The Jesus Way | Ryan Kramer

Today we are in week five of the series that we've entitled That's Crazy, and in this series we've been looking at some of the miracles of Jesus, primarily the ones found in Matthew chapter 8 and chapter 9, and just digging a little bit deeper into discovering what these miracles say about Jesus and what it looks like for us to live the kingdom kind of life. And so today we're going to hop into another one that's got a little bit of a twist on it, and so if you've got your Bibles you can turn with me to Matthew chapter 9, and while you're doing that, can we also give it up for our Liberty Correction campus and the guys that are watching, joining with us today, love you guys, appreciate you so much, so much. So, turning to Matthew 9, let me ask you, have you ever heard of inattentional blindness? I-N and then attentional blindness, inattentional blindness. Psychologists consider this to be a phenomenon where you get so laser focused on one thing that you miss something that is completely obvious right in front of you. Have you ever done that? Like have you ever been driving home after work and you pull into the driveway and you can't remember any of the stoplights, you can't remember what road you took, like you were just so focused on something that the rest of the things that were completely obvious you just missed. One of the most famous studies that was done about this blindness was from the University of Illinois, and in 1999 what they did is they got six students, three of the students were wearing black shirts, three of the students were wearing white shirts, and they instructed the students, they were all passing basketballs to one another, and what they did is they asked all the volunteers for the study to look at the ones that are wearing the white shirts and count how many times they passed the ball over the course of the video. And you can find the video online, by the way, it's called the gorilla test or experiment, and so they're passing the ball on the video and then all of a sudden a gorilla, a student that's dressed up in a gorilla comes walking right into the middle of the frame and they're passing the ball around the gorilla, the gorilla then turns to the camera and beats his chest like crazy and then walks off the frame.

The gorilla was on camera for nine seconds, and at the end of the video they asked people how many times did the people in the white shirts pass the ball, and all of them got either the answer right or they got really close. And then they asked everybody how many of you saw the gorilla in the video, and only half of the people saw the gorilla. They showed the video again, and when they showed it again, the half that didn't see the gorilla the first time, they were shocked that they missed it because it was so obvious. They went back and looked at all of the eye contact that was happening from the people that were volunteering for the study, and all of them, every single one of the people that didn't see the gorilla, all of them were looking right at the gorilla for at least one second out of the nine seconds that the gorilla was on film. And what that study helps us see is that there's a difference between looking at something and seeing something. And I couldn't help but to wonder if it's not just a psychological phenomenon, but what if it's a spiritual one, too, in our lives? I mean, I find it unsettling, I don't know about you, but I find it unsettling that the people who missed the gorilla didn't even know they missed anything. They didn't even know that they missed the gorilla until someone else pointed it out. And I can't help but to wonder, like, where in my life am I just as confident? and just as wrong, like just as confident that I'm seeing everything that I need to see, but just as wrong. And today's message and what we're gonna look at today, I'm excited about because Jesus is stepping into this moment and he's going to reveal something that his disciples have been looking at, but they still keep missing. Not because they're bad people, not because they don't love God, but simply because they were focused on something else. Today I wanna talk to you from this title,

The Jesus Way, and if you're taking notes, you can follow along on the tap dot, the seat back in front of you, my notes and outline will be there. So Matthew chapter nine, Matthew chapter nine, we're gonna be in verses 35 through 38 this morning. So Matthew nine, here we are, it's been a little bit of time that the disciples have spent with Jesus and they've seen a lot. Like they've seen Jesus do a whole lot of things, they've heard Jesus say a whole lot of things, right? Matthew five, six and seven is that famous sermon, Sermon on the Mount, and the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus really teaching what the kingdom of God looks like. And what Matthew eight and nine is Jesus then taking what he taught and living it out. And Matthew eight and nine, he's yes, he's performing miracles and he's doing some pretty amazing and crazy things, but this is Jesus showing now what the kingdom of God looks like. And what often happens for all of us, but especially for the disciples in that period of time is we get so focused on the miracles. We get so focused on the extraordinary things that we miss the ordinary things. And I think what Matthew is hoping that we grasp from the text that we're gonna read today

is that Jesus isn't just performing miracles in Matthew eight and nine, Jesus is actually forming disciples. That this is a season of formation, not just a season of doing the spectacular. And what happens in this passage that we're gonna read could potentially be the most important lesson that Jesus ever teaches to the disciples. In Matthew chapter nine, starting in verse 35, I wanna read through this and then we'll come back and break it down. It says, Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them because they were confused and they were helpless. Like sheep without a shepherd, he said to his disciples, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, ask him to send more workers into his field. In verse 35, when Matthew writes that Jesus is going to all the towns and all the villages, he's speaking of that area around the Sea of Galilee, he's speaking of an area that's got hundreds of little towns and villages. And we're talking about square miles where Jesus and the disciples would have walked easily 50 miles over this period of time

as they're going from town into village, healing and ministering to people. Now we read right past that, no big deal, but I want you to put yourself in the disciples' shoes for just a moment. Imagine how tired you would be walking 50 plus miles, how much fatigue would be there, not just physically, but think about the emotional fatigue of being around all of these people. This is, this is what I'm talking about. would be like the introvert's worst nightmare, right? It's like everywhere you go, it's people everywhere and there's never really room to be able to step away and to recharge and so they've got all of this kind of happening and then you've got the spiritual fatigue and the reason why I say spiritual fatigue because we can get excited about something crazy that God does in our life or in somebody's life and it moves us in a lot of ways emotionally but when you're around it all the time, when you're seeing miracles everywhere you go and it's not just one miracle but it's multiple miracles over and over and over and over again, it's crazy to think about it but those things can become familiar. We can find ourselves getting to a place just like I'm sure the disciples did where they began to drift into this kind of spectator mode, they began to get more indifferent, not that they didn't love people,

not that they weren't hoping that Jesus would do some pretty amazing things but you know just, we saw that last week, right? Oh, we saw that demon cast out a couple weeks ago, like we've already seen the limbs being extended, we've already seen all like this is great Jesus, right? And it's like this excitement on the outside but inside it's like meh and I think of that and then you look at this next verse and you can't help but to think like so Jesus then has this moment where all these miracles are happening and there's definitely some familiar things that are happening and all of a sudden Jesus sees the crowd. He sees them. You see for Jesus even in the midst of all of that, all the travel, all the fatigue, he still saw people and as he sees the crowd, verse 36 says that he has compassion. This word compassion is way more than just having a feeling that this word compassion in the original language in the Greek is this deep empathy for something that moves you to action. So it's like one of those things that happen in life to where you just can't walk away from it. Like it hits you so deep emotionally that you feel like you have to do something about it and Jesus has that kind of compassion for the crowd and we find out in the second part of verse 36 why he had that kind of compassion.

It was because he looked at the crowd and they were confused and helpless. Said like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus looks over them and has legitimate concern for the people that he sees, not because something's wrong with them but because of their vulnerability. Like sheep without a shepherd, right? There's danger that they become exposed to and they can't see the danger. They're trying to navigate their life and figure out life but they have no guide to help them do it. And then Jesus, then in this moment, he turns in the next verse, he turns to the disciples and he teaches them a lesson that they'll never forget. In verse 37, he says to his disciples, as you've got this crowd of people, he looks at them and he says, the harvest is great but the workers are few. And I would argue that that is still true today. I think it's interesting that Jesus doesn't say it's a field, he calls it a harvest because the issue isn't that the people aren't ready. The issue is that there's too few followers who are willing to engage. And so Jesus says in verse 38, so pray. Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest and ask him. to send more workers into his fields. I think this becomes a turning point.

Not just a turning point in the story, but a turning point in their lives. Because up to this point, all the disciples have been doing is watching. They've been watching Jesus teach, they've been watching Jesus heal, they watch Jesus calm the storm, they watch Jesus cast out demons, they're watching Jesus minister to people, but all of that is about to change because Jesus didn't call them to simply watch him work, he called them to continue his work. But not to just continue his work, but to continue his work his way. And that's why I think this is one of the greatest miracles that we look at in this series. Because the miracle isn't as much what Jesus is doing for the crowd, as much as it is what Jesus is doing in the disciples' heart. So what's he changing? What is Jesus wanting to adjust within the disciples so that they can carry on his work, but carry it on his way? I think we see three things out of this story, and it really is three things that I think that Jesus is wanting to change in all of us. The first one is this, if you're taking notes, that Jesus wants to change what we see. Wants to change what we see. Friend, one of the greatest threats

to you and I becoming Christ-like isn't sin itself. Many of us in this room have kind of gotten to the other side of the sin addiction. Sure, we fall short, we make mistakes, we repent, and we move on. But the issue that we struggle with isn't as much sin as it is ourself. Think about this for a moment. This is gonna be a little heavy, but think about this. We become so consumed with our own lives that if we're not careful, people become background noise. The people that God sends across our path, they become background noise. We get so consumed with getting to the next meeting, so consumed with the next appointment or the next ballgame that we've got to get to, or meeting the next deadline, or solving the next problem, that what happens is we stop noticing the people that God places right in front of us. Not because we don't care, but because we're distracted. I mean, think about the people that you come in contact with every week. Think about the cashier that's checking you out at the grocery store, the college student that's waiting on your table for lunch or dinner the neighbor that's across the street, the parent that's sitting next to you at your kid's ballgame, right?

The new family that walked in today that's sitting in your section. The question isn't whether we notice people, the question is whether we see them. And I'll never forget my father-in-law correcting me on this when I first started in ministry. I was 24 years old, youth pastor, didn't know what in the world I was doing. And I remember coming out, it was a Wednesday night, and we had an adult service in the main auditorium, and I was reading a book, and we had an adult service in the main auditorium, and I was running youth that Wednesday night. And I remember coming out of the education building, and I had to go to the office, and this church had three different buildings that were separate. And so I come out of the education building, and I'm headed to the office, and at the same time, my father-in-law's coming out of the office to head to the auditorium, and I walked right past the family that had just parked their car, and they were walking up to the church for the service that night. And I mean, I walked right past them. I didn't make eye contact. I didn't say good evening or anything.

I just walked right past them, and unfortunately, my father-in-law saw the whole thing. And I get up, and he's like, Ryan, come here for a second. And if you know my father-in-law, like, JD is 6'4", just like, it don't matter if you're seven foot in the room. You're hugging him under him, right? Like, he's coming in high, you know, and you're just like, you're just collapsing down, and he pulls me over, and he says, he says, Ryan, they're the whole reason why we're here. He said, I don't wanna see you pass by somebody again and not engage them. And it was a powerful lesson that obviously marked me because I'm sharing it 26 years later. The truth is, for me, I wasn't being mean. It wasn't my intention to dismiss or ignore anybody. I was just so focused on getting what I needed to get done before the service that people became background noise. And I think this is what Jesus is trying to teach his disciples in this moment when he pulls them in closer because Jesus knew that before they could ever reach people, they had to first see people. Because, friend, at the end of the day, like, we can say that we wanna love people with the love of Christ, but we can't love people that we've stopped seeing. And so maybe for some of us,

our prayer this week is less about, like, God, use me, or less about whatever it is in our life that we're hoping that God will come through with, and maybe the prayer for us is, God, help me to slow down. Help me to not be so focused on whatever my task is or whatever, where I'm at, and I'm not gonna be able to get it done. Help me to not be so focused on whatever my task is or wherever I'm going that I don't see the people that you place right in my path. Maybe that's the prayer that we pray. I think the second thing that we see is that once Jesus changes the way that we see, Jesus then wants to change what moves us. Most of us in this room don't need to hear more sermons. We don't need to read more of the Bible. We don't need more church services, and hopefully somebody doesn't just cut this clip just using that phrase right there. But we don't need all of that as much as we need our hearts to be saved. We don't need all of that as much as we need our hearts to be softened again. You probably know as many people as I know that have all the scripture memorized and all of that kind of stuff, but they are the harshest people you've ever met in your life. More church services and more sermons. There's some things that that's not gonna fix.

That for some of us, we need to get to a place to where our heart becomes soft again. And here's the thing is like much of that is not necessarily even our fault. We live in such a media-driven society today that we become so accustomed to brokenness that we stop feeling the weight of it, right? Like we just, we scroll right past suffering on social media and we see friends or we see people that are walking through a difficult time and we just like scroll right past it. We walk right past loneliness. We miss the struggle like when we tell somebody good morning and we shake a hand and we say how you doing and they smile and they say good. We miss the struggle behind the smile because we don't see them in the moment. We just notice them. But not Jesus. Because he saw people differently, his heart was moved differently. And I want you to think about today, like what might it look like in your life if you allow Jesus to start stirring your heart, not for the things that you desire, but the things that he desires? What might it look like if you started caring more about people than preference? What would it look like if we cared more about someone's eternity than winning an argument on social media? More about helping people than being comfortable. Friend, compassion isn't simply feeling sorry for someone. Compassion is allowing someone's pain to interrupt our plans. That's what Jesus is trying to form in these disciples, not just people that would do what

he did, but people who would love the way that he loved. And I think the last thing that we see is that as our perspective starts to shift and we start to see people and as our heart begins to soften and change, that the third thing that Jesus is trying to change is what we live for. Because when we see people the way that Jesus sees them and when we love people the way that Jesus loves them, our priorities naturally begin to change. They naturally begin to change. We stop asking questions like, what's in this for me? And we begin to ask questions like, who can I love today? Who can I point towards Jesus today? Who can I genuinely encourage today? I think one of the things that we see from this text is there is a difference between the crowd who admires Jesus and the disciple who lives like Jesus. See, disciples don't just go to church, they join Jesus in his mission. Not because it's an obligation, but because they make this shift where they begin to not just notice people, but see people. And as they begin to see people for who they really are and the brokenness that is in their lives, then their move, their heart is moved with compassion, a heart that wants to help point them in the right direction. And as our heart begins to do that, we can't help but to join Jesus in the mission. I find it so clever of Jesus that at the end of Matthew 9, it goes from Matthew 9 to Matthew 10, it's verse 38 to verse 1. And here's what Matthew 10, verse 1 is, that Jesus calls us 12 disciples together. And what does he do? He gives them authority to do the very things that he has been doing in Matthew 8 and 9, to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness. I mean, think about that for a second, like one moment they're watching the mission, they're watching Jesus do what Jesus does, right? And the next moment they're empowered for the mission. And so what changed?

Like what changed between verse 38 and verse 1? I can tell you what didn't change, the crowd, the harvest didn't change. It's still plentiful, it's still ready. What changed was the disciples. We have no idea how much time transpired between those two verses, I guarantee you it wasn't the same moment. But at some point between verse 38 and verse 1... The disciples started to see people the way Jesus saw them. They started to be moved with compassion the way that Jesus was moved and they lived for what Jesus lived for. And church, I wonder today if that's what Jesus wants to do in all of us. Maybe he's not simply inviting us into a relationship where we just admire him from a distance, but maybe he's inviting us to participate with him. Not simply watching, but joining him and what he's doing. Would you bow your head with me today? Friend, it's so easy to get consumed with the things that life demands, parenting demands, finances demand. Get so consumed with those things that when it comes to our relationship with Jesus, that we settle for admiring from a distance rather than joining him for the mission. Maybe you'd say today, Ryan, that the whole background noise thing, that's me. I've become so busy and distracted and consumed with life that honestly, I've stopped noticing the people that God is putting in my path. And if that's you today,

then maybe your prayer today is Lord, slow me down. Slow me down and help me to see people the way that you see them. Maybe for some of you today, it's your heart. It's just grown calloused and indifferent. Maybe you've become so accustomed to the things of God, or maybe for some of you today, it's hardened and it's callous because of pain and disappointment, regret. And friend, that hardened heart, it's tainting, it's skewing, it's distorting who God has created and called you to be. Maybe for you today, it's an invitation for the Lord to soften that again, to help you to begin to feel the brokenness of the people that you come in contact with. To start feeling the weight of the season in which they're walking through. Maybe for some of you, you've not fully surrendered, like I said, you're admiring, but it's just, you're living your life and asking God to bless your life and your plans. For in the life that God has created us to live and experience, isn't a life that fulfills our own dreams, it's a life that's partnered with the Lord. And as we participate in his mission and what he's doing, there's this internal transformation that begins to happen in our own life. There's a passage of scripture that said that God, right, he's gonna give us the desires of our heart,

but here's what I would say. suggest to you today that he's not given the desires of our heart from a selfish position, it is us surrendering our life to him. And as he begins to change our desires, exchanging them with his, that those are the desires he blesses. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We hope you enjoyed it. And if you did, make sure you subscribe. Also, if something spoke to you in a special way, share it with a friend, because you never know how it could transform someone's life. If you're interested in checking out our service times, make sure you go to our website at transformTLH.com. And we hope to see you at TC on a Sunday. Thanks so much and have a great day.