Make It Make Sense | Turn The Other Cheek | Drew Sherman

Let's stand as we lift up the name of Jesus this morning. Lord, we magnify you. We thank you for the power in your name. Sing this out. I pray into the atmosphere. Spirit of God, you are here. You have all the glory. The enemy has no right to come near my face. No scheme could ever undo God's plan. No matter the circumstance. The cross is still my destiny. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray. Calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim. Every weapon formed against me. You must pray. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. I know. All the power of fear and doubt. It must go. Is every key to every victory. That I hold. Is in the mighty name of Jesus. Sing I will not fear. I will not fear. When the enemy comes near. The doorframe of my life. Is the blood of Jesus Christ.

So I will not fear. I will not fear. Because an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides. By the blood of Jesus Christ. Sing I will not fear. I will not fear. Because an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides. By the blood of Jesus Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray. Calling on the power of love. Calling on the power of love. Every weapon formed against me. Must pray. In the mighty name of Jesus. Oh in the mighty name. In the mighty name of Jesus. I know. I know. Oh in the mighty name. You got to go. You got to go. Because every key to every victory. That I hold. Is in the mighty name of Jesus.

Is in the mighty name. Is in the mighty name. Is in the mighty name of Jesus. Come on can we bless his name this morning. You got the flowers. In all of their beauty. I don't have to wonder. You know what you're doing. So why would I worry. ♪ But you're faithful to survive ♪ Come on, we sing together. ♪ Everything I need, everything I need ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it ♪ ♪ Every single time the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ And my Father has it, my Father has it ♪ ♪ Yeah, oh, this God we trust in you ♪ ♪ I've got your sparrow, I'm begging for nothing ♪ ♪ With no fear of tomorrow and what it will bring ♪ ♪ With no fear of tomorrow and what it will bring ♪ Come on, we declare this. ♪ If I have you, I'll have enough ♪ ♪ Your love will satisfy ♪ ♪ Everything I need, everything I need ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it ♪ ♪ Every single time the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ Oh, my Father has it, my Father has it ♪ ♪ This God you have enough to see first the kingdom ♪ ♪ Then its treasures, everything else it will be ♪ ♪ Will be I need, all that I need it ♪ Come on, we sing.

♪ I know the Lord will provide, yes, He will ♪ ♪ I know my God's not head to head ♪ ♪ He gives us blessings, love for blessings ♪ ♪ I'm still believing, oh, I know the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ He will provide it, yes, He will provide it ♪ ♪ He gives us blessings, love for blessings ♪ ♪ I'm still believing, oh, I know the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ He gives us blessings, love for blessings ♪ ♪ I'm still believing, oh, I know the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ I know my God's not head to head ♪ ♪ He gives us blessings, love for blessings ♪ ♪ I'm still believing, oh, I know the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ Everything I need, oh, everything I need ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it ♪ ♪ Every single time, the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ My Father has it, to see first our kingdom and its treasures ♪ Come on. ♪ Everything else, it will be I, oh, will be there ♪ ♪ Oh, will be there, oh, I know the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ And I know my God's not empty-handed ♪ ♪ He gives us blessings, love for blessings ♪ ♪ I'm still believing, oh, I know the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ Oh, I know the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ And I know the Lord will provide ♪ We worship a God who provides for all of our needs today. He's there for us, good and bad. Let's call on his name together. ♪ I'm calling on the God of Jacob ♪ ♪ Whose love endures through generations ♪ ♪ I know that you will keep your covenant with me ♪

The one who opened up the ocean I need you now to do the same thing for me Oh God, my God, I need you Oh God, my God, I need you now How I need you now Oh rock, oh rock of ages I'm standing on your faithfulness On your faithfulness I'm calling on the God of David Whose favor rests upon the world I know in you all things are possible I'm calling on the God of David Who made a shepherd boy from ages I may not face the light But I've got my own giants Oh God, my God, I need you Oh God, my God, I need you now How I need you now Oh rock, oh rock of ages I'm standing on your faithfulness On your faithfulness You heard your children then You hear your children now You are the same now You are the same now You answered prayers back then And you will answer now You are the same now You are the same now You are the same now You are the same now You are the same now You were a healer then You are a healer now You are the same now You are the same now You were my savior then You are the savior now You are the same now You are the same now Oh God, my God, I need You Oh God, my God, I need You now How I need You now Oh rock, oh rock of ages I'm standing on Your faithfulness On Your faithfulness Come on sing Oh God, my God, I need You Oh God, my God, I need You now How I need You now Oh rock, oh rock of ages I'm standing on Your faithfulness On Your faithfulness And Lord, I go, I confess Bowing here, I find my rest

And without you, I fall apart You're the one that guides my heart And Lord, I need you Oh, I need you Every hour I need you My one defense My righteousness Oh God, how I need you My sin runs deep Your grace is more My grace is found Is where you are And where you are Lord, I am free Holiness is Christ in me And where you are Lord, I am free Holiness is Christ in me And Lord, I need you Oh, I need you Every hour I need you My one defense My righteousness Oh God, how I need you So teach my soul to rise to you When temptation comes my way And when I cannot stand, I'll follow you Jesus, you're my hope and stay And when I cannot stand, I'll follow you Jesus, you're my hope and stay Lord, I need you Oh, I need you Every hour I need you My one defense My righteousness Oh God, how I need you My one defense My righteousness Oh God, how I need you Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Well, hey, 10 o'clock, how are you? You can always get a read on a crowd. I'm feeling good about it, okay? I'm feeling good.

Hey, welcome to Compass. Our mission is navigating people to God. Hey, can we right now welcome the men of the Allred unit to this place right now? Hey, men, I want you to know we love you guys and our best days are ahead in Allred and so we're excited about what God is doing there. And hey, before we begin, we're excited what God is doing here this summer. Summer's always a crazy time at Compass as we get ready for student ministry, junior high and high school church camp. But also, we just finished a first couple rounds of Windshape Camp and I don't know if you've been a part of this, but the kids had a blast. Let's give it up for all these Windshape kids. My grandson, Henry, he's six years old, I asked him, what'd you think of Windshape Camp? And he's like, two enthusiastic thumbs up. So he loved that camp, there we are. And he wanted his mama to sign him up for all eight weeks, but of course that wasn't possible. But man, if you didn't get your child into Windshape Camp this year, hey man, get a jump on that next year. It's an amazing, amazing opportunity. I wanna start like this. Have you ever received a confusing text message? Raise your hand, just a confusing, yeah. It's very common to get a confusing text message. I was flying back from Denver recently, I had some meetings there. My wife usually travels with me, but this was a very short turnaround,

so she didn't come on this trip, and we're texting back and forth. And the final text I received from her as I was ascending, taking off from Denver, she sent me this text, can't wait to see your face later, but it auto-corrected to can't wait to see your fats later. And look, I'm not a thin man, but I have feelings. I have feelings. And no, auto-correct is the worst. And I don't know what it is about my personality, but I read a lot into how people reply to my text messages. Anybody else do that, do you? And so it's like, you just pour yourself out there, hey, just wanted to check in, praying for you, love you, how can I help, and I get back a thumbs up. And you're like, is that a spiritual thumbs up, or is that a please never text me again thumbs up? But here's the worst one. This one freaks me out. Like you say something, you put yourself out there, and then you get this, K. I don't know what it is about that little K, but it just freaks me out, makes me anxious, because I'm like, man, is that, are we good, or is that okay loaded with disappointment and judgment? So I just wanna say sometimes, I get a text message, can you make this make sense? And honestly, if we're real, there are moments when we read the words of Jesus, and we feel the exact same way,

because Jesus says things like, get behind me, Satan, and pluck your eye out, and love your enemies, and let the dead bury the dead, and we're like, what? Like, are you serious, Jesus, are you serious with this? Can you make this make sense? And that's what we've been digging into the past two weeks with this series about some of the hard teachings of Jesus. In fact, I just wanna stop right now, and give a huge shout out to Landon Sherman and Laura Collins for the last two weeks, amazing. Let me just tell you this, if you have not caught either one of the first two messages, man, go back and listen to them, amazing messages, so convicting. And the big idea is that Jesus is calling us to a life that feels, in some ways, a bit upside down. And so we begin today, I'm gonna kind of begin where Laura left off in Matthew chapter five. If you turn to Matthew five, you'll see, and we'll start with verse 38, so Matthew five, and Jesus is preaching his most famous of messages, the Sermon on the Mount, and he is on the hillside there, and there's thousands of people, we believe, gathered on the hillside of the Sea of Galilee. I think Laura showed you this last week. This is probably right where it was, on that hill's beautiful setting. If you've never been to the Holy Land, I think Michelle and I have been to this particular spot six different times, amazing place, so beautiful.

And of course, he's speaking to a very Jewish crowd, the Hebrew people, the children of Israel, are listening to this message, and remember, they have grown up their whole lives being programmed by Hebrew law and regulations and rules. And if you look up, if you kind of read the book of Leviticus or Exodus, Exodus and Leviticus, you can read about the 638-some Hebrew laws that they kind of brought up to try to obey and understand. Can you imagine trying to obey that many laws? And so Jesus gets up there, and he preaches this message, and he says, you've heard what has been said. You've heard that it was said, some translations say. This translation says, you've heard the law that says. And what that means is, buckle up, because Jesus is about to flip the script on the matter. The Pharisees think he's about to reinforce the system that they have built, and instead, Jesus is about to reveal a kingdom that they can't control. They thought they had the crowd locked in with rules and categories and predictable religion. And, but Jesus is about to flip that script and turn it upside down. He says, you've heard the law that says, the punishment must match the crime, must match the injury. And then he says this, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It's a throwback to an Old Testament passage. Now, this passage in the ancient world was actually considered a great step forward for justice.

Meaning just because you're rich and powerful, you can't hurt someone as much as you want to. There were limits when it came to retaliation. So if somebody gouges out your eye, you can't gouge out their eye and then cut off both their legs. That's not fair. And so the crowd is nodding, yeah, that makes sense. Because it wasn't a revenge verse, it was a limit verse. And then Jesus says, but don't escalate this. You've heard the law that says, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And look, let me just say this. I know all of you who call Compass home. I know you would never do this, but I've seen some folks with other church bumper stickers who when they get cut off, they don't just honk. They speed up and pass the person and then brake check them. They escalate the situation. And again, I know no one at Compass would ever do that, but maybe people from other churches. I mean, can we trust the Baptist here on this? I don't know. I don't think we can. The fact is, and what Jesus, I had a guy come up to me last week and said, hey, I'm Baptist, I didn't love that joke. Anyway, which kind of proved my point. Anyway, so the fact is, and what Jesus is trying to prove is that we don't get even, we often escalate the situation.

And it's true. I found a book recently called, Don't Get Mad, Get Even, A Manual for Retaliation. And it's by a guy named Alan Abel. And don't write this down and don't order it on Amazon. It's not a good book. In fact, it says at the bottom, this caught my eye, author of 101 Uses for a Dead Cat, which actually was more appealing to me than the original book. But anyway, sorry about that. Now, listen, here's the thing. From the beginning, when sin entered the world, retaliation became the human response. So Jesus decides to deal with this idea of retaliation. He says, you've heard that it was said, here's the law that says this, but I say, but I say. And so Jesus is trying to raise the bar here. And I wanna just make something perfectly clear if you're taking notes. Jesus is not creating a new law here. He's not creating a new law. He's giving us a new way to live, okay? I like to think of this as creative alternatives on how to live your life. And so that's what Jesus is doing. You've heard that it was said, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, but I say, do not resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.

Now, let me assure you, when Jesus says this, there would have been a rumbling in the crowd because the crowd is like, what did you just say? I didn't sign up for this. This is not what I came for, but he is giving them a new way to live because the religious leaders are over here going, this is what the law requires. And Jesus is saying, this is what love looks like. And that's the shift from rules to relationship, from external compliance to internal transformation. And Jesus, just so you make, I'm gonna make this clear. He's not teaching passivity, he's teaching freedom. He's not saying let people hurt you. He's saying, don't let people control you because retaliation always feels powerful. It always, the plan always looks great. It looks good on paper, but honestly, it actually hands off your peace to someone else. When you hit back, you're not free, you're reacting. When you clap back, you're not strong, you're triggered. When you get even, you're not healed, you're chained. And Jesus is saying, I want you to be unoffendable. I want you to be untriggered. I want you to be unchained. I want you to be unbothered. I want you to be uncontrolled by the actions of others. This isn't weakness, it's spiritual strength training. Jesus says, I'm not trying to make you soft, I'm trying to make you strong.

A couple of years ago, there's a story that went viral about a man named Michael Threats. He's a children's librarian from California who became known online for his very joy-filled videos and books and reading for kids. And people were just drawn to his kindness and his warmth, and he just made reading feel like a gift, if you will. In fact, he was so beloved that in 2024, he took over as the new host of Reading Rainbow, stepping into the spotlight. the role that LeVar Burton made famous. But not long after that, the internet turned on him. People started mocking him online, making fun of him, his voice, his mannerisms, even the way he smiled, it was very cruel. And here's what makes the story so powerful, he didn't clap back, he didn't defend himself, he didn't try to match their cruelty. Instead, he posted a video in response and he said this, sometimes people are having their worst day, sometimes they're struggling deeply, sometimes the pain that comes out in the form of saying cruel things to other people, and that's not okay, but then he said this, and this kinda had people stopping in their tracks, I hope these people experience kindness, I hope they experience joy. That's what Jesus was talking about when he talks about turning the other cheek, it's a creative alternative.

That's what it looks like to choose character over chaos and freedom over retaliation, that is exactly what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus never asked us to do what he wouldn't do. Jesus himself, on the cross, think about this, when they're putting a crown of thorns on his head and they're hurling insults at him and spitting at him, he looks up to the Father and says, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. Jesus would never ask us to do something that he wasn't willing to do, and his words on the cross somehow make sense because the cross made them make sense. And to that first century Jewish crowd, this would have been very offensive, deeply offensive. They wanted a Messiah who would rise up against Rome, not one who taught restraint and mercy and enemy love, for goodness sake. They were living under oppression, and Jesus offered a radically different response to injustice, but instead of stopping there, he goes a step further. He says, if you're sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too. What's he doing there? Well, he's saying people matter more than possessions. People matter more than possessions. I was thinking this week about one of the mission trips I've taken.

I'll never forget my first trip to India. We went to a village called Kansa to minister. And honestly, I remember that night vividly because I was preaching that night, and it happened to be, this is crazy, we're on our way into this village. And when you go into these small villages in India, they don't have like homeowners associations in the neighborhood. There's not lighting and stuff. And so we're driving down this dark road in India, a very dark road. And we're about maybe, I don't know, 20 minutes from the village. And I was preaching that night and Pastor Ajay Lal, the missionary there, he leaned over to me and he said, oh, Pastor Drew, what are you preaching on tonight? And I said, well, I was gonna tell the story in John chapter eight of the adulterous woman and how Jesus forgave her and told them not to throw the stones, and there was a second chance. And he goes, that's wonderful. He goes, don't mention John chapter eight. And I said, that's a problem, that's the whole story. And he goes, no, no. He said, these people do not have a Bible in their language. They speak the Bundeli language. This was about 15 years ago. And he says, they don't have a Bible.

So don't say John chapter eight, just tell the story about a man named Jesus and what happened. And I was just so stunned by that. And so I got up there and I told the story and it was an amazing night. And just so you know, fast forward a few years, Pioneer Bible Translators ended up sending people into that village. And I can tell you 15 years later, and by the way, 50 million people speak the Bundeli language. But 15 years later, we have an Old Testament and a New Testament in the Bundeli language now, which is just incredible. In fact, I don't know if those people have a smartphone, but there's actually in the Bundeli language now, you can go get it on YouVersion. That's not real helpful for you and I, but look, it's amazing for them. And Compass helped resource the very first printing of the Bundeli Bible. And I tell you that, because that actually has nothing to do with the story, but I thought it was really cool. But anyway, so here's what happened. What was, here's the story. That night, a family invited us into their home and served us a meal. And later, we found out the meal cost them

the equivalent of a week's wages, a whole week. But I need to be honest with you, my first reaction was not deeply spiritual because the main course that night was goat. And I don't know if you've ever looked a goat in the eye at the petting zoo, but it's hard to go from, oh, that's so cute to pass the leg. So I was trying to smile like a missionary while quietly panicking like a suburban American. But in that moment, the food stopped being the story. their generosity became the story. These are people who didn't know us, didn't have much, and they still gave sacrificially. They opened their home and shared their table and offered what little they had with joy. And I was just wrecked by that. Because that's kind of generosity that Jesus is talking about here, a generosity that doesn't always make sense on paper, a generosity that flows from a transformed heart. And here's what I love. Jesus isn't only talking about the big dramatic moments. He's talking about any generosity, even the small stuff. Every time we open our hearts, or open our hands, instead of clenching our fists, we start looking more like God. And Compass family, what if we actually lived like that? Like what if we really became open-handed people? Like just imagine the impact right here in this community,

the medical debt that we could erase, the school lunches we could cover, the meals we could provide, the families we could keep afloat. And listen, it doesn't always start with a week's wages. Sometimes it starts smaller than that. Just one Starbucks run that you skip. Like one Target trip you don't make. Like one meal out that you trade a meal at home. It's choosing to live open-handed instead of tight-fisted. And I think that's what Jesus was talking about. And I think he was starting to make some headway with the crowd until he said this. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it, what, two miles. This would have been the most radical thing that he was teaching. The principle of the second mile. You can feel the tension rising in the crowd, fists clenching, faces tightening, eyebrows lifting. Did he really just say that? Make it make sense, Jesus. Do you agree with this Roman empire who is oppressing our communities, who is holding us into slavery, who is treating us like second-class human beings? And I think the miracles that Jesus did had faded into the background and all they could feel was outrage. Here's why.

In Rome, actually in Israel, if a Roman soldier tapped you on the shoulder and told you to carry his pack, there was a law that said you had to carry it for one mile, one mile, no more, no less. And the Romans put that limit in place because they knew how much the Jews hated carrying a soldier's gear and they didn't want it turning into a revolt so the Jews counted every step. In fact, history tells us, historians tell us pretty accurately that large landowners, anytime you had a piece of property, they would take from every corner of their property and they would step out one mile. They would step it out. They'd get to that mile mark and they would take a peg and they would drive a stake into the ground so that they knew that if they were asked to walk a mile, that they would not have to walk another inch because they didn't wanna walk any further than they had to. And honestly, to hear Jesus say that would have been, again, very offensive. Don't just carry it one mile, carry it two. Why? Jesus was calling them to more, to go beyond what was required, to respond differently than the world,

to show love even when they felt mistreated, to choose mercy over retaliation, to choose generosity over resentment, to choose the kingdom way over the Roman way. Jesus was saying, don't just do the minimum, do the unexpected. Do the one thing that makes people ask, why would you do that? Imagine with me for a moment, it's toward the end of the day. You're a Jewish landowner and you're out there tending garden. You can smell supper. It's on the stove, it's ready. The kids are rumbling, they're home from school. You're about to finish a hard day. You're working in the garden and you see the shadow of a Roman soldier and he's coming in on you and he's got his pack and you know what's about to happen. He's expecting attitude. But you were there that day when Jesus told the story. You remember what he said. Okay, if you ask me to carry it one mile, carry it two. And deep down, you're like, that's messed up. That is messed up, man. I don't know about this church stuff. I'm gonna change churches. But there's something in your heart that says, I wanna give it a try.

Well, give it a try. And so he slams his pack down gruffly and says, hey, carry my pack one mile. And you pick it up and you say, hey, great, no problem. Honor. Put it on there and you start walking. You're walking with him, he's walking behind. All of a sudden you turn around and say, hey, I was just wondering, what's it like being a Roman soldier? That must be pretty cool. It's kind of cool. You got an impressive outfit there. What's that like? Are you married? Do you have kids? And he's like, what are you talking about? Just carry the pack, be quiet. They get to that three quarter mark. No, no, seriously, tell me about your family. And so they kind of start talking and conversing back and forth. Finally, the Jewish man's just talking up a storm. He gets to that one mile marker peg. The Roman guy sees it. He walks past it. The Roman guy's like this idiot. He didn't even know he's past his mile. I'm gonna let him do it. They get to the mile and a half mark.

And finally, the Roman soldier just says, dude, what are you doing? I don't think he said dude, but whatever the equivalent of first century is. What are you doing? Like we've been past the mile marker like a half mile ago. Yeah, I knew you were gonna say that. I'm just gonna tell you, you know, there's this guy named Jesus. And he told me that if you asked me to carry, you know, your pack for a mile, I'm gonna carry it for two. And the guy says, you're crazy. He goes, yeah, you know, it's a little crazy. I'm not gonna lie. I like what it's doing to my heart. So they get the two mile marker and he puts the pack down. He says, hey man, thank you for the honor of carrying your pack. And he goes, hey, thank you. And you're still crazy, but thank you. And that Roman soldier walks away and his mind is blown and his heart is full. And your heart is full as you're running back to your property and to your kids and to your spouse because there's a joy in generosity that is unmistakable. And Jesus was saying, if you're gonna be one of my disciples, if you're gonna claim to be a Christ follower, I want you to be different. I want you to be extra and not in the 2026 version.

I don't need you to be extra dramatic on social media. I don't need you to be extra petty with your neighbors. I don't need you to act as though everything is extra offendable to you. Instead, he's saying, if you're gonna be a Christ follower, I want you to be extra loving and extra kind and extra generous and extra patient and extra gracious. So Jesus bringing up, carrying the soldier's pack, the second mile, it wasn't about the soldier. It was about the soul and the heart of the one carrying the pack. The first mile is obligation. The second mile is transformation. The first mile is law. The second mile is love. I was thinking about the extra mile things that people do here at Compass and it just kind of warmed my heart. I just jotted down four or five of them. We have men that are table leaders for our first Wednesday gathering once a month and they get up earlier than anybody else and they help set up and they park across the street at Compass Center and they walk to the dark, into the place and they're prayed up and they wait at their table for men to show up and pray over them and take care of them. They go the extra mile. Some of you lead small groups for student ministry and I will tell you, we couldn't do it without you.

Our student ministry is amazing here at Compass but we couldn't do it without the men and women who lead these small groups. They get a circle of freshmen who are still trying to figure out who they are and where they belong and you show up for them week after week and you listen and you encourage and you sometimes answer late night text messages and you make phone calls and you pray and you mentor and you disciple and it's work. You don't just lead a group, you help shape lives. You go the extra mile. We have people, did you know this, who take the wet towels home after baptisms here at Compass and they wash them and they dry them and they fold them. Most people never see that part. They just see the celebration in the room but somebody quietly takes home the evidence of changed lives and gets it ready for the next person to step into those waters and it may seem small but it matters. They go the extra mile. Every Saturday, every Saturday, there's a group of people in our church that give up their entire day and they get up early and they drive all the way out to Wichita Falls and they walk into that Allred prison unit and they spend hours loving on and praying over and investing in incarcerated men

who need to know that they're not forgotten and they're not beyond the reach of God's grace. That's not convenient at all, it's not casual. That is kingdom work, they go the extra mile. We have students and adults who serve in our special needs ministry, amazing people. They come early, they step in patiently, they care for kids with extra special needs so those children can be loved well and their families can worship with just a little bit of peace. And for some of those parents, look, that kind of help feels like a gift from heaven and they're desperate for it. These people, they go the extra mile. Friend, I wanna give you a gentle nudge today. Why not find a place in our church where you can go the extra mile for people who desperately need to feel the tangible love of Jesus? You know, a lot of times, the media only shows the negative stuff going on in the world, which makes it really hard to watch news sometimes, but every once in a while, they pick up a story that actually is powerful and positive. I saw this story a few months ago. It went viral about an 88-year-old Army vet named Ed Bombas, and after serving his country, he worked 40 years at General Motors, and then he retired, but GM went bankrupt,

and they took his pension, all of it, and his wife got sick, and medical bills piled up, and their savings were drained, and at 88 years old, Ed Bombas had no choice but to go back to work full-time at a grocery store, and a TikTok creator found out about him, and created, heard his story, and created a video online, and then something incredible happened. Strangers, thousands of them, began giving. Take a look. Just seeing if I could have help scanning this. Thank you. What was your name? Ed. I'm Sam. Okay. I actually had someone nominate you from this store and said you're very hardworking. Well, I try to be. May I ask how old you are? I'm 88. And still working? Yes, I have to. Why do you have to keep working? Retired from General Motors in 99. 2012, they went bankrupt, and they took my pension away from me. Oh, my gosh. Do you have a wife? She passed away seven years ago.

Seven years ago. She was sick when I lost my pension. I was in the Army back in 66. So you're a veteran, too? Yes. The thing that hurt me the most was my wife was really sick. When they took the pension, they also took the healthcare coverage, and all but $10,000 of my life insurance. Oh, my gosh. So I sold the house, sold the property I had, and we made it through. And you're working here how many days a week? I work five days a week, eight hours a day. What's your dream? To live the life I was hoping for. I'd like to share your story and try and get people to help you retire. Well, thank you. You're amazing. I want to give you $400 here as a tip. Of course. I don't know what to say. It's still a long way to help me. Ed, how are you? How are you doing? Good. What did you do with that money I gave you?

I still have it in my pocket. I wasn't sure this was a legitimate situation. There was a few things you didn't tell me when you first met me about that man I debuted you. I paid $225,000 money all the way to take care of my wife. And you miss her. I do. This may be overwhelming, but we do have a little surprise for you. So if you would like to come with me, there's a lot of support for you here, man. I want to reveal that this is one of the largest individual fundraisers in GoFundMe history. If you want, you will be able to retire because we've raised you $1.77 million. Something that dreams of me, trust me. I cannot express in any words how thankful I am to all the people. And if you can send one message to your heart. Thank you, honey. I appreciate everything. I probably should have issued a Kleenex warning on that, but that's the kingdom mindset. That's what the extra mile looks like. That's what it looks like when people decide I'm gonna carry someone else's burden, even if I don't have to, because the extra mile is where Jesus lives. It's where his people shine. It's where the kingdom breaks through,

which I think is what empowered Jesus to put that last line out there in this particular part of the sermon. He said, give to those who ask and don't turn away from those who want to borrow. In other words, live open-handed, live generous, live free, live unbothered, like someone who trusts God's justice more than your own. And the truth is when Jesus preached this message, he wasn't trying to make life harder for these people. He was trying to set them free, free from retaliation and free from bitterness and free from the need to get even and free from carrying every offense, free from proving yourself. free from the prison of they owe me. Because if we're honest, I mean, some of us have been living in the first mile for a long time. Been living in the mile of obligation, in the mile of resentment, in the mile of, I'll do what I have to do, but nothing more. In the mile of, I'll forgive, but I won't forget. In the mile of, I'll show up, but I won't open up. And Jesus preaches this message as an invitation, hey, walk with me into the second mile, because the second mile is where healing happens. It's where freedom lives. It's where bitterness breaks. It's where the kingdom shows up.

It's where you stop reacting and start becoming. And maybe today God is nudging you toward a second mile that you've been avoiding. Maybe it's that person you need to forgive, but you've been stubborn. A burden that you need to help carry, a bitterness you need to release, a step of obedience you've been delaying, and maybe just maybe the freedom you've been praying for is waiting for you in the mile you've been refusing to walk. So here's the question today. Where is Jesus inviting you to walk a second mile? Not out of guilt, not out of pressure, not out of obligation even, but out of trust. Like, let me ask you, who's your Roman soldier? Who do you need to go the extra mile for? So friend, I would tell you, excuse me, take one step this week toward the second mile, because the kingdom doesn't advance through comfort. It advances through surrender, through generosity, through compassion, through people who say, Jesus, I'll walk wherever you lead, even into the second mile. Can I pray over you? Let me pray. Lord, there's some real hard teachings in here. These past few weeks, we're looking at some very, very difficult things that Jesus has told us,

but we're starting to get it. We're starting to understand. Lord, get it through our hearts. Help us with open hearts and open minds and open hands to practice what you're teaching here. Make it make sense to us so that we can make it make sense to the world and help us no matter what to go that extra mile. And we pray all this in Jesus' name, amen. Hey, thanks, love you guys.