to trust.
Not just good days.
Not just days when you’ve had your devotions or you’ve prayed enough or you feel spiritual or you remember or you’re aware of it.
Serve.
Love.
Confess.
Step into the light.
Connect with someone instead of isolating.
Bless someone instead of withholding.
Engage with someone.
Learn.
Pray.
Ask.
Sacrifice.
Try.
Pleasanton, CA
