Worth

All right, we can have a seat. We can have a seat. I just want to piggyback off what Marlow was saying, that we take risks. And something that we've said for years as a community is that history makers are risk takers.

Risk takers are history makers. And listen, you're going to fail. If you jump out of the boat, you know who failed? Peter, when he got out of the boat.

Do you remember in that story he sank? He started sinking. He failed. And yet he walked on water at the same time.

And a lot of times we have a tendency to be thinking about the moment of failure, the moment that we didn't see breakthrough. But I believe that God's moving us into stories of failure, being celebrated. Because you can't fail if you do it in love. If you're doing it to try to prove to yourself that you're a good Christian or something like, no, you're moved with compassion the way that Jesus was, and you move in love.

And even if you fall on your face and you say, hey, I got this word. I felt like God said this about you. And they're like, wow, that doesn't resonate at all. That's not me.

I've had that happen many times. And I've failed. And in that moment, I'm not feeling shame. I'm not leaving going like, oh man, stupid, stupid.

Why did you do that? How could you mess that up? No, I'm actually, I did it in love. And so even in the moment I respond with, man, I'm just working on hearing God's voice, but I want you to know this.

And I just deliver the truth, enjoy. And then we just move on. I pray for them or just share the good news of Jesus. And listen, you can't fail if you do it in love.

So let's take risks. We're going to fail, but we're learning and we're in process. And the Lord's not upset, OK? He's actually a proud dad that you have.

Have you ever seen a dad teach a kid how to ride a bike or how to walk? Do you know that celebration of like, they took two steps and then they fell on their face. And it's like, whoa, whoa. And you know, like a whole room is like, yes.

You scored a touchdown at the Super Bowl. No, it's like, no, you just took two steps. And there's such celebration. That's what the Lord feels in his heart.

When you step out and when you fail. All right, turn in your Bibles to Luke 15. Let's go fail this week. Why not?

Let's just why not. We could if we wanted to. Some of you guys still have seed money that needs to get sown. So hey, all right, some of us were shopping on Black Friday.

I saw that some of you guys were shooping. I was shooping. I know that a lot of us found some good deals, right? Do you guys find any good deals?

Some of you know, inflation's really hurting us, huh? No. You know that Americans know value when they see it, right? It's like, they will literally stampede into Walmart or Best Buy for the TV because it was worth that to them, right?

It's like, I got $100 off on a TV. And I don't care who's standing in my way type of moments. I think stores have stopped doing that because there's such a liability of people getting hurt because Americans are crazy, OK? So listen, but we buy things according to their value, right?

And when you get a good deal, it's a great feeling. And when I think about the Lord, I think about how he understands value. He understands the worth of things. And he has pretty expensive taste.

If you've ever thought about heaven and the city that he's building, the heavenly city Jerusalem, it's literally got streets that have gold, they're gold streets. 35W was under construction for two years. I don't know if you notice that. Concrete streets, concrete freeways for two years, OK?

As I live, Katie live in Blaine, all right? God is building streets out of gold. And then he says, I'm going to put archways at the entrance of the city and they're going to be made out of pearls. The most expensive pearl in the world is $137 million.

I searched it on Google. Jesus literally says, I'm going to build gates into the city out of pearls. He has very expensive to. He knows worth when he sees it.

He knows value when he sees it. And as we look at Luke 15, what I want to do is I want to just lean into this identity message that God has purchased identity for us through the gospel of Jesus and that the gospel doesn't, is it primarily about you need to be forgiven for sin? But the gospel is more about revealing your value and your worth to a father that loves you. Most of us grew up believing that the gospel was about sin forgiveness, and it is.

It is about forgiveness of sins. But the question is, why did Jesus come? Why did he come? Why did he lay down his life for us?

Was it because we were sinners or was it because of something different? What was provoking him? Why did he think it was worth his time in investment and in convenience? Luke 15, Jesus talks about this.

He's hanging out with some tax collectors and sinners. Tax collectors are the people that sin against others, right? They were stealing from others in the first century. And then sinners, they're just the worst of the worst in that culture, right?

And so Jesus starts ministering to these sinners tax collectors. And the Pharisees and the scribes in this passage, they're cool with Jesus as a rabbi ministering to the sinners, right? Minestring to the others. But Jesus starts doing something that is completely inappropriate.

Do you know what he does? He starts eating with them and befriending them. When you eat with someone in the first century in Jerusalem, it's in Israel, culturally, as you eat with them, that means that you're associating with them and you're befriending them. Do you know what the scribes and the Pharisees are probably thinking?

Don't do that with the sinners, because if you do that with the sinners, they'll think that they're OK to just live their lifestyles, right? It's like Jesus as the rabbis enabling them as if they're OK. And so Jesus is going, hey, that's not why I'm hanging out with these sinners and tax collectors. I actually have a different perspective about them.

So I want us to look at these three parables. And what I want to do is just give a broad overview of these three parables. We don't have time to read all of John or Luke 15. And so I'm just going to share the parables with you, OK?

So Jesus goes in and he shares these three parables with the Pharisees and the scribes with the religious people. And he says, hey, they're going, why are you befriending these sinners? And Jesus comes in and he shares a story about a lost sheep, a story about a lost coin, and then a story about a lost son. And the lost sheep story, he reveals himself as a shepherd.

In the lost coin story, he relates himself to being a woman in that story. And in the lost son story, he's the father. And so in each of the stories, there's something that's lost, right? The lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son, OK?

Or the prodigal son. And as he's sharing these stories, he's highlighting that they're lost. And then he and the father, they're on the hunt. They're going to search and seek out and find that which is lost as Luke 19 says.

So he says, I've come to seek and save that which is lost. The question is what was lost? And so Jesus, he's portraying himself as the shepherd that is shepherd that is searching. That's a tongue twister.

And the woman that is searching for a coin that got lost. And that coin was part of a lot of theologians think it's actually a covenantal headpiece or a headdress. And one of the coins on this headdress fell into the cracks of a home and into the dirt. And so she's searching for this lost coin.

And then the son is, man, the son is an awful son. Because what he does is he says, father, I'd rather just, it's almost as if I'd rather have you dead. I want my inheritance now. Like I want the things from you, but I don't want you.

And he says, give me my inheritance now. I want to go do my own thing. So he leaves. And it's a shame to the whole family.

And everyone in the town knows it. And he goes and he squanders everything, right? So lost sheep. He goes in and he finds the sheep.

Lost coin. She lights a lamp, finds the coin. And in the lost son story, God the Father, he's sitting on his rocking chair, waiting on the front porch, and sees the son a long way off, and lifts up his tunic, which is shameful in that culture for a man or a father to run. And he literally, shamefully, despises the shame of his love.

And he runs. And he starts going after his son and gives him a big hug and says, hey, put a robe around his shoulders. I'm restoring his authority. Put a ring on his hand.

I'm giving him the signet ring of the family. So he's the cosigner. And then I want you to put beautiful shoes on his feet. Come on in.

We're going to do something. We're going to throw a party. Every single story ends with a common theme of throwing a party at the end as well. And these scribes and these Pharisees are going, what is this teacher thinking?

It's incongruent with our understanding of value. And that's the point that Jesus is making. In the first century, a sheep. It's one out of 100, it says, in this parable.

So one of the sheep's leaves, Nick Hall talked about this a couple months ago, one of the sheep is lost. You do not leave 99 in the open country and go after one. You could lose two dozen sheep just by going after the one lost sheep. Why would you do that, right?

What is it about that sheep that Shepherd knows about that sheep, that these Pharisees and these scribes don't understand? For this woman that has this lost coin, the lost coin drops, and she's scouring. And it's at nighttime, so she lights a lamp. Why doesn't she just wait till the morning?

Why is there such an urgency that she has about finding this coin? What is she thinking? It's only one tenth, right? This sheep is one 100th.

One percent of all the sheep. This is one tenth of all the coins that she has. And then the sun in the last parable, what is the father thinking? The sun is a liability.

So I mean, he literally wastes 33% of the father's net wealth. That is a problem. And he brought shame onto the whole family. What is he thinking?

And that's what the Pharisees and the scribes are going, Jesus, your story doesn't make sense. You don't understand value, Jesus. This is completely anti what our culture would say about each, all three of these things. And the world measures value different than God measures value.

Is that not true? This is how the world measures value. The world measures value through convenience, through productivity, and through pleasure. Those are like the primary ways that we look at value and worth.

And so here's an example, convenience. I'm going to spend time, effort, and I'm going to be inconvenienced by working a job really hard and spending a lot of energy getting a paycheck. And then I'm going to use the paycheck to buy a vehicle, because I don't want to take the bus, and it's more convenient to take my car. So I'm going to buy a car because of convenience.

So that car has value worth. I'm not going to pay $100,000 for a $15,000 car, though. I understand value. I understand worth.

Pleasure. How many of you know that you're going to get the Ben & Jerry's rather than the Cub Foods brand? You might get more ice cream, but you're going to have that much more pleasure eating that Ben & Jerry's worth the $3 extra, OK? At least in my perspective, OK?

Productivity. You are measured most of the time at your workplace based on how you can produce. I don't want an employee that's just going to sit there, look at the wall. I am paying them because I want them to produce, right?

There's a productivity, it's like the earnings call for a public company. They're having an earnings call, and they're sharing their financials, and they're sharing their revenue. And then the analysts are listening to the earnings call, looking at the numbers, and they're setting a value on the stock price, and they're analyzing its worth. They're analyzing the company's value, and it's all based on productivity and what is produced.

But Jesus comes in, and he's like, hey, that sheep that is also a bad idea to even save because it's probably going to get lost again, I'm going to sacrifice everything for the sheep. Hey, that lost son that's probably going to betray me again, I'm going to lay down my life. I'm going to lay down my pride for that lost son. That lost coin, I'm going to be inconvenienced at the wrong time for that lost coin because there's value in it.

Why did Jesus die? Not because you can produce. He didn't go to the cross. Jesus didn't go to the cross thinking, Father, give me an army of minions that can do all of my bidding.

Do you think that was Jesus' heart? Father, would you give me a bunch of servants? Father, would you give me as my inheritance, a bunch of people that will do good work and be good people? Do you think that Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount?

You need to be good. I came that you would be good people. Jesus didn't come to purchase men for God so that we would be productive, good citizens, and just do a lot of good things. Jesus didn't come so that your value would be rooted in what you can accomplish and what you can achieve and what you can do for Him.

He didn't purchase you for God so that you could actually just win more people to Jesus, even though that's part of your destiny. That's not what he was primarily thinking about. Why do you have value? Why do you have worth?

Jesus doesn't measure our value this way. It's not based on our performance, our productivity. You cannot achieve. And Jesus didn't even, I don't know if you guys have heard of meme stocks, right?

But there's this phenomenon that's happening right now in the stock market where people will just kind of bet on a company and they'll all come and they'll just like, yeah, we're gonna invest in AMC. It's like AMC theaters really? And they just like go for it, okay? But listen, Jesus when he's dying on the cross, he isn't going, man, I don't see it now, but I'm betting on them really giving me a lot of pleasure.

Like I'm betting on them being really productive and so I guess this is the sacrifice that's worth it. He's not going like if, this is gonna be worth it if they really achieve and do good. He's not thinking that. He's not hedging his bets and he's like, well, should I, should I not?

I guess I'll, I'm gonna go all in on maybe them doing it. Maybe them being enough. No, that's not what Jesus is thinking. There's these moments that parents have where they start realizing when you have a child, then you are not your own anymore, you know?

He realized my schedule is not my own. My time is not my own. My energy is not my own. You know, it's like everything goes out the window, right?

And it's an inconvenience, often, right? And as a parent, you start realizing all of the sacrifices that you're making for your children. And do you know what, as a parent, if you grow up in a loving family, your parent 100 times out of 100 once would lay down their life for you. 100 times out of 100, they'd lay down their lives for you.

If it was like them or you, they would always choose you. And it's not because of the, like I have 11 year olds and eight year old and a two year old. And my 11 year olds and eight year old, they can start like doing the dishes, okay? So they like do the dishes, they clean things.

And they can produce things. It's amazing, okay? It is a different season, all right? But when I look at them, I don't go, man, look at their value and worth to me.

Look at them cleaning. Look at them washing the silverware and putting in the dishwasher. I love them. No, do you know why I love them?

Because they're mine. It's not even, it's not even that complicated. When I look at my two year old, I go, I'd lay my life down for a million times over and you can't do anything for me. You can't produce, you can't achieve, you can't accomplish, you can't do anything for me.

And I get so much pleasure when I look at you and I have so much delight in you. But even if she wasn't cute, which she's for sure cuter than every other child in this community, in this region, in this everywhere, all of your children, she's cuter, okay? Listen. But even if she wasn't cute, I would still feel the same way.

She's mine. And I love her so much. This is how God determines value. His value is based on the scales of his love.

His, the worth that God sees, worth is based on the scales of his love as a father. And so as Jesus is sharing these parables, can you imagine if Jesus was just a victim of his calling to lay down his life as a sacrifice to purchase men for God? Do you know what he would have done? He would have ended this parable at, he found him.

You know, it's just like, I did my duty, I found the sheep. I did my duty, I found the coin. I did my duty, I brought the sun back in and he's forgiven. But do you know what Jesus does at the end of these parables?

He does something where it's like, this doesn't make sense because you're saying that they have value that they don't really have. And Jesus is going, I'm gonna one up you on that. He's going, no, they don't just have value, we're throwing a party. I'm rejoicing over them.

I'm going above them, I'm not just saving them. I'm not just redeeming them. I didn't just come to seek and save the loss. I came that they would be rejoiced over and delighted in and that there would be a party thrown for them.

What I'm telling you is this, that God, when he looks at you, there's such delight in his heart. There's such joy in his heart and he's going, there's pride in my eyes when I look at the one. When I look at the one sheep and I put it on my shoulders. When I look at the one coin and I look at it and go, hey, Gabriel, start the oven, we're gonna have a party.

Right? He's looking at the angels, he's going, it's party time, my son's home. Party time, I found the coin and they're like, wait, what? That one, really?

And he's going, yes, my favorite one? See, we think that God only has capacity to have like one favorite, Jesus. And then God comes in with John 17 and he goes, I love them the same way that I love you, Jesus. That's weird.

We know how God the Father loves Jesus. He loves him infinitely, like he loves him. How much does God the Father love Jesus? I need Ephesians three to happen.

Ephesians three is this prayer. The Apostle Paul says, I need strength to comprehend how high and how wide and how deep and how long is the love of God because it breaks my brain that you Father are saying that I have the same love on me, that you love me the same way that you love Jesus. And then Jesus comes in with John 15. And in John 15, he says that he loves us the same way that the Father loves him.

So now we've got it from two directions. Jesus is saying, I love you the same way that the Father loves me. And then the Father is saying, I love you the same way that I love Jesus. That is infinite types of love.

I mean, like that is, it bends my mind to think you love me the same way that you love him. I never heard that. I never even had that idea until I got in college and then I heard Mike Bicklepreetchaunee. And he showed it in the Bible.

It's actually in the Bible. It says that, John 15, nine. Or yeah, and John 17, 23. Look at it, write that down.

John 17, 23, John 15, nine. He loves you the same way that he loves Jesus. This is your value and this is your worth, it's infinity. He loves you infinitely in the cross.

Jesus came to seek and save that which is lost to have sinners repent, yes. But he never lost sight of your value when you look at the parable of the lost coin. That woman was looking at the coin. She was trying to find this coin and it was in the dirt, it was lost.

And when she found that coin, she had never considered that coin one with the dirt. She never considered us. So the Lord never considered us one with sin. He always saw our destiny.

He always saw our value and our worth. Remember last week we talked about the image of God, right? And we talked about how we lost the likeness of God. And yet there's this element too, we're still image bearers.

And we're still lost sons and lost daughters. He never considers us just ostracized. And it's like I've given up on them. No, he's going, they're a son and a daughter still, they're just lost.

They're image bearers, but they're just lost. They don't look like me, but they carry my image inside of them. And I never lost sight of their value in their worth. They were always meant to look like me.

They're always meant to actually act like me, to have my mannerisms. He said, I never lost sight of their value in their worth. Not because of what they can produce, not because of what they can do for me, but because I love them. They're mine.

Some of us, a lot of times when we think about Jesus coming, we think, man, he's come so that we could get better and learn some lessons. Have you ever been in a really bad circumstance? And what we automatically think is, well, God's trying to teach me something. Listen, that's just because you're going through a difficult circumstance, it's not the Lord micromanaging your life to try to teach you a lesson.

Break that off of you right now. If there's stealing, killing, and destruction happen in your life, God's not trying to teach you a lesson. That's actually Satan. That's the enemy, active in your life and sin.

That's active and it's a fallen world that's happening in your life. And that's just what our fallen world is like. But the Lord can take all those things and turn it for good. He can teach us lessons in the fire and in the storm and in the flames.

But he's not the one behind it going. I just have to teach them the lesson. I have to just teach them the lesson. They're not getting it.

So I'm going to double down and I'm going to be more rough on him. I'm going to make it harder. No, that's not the Lord's leadership. He's a good leader.

He's going, no, that sheep is trailing off. I'm going after him pursuing. Oh, that coin is lost. I'm going after it.

I'm pursuing it. That son, he's coming. Oh, I'm jumping off the front porch. And I'm pursuing.

I'm going after him. God is the God that sees your value. He never lost sight. Do you think that the Father, when he's seeing the son, he's going, hm, this better be good.

This better be good because what he did, I don't know how we can go back from here. I don't know how we can move forward. So this better be good. It's better be a good apology.

Arms crossed. Listen, the Father doesn't consider you according to your achievements or your lack thereof. He doesn't see you according to your value according to what you haven't done. All of your destiny.

Some of us have these prophetic words. I know some of you charismatic people. You've got these prophetic words over you, right? And all these words of calling a destiny.

And they're amazing. And then you start realizing that you're experiencing guilt and condemnation because you're not walking into the destiny that you thought you were supposed to. And your circumstances aren't lining up the way that you thought they were going to. And all of a sudden you're feeling condemned because you're not walking out your destiny.

And the Lord's going, you don't understand your worth yet, do you? You don't understand your value yet. It's not attached to you doing something. It's not attached to some calling that was prophesied over you at a camp.

The Lord's looking at you's going, do you know what your destiny is? Receive my love, son. Receive my love, daughter. Break that condemnation off of you.

Be with me. Stop thinking about a destination of calling. I'm the destination. Stop thinking about the detour.

It is a detour, but we're together. So it's always a joy ride. Break off that condemnation on you. You have value and you have worth because I love you.

Some of us have been on the run, in the dark, lost in the dirt, stuck in self-pity, stuck in a mindset, stuck in a dark place, maybe a hamster wheel of trying to produce, trying to catch up, trying to get back to zero. I've felt that way before where I feel like there's this mountain and I'll get to the top of the mountain and that was zero. Like I cleaned the house and got it back to zero. I achieved and I just got to level, you know?

And the Lord's going, let's get off the hamster wheel. You're not defined by what you can do or what you haven't done. You're defined by my love. Let's all stand.

Worshiping you guys can come to the front. I just, no matter the choices that, this is something also that comes against us is, and we can spread out throughout the room, this is something that comes against us as well. How other people have treated us or things that other people have done to us ends up defining who we are and defining our worth and our value. And so what happens is someone sins against me as maybe a three-year-old or a seven-year-old or a 10-year-old and steals my innocence and their sexual abuse.

And all of a sudden my worth and my value is attached to how someone sinned against me. And I want to call us to actually break off the identities from people that have sinned against us and that we've taken our worth and our value and made it connected to some sin that somebody else did against us when they didn't know who they were. And they were wounded themselves and they didn't know what they were doing. And if they didn't know what they were doing in the implications, they probably wouldn't have done it.

And they just didn't know and they were operating out of their pain. And I'm not gonna let the pain that's undel within somebody else's life dictate what my value and worth is in God and my identity in the Lord and my identity as a person. I'm gonna let that seven-year-old situation. I'm gonna take a stand and go, that is not who I am.

That is something that happened to me, but it's not who I am. Who I am is that I'm loved and delighted in. And I'm not just delighted in. He rejoices over me.

When he looks at me, he throws parties in heaven. When he looks at me, he's like bragging on me. He's like, look, look, look, look, look at him. Oh, I love him so much.

Did you see with one glance of his eyes? He looked at me and my heart thrilled with in me. I'm such a proud dad. Hey, even as a parent, there's so many moments that I have with my kids where I'm just like, oh, I'm such a proud dad.

The Lord is such a proud father over you today. He's such a proud father that looks at your value and your worth and it's sure. He knows exactly what it is, it's infinity. Jesus doesn't overpay for things.

Listen, Jesus does not overpay for things. Jesus could have fixed the whole problem with just speaking words because he created everything, but instead he decided how much we were worth. He decided how much you were worth. Jesus doesn't pay $100,000 for a car that's worth $15,000.

He doesn't do that. He's perfectly wise. He has all the knowledge and all of history. He's omniscient.

Jesus doesn't overpay for things. And it says in the Bible that he purchased us at a high price. Maybe some of you might put a price tag on your life, maybe a million, maybe two million. I don't know what price tag you would put.

Maybe you feel like you're in darkness, you're going, I don't even know if I have any value. I don't even know if I should even continue living. I don't even know if I should continue this life. And the Lord's going, do you not know the value that I've put on your head, the value of your heart, the value and the worth that you have in my kingdom and the value that you have, not because of what you can accomplish, not because of all of the fruit, not because of all of the services that you'll attend, not because of all the things that you'll do at your workplace, because I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you in your mind.

No one else gets to say anything about your identity and your worth. I'm the one that has the most powerful voice. I see you, I know you, I get you, and I'm saying that your worth and your value is infinite. I don't overpay.

I don't overpay, son or daughter. I don't overpay, son or daughter. I purchase you at the very highest price, the value of my life, which is infinity. The creator created everything.

He created all worth, all value. And he is the only one that could actually pay the highest price, which is infinity. And he laid down his life because of our value and because of our worth. I just wanna read some things.

And these are some statements that I wanna read out loud. And if it feels authentic to you, you can repeat them after me, okay? So I'm gonna read a statement and then you can repeat after me if this resonates with you, okay? Just a couple of phrases.

Here's the first one. Man doesn't decide my worth. We're gonna say it again. Man doesn't decide my worth.

My achievement or performance doesn't decide my worth. My failures don't impact my worth. According to Jesus and God the Father, my worth is infinite. My worth is infinite.

God delights in me. God likes me. He rejoices over me. He really loves me.

It's okay for me to be worthy of love. Jesus and the Father think that I was worth it. Jesus, I thank you that you thought we were worth it, that you thought we were worth the high price. Lord, I thank you that you thought that we were worthy of love.

Lord, I thank you that you loved us and that you rejoiced over us. Lord, I thank you that you didn't go to the cross but grudgingly that you actually wanted to, that you desired to because you thought that we had that much value, that much worth to the Father. Jesus, we thank you and we honor you as the one that truly understands value. You know value when you see it.

You know worth when you see it. Father, you know value when you see it. Jesus, you know worth when you see it. You saw me before the foundation of the world and you said that I was worth the lamb being slain.

You saw me when you went to the cross and you thought that I was worth it, that I was worth the high price. Before I loved you, before I knew you, before I attended anything or did anything, before I sang a love song to you, before I turned my back on you, before I did all these great things for you, before all of the Bible reading, before all of the prayer, you loved me first, before I had anything to offer, you loved me. Before I cleaned myself up, which didn't really work, you loved me. Before I tried to get right with God, before going back to church, you loved me.

Before I tried to get all of the things, I just, be a little bit better, you loved me. Before I kind of stayed away from you for a little bit because I sinned and messed up, you loved me. You loved me, before all of those things were done to me. You loved me, you loved me then.

You loved me before, you loved me during, you loved me after, you're the alpha, you're the omega, you're the beginning, you're the end, you're the one that's in the middle, and you say that I have value, you say that I have infinite worth, you know value when you see it, you know worth when you see it.