A Bad Review Made Him Cry. His Dad's Voice Was Why.|09.27.26|Transformed by Jesus, Together, for Others pt.3

So I said to Amy, my wife, am I allowed to go and run around in the chapel? And she said, no, you have to preach. All right, so actually it is an opportunity to preach and I'm very glad for that to be here this morning to share God's word with us. And so let's actually begin with a moment of prayer, just a brief prayer. Lord, you know we've come now in from the week and you know all the hustle and the bustle and the noise and the traffic and everything that we needed to do and our devices. And Father, we're worrisome, we're anxious, we're fearful, we're concerned, and we just pray that we might lay this all aside. And now for these next few moments, Lord, that we just might sit quietly at your feet and receive from you. Help us to remember, Father God, that none of us are here by accident, that you have something on purpose for each of us, even myself. Help us, Father, to be more like Mary than Martha, to just sit at your feet, to receive your love, to receive your grace this morning, that this would have been a time we would have heard your whispers to what is going on individually in our lives, that all of it would help shape us, transform us, conform us to you, Jesus, by your spirit, and in your name we all pray, amen. So I also, I wanna start out this morning with the scripture for our message first. And the scripture text this morning comes to us from Matthew 11, verses 28 to 30, Matthew 11:28-30. And I'm gonna be reading it off my tablet, but you might be reading it off your phone. You're gonna be taking pictures about this. Does it look like good preaching, Puz? Thanks. So, reading from Matthew 11:28-30, I'm reading it off on my tablet. Like I said, you might have your Bible, you might have your phone, you might have a tablet yourself, you might be using those pew Bibles, I call them. It's on page nine, if you are. The first of the four gospels, really easy to find right after the Old Testament, you come right into the New Testament. Matthew 11, a very, very well-known passage. Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. This is Jesus speaking to us. He's speaking to the crowds. He's speaking not just to the crowds, he's speaking to individual hearts. "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." Jesus says, "My yoke is easy, my burden is light." So, just to introduce myself one last time, my name is Tim McNutt, and I am the new associate pastor here of discipleship here at New Life. And I have a name tag on, it says Tim right there. So that's me. Now you might wonder, what is an associate pastor? What is an associate pastor? Well, you know how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday? The senior pastors like Jesus, and the associate pastors like the donkey. Right? Okay, so what is a discipleship pastor? I saved that one just for all of you. So what is a discipleship pastor? It's been a minute since we've had a discipleship pastor, so it's my role to inspire you in your life in Jesus. That every time maybe we talk, maybe every time you hear me speak, or I teach a class, or I'm at a life group with you, wherever, however we connect on social media, I want you to come away inspired to reflect on the question, how am I doing in my relationship with Jesus? Right? How am I growing to be more like Jesus? How am I following in his footsteps? How am I learning to think more like Jesus? Am I being really transformed by what is happening in my life that I'm becoming more and more like Jesus? Because that's our church mission statement. That's what our sermon series is called, where I add the word inspire, I am here, hired in that sense, to inspire you to be transformed by Jesus together for others. That is the passion of my life. Now the catch is, is that I can't make you do this. I cannot make you be a better Jesus follower. I cannot make you follow Jesus anymore than maybe you are at this moment. Just like even Jesus reminds us himself in John 15, apart from me, you can do nothing, right? But yet at the same time, we're called to be conformed to his image, Romans 8:29. That's God's purpose and plan, the ultimate purpose for your life. Why are you here? To be conformed to the image of his son, Jesus. And we know we all have role models, people that we look up to in our lives, our careers, our relationships, our hobbies. Maybe sometimes you pick out someone from the Bible, you're like, I wanna be like that person. But Jesus is the ultimate. He is the one to whom we get to say, when I grow up, I want to be like Jesus. When I grow up, I wanna be like Jesus. That's the father's heart for you, to be conformed, to be transformed to the image and ways of Jesus. Now that brings us to, we wanna talk about two difficulties about transformation. And the first one is, is that even though this is the work of the Holy Spirit, we somehow think it's all up to us. And so we hear a series about transformation, and we're thinking, man, that's just another thing on my to-do list. That's another thing I'm supposed to be focusing on, to be this disciple. How am I supposed to do this? Well, it's good news. It's still gospel, even though it is what we call discipleship, because gospel is, like Tim Keller would say, the ABCs of our life in Jesus. And so even though it's ignited by God, we put our effort into it, but yet he is even empowering and guiding and shaping and motivating our efforts. Like Philippians 2:12-13. Therefore, my beloved just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling. That's the part we hear. That's the part that trips us up. But the reality, the good news, the gospel is verse 13, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So normally in life, when we hear someone's an enabler, is that a good thing or a bad thing? That's good. Is being an enabler a good thing or a bad thing? It's a bad thing. But this is an instance, this is an instance, come on down. This is an instance where being enabled is a good thing, because God is enabling us. So for his good pleasure, he's at work in us to be as Jesus was. Now the thing is that we need to grasp is a discipleship, transformation. This is not just a Christian thing. You need to understand you are being shaped, transformed, formed, molded, whatever verb you wanna use, all your life. It's always happening to you, every area of your life. It starts as soon as you're born. The question is, especially as you put your faith in Jesus, are you walking in Jesus so it's directed towards Jesus, being yoked with him, being connected to him, or are you connected to the outside influences in your life? It might be a parent, it might be a teacher, it might be a coach, whoever your rock and roll gods were, whether you were supposed to smoke or not. All of these things were shaping you, how you were gonna live. It's a process of transformation because of outside influence. And what Matthew 11 is proclaiming to all of us is that instead of thinking about all of the bad influences in our lives, how can our vision be directed towards Jesus instead? "Come to me," he says. "Come to me," he says. "Move away from those influencers "and come to me that we might focus on him." Now here's the second thing about formation. All of these influences in our lives, they are so subtle, we don't even notice that they're happening. Now some of you might be grossed out, but even at my age, I gotta tell ya, I still love Twinkies. Twinkies, that's right, man. So when I go to the gym, my gym is called Planet Hostess. That's where I like to go, lift those Twinkies, uh-huh, uh-huh. Now what would happen if I ate Twinkies every day? Of course, I'd be formed into Twinkie greatness, wouldn't I? Yeah. But see, there'd be a sad thing because what I'm trying to say here is that Twinkie by Twinkie, box by box, as sooner or later, I'm gonna look at myself in the mirror and not be very happy, and I'm gonna be like, "How did that happen?" And Amy, my wife, will be, "I'll tell ya how it happened." Twinkie by Twinkie. This is this subtle influence of influencers in our lives that we need to pay attention to. That's how formation shapes us. And are we being formed according to the image of Jesus, being connected with him, or is it the other influences in life? Netflix, TikTok, movies, comic books, someone is out to transform you according to their agenda of what's right or wrong, cool or bad. I like to think of it like this. When you put Netflix on, and before the movie comes on, it has that little list of everything that's gonna be in the movie, like course language, violence, all this stuff's gonna happen, smoking. Those aren't warnings. They're trying to tell you, "We believe these things are okay, "and we want you to adopt them as well as okay." This is our idea of the way life ought to work. You know, if you watch enough action movies, suddenly you're gonna be desensitized, because that's what the Grinch said, right? Kids today, so desensitized by movies and television. You play enough GTA, you're getting ready for GTA 6. Grand Theft Auto. You play it all the time, suddenly there's F-bombs going off in your head when you're talking. Or maybe you just watch enough Hallmark Channel, and suddenly you're ready for Christmas all year round, right? You get the idea. This is what happens. The other weekend I started reading the sort of autobiography of a guy by the name of Wil Wheaton. You might recognize him up there. He was once famous for playing Ensign Wesley Crusher on Star Trek, The Next Generation. And when he wrote his book a little while ago, Entertainment Weekly Magazine asked for a copy that they could review it. And when they reviewed it, he found himself described as "Whiner of the Week." "Whiner of the Week." And when he read that phrase, you know, it just overwhelmed him. He even started crying. He felt like he'd been punched in the stomach, all the wind had been knocked out of him. He felt humiliated, he felt embarrassed. Didn't they understand how this review would hurt him? Why was Wil so upset? Because Wil had been subtly formed, like I said, you gotta pay attention. Subtly formed, not by Jesus. He has no interest in following Jesus, but he had been formed even so by his dad, and he was insecure. And all he could hear was his dad's voice discipling him, transforming him, having him conform to the image that he was unworthy, that he was a fraud, he was unlovable, and nobody really liked him. And that's why he did not like what Entertainment Weekly had to say, because he's like, "Oh my gosh, that is the truth." And his wife said, "Wil, that's not the truth." And he said, "I don't know that I even believe you. I can't receive that." He had been shaped to follow this self-image in his life. And we need to pay attention to the subtle agendas that keep coming against us as well. It might be social media personalities. It might be our favorite TV shows or movies or sports heroes or career role models. And certainly parental-type figures influenced us as well. And what do you see in the news today? Increasingly, millennials, Gen Z, what are they doing? Cutting off their parents, why? Real or imagined, all of this transformation coming down upon them, this is who you are, and they don't wanna hear that message anymore. So who do we all need to listen to in life? Jesus. This is what Matthew 11 is all about. To being conformed to his image, being transformed, discipled, making sure that he is the one who has gotten a hold of us. Part of formation is who we're spending time with, consciously or subconsciously. What are we absorbing? Are we absorbing their thinking and values as worth replicating? Or are we listening to Jesus? Are we coming to him when he calls us? Are we being yoked to him? Mark 4 is about the process of the word of God in our lives. Mark 4:21-27, this is Jesus talking. He said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket or under the bed and not on the lampstand?" So what is he saying? He's like, "The word of God is meant to have influence. When I speak to you, it is meant to have influence. It's meant to shape you. It's not just gonna be hidden. For there is nothing hidden except to be disclosed, nor is anything secret except to come to light. If you have ears to hear, then hear." And we're like, "Okay, we could do that." And he says, "Pay attention to what you hear." See, there's all these agendas coming at you. Pay attention to what you hear, and then that applies to the word especially, the word of God. "The measure you give will be the measure you get, and it will be added to you. For to those who have, more will be given. And from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, and he does not know how." You see, that could be Twinkies. Well, how did I end up like this, way over weight? Or that could be the word of God. How am I becoming more like Jesus? Because it is this subtle power of transformation over time, and he's cautioning us to pay attention to the word, to pay more attention to him, to be connected or yoked to him. See, Jesus knows that all of us are very much like, you know, SpongeBob SquarePants, right? We're just a sponge, and we soak up habits, moods, ideas of the folks around us. And in Matthew 11, it's not a message of condemnation, but a message of encouragement to get connected to him, that instead of this negative, misleading spiritual influencers in our lives. And because Jesus lived in an agrarian society, he used an agrarian kind of an example that I think probably fits maybe here in Illinois farm country, because to be yoked, the way that I understand it is kind of a city slicker guy. I don't know. You're taking one farm animal and connecting it to another farm animal to teach the, I guess the lesser of the two, how to behave, how to get a task done. And notice there's that bar where they cannot escape. We cannot escape the presence of Jesus. We are the untrained farm animal, yoked, connected, and harnessed to Jesus to learn his way of thinking and behaving and feeling. Christian devotional writer, A.W. Tozer, he once wrote, "What comes into our minds "when we think about God "as the most important thing about us?" Let me share that again. It came from his book, "The Knowledge of the Holy." "What comes into our minds when we think about God "as the most important thing about us?" Because it's revealing who we've been yoked to, who we've been connected to. Have we been connected to Jesus, the word? And so when we think about God, we think about God in the proper sort of way? Or when we think about God, are we scared? When we think about God, maybe we just think, all these people have taught me God is so difficult to please and I have to jump through all these hoops to make God happy. And so if Pastor Drew's up here talking about God as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, full of love, faithful, we're like, "Hmm, really?" Because that's not the way I've learned about God. That's not what I heard. Who are you connected to? Who is influencing you in your life? This is what formation is all about. This is what this Matthew 11 passage is all about. Are we connected to Jesus and learning his ways? Or are we connected to the cheap dollar store Jesus? The imitation Jesus who corrupts us and really doesn't enable us to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. You know, we're a Lutheran church. We got that Lutheran word in our name. It goes back to Martin Luther, the 1500s. He's the one who turned the world upside down, especially 1517 forward. But when he started out, all Luther knew was that he wanted to be a monk. He wanted to please God. And everybody said, "Okay, if you're gonna please God, "you gotta follow all these steps. "This is what you have to do to please God." And instead of finding peace with God, Luther just became increasingly angry. Because his overseers in the monastery was saying to please God, "Oh, you know, do this, "and then do this, and do that, "and then maybe you'll please God." So what did he find out? He said, "Love God." He said, "I hate him. "Love God, I hate God." And you're thinking, "Well, this is the guy "that started our churches." But this is before he found the grace of the gospel. Before he understood Matthew 11, he thought he needed to earn God's approval instead of receiving it. By faith, out of God's love for us. And that's why Matthew 11 is so powerful. Jesus is calling out to those of us who need to hear that if our spiritual religious life influencers have been so tired out that the thought of practicing the Jesus way causes us to just be burned out on religion, we need to respond that when we hear his voice, that small, inexplicable voice of Jesus, that we would receive him. Because that's what it's about. It's about receiving, not achieving. Because Jesus, I guarantee, almost all the time, is completely opposite of all that we've learned about him. Gentle, humble, lowly in heart, the ultimate source of rest for all of our exhausted hearts and souls. And so we need to pay attention to that voice when he's calling us, "Be yoked to me, be connected to me." They were like, "Yes, that is what I need "because I'm just so beaten down otherwise. "I don't know how to live, "otherwise I'm tired of being good, "tired of trying to be good." And he's like, "Come to me, be yoked to me, learn my way." Because it's when we're connected to Jesus directly and spend real time with him, that we understand how life in Jesus, it's easier than expected. And that's not a word we often hear in church, but the way of Jesus for as tough as it is to lay down our lives, pick up the cross and follow him, it's easy because it's not about us. It's about his work in us, of him absorbing the weight of what it means to practice the Jesus way, that that is lighter, lighter than we can ever imagine. Let's pray, would you allow me to pray for you? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for these holy moments that we've been together here this morning. And we just pray, I just pray, Father, I don't want people telling me that this was a good talk or a good message. I want and pray for transformation in all of us. That you would be doing your good works in all of us because all of us in our own ways are completely dependent upon you this morning and desperate for a work, a fresh work of you by your Holy Spirit. So come to us, inspire us, give us the ears to hear, conform us to your image, Jesus. Give us the hearts and attitude to dream the dreams that you have for us because you are all that we need. You, Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all that we need. Inspire our lives in you, amen.