Transcript
Week 2 of the series Core: Built Different. Transcribed from the service recording and lightly edited for readability.
Welcome: Core, Built Different, Week 2
It's called Core: Built Different. Last week we learned who we are. We learned about our identity, and hopefully we locked in on that. This week we're going to talk about intimacy. We're going to be sitting with God.
God Just Wants Us to Move
Before I get started, though: I realize I'm growing a little bit. I can have a tendency to try to be a perfectionist. Just so you understand my thought process, from the time I drive into the parking lot to the time I come into the building, I'm looking for imperfections. Is there trash on the ground? Is there something here that shouldn't be? I'm trying to make it an awesome experience.
But stuff always happens. This morning we were late. Things weren't clicking. The tech wasn't working like I wanted it to. But we kept pushing through, and we didn't get agitated about it. And if you didn't notice, I looked up and my drummer over here was drumming with one drumstick. I'm like, why is he drumming with one drumstick? Then I saw his monitor had fallen, so he was holding it with one hand so it wouldn't hit the ground, and he was still hitting it with that one drumstick, and he was getting it. That is amazing. Even in the face of challenges, we still persevere and keep going.
Everything doesn't have to be perfect for us to keep striving to make things happen. We started without a musician. We started without a piano player. But we started. So often in life, we wait for perfection before we start moving, but God just wants us to move. I had to acknowledge what was going on, because it feels like something has been trying to keep us from getting all we're supposed to get today. But we're going to get it. We ain't going to let anything get in the way.
Declaration Statement
All right, let's jump into it. Read the declaration statement with me:
I am a Christ chaser. I am here to be transformed. I am here to hear the voice of God. God, clear my mind and open my heart to receive Your word. Jesus, do not let me leave the same way I came. I am ready to be changed. Amen.
Scripture Reading: John 15
This morning's reading comes from John chapter 15. We're going to focus on verses 4 and 5, but I want to start at the beginning.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned."
— John 15:1–6 (NIV)
I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches
Here we are in John 15. This takes place when Jesus is really trying to get His disciples prepared for the crucifixion. He's about to die, and He's preparing them for what's to come. And as we know, Jesus always uses analogies, agricultural language that the society around Him understands. He says, "I am the vine, and you are the branches," and He talks about His Father being the gardener. If you're not bearing any fruit, God's going to cut that off.
But then He says something even stranger: every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes. What's the difference? Pruning is still cutting. Let me back up: pruning is still cutting. So whether you're with God or away from God, you're still going to get cut. We all want to go to church, feel good, feel better, and have nothing bad happen. That's not true. He says it clearly right here: even if you're in Me, you're going to get pruned. You're going to get cut. Why? Because that's the only way you can bear more fruit.
And Jesus is funny, because right after He says that, He says, "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you." I'm sitting there like, wait a second. He's talking about cutting and pruning. What does that have to do with being clean? But right there, Jesus is one of the first lyricists, because it's wordplay. The Greek word for pruning is kathairō. The Greek word for clean is katharos. They're similar. He's saying it's all the same thing: cleaning and pruning. "You're clean because of what I've taught you."
Sitting With God
So let's dig into how we get some intimacy with God. This one is called sitting with God.
To build a relationship, you can't be in a rush. But that's not the world we live in. We live in a world of microwaves. Fast food. Drive-thru. "I need it now." Instant messaging. Text messages. Cell phones. When you call, they've got to answer. Who gets mad when they call somebody and they don't answer? Y'all be upset. If y'all are my age or older, you remember the phone at home used to ring. If they were there, they answered it. If they weren't, they weren't. Then once I got a little older, they had answering machines, so you could leave a message. But now we get mad: "I know you've got that phone on you. Why aren't you answering?"
That's what we want. We want instant. We want everything, and we want it now. Most of us are in financial trouble because we want it now. We've got that little card in our pocket. We can get it now and worry about it later. A lot of us went into student debt to go to college. Why? "That's a future-me problem." That's what we've been taught, and now we're saying something different: to have intimacy with God, you have to sit. Intimacy requires sitting.
Mary and Martha: Luke 10:39
There's a story in the Bible about two sisters who were really good friends of Jesus: Mary and Martha. Luke 10:39 says, "She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said."
Mary did something simple. She sat. But Martha was mad. Why? Because Martha was trying to fix some food. She was trying to prepare the meal and get everything ready for Jesus.
But here's the thing. While Martha is moving, Mary is sitting. While Martha is serving, Mary is listening. While Martha is concerned about what needs to be done for Jesus, Mary is focused on being with Jesus. That's the tension many believers live with: am I focused on doing things for God, or am I focused on God?
Be Still and Know
Sitting requires you to slow down. Y'all know when I have my stool up here, that's mostly what it's for. When I sit down, it makes me slow down and focus on what I'm doing.
Another scripture says, "Be still, and know that I am God." It doesn't say be on the move, be in the hustle and bustle, be on the go. It says be still and know that I am God. But right now, if I had us sit here for fifteen seconds in complete quiet, y'all would swear it was an hour. I used to work in the restaurant business, and our managers would have us sit still for a minute, and a minute felt like an eternity. That's how we are.
And we always say, "I ain't got time for that. I ain't got time to sit down and be still for fifteen minutes. I don't have time to just sit and wait on God." But the cool thing is, y'all have your phones, and y'all know there's a setting that tells you your usage. How long have you been on that thing? Now it's getting even smarter: it tells you you've been on it more this week than last week. Three hours go by. Four hours. Five hours. And then we say we don't have fifteen minutes.
You don't lose time. You did something with it. So when you say, "I don't have time to spend quiet time with God," what you're really saying is, "I'm giving my time to something other than God."
Sitting Requires a Place
Sitting also requires a place. Scripture says Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray. He had a place to pray, and He went there often. This is crazy when you think about it. Jesus is God in the flesh, and God in the flesh took time away from the hustle and bustle of life to pray. If the almighty, all-powerful, holy One walking in human flesh had to take time to go and pray, why shouldn't we? We probably need more time away than He did, right? How long does it take you to get off track? How many times does somebody have to get on your nerves before you let them have it? We need time set aside to pray, and we have to have a place.
And here's the cool thing about having a place: when you step into that place, you begin to usher in God's presence. Maybe you've got a closet with your study books in it. When you step into that closet, you know what you're there for. When Jesus went to His place, He knew why He was going there. So get a little section of your closet, or a corner of your office: "This is my place, where I seek out and meet God." Because the body puts things on autopilot so easily. If you have a place, then when you get there, your body, your brain, everything knows what you're supposed to do.
Sitting Requires Your Attention
Sitting also requires your attention, because we all know you can be physically present and mentally not there. Have y'all ever been reading a book and thought, "What did I just read?" Three pages in, and you don't remember any of it. Or you're at the dinner table with your family and all you're thinking about is work. Or you're at work and all you're thinking about is your family. Or the best one: you're driving down the freeway and don't remember the last few minutes. That's your body on autopilot. You can drive a machine like a car and forget you're doing it. You were safe the whole time; you weren't weaving through traffic. But you were somewhere else.
God is saying, "I want your focused attention on Me. I want your full, undivided attention, just for a little bit." God doesn't want us on His schedule or on our schedule, and He doesn't just want a checkmark: "I made it to church this week." He wants to be present with us, and for us to be fully present with Him.
Real Conversation: Taste and See
Let's keep moving. Intimacy also requires real conversation. Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the LORD is good." David isn't merely studying God. He's inviting us into an experience with God.
Some of y'all had the privilege of meeting my grandparents, John Lee and Muddy. They could cook. I mean, they could cook. I could tell you about it all day, but if I was a good friend, I'd invite you over so you could taste and see.
When I was working with students, I used to tell them straight up: "Give God your all. Taste Him. Put your full effort into seeing if God is going to work for you. And if He doesn't, I'll disown Him as my God." And I'm serious about that, because here's what I know without a shadow of a doubt: if God can fail you, He'll fail me. But I know God has never failed me, and He never will. I don't want you to just try God. I want you to taste and see. I want you to give it your all, go full-fledged into it.
Bring God Your Burdens
But how do I go full-fledged and give God my all? I have to speak honestly to God. Don't cuss me out; cuss out to God. Ooh, y'all! If you're that upset, if you're that mad, go to the One who can handle it. He can handle you cussing. I can't. I'd probably cuss you back, and then we'd want to fight. But God can handle it. "God, I can't believe You let this happen. I can't believe You let my child go through this." God wants you to speak honestly with Him, because when you honestly open yourself up to Him, He shows up in amazing ways. You can tell God you're afraid. You can tell God you're angry. And God will move.
Here's the reality: He already knows. But when we honestly open ourselves up to God, we can receive what He has in store for us. Most of us are hiding from God like He can't see us. Hiding that sin. Hiding that struggle. Hiding that fear. But God says, "Bring it to Me." Taste and see what God does in your life. Just talk to Him.
And after you talk to Him honestly, you have to be able to receive God's comfort. If we're honest, most of the time when we pray, we're just giving God a list of assignments: "God, fix this. Bless me. Open this door. Close this door. Give me this." But intimacy isn't only about speaking. It's also about receiving. Psalm 34:18 says, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted." Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you." Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
When we get into the presence of God and allow Him to speak into our situation, He gives us rest. A lot of times we want God to change our situation, but as we focus on Him and let His presence get into us, He changes us, not our situation. You'll walk into that sitting place anxious and leave with peace. You'll walk into your sitting place discouraged and leave with strength. You'll walk into your sitting place confused and leave understanding everything you need to understand, because all you need to know is that God is with you.
Listening to God's Voice
The other thing we have to do is listen to God's voice. A healthy conversation goes two ways. Brother Johnson, how would you like it if I called you up and said, "Hey, Brother Johnson, life ain't good. I need you to take care of the lawn. I need you to go buy some groceries. I need you to give me some money. I need you to fix my car. All right, talk to you later. Bye." Then tomorrow: "Hey, Brother Johnson, I need you to mow the lawn, fix my car, give me some money. Bye." And the next day: "Hey, Brother Johnson, did you take care of all that stuff I asked you to? Oh, okay. Bye." That's not much of a relationship. But isn't that what we often do? We go to God, drop off our list of demands and wishes, and walk away without any feedback, any back-and-forth.
"But D, God doesn't talk out loud like that." Okay, maybe He doesn't. But an old preacher told me a long time ago: if you want to hear God speak, open His word. If you want to shut Him up, close it. God might not speak audibly, but He can speak in a still, small voice. A lot of times He is speaking and we don't hear it, either because we're too busy, or because we don't know His word, so we don't recognize that it's Him speaking.
I think I told you a few weeks ago about the man driving around a Walmart parking lot who couldn't find a space. He says, "God, I need a parking space." He turns into the next row, somebody pulls out, and he goes, "Never mind, God, I found one." So often God is moving in our lives and we don't realize it's God. Why? Because we haven't spent the time to really fellowship with Him and understand His movements. Intimacy with God grows when our prayers move from a monologue to a conversation.
Intimacy Produces Transformation
Here's the last thing: intimacy produces transformation. John 15:5 says, "If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit." Jesus connects remaining with fruitfulness. That's important, because the goal of sitting with God isn't merely to have a quiet moment. Our goal is to become more like the One we've been sitting with.
If you sit with God long enough, things will change. Why? Because proximity produces resemblance. Y'all know the old saying: birds of a feather... Have you ever noticed couples who have been married so long they start to look alike? And even crazier, people who aren't biologically related: folks swear my oldest child looks like me. If you're around somebody long enough, even if you don't look alike, you start to act alike. You've got friends with the same mannerisms, the same sayings, doing similar things. Why? Because proximity is influence.
So the more time we genuinely spend with Jesus, the more we should begin to look like Him and take on His character. You're telling me that if I spend more time with Jesus, I might have more of His compassion? His patience? His forgiveness? His courage? His holiness? His love? Yes. You cannot sit with Jesus consistently and remain comfortable looking nothing like Him. You just can't.
Connection Produces Fruit
Another thing: connection produces fruit. A branch doesn't strain to manufacture grapes. A tree doesn't strain to manufacture its fruit. Yet we're always trying to be better and do better. "I'm trying to love them. I'm trying to forgive them." Why are we always trying? The tree just produces fruit. If I am in Christ, I should be producing fruit that resembles Christ.
Think about the list in Galatians: the fruit of the Spirit. If it's the fruit of the Spirit, the only way we can produce that fruit is to have the Spirit. How do we get the Spirit? We hang out with Jesus. So if we're hanging out with Jesus, why are we always trying so hard to be better people? Agriculturally, it just don't make sense. Some of us are lying, mostly to ourselves, because it's the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of human effort. So now we have to examine: how healthy is our connection?
Core Work Is Hard Work
That's why this series is called Core. And core work ain't easy work. Core work is hard work. But once you get that core strong, you can do anything.
Let me take a pause and give y'all a little break. For a while, I was trying to be a fitness influencer. I was waking up at five o'clock in the morning, working out like crazy, posting videos. But when your core is right, you can do a lot of things. And so we as believers have to get our core right, so we can do all that God wants us to do.
Intimacy Gives Direction
The last thing: intimacy gives you direction. But here's the reality, and it's the thing that made my heart sink a little when I was studying this: we want God's direction without His presence. We're always asking God, "What's the next job I should take? Should I be in this relationship or not? Should I do this or that? What's my next move?"
But Moses, when they were headed to the promised land, told God, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." Think about that. "God, if You're not going with me, I don't want to go." But if I'm honest with myself, a lot of times I just want the destination. I don't really care whether God goes with me. "As long as You say I can go, I'm good." That's how we were as children: "I just need permission to get out of the house. I ain't trying to break curfew or get in trouble. I just want to go."
This is a different mindset. It's not just "I want to go." It's "I want to go, and I want to make sure God is going with me. And God, if You're not going this direction, I don't want to go this direction." God could give me a mansion with twenty bedrooms and all the bathrooms. But can you imagine being in that multimillion-dollar house when God's not present? That feels real lonely. I think that's why a lot of people reach success and still fall apart: they didn't go there with God. We don't want to get blessed to the point that we leave God. We want to make sure that wherever we go, He goes.
Come to Me: Matthew 11:28
Let me wrap this up in a nice little bow. There's a scripture I read part of earlier that wraps this up nicely, Matthew 11:28–30:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
— Matthew 11:28–30 (NIV)
Again, we're talking agricultural stuff. "My yoke." [A picture of a yoke is shown on screen.] A yoke is the tool that holds two oxen together. Jesus says, "My yoke is easy." I always used to mess this up, and I finally got a clear revelation of it.
Imagine the yoke: on one side is you, and on the other side is Jesus. You're yoking yourself to Jesus, which means you're so connected to Him that you can't go anywhere He's not. "My yoke is easy, my burden is light": when you're connected to Me, it's easy, and the burden is light, because I'm right here with you. And the ring in the middle is where they tie the rope. Whoever holds that rope controls both oxen. So if I'm on one side and Jesus is on the other, who has the rope? God has the rope. I'm fully connected.
Whoever you're yoked with, what they've got rubs off on you. And if Jesus is sharing the load of this life with me, what more could I want?
Where Is Your Sitting Place?
So the question is: where is your sitting place? Not your church seat. Not your Bible app. Not your Sunday routine. Where is the place you consistently meet with God, where you can sit, speak, receive, and listen to all He has for you? The goal isn't for God to visit your life. God wants to dwell with you.
In week one, God taught us who we are. This week, God wants to become more intimate with us. He wants to be close to us. Intimacy: "into-me-see." The more I stay close to Him, the more I'm going to act like Him. And I don't think it gets much stronger than knowing I'm fully connected to the Creator of the universe. Not only do I get to spend time with Him; He wants to spend time with me.
There's nothing like a car that operates at its optimum performance. But for it to perform at its best, the driver has to know how it's put together, know what it's capable of, and be willing to use it to the fullest. God created you, and the only way you're going to know what you're fully made of is to connect yourself to the Creator of the universe and ask Him what you're made of. That's knowing who you are, your identity. But to get the best out of yourself, you have to be willing to give yourself to the Creator of the universe and let Him use you the best He can. And you will see fruit. You'll have a life that not only glorifies God, but changes the world and the environment around you. Amen.
Weekly Challenge
- Reflect: What is currently receiving the time and attention I say I don't have for God? Am I dwelling with God daily, or only visiting Him when I need something?
- Act: Establish your sitting place this week. Commit at least 15 intentional minutes each day with no phone, television, or distractions. Spend part of the time speaking honestly to God, part reading His Word, and part quietly listening.
- Pray: "God, I don't just want what You can give me. I want You. Teach me to slow down, sit in Your presence, speak honestly, receive from You, and listen for Your voice through Your Word. Remove the distractions that keep me close to everything except You. Help me move from visiting You occasionally to dwelling with You daily. Make me more like You because I have spent time with You. In Jesus' name..."
[The recording ends here.]