I Need Some Motion

So let's keep that in mind. Well, family, if you're here, I know a lot of individuals are newer to our church. We're growing rather exponentially. On this Sunday, I teach, but it's more of a homily or a sermonette. And so there's something on my heart, and I want to kind of share and lead into our moment of generosity here on Miracle Sunday. I'm going to read one verse of scripture found in John chapter number two. I want to read verse five, verse five, and Jesus, Jesus's mother, Mary, is the individual that is spoken of in this verse. His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. That's it. I want to talk from this subject today, family. I need some motion. Clap your hands if you're ready for God's word. Every location. I need some motion. Family, I want to start this sermon by exposing an emotional, somebody say emotional. That was kind of weak. Say emotional. I want to start this sermon by exposing an emotional epidemic that seems to have invaded this era. It is an epidemic that is inhibiting many people's ability to experience God's best. It's an epidemic that is minimizing people's movement. It's inhibiting their evolution. It's blocking some blessings. It's robbing them of personal resources and it's gutting God's glory. It's an epidemic that is keeping some people up at night and keeping other people in the bed all day. It's an epidemic that's deterring some people from their destiny. It's blocking their ability to see blessings and it's bringing many to the place where

they're getting to the end of their life and realize I never lived my life. It's an epidemic that is emotional in nature, but it is destructive in expression and you may be wondering what this emotional epidemic I'm referring to is and family. I'm simply referring to an emotional epidemic called analysis paralysis. It's too quiet. It's too quiet. It's too quiet. Analysis paralysis is when our overthinking leads to anxiousness emotionally and inaction practically. It's when we are so consumed and concerned with not doing the wrong thing, we end up doing no thing. It's when thinking becomes a substitute for doing. It's when we're so busy weighing the options that we never make a choice. We're so busy studying the map that we never take the trip. It is confusing consideration with action and evaluation with execution. It's confusing planning with progress. It's when I'm moving in my mind, but I'm stuck in my life. Analysis paralysis takes away your motion and I don't know if I am the only one, but I got a holy hunch and a sneaky suspicion that I'm talking to some people who need some motion. You want some motion in your relationships. I don't want to be stuck, stale, and stagnant. If we're going to be together till death do us part, we need to like each other. We need to like being around each other. Let me go over on this side. We need to like being with each other. We need some motion professionally. If I'm going to spend the majority of my waking life doing a specific job, God don't let me waste my life doing something I hate. I need some motion.

I need some motion mentally where I am increasing in the fruit of the Spirit being demonstrated in my mind. I want more joy. I want more peace. I want more long-suffering. I want more temperance. I need some motion, and I need some motion spiritually. I don't want to be a weak spiritual Christian that takes shots from the devil and doesn't hit back. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down the strongholds. Devil, you hit my family, we're hitting back. You hit my body, we're hitting back. You hit my company, we're hitting back. You hit my church, we're hitting back. I need some motion. But analysis paralysis arrests your emotion. Analysis paralysis, it arrests your emotion. Analysis paralysis arrests your emotion. And it doesn't just arrest your emotion practically, it's for my note takers, it arrests your emotion spiritually. Because analysis paralysis doesn't just lead us into overanalyzing what we should be doing. It also can lead us into overanalyzing what God should be doing. Analysis paralysis reduces God down to the size of your senses. The only thing that God can do is what makes sense. Did you hear what I just said? The only thing that God can do is what makes sense. That God is limited to your logic. And having a God like that is okay until you need something illogical. Until you need something that doesn't make sense. And I am telling you, at some point, you're going to hit a season or a situation in your life where your grind and your grit and your good gifts cannot get you the result that you need. At some point, you're going to find yourself having conversations with loved ones who are engaging in a downward,

destructive pattern of behavior. And you're trying to talk some sense into them. And you're going to pray and talk, and it's not going to work. And you're going to have interventions and talk, and it's not going to work. At some point, you're going to need something supernatural to happen on the inside of that person so that they come to themselves. You're going to need a miracle. Did you hear what I just said? It doesn't matter how accomplished we are, how resolute we are, how forthright we are, how forward-thinking we are, how much of a planner we are, how much of a preparer we are, something's going to hit your life that you could not plan for. And something's going to hit your life that you could not prepare for. And in those instances, you're going to see that this situation is an opportunity for a revelation of a God who works miracles. And I want to know, am I talking to anybody who believes He's still doing the illogical? And if you don't believe He's still doing the illogical, just look at your neighbor, and your neighbor's presence in church is evidence that He's still a miracle-working God. If you want to know what a miracle looks like, just look at the person sitting next to you. They shouldn't be here, shouldn't be stable, shouldn't be sane, shouldn't be safe. You want to see a miracle? You sit next to one. Now let your neighbor hear what a miracle sounds like. A miracle. It's a divinely orchestrated anomaly. What's an anomaly? An anomaly is an aberration. But Pastor, you didn't make that note more clear. It's a deviation. It's a zag when everybody else is zigging. It's a pattern breaker. Hallelujah, I felt that one. I said it's a pattern breaker. It's when things wouldn't normally happen a certain way. It's when things usually happen a certain way. It's when things predictably happen a certain way, and then God steps in and says this time it's going to be another way. I feel that. Somebody help me shout right there, it's going to be another way. It's when God makes something happen that couldn't happen, shouldn't happen, wouldn't happen unless He made it happen. It's when God makes something happen that couldn't happen, shouldn't happen, and wouldn't happen unless He made it happen. It's when God makes something happen that couldn't happen, shouldn't happen, and wouldn't happen unless He made it happen.

It's when God makes something happen that couldn't happen, shouldn't happen, and wouldn't happen unless He made it happen. And the tragedy is, many people are living miracle-less. They have less miracles. Because they insist on making God fit inside the boundaries of their five senses. Your senses are gifts, they are great gifts, but they are horrible gods. Here is what a sage, and I need the saints to help me with this, because here is what a sage named Solomon says about this in Proverbs 3, trust in the Lord. Will my Bible readers come on? With all thy heart, am I in the book? Lean not to your own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived besides Jesus, said, do not rely on your own understanding. So if Solomon say that, I need to listen. Solomon is saying to us, don't let the limits of your logic become a lid you put on God. Don't limit God. Don't limit God. Don't let your disappointment cause you to limit God. Don't let your trauma cause you to limit God. Don't let your pain cause you to limit God. Don't let your revelation of what people are not cause you to doubt who God is. This is not the season, I feel this prophetically, where you can afford to limit God. You've got to have Him come through for you in an unusual way in this season. And if we want to avoid this analysis paralysis that arrests our emotion, if we want to avoid this life where our logic is limiting God to the confines and context of our five senses, there is something that I think we need to explore here in this passage in Luke, excuse me, in John chapter 2. If we, here's what, here's the claim, here's the claim of John 2 for us today. This is, we're going to summarize the sermon in a sentence. This is the claim of the text today. It is, if we are going to discover the God who works miracles, we must be willing to detox from analysis paralysis.

That's the claim, that's the sermon. Tario, you could play softly. That's, that's, that's, that's the sermon. Pastor, what do you mean? What the text is about to teach us. It is one of many examples that if I'm going to discover the God who works miracles, I must be willing to detox from spiritual analysis paralysis because miracles are very often on the other side of illogical instruction. And analysis paralysis only allows you to obey that which makes sense. It's right here. It's right here in the text. This text in John 2 exposes us to Jesus's first public miracle in mass. That's key. His first public miracle in mass. At this point in John's narrative, Jesus, we're about to see, he already has disciples. So there has been some miraculous work that's been siloed to those that were in those spaces. But this is his first public miracle in mass. And the Bible says it takes place at a wedding. At a wedding, it's just a wedding. At a wedding in a town called Cana, in a region in northern Israel called Galilee, they had a wedding. Now, these kind of weddings were different. These weddings in this context, it was almost the way some of y'all celebrate your birthday. Your birthday is a month. For some of you, it's a season. Oh, no, it's my birthday quarter. We celebrate in January, March, April, June. You're like, it's my birthday month. Weddings in this context were a multi-day celebration. So Jesus, his mom, and the disciples are at this wedding.

And something happens. That's not an emergency. It's just embarrassing. Don't miss what I just said. It's not an emergency. It's just embarrassing. It's a multi-day wedding. Celebration for a wedding. Watch this, and something happened. They run out of Merlot, Cabernet, Pinot Noir. Am I in? I'm just in the book. They run out of wine. This is not a crisis, would you agree? Some of the saints are like, well, pastor. I'm about to shift the mood, but let me go on and prepare you for this. This is why during Lent next year, I'm calling for a dry Lent. And if that make you nervous, that's why you need to break. If that just ran your blood pressure up, it means you may have developed an unconscious codependency, and God may need to show you another way to calm your nerves. So, Jesus' mother comes up to him and say, Jesus, they have no more wine. I want you to look at verse 4, because I want you to see what Jesus said. He said, woman, why do you involve me? Now, I don't believe Mary is running to Jesus talking about wine, because she need it. I don't think she's thinking, I'm about to be with these people for three days. Culturally here, contextually, to host something and not be properly prepared could have an adverse effect on your reputation. So, being that her and Jesus are at the wedding, it is safe to assume she is in relationship either with the couple that's getting married or to the family that is hosting it, and her concern is not the wine, it's their reputation.

So, she comes to Jesus about something that is not an emergency, but could be embarrassing, and she says, I need you to do something about this. Here is what's interesting, family. This is not a crisis, but it is the first recorded. Miracle that Jesus does in mass because I believe this communicates to us that miracles are not just a response to crisis, miracles are an expression of God's love and a demonstration of God's nature, that it doesn't have to be a crisis for God to work a miracle. He will work a miracle as a demonstration of his nature and his character. This is why John in verse 11 calls the miracles of Jesus signs. Give me John 2, 11. The text says what Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs. This miracle was a sign that did what? Revealed his glory. Y'all missed it. What was primary isn't him fixing the problem. What's primary was him revealing his glory. And the result of him revealing his glory is the disciples' belief in him was deepened. So, it wasn't just about turning up the wine, it was about turning up the disciples' faith. His demonstration of his glory deepened the faith of the disciples. Are you hearing what I'm saying? I said, are you hearing what I'm saying? So, he says, hey, the text is teaching us miracles are a demonstration of God's goodness, not just a response to crisis. It's not the break glass in emergency context. So, Mary goes to Jesus. She say, you got to do something. He said, woman, what does this have to do with me? Don't miss this. He says, my hour hadn't come. In other words, it's not my time to reveal myself in this way yet.

And I want you to see how Mama Mary responds. She doesn't even, because when a mama has her mind made up, we only going to talk about this so much. Did you hear what I just, when a mama has her mind made up, hey, we're not about to keep talking about this. Why are we talking? Why are we still talking? She doesn't even answer him. He says, why do you involve me? She says nothing. He says, my hour hadn't come. She speaks to the servants. She doesn't even answer. Whatever he tell you to do, do it. I'm going back inside. And the text says Jesus saw about six barrels that were empty that were used for what's called purification rites. They would wash their hands before they ate and pray with those barrels and Jesus, with the water in those barrels. And Jesus told the servants, hey, just fill up the barrels with water. She says, we have no more wine. He says, what does that have to do with me? My hour ain't come. She says, whatever he say do, do it. Then he says, fill the barrels with water. She says, we don't have no wine. He says, what does that have to do with me? She says, whatever he say do it. He says, fill the barrels with water. She says, we've run out of wine.

He says, what that's got to do with me? She says, whatever he say do it. He says, fill the barrels with water. You missed it. She says, we don't have wine. He says, what's that got to do with me? She says, whatever he say do, do it. He said, all right, fill the barrels with water. I thought he said it wasn't his time. But he still filled the barrels with water. Because maybe we heard Mary's voice. Maybe he heard the Father's. Saying, surrender your timeline. And many people miss miracles because they won't surrender their timeline. They're so stuck on when they think it's supposed to happen, and if it doesn't happen within their time frame, they think it isn't going to happen, but Jesus the Son models how to render your timeline to the Father. Because trusting God's plan means trusting God's pace. Trusting God's plan means trusting God's pace. Trusting God's plan means trusting God's pace. See many people think they can trust the place He's taking you without trusting the pace He's taking you at. But He knows the pace He needs to take you at to get to the place He's trying to take you, and sometimes it takes longer than you think, and other times it's going to come sooner than you expect. I don't know who needs to hear that right there. I said sometimes it takes longer than you think, but other times it takes sooner than you expect, and let me just say this. This is not for everybody, but it must be for multiple people. If it's being—if I'm being prompted to share it in a corporate gathering, I need you to

hear this, and your faith needs to take personal possession of God's promises. It's going to happen sooner than you think. Okay, I just—I only want people who need it to happen swiftly. All right, let me—so let's wrap up. Watch what happens here. Watch what happens here. Text says—Jesus said, fill it with water, so they filled it to the brim. Then He told them, now draw some of it out and go take it to the master of the banquet. They did it, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned to wine, and he didn't realize where it come from. The servants knew—servants who had drawn the water knew, then he called the bridegroom aside and said, everyone brings out the choice wine first, so you bring out the top shelf first. And then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink, but you have saved the best until now. See, family, this is a miracle of transformation, because He took what they already had and created what they needed. So He did a new thing with an old thing. This should be encouraging to you and I, because it tells us He still works miracles of transformation. Y'all not following me here? You can have a new marriage with the same spouse. You can have a new kid with the same kid. You can have a new company with the same company. Y'all missed it. God can do a new thing with an old thing. It's also a miracle of innovation, because He created wine with no grapes. Grapes represent what's normally needed to get a result. And Jesus doing it without the grapes is Jesus demonstrating that I don't need the ingredients that you think I need to create the result that I have determined to create. See, I can do it without the grapes.

It's a miracle of acceleration, because grapes went through a process called—I mean, wine goes through a process called fermentation, where the grape juice is turned into wine. It can take weeks up to months. And Jesus reduced what would take months down to minutes. okay I don't know maybe this is fun I'm a release one more I'm gonna say it one more time it's gonna happen sooner than you think Tario let's go late how many could use miracles of transformation innovation or acceleration here it is well the text teaches us that you can't have miracles of transformation innovation or acceleration without some detoxification because everything that happens in the text is tied to this one phrase that Mary gives when she says whatever he tells you to do do it see if you guys if we were in that cultural context we would know that there should have been a lot of questions those servants were asking Mary proactively pushes back against analysis paralysis we'll have time to argue because you're gonna be wondering do I need to go to store to get some grapes you're gonna be asking is it appropriate for us to use these barrels that are designated for purification rights to put wine on the inside there's a lot of questions they could ask and so she broke she assumes that they're gonna waste precious time arguing over instruction they just need to be obeying so she tells them ahead of time whatever he tell you to do just do it and some people aren't experiencing moves of God because you are still too busy arguing with him I need a church to talk back to me today you're trying to negotiate with the miracle worker you're trying to make sense out of the miracle worker here is here is here is the contemporary implication of the text there must be detoxification I guess I'm not just from legalism not just from narcissism not just from syncretism but also rationalism now when I say rationalism please don't confuse that with being rational God wants us to be rational he gave us what we call common sense rationalism is a word that refers to a stream of thought that was popularized in a period in world history known as the Enlightenment period and many of us are quoting where we there are axioms and quotes that we've applied

to our life that have come from philosophers who were proponents of rationalism we see reason as a tool rationalism sees reason as truth we see reason as a tool to find truth rationalism sees reason as truth and many believers think they're being rational in order to avoid spiritual exaggeration when in reality they're operating in rationalism so if it doesn't make sense to me it doesn't make sense not realizing your senses aren't the highest level of reason in Isaiah 55 the Bible says my thoughts are not your thoughts and neither are my ways your ways look at the text as the heavens are higher than the earth are my ways higher and my thoughts higher than your thoughts so when you obey God you're ascending to a higher level of reasoning when you obey God you're not being I'm not making sense you're not being irrational obeying God is the wisest thing you ever do because his way of thinking is higher than mine so I am submitting inferior reasoning to superior reason and Peter would have missed out on a boat filled with fish if he only obeyed what made sense to him Naaman would have never got clean from leprosy, if he only obeyed what makes sense to him. The widow woman and her child would have died in a famine if she would have only obeyed what made sense to him. And what and what I want you to hear this selective obedience is never the sickness, it's the symptom. It is a symptom of rationalism. This is why you will love your your family and not your enemy. Both of them in the bible, but only one makes sense to you. Why is it quiet in here today? Selective obedience stifles the supernatural. We done taught y'all. Selective obedience stifles the supernatural. Because some stuff God tells you to do, it's not gonna make sense. But the text says, these people in the text did two things we got to do. Number one, they received the instruction.

So Jesus said, fill the jars. Did he say that? Did he say fill the jars? The text says they filled it to the brim. They could have went halfway, three-fourths, and like, it's full. They're like, no, we're filling this to the brim. They obeyed the instruction. They received the instruction, and then they obeyed with precision. Because after he told them to fill the jars, he didn't stop talking to them. He said, now draw it out and take it to the master of the banquet. And they obeyed with precision. None of that made sense. But they saw a miracle because they didn't allow their analysis paralysis to stop their motion. And I'm telling you right now, I wouldn't be here today as a preacher if I was only following what makes sense. Come on, let's keep it real. You can go to law school or be a preacher. Even socially, those professions got two different brands. Pastors don't have great brands. You say, go on a social search. You'll be like, I'm an attorney. People are like, okay. You're like, I'm a pastor. They're like, what kind? Which, I'm serious. I recognize that I spend a large part of the first part of my pastoral ministry with people who are new to the family, proving to them who I'm not. I just said, hey, I know it's probably going to take you time to trust me. Stick around. I'll be here. It don't make sense. Starting a church didn't make sense. Moving to Atlanta, it didn't make sense. Terrible timing. I didn't see a need in the market. I didn't feel a call to the area. It was like, this don't even make sense. All these miracles I've seen, I would have missed.

If I only did what makes sense. The smartest thing I've done was not get degrees. It was listen to God. And all I'm trying to tell you on this Miracle Sunday, as we prepare to engage in sacrificial acts of generosity, all I'm trying to tell you is what Mary told the service in the text. Whatever he tell you to do, whatever he tell you to do, do it. I want you to clap your hands, and I want you to receive our First Lady. You