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Transcript

Mercy NOT sacrifice · Exploring The Holy Scriptures with Rev Dr David Wright

• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, brothers and sisters, and peace be with you.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: May the words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well as people who know me will tell you, I am happy to talk to anyone anywhere, any time about anything.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Many years ago I realized that I need to define my own personal ministry by how many people I'm willing to stop for.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the most important moments in life begin with a simple act of noticing someone whom others ignore.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: That is exactly what we see in today's gospel.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter nine, verses nine to thirteen, and verses eighteen to twenty six.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew was not the sort of person people expected Jesus to call.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: As a tax collector for the Roman occupiers, Matthew would have been widely hated, regarded as a traitor and almost an untouchable sinner.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yet Jesus walks past Matthew's tax booth, looks directly at him, and says just two words Follow me.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: No lecture, no interrogation, no demand that Matthew first change his life, simply follow me.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And Matthew gets up and follows.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: The remarkable thing is not just that Matthew follows Jesus.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: The remarkable thing is that Jesus calls him in the first place.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: The religious leaders of the day had already decided who belonged and who didn't.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: They had clear categories for the respectable and the unacceptable.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus saw something different.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Where others saw a sinner, Jesus saw a disciple.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Where others saw a failure, Jesus saw potential.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Where others saw someone beyond redemption, Jesus saw someone worth saving.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: This tells us something deeply profound about God.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: God does not call us because we are perfect.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: God calls us because he loves us and he sees what we can become.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: If God waited until we were completely without faults before calling us, none of us would ever hear his voice.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Remember every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now moving along.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: The Pharisees were scandalized.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: They ask, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: To eat with someone in the ancient world was a sign of acceptance and friendship.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus wasn't merely preaching to sinners from a safe distance.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: He was sharing life with them.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus responds to the Pharisees with one of my favourite gospel metaphors.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick a doctor goes where the illness is.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: A lifeboat goes where drowning people are, a shepherd goes where the lost sheep are.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus goes where broken people are.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: Some Christians can sometimes unintentionally forget this.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Faith communities can become places where people feel they must have everything together before they arrive.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: But our faith communities are not museums for saints.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Our faith communities are hospitals for all of those who make mistakes, who sin, who need healing.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: We do not become part of our faith community because we are perfect.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: We come because we need God's mercy.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: The second part of today's gospel shows us this mercy in action.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: A synagogue leader approaches Jesus.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: His daughter has died.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: His world has collapsed.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yet he comes to Jesus in faith.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: At the same time, a woman who has suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years quietly reaches out to touch Jesus' cloak.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: For twelve years she has lived with illness, isolation and disappointment.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps she had almost given up hope.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And yet she believes that even touching Jesus' garment just might change everything.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Notice how different these two people are, one a respected leader, the other an anonymous woman.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: One approaches publicly, the other approaches secretly.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: One has social status, the other has none.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yet Jesus responds to both with equal love.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is never impressed by status, wealth or reputation, he sees hearts.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: The synagogue leader matters.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: The suffering woman matters The powerful matter The forgotten matter everyone matters.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: That is the kingdom of God.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: The woman touches Jesus' cloak and he turns and says Take heart, daughter.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Your faith has made you well.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Daughter What a beautiful word.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: In that moment Jesus gives her more than physical healing.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: He restores her dignity.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: He restores her identity.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: He restores her place in the community.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus spoke words physical, mental and spiritual healing to that woman, and he speaks those words of healing to this very day.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Take heart.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Please pause for just a moment to reflect upon the people that you know.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: What words may they need to hear today?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, Jesus arrives at the house of the synagogue leader and takes the girl by the hand.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Life returns.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Hope returns.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Joy returns.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Where everyone else sees death.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus brings life.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is Lord even over death.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: The resurrection of this young girl points forward to his own resurrection, and to the promise that death will never have the final word.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because Christ lives, hope lives.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because Christ lives love is stronger than death.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because Christ lives, every ending can become a new beginning.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: So what shall we take with us from this gospel today?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: I have four lessons from Jesus that speak to me today.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: One hear Christ's call personally like Matthew, each of us invited to follow Jesus, not because we are worthy, but because we are loved.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: two show mercy.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus calls us to see people as He sees them, not by their failures, labels or reputations, but as beloved children of God.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: three Trust Him with your needs.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Whether your burden is grief, illness, fear, doubt or disappointment, bring it to Christ.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: The woman reached out in faith.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: The synagogue leader came in faith.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus met both of them.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: four never lose hope.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: The God who called Matthew, healed the woman, and raised the young girl is still at work today.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: No life is beyond his reach.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: No wound is beyond his healing.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: No person is beyond his love.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oteangoa Otehatua Te Matua Tetama Metewaru Amine.